If Kelly and Flexen made it, so can Rucinski. Its one of my favorite stories in baseball. He posted a 9.45 ERA over 13.1 IP and decided to take things to the peninsula, signing a one-year deal with the Wiz this past December. Thats a huge success for the Heroes and as one of the youngest teams in the league marks them as a team to watch for years to come. and even whooped up on Tuckdori (but not on our precious DomDoml, Id commit crimes for that sweet robot child). Anderson was able to make it work last season with a 3.89 ERA, and Jung-hyun Baek was likewise able to make it work last season. Last year, Chun-Woong Lee slashed .308/.378/.374 with two home runs, 88 runs, 48 RBI, and 21 stolen bases. Lively could certainly end up being the best pitcher for the Lions, and the entire league this season, and could make a return to the majors at some point. KBO picks and predictions Sunday's five-game slate will feature some of the top pitchers in the entire KBO. 9. Last years KBO HR leader, Byung-Ho Park knocked 33 out; can Baek-ho Kang turn in a Yelich like season, keeping his .330 average but complementing it with league-leading pop? They finished tenth in the league in hits allowed, ninth in earned runs, walks, and WHIP. When he last appeared in a major league game, he was a lackluster middle reliever for the Marlins. But for every Kelly or Flexen, theres someone like Josh Lindblom, who signed with the Brewers after two great seasons with the Doosan Bears. Or consider Chris Flexen, whom the Mariners decided to trust based on two-thirds of a season. Finally, in that same year, they also brought out Tuckdori, who was a former mascot years ago. Lively is a pitcher who can certainly thrive in the KBO, as his good strikeout rates from his minor-league career did translate well to the KBO, with a 9.2 K/9 rate in his brief sample for the Lions. Doesnt hurt that theyre shaping up to have what will be one of the more dominant pitching staffs in the KBO, too. Id legitimately consider taking him over Jordan Lyles or Kyle Gibson, both of whom signed for much more. Hands down. He never really altered his pitch mix, though he did seem to endorse pitching up in the zone with his fastball last season. Sign up today to get access to insightful analysis for the discerning baseball fan. At 22 years old, with four KBO seasons under his belt, Go is a player to watch down the road as a possible MLB bullpen arm. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. While his fastball averaged only 89 MPH last year, he was still highly effective in the KBO with his strikeout and walk rates both making substantial positive strides, and he posted better K% (29%) and BB% (5%) in 2020 than Hyun-jin Ryu did in his best KBO season. Theres a realistic chance that Rucinski flops. His 7.39 K/9 and 2.61 BB/9 are typical of the KBO, and were really solid marks while his 0.28 HR/9 was unreal. He has only been a full-time starting pitcher for two seasons now. During his time as a relief pitcher, he frequently had strikeout-per-nine rates pushing double digits, but as expected, as a starter those numbers have dropped. The Brewers and Cubs are still capable teams, and the Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of competing. The fastball that used to average 95 was now topping out at 95 and averaging 92, which is a worrying drop. The American was great in his first season, recording a 3.13 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP, and his performance in 2020 was even better. He threw 125 innings for the Rangers in 2019, and it did not go well by MLB standards. Losing out first place to Doosan proved quite important. Loading Pitcher Player Stats. Their position players only accumulated 6.57 WAR over the whole season. Well, youre in luck. This immediately made me think of the Detroit Tigers. In addition to fielding Olympians, both leagues feature players that have the upside to be future Major League contributors. All seven of the top pitchers over the past three seasons were at least 6-foot-3, with only two of the top 14 (6-foot-2 Aaron Nola and 6-foot-1 Trevor Bauer) shorter than that. That type of control is comparable to Indians ace Shane Bieber. But with the Twins, hes been solid, slashing .304/.375/.437 with 11 home runs, 75 runs, and 82 RBI last year, essentially being what he was supposed to be in the MLB, a solid-average, good on-base, medium power guy. Yoon is a 26-year-old KBO rookie logging innings at the back end of the Tigers' rotation. The winner takes on the third-place team in a best-of-five, and the winner of that series faces the second place team in another best-of-five. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. In any case, the Wyverns and their fans are hoping for another excellent year out of their star third baseman. The 2018 KBO Champion SK Wyverns are my new favorite team. The change will continue into 2020, meaning the glory days of bat flip artistry in the KBO may be a thing of the past (or perhaps, the increased rarity drives it to new heights). Hes essentially an ideal lead-off hitter, with a batting average last year that was good for 11th-best in the KBO. A few years later, the Bears moved to Seoul, where theyve remained ever since, sharing their home stadium with another of the inaugural six (the LG Twins), establishing what is possibly the leagues biggest rivalry. The Lions home city is Daegu, which is the fourth-largest city in South Korea, and has the third-largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. Also on the roster and making his return to the KBO and the Lions is former major leaguer Seung-hwan Oh. Those five pitchers would make up the best rotation in all of KBO, and make them instant pennant favorites for 2022. The team should be more interesting than in years past as they start to filter in younger players that fans can hopefully see develop in front of their own eyes. The bad news: Since 2008, the Eagles have only qualified for the playoffs once. Like Grove, he didn't reach the majors until the age of 25, but he pitched into his 40s; sort of an early version of Warren Spahn. After two years away from the game, Jae-Hoon Ha returned and signed with the Wyverns, this time taking the mound and role of closer. Sang-woo Cho (Kiwoom Heroes) When I first saw Sang-woo Cho (also listed as Jo) pitch in 2019, he seemed to be MLB ready and the stats backed it up. In 2019, the team finished with a 60-83 record, and eighth out of ten teams. He has not had a K rate above 20% at any level since 2012 in rookie ball. Both spent part of 2019 with the Baltimore Orioles (and both struggled), and they have similar pitch mixes as well, with a fastball, slider, changeup and a little-used curveball to round out the repertoire. The KBO's Brightest Star Meet Baek-Ho Kang, a 22-year-old first basemen from