Kia Tigers vs Hanwha Eagles Prediction, 7/8/2021 KBO Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kia Tigers vs Hanwha Eagles

Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021

Location: Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, South Korea

TV: MBC Sports+

Odds/Point Spread: Kia (-204) Hanwha (+150)

Nick Kingham and the Hanwha Eagles (27-48, 10th in KBO) host the Kia Tigers (28-43, 9th in KBO) at Hanwha Life Eagles Park on Thursday. The Eagles open this matchup at +150 while the Tigers are priced at -204. The O/U is set at 8.5. The expected starting pitchers will be Ki-Yeong Lim and Nick Kingham.

As a team, the Kia Tigers are scoring 3.9 runs per contest, which has them at 10th in the league. They have accounted for 275 runs while holding a team on-base percentage of .341. The Tigers have tallied 87 two-baggers as a team and have hit 29 balls out of the park. They have 267 runs batted in and 601 base knocks this year, while their batting average sits at .250. Kia has a slugging rate of .333 and have been rung up 455 times, while drawing a walk on 307 occasions.

Tae-Jin Kim is a hitter who should be able to impact this game for Kia. For his career, Kim has hit 6 baseballs out of the park while knocking in 69 runs. Over the course of his time in the league, he faced a pitcher 655 times and also came through with a base hit 177 times. Kim has hit .292 in his time in baseball, in addition to 71 scored runs and an OPS of .751. His slugging percentage sits at .378 and he has totaled 229 bases. He has fanned 99 times and earned a walk on 34 occasions, which has contributed to a .329 OBP.

The Kia Tigers have a total of 1,887 putouts so far this season, as well as 679 assists and 44 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding steady at .983 which ranks 2nd in the league and have 64 double plays. The Tigers have swiped 50 bags and have been thrown out 17 times, which tells us their caught stealing rate is 25.4%.

The Tigers are sitting with a team ERA of 5.48 so far this year (9th in baseball), and their staff has struck out 481 hitters. Kia has allowed 658 base hits (9.4 per 9 innings) as well as 383 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 1.34 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.62. Tigers pitchers have given up 72 long balls in addition to 405 runs in total (2nd in the league).

Lim (31-35 career record) has earned a FIP of 5.53 while he has faced 2,362 opposing hitters in baseball. He has given up 659 hits (11.2 hits per nine innings) with 147 free passes. His ERA is 5.03 (296 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.523. Lim has pitched in 529 innings and has tallied 386 strikeouts during his professional baseball career.

The Hanwha Eagles have accounted for an on-base percentage of .330 in addition to a batting average of .237 for the year. They have struck out on 673 occasions (1st in baseball) and have recorded 577 base hits. Hanwha has a total of 40 home runs for the season and 270 RBIs. The Eagles have a team slugging % of .342 and they are recording 3.92 runs per contest (9th in the league). They have recorded 114 two-baggers, while walking 316 times and putting up 294 runs.

Eun-won Jung is one batter you are going to want to keep your eye on for Hanwha. During the 1,285 official at-bats in his career, Jung has accrued an average at the plate of .267 in addition to 343 hits. He has homered 19 times, in addition to having 486 total bases and a .378 slugging %. Jung has drawn a walk 172 times while going down on strikes on 244 tries. He has compiled 194 runs and has 127 RBIs. His on-base % is .354 and he has a lifetime OPS of .732.

Out of their 77 chances at swiping a bag, they got to the bag before the ball 55 times and been caught 22 times (28.6% caught stealing rate). The Hanwha Eagles have twisted 62 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .979 (10th in the league). The Eagles have accrued 648 assists, 57 errors and have a total of 1,961 putouts this season.

The Hanwha pitching staff have given up 399 runs for the season while having a team ERA of 4.89 (355 earned runs yielded). They have conceded 77 home runs and they concede 5.49 runs per 9 innings (8th in the league). The Eagles have a WHIP of 1.563 in addition to having a FIP of 5.49 as a pitching staff over the course of the season. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.30 (511 strikeouts vs 394 free passes). They have a ranking of 8th in KBO as a staff in total hits conceded with 627.

During his pro baseball career, Kingham has given up 924 hits while earning 816 strikeouts in 962 innings. Kingham (58-59 career win-loss mark) has a 3.93 earned run average and has conceded 8.6 hits per nine innings. He has allowed 420 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.252 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.4. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.91 and he has faced 4,063 opposing hitters during his pro baseball career.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kia (-204)

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