Saturday 5/16/2020

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After a back and forth game early there was no sweat last night as KT blows the game open in the 7th and coasts to a 14-6 win in the series opener over the Samsung Lions.  As I said yesterday and in my most recent power rankings on Thursday I think this KT Wiz team is really good and was a victim of a tough schedule and some tough luck and I will back a little win streak for the Wiz when they take on the Samsung Lions in the second game of a three game set at Suwon Baseball Stadium in Suwon, South Korea. 

Once again, there’s a reason the 2-7 KT Wiz are favored here.  There’s also a reason KT has already taken some money and seen some support in the market and that reason is they are head and shoulders a more talented team than Samsung.  KT still has their issues, namely the bullpen, but that’s a big reason they are 2-7 to this point and under the radar as a slight home dog in a matchup where I see the Wiz with a big advantage.

Samsung enters play with a 4-6 record and had KT not had four brutal one run losses in a row they would have at least four wins right now and possibly more.  It’s also worth noting again that, while KT was blowing games late, they were doing so against the two best teams in the league in Doosan and NC and the series with the latter was on the road so in my opinion those losses are forgivable.  

We saw Samsung play the NC Dinos at home to open the season and they were significantly less competitive than KT was as Samsung was also swept and only one game was close.  Samsung did take two of three from a terrible KIA squad at home and stole two at Kiwoom after losing the series opener but I think the Lions caught Kiwoon off guard and at 2-7 the KT Wiz don’t have the luxury of sleeping on anyone right now.  

KT will send Kim Min to the mound who was roughed up his first time out but that was against a Doosan lineup that is hammering every pitcher they see right now.  Samsung will counter with 38 year old Yoon Sung-hwan who has been terrible the past few seasons with an ERA of 6.98 in 2018 and 4.77 last season and with KT swinging the hot bats right now I have to think they can do enough damage to get to the Samsung bullpen sooner than later.  

The Samsung bullpen was blown up last night and the night before they used three of their better relievers to close out Kiwoom so even though the KT bullpen has had their issues I will give the much fresher KT pen the edge here. 

As I stated yesterday I think Samsung is a big drop in class for KT who got put through the ringer against three really good in form teams to start the season.  KT is the youngest team in the KBO right now and while they are a little bit raw the talent is absolutely there and I think we see a nice surge for the Wiz this week now that they are playing teams at the bottom of the league as opposed to the top. 

Until we get priced out or KT gives me a reason not to I am going to continue to back the Wiz.  I’ve watched the majority of these games and this KT team just passes the eye test.  KT was a .500 team last year that improved this offseason and has young guys with another year of experience under their belts.  KT might not be better than a Doosan or an NC but they are absolutely superior to the Samsung Lions.  This price should be more like -160 or -170 as opposed to the -130’s that are still out there some places so let’s take KT at a discount and cash with the Wiz again tonight.  Play on KT Wiz -130 TO WIN 3 units