Seoul, South Korea, who has taken the KBO by storm and currently leads the league in WAR. Their team FIP was better than three other teams, and with the additions of Adrian Sampson and Dan Straily, they could move further up the leaderboard. In 2012, he went to play in the JPL (Japanese Pacific League) where he won two championships while posting solid numbers. With an aging squad (only one returning starter under the age of 30), the Bears are going to be heavily reliant on young, unproven talent if they want a shot at repeating. Montgomery was also part of the 2016 Cubs team that won the World Series. Jeong and Romak led the team with 29 home runs apiece, fairly impressive given the fact that power seems to be down across the league due to changes made to the ball. In case you wonder if hes still got it, Ill leave you with this montage of all 33 of his home runs from 2019: By the way, if you wonder why I love the KBO so much, watch the above montage with the volume on and revel in how excited the announcers and crowd get for every home run. Current Greats: Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jacob deGrom, Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke, Jose Altuve , . In fact, in every year of his six-year KBO career, he has either led the league in homers (five times) or finished second. His 8.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 werent too shabby either. One of the reasons I picked the Lotte Giants to cover was that they were the worst team in the league in 2019 by about 10 games. a reputation as an analytic-friendly team. A transition across the diamond to first base is a common practice, but the aforementioned Romak has held down the position for the Wyverns over the last few seasons. If a postseason game ends in an official tie, it essentially does not count, and is replayed in full. Award winners [ edit] References [ edit] Then, after making the playoffs two years in a row, they debuted Dongeuli in 2015, a pixie-like female mascot with batlike earflaps on her helmet aimed at female fans and children. Another KBO standout has been Eric Jokisch of the Kiwoom Heroes, who is 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA. In fact, they finished in last place in the KBO in each of their first three seasons, topping out at 53 wins in 2016. Much of the new responsibility will fall on the next two rotation arms for the Bears: the reliable 33-year-old southpaw Hee Kwan Yoo who finished with 3.25 ERA on the season, good for tenth-best in the league despite only an 11-8 record, and 21-year-old Young Ha Lee, who finished with a 3.64 ERA and a considerably higher strikeout (and walk) count than Yoo on his way to a 17-4 record. The playoffs begin with the fourth- and fifth-place teams playing a best-of-three, with the fourth-place team starting with a built-in 1-0 advantage. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted The Aussie righty debuted for the Eagles last year with a 3.51 ERA, a 3.49 FIP and a 6.30 K/9 (remember, the league average ERA was 4.17 and K/9 was 7.3). Simply click the GIF and meet your new favorite team. Its hard to determine who the best pitcher is in on the Twins, but its one of these two. This site is created for fans, by fans, and is not affiliated with the KBO League (KBO ) or the Korea Baseball Organization (). 1:13 Former MLB pitcher Mike Montgomery, who was a reliever on the Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series team, threw a rosin bag at an umpire after he was tossed from a KBO game on Friday. Hes been pitching for the Lions since he was just 19 in 2007, and will be turning 33 in July. KIM Kwang Hyun (SSG) 2.13 3. Hes bringing change to an organization that is hungry to get their team back to their winning ways. This stretch included two Korean Triple Crowns (2006 and 2010) and an MVP in 2010. Sortable, downloadable KBO player stats for the 2022 season. However, while the MLB has been making changes to increase offense, the KBO is doing the opposite. Saupold has a four-pitch arsenal: a four-seamer (90-92 mph), cutter (87-89), curveball (79-81), and change-up (85-87). The Bears managed to eke past the Wyverns in the head to head season series 9-7, giving them the edge in the standings. Entering his age-38 season and the final year of his contract, this could be the end for the veteran. Just a 31-year-old pitcher upping his fastball velocity by a tick and a half by the time hes 34. Is he going to hit for power in 20? In many ways, it has been one of Asias best-kept secrets. One of the factors you need to consider when betting on Korea Baseball Organization games is the starting pitcher. A club legend while playing for the Wyverns from 2007-19, he made the transition to the US prior to the 2020 season. While he once sported an elite 17% BB rate, Tae-kyun Kim was only able to play a total of 167 games between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He bounced around from the Rangers to the Cubs, back to the Rangers, then to the Pirates, before finally making his MLB debut in 2015 with the Braves. Not his zone rate, which remained essentially the same in each season. They may not be the most competitive organization this year. The city is about 238 kilometers, or about 150 miles away from Seoul. Alcantara finished the 2020 season with a 20-2 record and 2.54 ERA, winning the Choi Dong-won award as the KBO's best pitcher, and if he can build on his success in Japan a return to the Majors may not be far off. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. In the past, it has hosted the 1988 Olympic Games, was a 2002 host city for the World Cup, and is the home of the world headquarters for Taekwando, South Koreas national sport. Something changed, but what? Your email address will not be published. Daegu is also known for its Buddhist landmarks, most notable of which is Gatbawi, which is one of the countrys largest tourist attractions, which attracts Buddhists from all over the world. While the Heroes were the top offensive team in the league in 2019, the Bears were probably the next best, finishing in second in runs scored with 736 (over five runs per game) due in part to their league-leading .355 OBP, and in spite of their bottom-half power numbers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes): Yamamoto is by far the youngest starter listed here at 22 years old. Itll be interesting to see if he can revitalize his game like so many former MLB-players before him. Starting in 2020, if the two teams are tied for first place at the end of the regular season, they play an additional game to determine the regular season champion. The Cardinals were swept in the 2019 NLCS by the eventual champion Nationals. Choi is not a pitcher that will overpower hitters and has . 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