With an eye on production going forward, home runs continue to accumulate with the home run per game rate rising to almost two per contest (1.97 per game) up from 1.80 at the end of last week. This makes life tough on pitchers with the league ERA sitting at 4.80 and especially on the beleaguered bullpens. Not many games seem out of reach unless one plays or roots for the Hanwha Eagles, currently in the midst of a 14-game losing streak prompting its manager to resign and a difficult season for their new hire:

As for games on tap, the two top teams in the standings face off this week with ESPN carrying all three on its flagship station with Doosan heading to the NC Dinos. Here’s the standings entering game play on Tuesday morning:

Doosan arrives in NC on a four game win streak with the home team riding a five game streak of its own. Plus, the defending champion Bears will debut their top pitching prospect:

Opening up against the Dinos could be a tall order for Je-yeong Jo since NC leads the KBO in runs (204), home runs (49), average (.304), and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS - .891). For reference, the second place team in home runs trail by 17 and in runs it’s an even bigger disparity with Doosan (178) almost 30 runs behind. Suffice it to say the Dinos lineup will be difficult to navigate in this three-game set. This can be seen in the league leaders in six categories with NC teammates among the leaders across them:

Plus, the rich get richer with NC owning the league’s best starting pitcher so far, Chang-mo Koo who garnered the most votes by KBO writers for MVP in May: 

Keeping with our daily Round Up about the KBO’s format, here’s the top performers from the last week while keeping an eye on future performance. 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight

Chang-mo Koo, NC Dinos

Noting the league average ERA (4.80), it only magnifies how dominant Koo’s been for the Dinos. He’s 5-0 this year with minuscule ratio statistics boasting a 0.66 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. Although his FIP (2.10) hints at future regression to the mean, it’s still over two runs below league average and his FIP would rank third in ERA to this point. Koo’s made six starts, all quality ones with a remarkable 44:9 K:BB in 41 innings. He’s only yielded four extra-base hits all season and does not own any splits weaknesses to this point:

  • Koo versus left-handed hitters: .149 batting average against, 15:1 K:BB, two doubles

  • Koo versus right-handed hitters: .141 batting average against, 29:8 K:BB, two doubles

Anchoring the staff as a homegrown “ace”, Koo continues to garner attention from newly acquired fans from the United States along with scouts of the league for a potential future in the MLB. Stay tuned. 

David Buchanan, Samsung Lions

A couple of rough outings masked Buchanan’s start to the season but he’s turned the corner over his last three outings. Buchanan won his last three starts logging 20 innings in them giving up 16 hits, one earned run, five walks, and recording 13 strikeouts. His ratio statistics in these starts prove encouraging with a 0.45 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in them. Overall, Buchanan’s 4-2 with a 3.79 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, but monitor if his recent gains carry over going forward. 

Seung-won Moon, SK Wyverns

Not only did SK suffer a slow start, starting pitcher Moon followed suit with a bloated 6.10 ERA after his first month this season spanning 20.2 innings during which he allowed 14 earned runs. However, Moon owned an enticing 18:3 K:BB in these outings and seems to be turning things around in June. Through two starts, Moon’s 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA (three earned runs in 12 innings) with a 15:3 K:BB and 0.95 WHIP. He’s also limiting hitters to a .195 batting average against over his first two starts in July. If SK makes a push in the standings, Moon will need to continue racking up strikeouts. 

Hitter Highlights

Baek-ho Kang, KT Wiz

For some reason, I cannot get the song “Return of the Baek” out of my head, wait it's the return of the mack. In either case, talented young slugger Kang could return as soon as Tuesday for the Wiz and provide a much needed boost to the offense. Prior to landing on the injured list with a wrist injury makes him a wait and see player in DFS but one cannot ignore this type of power: 

Prior to landing on the injured list, Kang slashed .333/.400/.737 his first 14 contests with 13 runs, six doubles, one triple, five home runs, and 14 RBI. There’s no confirmation he will be in the lineup on Tuesday but Kang appeared in Futures games over the weekend in preparation for a return to the KBO. 

Jin-sung Kang, NC Dinos

Although Kang received a feature last week, he’s still on fire forcing his way into a repeat leading the KBO in each category of the slash lines hitting a robust .468/.522/.835 with 27 RBI in only 26 games. He’s hit safely in 10 of his last 11 and blasted two home runs in May with some flare: 

Totally digging the home run lei celebration by the Dinos and Kang’s bat flip abilities. Over his last 10 games, Kang’s batting .459/.524/.759 and showing no signs of slowing down for the Dinos. He’s also hitting .440 versus southpaws and .522 against right-handed pitchers. Pretty, pretty good. 

Aaron Altherr , NC Dinos

Talk about a spoil of riches, Aaron Altherr owns a modest five game hit streak and flashing power in June with three home runs in his last four games. During the streak, Altherr’s 7-for-17 (.412) with nine runs, three home runs, and nine RBI. His last ten games he has carried a .316/.409/.711 slash line with 11 runs, four home runs, and 15 RBI. Since he’s a steaky sort, ride the wave with Altherr in the week ahead. 

Ho-ryung Kim, Kia Tigers

Recently promoted Kim moved atop the Tigers lineup being a spark plug homering in his first at-bat this year and hitting safely in his first six contests. While his hit streak makes him intriguing, it’s Kim’s pop which gets DFS players interested. Five of his first nine hits resulted in extra-bases (one double, two triples, two home runs). He’s a bit of a boom or bust player right now with ten strikeouts against only one walk so the average may regress but as long as Kim’s hitting for power as the Kia leadoff hitter, he’s one to keep on the radar going forward. 

Ha-seong Kim, Kiwoom Heroes

Even in a shortened season, one never should give up on talent. After a rough May during which Kim hit .236 through his first 24 games, he’s turned in on lately. Currently on an eight-game hit streak during which Kim’s 15-for-41 (.438) his average in June spiked to .478 through his first six contests. Over his last 10 games, Kim’s slashing .366/.469/.561 with 10 runs, two doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, and two stolen bases. Fueling his success, Kim owns tremendous plate discipline carrying a 16.2 walk percentage versus a 10.3 strikeout rate through his first 30 games this year. 

With an eye on this week’s match-ups, here’s KBO beat writer Daniel Kim’s power rankings entering Tuesday:

As mentioned, the Doosan against NC match-up headlines the start of the week and here’s all the three-game sets starting on Tuesday: 

  • Hanwha Eagles (7-23) at Lotte Giants (14-15)

  • Kia Tigers (15-15) at KT Wiz (11-18)

  • Doosan Bears (19-10) at NC Dinos (23-6)

  • SK Wyverns (10-19) at LG Twins (18-11)

  • Kiwoom Heroes (17-13) at Samsung Lions (13-17)

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm to remain ahead of the competition across all fantasy formats. Check back later for the KBO playbook and on Tuesday for the Round Up of all the game action. Plus, could the MLB be coming to its senses with a potential 76 game season? One can only hope. Be well. 

Statistical Credits:

myKBOstats.com
Eng.koreabasebal.com
Fangraphs.com