Pinnacle -1½ -108 BET365 -1½ -115 SportsInteraction -1½ -117  5DIMES -1½ -115 888Sport -1½ -110

Posted at 7:45 PM EST

Doosan Bears -1½ -108 over LG Twins 

5:30 AM EST. For us outsiders, there’s a bit of a late-1990s vibe to the KBO, at least from a statistical perspective. It’s not that we’re totally clueless, as we have plenty of numbers, and it’s not hard to index a few of the most important metrics. But putting everything in its proper context remains a challenge. We know that the KBO introduced a new ball in 2019, but we don’t quite know to what extent last season’s numbers reflect a new normal or were simply the product of an excellent year for pitchers. Similarly, we know that there are a few pitcher’s parks in the league, including Doosan and LG’s Jamsil Stadium, but we don’t know whether they are moderately affected, like Comerica Park, or if they are hitter’s graveyards, like the 10-year version of Petco from say 2005 to 2015.

Those blind spots make it hard to evaluate Lee Young Ha, a former first-round pick who may or may not have blossomed into a frontline starter in 2019 for the Doosan Bears. Dude will start here and it’s entirely possible that Lee, now 22, has found his footing in his third professional season and that he’s poised to headline Doosan’s rotation into the playoffs for many years to come. It’s simultaneously possible that getting to throw a dead ball in a friendly home park in front of the league’s best supporting cast allowed him to thrive in a way that most hurlers with his peripherals would not. Dude struck out a mere 90 batters in 168 frames last year while posting a 3.68 ERA. We can’t sit here and say that he’s the KBO’s version of Rick Porcell but we can’t say that he isn’t, either. That said, this wager is all about fading LG Twins starter, Eun-beom Song.

Song is 36 years old. He’s been pitching in this league for 13 years and we don’t even know who to compare him to in the majors because a pitcher that bad would not last. Over his last six seasons, Song went 1-7, 4-8, 2-9, 2-11, 0-4, 7-4 and finally 2-6 last year over 60 innings in which he surrendered 80 hits. Last year he started zero games so his poor record was out of the pen. Of his 497 appearances over 13 seasons, 197 of those were as a starter so he’s mostly relieved and has put up ERA’s of 7.35, 7.32, 7.04, 6.42, and 6.51. Last season, Song posted a 5.25 ERA with a 1.76 WHIP. He started 14 games in 2015 and had zero quality starts. His BAA over the past four years is .417. Again, he’s 36 years old, he’s not getting a y younger and he’s batting practice out there in every sense of the term.

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