KBO Picks & Odds (September 16): The Bears Flex on the Dinos

• NC has lost three straight and has fallen into a tie for top spot with Kiwoom
• The Heroes face Lotte’s Dan Straily who they’ve managed to score just twice against in 15 innings 
• Find odds and best bets for the KBO’s five-game slate on September 16th in the article below

NC picked a bad time to fall into a slump. Losers of three straight, the Dinos are now tied with Kiwoom atop the KBO standings and could potentially relinquish top spot for the first time since early May with another loss.

The Dinos were hammered by Doosan 7-3 on Tuesday and will look to avoid the series sweep when they meet again on Wednesday at 5:30 am EST.

 KBO Odds: Wednesday, September 16th

Odds as of Sept. 15th.

The defending champion Bears opened up as -152 moneyline favorites and are still very much in the hunt for first place. They sit just 3 games back of NC and Kiwoom, and will face the Heroes six more times in the final four weeks.

Dinos Bats Have Gone Cold

A big part of the Dinos recent struggles has been their lack of offense. They’ve averaged just three runs per outing during their losing streak, which is less than half of what they typically average on a per game basis (6.24). They’ll have their hands full on Wednesday, as Doosan will give the ball to Chris Flexen.

Chris Flexen made a strong return to the mound today in the #KBO, striking out 6 in 3 IP. His 4-seam fastball has the highest FB whiff% of pitches thrown 100+ times at 23.6% #KBOLeague (curveball/4-seam/4-seam) pic.twitter.com/9uhcvhYb0n

— Ben Howell (he/him) (@benhowell71) September 9, 2020

The right-hander toed the rubber for the first time in nearly two months last week, and looked sharp doing so. He struck out six in just 3 innings of work, and is expected to be stretched out a little further in his second start. He’s faced NC twice this season, and has struck out 17 Dinos in just 13 innings.

NC will counter with Young Gyu Kim, who’ll make his seventh start of the season. The 20-year-old has spent the majority of 2020 in the bullpen, and was atrocious in his only appearance versus the Bears. Kim surrendered seven runs and five hits in just 1 inning, in a 12-3 Doosan win back in June.

He’s allowed six runs and nine hits in his last 7 innings as a starter, and hasn’t posted a victory all season.

Pick: Doosan Bears -1.5 (+124)

Can Straily Stymie Kiwoom Again?

As for Kiwoom, they’ll face their nemesis Dan Straily for the third time this season. Straily is 1-0 versus the Heroes, allowing just two runs and striking out 20 over 15 innings.

Don't let the MLB season starting distract you from the fact that Dan Straily is dominating the #KBO and now has a 1.88 ERA (ranks 2nd in the league). #LotteGiants @SMKim_Giants @AlexFast8 @danstraily67's final line line today: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 8 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP

All 8 Ks: pic.twitter.com/mOvbfj9VVO

— Connor Newcomb (@ConnorNewcomb_) July 25, 2020

The news isn’t all bad for Kiwoom fans however, as Straily has struggled badly in three of his past five starts. Last time out, he gave up seven runs and eight hits to Samsung, marking the third time since mid-August he’s allowed at least five runs in an outing.

The Heroes meanwhile, have been smashing on offense averaging 7.25 runs in their past eight games. They’ll send Hyun Hee Han to the mound, who’s allowed two runs or less in two of his last three starts. Han struck out 10 Giants in his only start versus Lotte this season, and should be able to contain an offense that averages just 4.65 runs per game on the road.

Pick: Kiwoom Heroes moneyline (+100)