KBO Predictions and Analysis – Friday, July 2 (2021)

We finally had a full round of South Korean baseball and the weather should be great on Friday too. That means five games will take place and I cover them all in my KBO predictions for July 2.

The main factors I’ve considered are the latest form of all sides and the team news, including the projected starting pitchers.

Here’s a list of all fixtures that I’ve included here.

The LG Twins started the week with a tough series against KT Wiz Suwon, so they should be happy to face the worst team in the country next.

Nothing is working for Hanwha at the moment, so it’s hard to see how the team can get a result against one of the strongest teams in the country.

Casey Kelly is expected to start for the Twins and he should handle Hanwha’s offense with ease. I don’t think the Eagles can contain the opposition and their bullpen has been especially poor. Backing the Twins is the sensible choice here.

The SSG Landers are struggling badly with injuries of starting pitchers right now and they signed Sam Gaviglio to help them. The former MLB player is expected to make his debut on Friday and his performance by the end of the campaign could be crucial for the squad’s ambitions.

The good news is that the pitcher will have the chance to play against one of the worst teams in the league. The Giants are decent offensively, though, so they might score some runs.

The problem is that they simply can’t defend and the Landers have all the means to punish them. It’s a tricky game, but SSG should be able to win.

Many will be surprised to see that I prefer Kia here, but hear me out. The Tigers just beat the reigning champions NC Dinos and their confidence should be high.

Yoo Hee-Kwan has four defeats in six attempts on an 8.45 ERA. He simply can’t be trusted and even a team like the Tigers should be able to score against him.

Another good sign is that the underdog is sending a decent starting pitcher who has respectable stats in 2021.

My KBO predictions for games involving the Kiwoom Heroes have been far off a few times recently, so backing them to beat the top team in South Korea is probably a bold move.

And yet, I simply can’t resist the temptation when I see that Eric Jokisch is expected to start for the Heroes. The American has been among the best pitchers in the league and has nine victories already.

He can stop KT Wiz, while I’m not sure that William Cuevas can do the same with the Heroes. He has been inconsistent this season, so Kiwoom should have more than enough chances to score some runs and win Friday’s encounter.             

The Samsung Lions just grabbed a tough win over the SSG Landers to close the gap to the KBO leaders. It took an extra inning but the team eventually prevailed by a single run.

That should boost Samsung’s confidence and there’s another huge factor here. The team is expected to use the much stronger starting pitcher for Friday’s game.

He should be able to lead his team to victory against the inconsistent NC Dinos on Friday. My only worry is Samsung’s bullpen because the champions have the habit of scoring late. Still, the Lions should have a solid advantage by the time Buchanan steps out.