Lotte Giants vs Hanwha Eagles Prediction, 9/18/2021 KBO Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Lotte Giants vs Hanwha Eagles

Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021

Location: Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, South Korea

TV: MBC Sports+

Odds/Point Spread: Lotte (-131) Hanwha (-101)

Jun-won Seo and the Lotte Giants (49-56, 8th in KBO) are headed to Hanwha Life Eagles Park on Saturday where they'll meet the Hanwha Eagles (39-65, 10th in KBO). The Giants open this matchup at -131 while the Eagles are priced at -101. The O/U opens at 9.5. The pitchers who are expected to start are Jun-won Seo and Min-je Chang.

Lotte is slugging .395 and have struck out 737 times, while getting the free base on 460 occasions. They have accrued 520 runs batted in as well as 1,017 hits over the course of the season, while their team batting average comes in at .271. The Giants have accumulated 193 two-baggers as a unit and have knocked 86 balls out of the stadium. They have a total of 541 runs scored and hold an OBP of .354. As a squad, the Lotte Giants are scoring 5.0 runs per contest, which ranks them 7th in baseball.

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Jun-woo Jeon is a hitter who should be able to impact this game for Lotte. For his career, Jeon has hit 167 baseballs over the fence while knocking in 718 runs. In his time in the Majors, he faced a pitcher 5,552 times and got on base with a base knock 1,450 times. Jeon has an average at the plate of .294 for his baseball career, in addition to 824 scored runs and an OPS of .824. His slugging percentage sits at .463 in addition to having tallied 2,282 bases. He has struck out 843 times and has been walked on 462 attempts at the plate, which has contributed to a .361 on-base %.

The Giants have stolen 75 bags and have been caught 35 times, which means their caught stealing percentage comes in at 31.8%. The Lotte Giants are sitting with 2,860 putouts thus far, in addition to 1,033 assists and 66 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .983 which is 2nd in the league and they have twisted 94 double plays.

They have accrued a K/BB ratio of 1.58 and the pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.55. Giants pitchers have conceded 99 long balls and 602 total runs (1st in baseball). Lotte has given up 992 base hits (9.4 per 9 innings) and also 559 earned runs. The Giants hold a team earned run average of 5.28 over the course of the season (10th in KBO), and their staff has struck out 772 hitters.

Seo (12-18 career win-loss mark) has earned a FIP of 5.92 while he has faced 1,103 opposing hitters during his time in baseball. He has given up 293 hits (10.8 hits per nine innings) with 92 free passes. His ERA is 5.44 (147 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.582. Seo has pitched in 243 frames and has tallied 148 strikeouts thus far in his career.

Hanwha has accumulated 64 home runs for the year to go along with 426 RBIs. They have 162 doubles, while taking a walk 480 times as well as scoring 456 runs. The Hanwha Eagles have accumulated a team OBP of .333 and a batting average of .237 on the year. The Eagles have a slugging percentage of .342 and they are recording 4.07 runs per contest (9th in baseball). They have been called out on strikes on 997 occasions (1st in baseball) and have accounted for 859 base hits.

Jae-hun Choi is a hitter who can be a difference maker for Hanwha. Choi has recorded a walk 179 times while fanning on 301 occasions. His OBP sits at .357 and he has earned a career OPS of .716. Over the course of the 1,711 at-bats in his pro career, Choi has a batting average of .264 and has racked up 451 hits. He has recorded 199 runs in addition to having 163 runs batted in. He has hit a home run 16 times, as well as 584 bases in total and a .341 slugging percentage.

The Hanwha Eagles have turned 95 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .977 (9th in Korean baseball). The Eagles have accrued 965 assists, 90 errors and have a tally of 2,933 putouts on the season. Out of their 121 chances at stealing a base, they have been successful 86 times and been caught 35 times (28.9% caught stealing rate).

The Eagles are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.521 and are the owners of a FIP of 5.40 as a staff this year. Their K/BB ratio sits at 1.48 (809 strikeouts against 548 walks). They are currently ranked 7th in the league as a staff in total hits conceded with 938. They have given up 98 dingers and they yield 5.40 runs per 9 innings (8th in KBO). The Hanwha pitching staff have surrendered 587 runs this season and come in with a team ERA of 4.83 (524 earned runs given up).

Thus far in his career, Chang has given up 674 base hits while totaling 361 K's in 534 innings pitched. Chang (24-35 mark in his career) has earned a 5.73 ERA while conceding 11.4 hits per 9 innings. He has allowed a total of 340 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.667 and having a FIP of 6.1. He has a K/BB ratio of 1.66 and he has faced 2,454 opposing hitters in his career.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Lotte (-131)

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