Kia Tigers vs Samsung Lions Prediction, 5/22/2021 KBO Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kia Tigers vs Samsung Lions

Date: Saturday, May 22, 2021

Location: Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea

TV: SPOTV2

Odds/Point Spread: Kia (+134) Samsung (-188)

Daegu Samsung Lions Park is the venue where Chae-heung Choi and the Samsung Lions (22-17, 3rd in KBO) will take on the Kia Tigers (15-22, 8th in KBO) on Saturday. The Tigers open this matchup at +134 while the Lions are coming in at -188. The total opens at 10.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Ki-Yeong Lim and Chae-heung Choi.

Kia has a slugging % of .331 and have been rung up 248 times, while taking a walk on 168 occasions. They have 148 runs batted in and 326 base knocks on the campaign, while their batting average is sitting at .255. The Tigers have compiled 48 doubles as a team and have hit 11 balls out of the stadium. They have earned a total of 152 runs while having a team OBP of .348. As a team, the Kia Tigers are knocking in 4.1 runs per game, which is 10th in KBO.

Won-joon Choi is one batter you are going to want to keep your eye on for Kia. Choi has hit .291 in his time in baseball, in addition to 211 runs scored and an OPS of .734. He has struck out 191 times and has walked on 92 occasions, contributing to a .346 OBP. In his career, Choi has drilled 11 baseballs over the fence while knocking in 130 runs. He has amassed a slugging percentage of .388 and he has totaled 478 bases. In his time in the Majors, he approached the plate 1,376 times and got on base with a base knock 358 times.

The Tigers have swiped 32 bags and have been thrown out 10 times, which means their caught stealing percentage comes in at 23.8%. The Kia Tigers have earned a total of 1,007 putouts on the year, in addition to 378 assists and 24 errors. Their fielding rate is holding steady at .983 which puts them in 2nd in Korean baseball and have earned 37 double plays.

The Tigers are sitting with a team ERA of 5.45 on the year (9th in KBO), and their staff has rung up 253 batters. Kia has surrendered 361 base hits (9.7 per 9 innings) in addition to 203 earned runs. Their K/BB ratio is 1.30 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.66. Tigers pitchers have given up 35 home runs and 218 runs (2nd in baseball).

Lim (29-34 career record) sits with a FIP of 5.76 while he has gone up against 2,189 opposing hitters during his time in baseball. He has surrendered 617 base hits (11.4 hits per 9 innings) and has had 144 free passes. His earned run average is 5.22 (282 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.565. Lim has pitched in 486 frames and is sitting with 349 K's in his career.

The Lions have a SLG% of .403 and they have an average of 5.00 runs per contest (6th in KBO). They have recorded 57 two-baggers, while taking a walk 157 times as well as putting up 195 runs. Samsung has accumulated 37 HRs for the season as well as 181 RBIs. They have struck out on 249 instances (7th in KBO) and have notched a total of 348 base knocks. The Samsung Lions have earned an OBP of .347 and a team batting average of .266 over the course of the season.

Min-ho Kang is a hitter who can be a difference maker for Samsung. Kang has drawn a walk 644 times while going down on strikes on 1,316 chances. He has tallied 783 runs in addition to having 981 runs batted in. His on-base percentage sits at .356 and he also has a career OPS of .821. He has homered 277 times, as well as 2,837 total bases and a .465 slugging percentage. Over the course of the 6,098 at-bats in his baseball career, Kang is sitting with a batting avereage of .276 and has racked up 1,684 hits.

The Samsung Lions have turned 28 double plays and have a fielding rate of .983 (1st in Korean baseball). The Lions have racked up 338 assists, 23 errors and have accumulated 1,028 putouts so far this year. Out of their 29 tries at swiping a bag, they have made it 19 times and been caught 10 times (34.5% caught stealing percentage).

The Lions have a WHIP of 1.461 in addition to having a FIP of 4.86 as a unit this year. They come in at 4th in the league as a staff in total hits allowed with 353. The Samsung pitching staff have yielded 185 runs so far this year while having a team ERA of 4.29 (163 earned runs relinquished). Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 2.10 (309 strikeouts against 147 bases on balls). They have relinquished 37 dingers and they surrender 4.86 runs per 9 innings (4th in KBO).

During his career, Choi has allowed 298 base hits while he has earned 243 strikeouts in 290 innings pitched. Choi (21-14 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a 4.18 ERA while allowing 9.2 hits per 9 innings. He has allowed a total of 135 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.378 and having a FIP of 4.8. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.38 and he has gone up against 1,261 batters in his career.

Who will win tonight's KBO game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kia (+134)

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