KBO Baseball Picks (May 9): Giants, Dinos Remain Unbeaten

• The Korea Baseball Organization is four games into its 2020 season
• All ten teams are in action on May 9, with earlier start times than we saw during the week
• Get best bets for Saturday’s slate, below

If you want proof that the Korea Baseball Organization can be wild, weird and unpredictable, here’s some: the only unbeaten teams that remain are a team that barely scraped into last year’s playoffs (NC Dinos, with a .514 win percentage in 2019) and a team that finished dead last (Lotte Giants, .340).

Also, in Friday morning’s five-game slate, the underdogs went 4-1. But hey, nobody said this was an exact science.

Here’s a look at the games coming up on Saturday, May 9. Keep in mind that all five start at 4:00 AM ET (1:00 AM PT).

KBO Odds: Saturday, May 9

Odds taken May 8.

Each team has played only four games so far. Therefore, the sample sizes are microscopic. But using a combination of numbers from this season and last, we’ll analyze which games/bets you should have your eyes on.

Can’t Ignore The Giants

Look, it’s still very early, but the Lotte Giants have raced out to a 4-0 record, with a healthy plus-15 run differential, and it’s time to pay attention.

The Giants are absolutely shelling the baseball right now. They have a league-high .313 batting average, with six players who’ve accrued an OPS above .900. That includes ex-MLB infielder Dixon Machado, who is 6-for-15 (.400) with two home runs, six RBIs and a stolen base.

https://twitter.com/DetroitMoments/status/1257658118277824513?s=20

Lotte scraped by with a 10-inning, 9-8 win over the SK Wyverns on Friday. Now, the Giants are in an interesting spot on Saturday, with minus odds as 1.5-run underdogs. They’re definitely worth consideration. Also, the average run total in their first four games is a league-high 12.25 per game, so you’ll want to pick the over, too.

Pick: Lotte Giants +1.5 (-160); Over 9.5 runs (-120)

What To Do About The Dinos?

While Lotte has been dominant at the plate, the NC Dinos have punished opponents on the mound.

They are miles ahead of the league in ERA (2.50), WHIP (1.06) and opponent batting average (.172). That’s seriously dominant stuff, though of course the sample is only four games.

Saturday’s starter, Young-gyu Kim, struggled to a 5.29 ERA in his first KBO season last year. But the 20-year-old finished the 2019 campaign strong (2.95 ERA in his final 10 outings), which is a good sign.

Jin-sung Kang has mashed a #DinoDinger for the #NCDinos. Really making the LG Twins pay for errors today. 13-4 Dinos #KBO pic.twitter.com/vuhzBI7eQj

— NC Dinos UK (@NCDinosUK) May 8, 2020

On the other side, the LG Twins are starting to slump. They’ve lost three in a row and they own the KBO’s worst team ERA (6.69) — as well as the third-worst batting average (.252). This is not a team you want to back right now.

Pick: NC Dinos -1.5 (+140)

No Offense Necessary

I don’t know who will win on Saturday between the KIA Tigers and Samsung Lions. I’m not even going to venture an educated guess.

Tyler Saladino with a moonshot for his 1st career #KBO HR. #SamsungLions pic.twitter.com/n3PFX2wV1C

— KBO Collections ⚾ (@kbocollections) May 8, 2020

But this game features two of the offenses that have struggled most so far (Lions have a .153 batting average). And yet the total is set at 9.5 runs. For a pair of teams that have combined for 22 runs in eight games, that’s too darn high.

Pick: Under 9.5 runs (-110)