Sunday signals the end of another week in the KBO while major league baseball continues to struggle with coronavirus outbreaks in training camps shutting them down. Although Kiwoom notched its fifth straight victory, attention surrounding their latest acquisition remains at the focal point coverage: 

 

Not sure there’s a way to spin signing Addison Russell in a positive light, so perhaps the Heroes should put Jung-hoo Lee and Ha-seong Kim at the center of their social media campaigns. Covering the KBO reminds one baseball should be fun as evidenced in the Lotte dugout: 

 

On the field, Doosan swept LG in the stadium they share moving into second place as a result. Continuing to struggle, the SK Wyverns lost their sixth straight contest. Now it’s time to highlight the top performers across the slate. 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight

Returning from the injured list, William Cuevas fired seven shutout innings scattering five hits and striking out five for his second win of the season making his first start since May 30th for the KT Wiz. Cuevas missed time with a hip injury but displayed no signs of rust against Lotte who beat him earlier this season. This marks Cuevas’ second quality outing in six starts. 

Rebound outing by Eric Jokisch notching his sixth win working seven efficient innings giving up three hits, one earned run and one walk with six strikeouts. Jokisch ranks second in the KBO in wins, ERA (1.63) and WHIP (0.94). 

Raul Alcantara recorded his KBO leading seventh win logging eight innings allowing seven hits, one earned run and striking out five. This start reduced his ERA to 3.70 this season and Alcantara improved his K:BB to 47:11 over 56 innings of work. 

Jung-hyun Baek of Samsung turned in seven innings yielding four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts for his second win in his last three starts. Over his last three outings, Baek owns a 1.50 ERA with 12 strikeouts against five walks and a 0.94 WHIP in 18 innings. 

Hitter Highlights

KT Wiz

A double dong day for talented young slugger Baek-ho Kang driving in all three runs in the KT Wiz win over Lotte. Through 100 at-bats this season, Kang’s hit 10 home runs with a robust .350/.407/.740 slash line. He’s scored 23 runs with seven doubles, 24 RBI and two stolen bases in 26 games. If he qualified for the league leaders, Kang’s 1.147 on-base plus slugging would put him third in the league at the tender age of 20. Here’s a look at his swing: 

 

Although the play-offs may be unlikely for KT, it’s tandem of Mel Rojas Jr. and Kang make them a fun team to track going forward. 

Samsung Lions

  • Ja-wook Koo (OF) - Hit his fourth home run going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. 

  • Tyler Saladino (1B) - Continued his strong June with two hits in three at-bats scoring two runs and drove in one. He’s hitting .340 this month with five doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and five stolen bases. 

  • Won-seok Lee (DH) - Tallied two hits in five at-bats with two runs, a double and an RBI. He’s knocked in 12 runs in only 10 contests this month. 

  • Young-jin Choi (3B) - Entered this game with four RBI in 34 at-bats, then went 3-for-3 with two runs, his first home run and four RBI. Baseball. 

  • Hak-Ju Lee (SS) - Finished 2-for-4 with a run, double and an RBI. He’s hitting .327 in June with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI for a surging Samsung offense. 

Kiwoom Heroes

  • Keon-chang Seo (2B) - Perhaps emerging from his slump, Seo went 2-for-4 with two runs, a triple, drove in two and walked after going hitless his previous two games. 

  • Ha-seong Kim (SS) - Went 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI and stole two bases (5,6). He leads the KBO in runs (37) and recorded four home runs with four stolen bases in June in 18 games. 

  • Jung-hoo Lee (OF) - Just another multiple hit contest for Lee going 2-for-4 with a run, two RBI and stealing his third base. He ranks third in the KBO in average (.381) and hits (61) while moving into second in on-base percentage (.448). 

  • Byung-ho Park (1B) - Drove in one on a hit in three at-bats and drew two walks. He’s remaining patient and if the power rebounds, a surge could be on tap. 

NC Dinos

  • Min-woo Park (2B) - Racked up his first multi-hit game since June 11th going 2-for-5 with a run scored. 

  • Myung-gi Lee (DH) - Went 1-for-4 with a run and has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games. 

  • Sung-bum Na (OF) - Finished 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and an RBI. 

  • Hee-dong Kwon (OF) - Launched his fifth home run, and second in five contests. Kwon also scored three runs while driving in two on Sunday. 

SK Wyverns

  • Jeong Choi (3B) - Hit his seventh home run during a 1-for-4 game with an RBI. This marks his fifth home run in June over 59 at-bats while batting .322 in 17 games. 

Kia Tigers

  • Ho-ryeong Kim (OF) - Led off the game with a home run and it ended up being the only blemish against Samsung’s starting pitcher. Kim’s scored 18 runs in only 17 games since joining the Tigers this year with nine of his 18 hits going for extra-bases. 

Hanwha Eagles

  • Soo-kwang Noh (OF) - Reached base twice atop the lineup going 1-for-4 with a run and a walk. 

  • Jin-haeng Choi (DH) - Drove in two runs on two hits and scored twice in five at-bats. 

  • Eun-won Jung (2B) - Went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and walked. 

Doosan Bears

  • Jae-hwan Kim (DH) - Recorded a perfect day at the dish going 2-for-2 and walked three times in five plate appearances. 

  • Hae-sung Kuk (OF) - Notched his third straight multiple hit game with two hits in four at-bats, a run and a walk. 

LG Twins

  • Ji-hwan Oh (SS) - Extended his hit streak to eight with a hit in four at-bats and an RBI. 

  • Roberto Ramos (1B) - Finished 2-for-4 with a double. 

With Monday representing a day off for the KBO, here’s the updated standings courtesy of the league’s Twitter account:

 

New three-game sets ensue on Tuesday with the following match-ups: 

  • Hanwha Eagles at Samsung Lions

  • Kia Tigers at Lotte Giants

  • NC Dinos at KT Wiz

  • Doosan Bears at SK Wyverns

  • Kiwoom Heroes at LG Twins

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm to remain ahead of the competition across all fantasy formats. Also, hearty well wishes to all the Dads and Grandpas in the Fantasy Alarm family including a first one to my KBO sidekick James Grande. Stay safe and a special thanks to my Dad for all his love and support through the years. 

 

Statistical Credits

myKBOstats.com

Eng.koreabaseball.com