The KBO will be in action again on Wednesday with another five-game slate. The KT Wiz and Kiwoom Heroes were upset winners on Tuesday, while the NC Dinos, Samsung Lions, and Lotte Giants all won their respective games as betting favorites.
What does Wednesday’s slate have in store? Read on for our KBO picks for Wednesday, April 14.
Hanwha Eagles vs Samsung Lions
Former Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Nick Kingham will toe the rubber for Hanwha as they continue their series against the Samsung Lions. Kingham posted a 6.75 ERA with the SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) a season ago, so the Landers let him leave for Hanwha as a free agent. Kingham’s first start of 2021 came last week against his old team, and he was touched up for four runs on five hits, including a couple of homers, in just 3.2 innings of work.
Kingham will hope for a bounce-back outing on Wednesday against the Lions, who will counter with lefty Lee Seung-Min. Lee was outstanding in his season debut at Doosan last week, as he held the Bears’ high-octane offense scoreless on just one hit in six sparkling innings of work. That was a rather unexpected result for Lee, who had an ERA pushing 7.00 last season in seven games for Samsung.
I’m skeptical that Lee has suddenly developed into an ace-level pitcher, but he’s a promising prospect at the age of 20. Kingham hasn’t shown much in his brief time in the KBO to this point, and there’s a reason he washed out of the majors so quickly. Hanwha is one of the weakest offenses in the league again this season, so we could certainly see Lee build on his stellar debut today. Take Samsung to make it two straight wins in this one, and there’s decent value in the runline bet for the Lions at -113.
$100 Could Win You…$188.50
KT Wiz vs Doosan Bears
The KT Wiz outlasted the Doosan Bears 8-7 on Tuesday, and the two teams will square off again tonight. The Wiz got a combined five hits out of Bae Jung-dae and Hwang Jae-gyun at the top of the lineup, while Park Kyung-su supplied four RBIs out of the No. 8 hole in last night’s victory. KT got to Doosan lefty Ariel Miranda early, and Miranda was yanked in the third inning.
Bae Je-seong will take the ball for the Wiz in the rematch, while Lee Young-ha goes for Doosan. Bae was knocked around in his first start of the year, allowing six runs on five hits in just 4.1 innings last week against the Twins. The right-hander has impressively posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the last two seasons, though, so his rough debut was likely a bit of an anomaly. However, the Doosan lineup on the other side of this matchup is one of the deepest in the KBO.
Lee is only 23 years, old, and he allowed five runs on eight hits, including a pair of homers, to the Samsung Lions in his first start of the new campaign. Lee has improved his ERA after struggling early in his career, but he spent most of last year working out of the bullpen.
The Wiz are likely to take a step back this season after losing their best hitter, Mel Rojas Jr. this offseason. The Bears may not be quite as good as they were during their dynastic run several years ago, but I do expect Doosan to put some runs on the board against Bae in this one. Once again, side with the Bears to get the better of the Wiz after last night’s closely-contested affair. Take Doosan at -151 on the moneyline.
$100 Could Win You…$166.23
LG Twins vs Kiwoom Heroes
The Heroes jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead against Im Chan-kyu in last night’s game and never looked back. Kiwoom got three hits out of Lee Jung-hoo in the No. 3 spot, while David Freitas drove in four runs on the night. Josh Smith also turned in a dominant start, holding the Twins to just two runs in seven innings of work.
LG will look to get back on track tonight. The Wins will have Jeong Chan-heon on the mound, while the Heroes counter with Kim Jeong-in. Jeong, 31, is one of the longest-tenured pitchers in the KBO, as he’s been with the Twins since 2008. The right-hander allowed just five hits in five shutout innings against the KT Wiz in his first start of the year after posting an impressive 3.51 ERA last season.
Kim, 24, is in his sixth season with the Heroes, but he pitched just twice last year out of the bullpen. In his first start for the team last week against Kia, the right-hander struck out four with five walks while allowing just one run in five innings.
The Twins struggled last night against Smith, but the offense should be able to get more going tonight against Kim. Kim doesn’t have a lengthy track record in the KBO despite having been with the team since 2015, but he hasn’t been overly impressive whenever he has taken the mound. LG should be one of the better teams in the league this season, so bet on the Twins to fight back with a win on Wednesday. LG at -135 on the moneyline is a good value bet at KBO betting sites online.
$100 Could Win You…$174.07
Lotte Giants vs Kia Tigers
The Giants skunked the Tigers last night with an 8-0 victory. Park Se-woong allowed just two hits while striking out eight Tigers in six innings of work, while the Lotte offense put six runs on the board against Lee Min-woo. The top-five hitters in the Lotte order – An Chi-hong, Son Ah-seop, Jeon Jun-w00, Lee Dae-ho, and Jung Hoon – combined for 10 hits in 25 at-bats last night.
The Giants will look to go back-to-back with Lee Seung-heon climbing the hill. The Tigers will start former A’s right-hander Aaron Brooks. Lee was roughed up in his season debut, but that game came against the best offense in the KBO in the NC Dinos. Lee yielded three runs on five hits with six walks in 3.1 innings against the reigning champs. He posted a 4.66 ERA in eight starts for Lotte a season ago.
Brooks is off to a ragged 0-2 start with losses to Doosan and NC to begin the year. The schedule hasn’t been friendly to Brooks considering those are elite offensive clubs, but he was one of the best pitchers in the league last year. In 23 starts for Kia, the 30-year-old finished with a 2.50 ERA with 130 strikeouts in just over 151 innings of work.
The Giants’ lineup isn’t terrible, but Brooks should have an easier time tonight than he did in either of his first two outings of the season. Expect the Tigers’ right-hander to get back on track tonight and lead Kia to a win here. The Tigers offer good upside at +108 on the moneyline.
$100 Could Win You…$208.00
NC Dinos vs SSG Landers
The NC Dinos picked up a 4-2 triumph last night over SSG Landers. Na Sung-bum homered and drove in two of the Dinos’ runs in the victory, while Kang Dong-yeon held SSG to just one earned run in five innings of action.
The Dinos are expected to win it all again this season, and right-hander Wes Parsons is set to make his KBO debut. Parsons spent years in the Braves’ minor league system before debuting in a relief role in the majors back in 2018. He struggled with control during his brief time in the big leagues, while his strikeout numbers have never been anything special.
SSG Landers will throw right-hander Moon Seung-won to the mound. Moon fared well in his 2021 debut against the Eagles, holding Hanwha’s weak offense to one earned run on three hits in five innings. Moon has posted sub-4.00 ERAs in each of the last two seasons, but he’s in a tough spot tonight against the talented Dinos offense.
Parsons is essentially an unknown commodity at this point, so I suppose this is a fine spot to take a low-dollar flier on SSG Landers as betting underdogs. The Dinos won’t be doing a lot of losing this season, but it would still be a surprise if Parsons amounts to anything more than an average pitcher at this level. SSG is somewhat interesting as a ‘dog in this one at +105 on the moneyline.
$100 Could Win You…$205.00
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
