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Hanwha Eagles (5:30AM ET Naver TV) – I’ll go with a pair of KBO plays on Friday morning and finish up in the Capital City where the LG Twins kick off a three-game weekend set with the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. 

I’m finally ready to fully buy back in on this Hanwha team and I’ll go ahead and start here.  In typical Hanwha fashion it’s been a roller coaster start to the season, the Eagles were the first team to have to replace an import with Burch Smith going down opening weekend and we have already seen his replacement, Ricardo Sanchez, make his KBO debut last week.  Hanwha’s import bat, Brian O’Grady, is hitting just .130 and has already been sent to the minors once and head coach Carlos Subero was fired last week.  I think the firing of Subero was the right move, they promoted their minor league manager (who the players seem to like) and the effort has been far better out of Hanwha ever since.  Since the firing Hanwha won a series with Samsung, split with SSG and was somewhat unfortunate to win only one and not two games against Lotte earlier this week.  I think Hanwha comes in here with a lot of confidence, the Eagles were just completive with SSG so I don’t think they are completely overmatched against a strong LG team.  LG is dealing with some injures right now and I have reason to believe the run head start can hold up for Hanwha here.

LG gives the ball to import starter Casey Kelly, he’s been one of the best pitchers of the last half decade in KBO but his numbers are on the decline so far in 2023 and it’s no longer a given that Kelly will shut teams down.  Kelly has given up at least one run in every single start this season, amazingly he’s yet to strikeout more than four batters in any start and Hanwha has some talented hitters that should have success here.  Kelly will go 6 or 7 but at some point will be out and there could be runs late here for Hanwha as LG has a tired bullpen and has also been without closer Woo-Suk Go.  LG’s bullpen has the worst numbers they have had in years as the Twins team bullpen ERA is now over four (4.03) for the first time in recent memory.  Since there’s no guarantee LG will be able to slam the door now it leaves the backdoor open for Hanwha in their “extra at-bat” should it come to it.  That might be the case if Kelly is on, if he’s off I fully expect Hanwha to win here.

Hanwha hitting Kelly is a big key to this game for the Eagles but pitching could just as easily get it done as Hanwha gives the ball to 19 year old phenom Dong-Ju Moon.  This kid is filthy, he’s still working on his command and figuring out how to pitch but his stuff is the best among all the teenage prospects currently in KBO.  Moon’s numbers are also inflated by the fact he was uncharacteristically hammered by SSG to the tune of 7 runs on 7 hits in just 2.1 innings last time out.  That’s certainly not a pretty stat line but I’m willing to give him a pass as SSG has the top lineup in KBO and destroys right handed pitching.  LG hasn’t seen Moon yet this season (which is typically advantage pitcher) and Moon will want to bounce back from the SSG start so I see a focused effort for the youngster here.  Hanwha has all of their top bullpen arms available so I expect 5-6 strong innings from Moon and the Eagles top relievers to be able to keep this one within striking distance.

The Hanwha team I’ve seen the past week or so is what I thought this team would be this season and there’s reason to believe the Eagles trend toward the .500 mark going forward.  LG will represent a tough challenge for Hanwha but they were very competitive in a weekend series with the Twins earlier this season.  Hanwha will steal at least one game in this series at Jamsil, in this spot we are perfectly fine with a one run loss and I’m willing to bet on at minimum a close game here.  Play on Hanwha Eagles +1.5 (+100) for 4% (or 4 units)