June KBO Statistics

July 3, 8:06 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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This awesome graphic of the KBO teams comes to us courtesy of Craig Robinson at flipflopflyball.com
See the larger version of it here.

My Man in Korea, Eric, has once again compiled last month's Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) stats for all the WBC Team Korea players.

This month we've got the added attraction of a very cool map of the KBO teams, designed by Craig Robinson at flipflopflyball.com.

All kinds of groovy baseball infographics on his site, and he's working on a similar map of the NPB (Japanese league) teams that you'll be seeing on his site (and mine) when it comes out.

OK, let's get to the stats (Don't forget--KBO games can end in ties, hence the fourth line on the team record):

Seoul Heroes (5th place: 34-37-1, 10.5 games back)

OF Taek-keun Lee: .416, 4 HR, 16 RBI. YTD: .341, 7 hr, 35 rbi

If his May (.351, 2 HR, 11 RBI) was a good sign, these June numbers show Lee's on fire. His .463 SLG on the year puts him close to his .470 career-high last year, so we'd expect that power to continue to blossom. He turns 29 this year, giving him some time to continue to grow. Certainly an MVP candidate—though there's a better one below—and his case would be stronger if he played for a better team.

Samsung Lions (6th place: 34-39-0, 11.5 games back)

CP Seung-hwan Oh: 3 Sv, 6.00 ERA. YTD: 17 Sv (1 blown), 4.60 ERA

Oh continues to struggle preventing runs, but he is at least getting the job done. His 1.37 WHIP this year shows his skills are still there, and he's got 49 Ks and 15 BBs in 30.2 IP.

His problem has been the 7 HRs he's coughed up, accounting for a horrible 2.06 HR/9, about twice the acceptable level for a starting pitcher, which is itself higher than what you like to see from a stopper. His BABIP is also a very steep .349, indicating a lack of luck and/or fielding behind him, so that ERA is likely to drop.

Sadly, the Lions continue to drop further behind in the race, so his improvement may not make much of a difference.

LG Twins (7th place: 33-39-3, 12.0 games back)

OF Jin-young Lee: .323, 3 HR, 17 RBI. YTD: .321, 11 HR, 46 RBI

Continuing a season where he's been steady as a rock, Lee dropped a bit in home run production this month—hard to match the 7 he ripped in May—but his overall SLG is very strong at .529.

His 2009 OBP of .407 shows patience, and perhaps the refusal of other pitchers to throw him something in the zone. That often happens when you're the best hitter on the last-place team, as the Twins slip slowly into the cellar.

SP Jung-keun Bong: 3-2, 1.80 ERA. YTD: 6-8, 2.77 ERA

When you put up a 1.80 ERA, you'd like to get a better record than just 3-2, but that's also the fate of the pitcher for the seventh-place team in an eight-team league. This was his best month of the season, and the first in which he logged a winning record, so it's not all bad news.

SK Wyverns (1st: 44-26-5)

C Kyung Oan Park: .339, 4 HR, 7 RBI. YTD: .268, 12 HR, 38 RBI

Eric insisted he'd double- and triple-checked this stat line, and I have to agree with him that it seems baffling. Park's hit 4 HR in each of his first three months, and those lowly 7 RBI indicate he's probably hitting seventh or eighth, with few hitters ahead of him.

If he continues his .500 SLG, it would be his best power year since 2004. He's the KBO leader in HRs for a catcher, but he also turns 37 this month, so I don't think he's going to maintain that pace.

The batting average is definitely a surprise, though every player can have a good month. A quick look at his YTD secondary stats shows that it's not entirely undeserved. He's sporting a .374 OBP on the season, the product of just 39 Ks to go against 35 BBs in 246 PAs. That's a contact rate of 80%, which is fairly solid.

Don't expect too many more months like this, but Park's powerful June may be why the Wyverns are still sitting in first.

INF Keun-woo Jeong: .241, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 8 SB. YTD: .312, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 25 SB

Jeong's hitting numbers continue to slide, after a .433 April and a .312 May, but his 8 SB are still strong. Eric points out that 40 SBs isn't out of the question, and he's even got an outside shot at 50.

But first, he needs to get on base; his batting eye looks solid (1.12 BB/K for the season) which is why he's still got a .408 OBP on the year. So if he gets the playing time, that stolen-base crown looks like a good possibility.

3B/SS Jeong Choi: .259, 3 HR, 10 RBI. YTD: .244, 10 HR, 33 RBI

He's improved his batting average each of the last two months, but Choi's still muddling along in the mid-200s, well below his .273 career BA. He should continue to improve, as the patience is there (.86 batting eye).

SP Kwang-hyun Kim: 3-1, 3.06 ERA. YTD: 10-1, 2.69 ERA

That awesome YTD line is no joke for the ace of the Wyverns. Eric informs me he leads all of KBO in wins and strikeouts, and his ERA is just .01 off the lead. He missed the pitching Triple Crown last season, so he may get some redemption this year.

He did win the 2008 MVP award, which shows you why his team's in first and why he's leading the league. He needs to keep that ERA down—last month's 1.60 helped—but you've got to like his Triple Crown chances.

CP Tae-hyon Chong: 2 Sv (1 blown), 1.69 ERA. YTD: 8 Sv (3 blown), 0.92 ERA

Boy, when Chong loses, he doesn't lose by much. To have 3 blown saves on the year with that microscopic ERA means he's dropping some close games. That's not a good sign for a team in contention, but Chong seems solid overall.

His 1.17 WHIP shows his ERA is deserved, but the odd number that sticks out to me is his 6 intentional walks in only 16 BBs on the year.

I can't quite figure that one out, since it's rare for a manager to call for his closer to walk a guy intentionally unless he's letting guys get on base—but Chong's WHIP shows he's only allowing a little more than one runner per inning to reach.

All I can assume is that either he's giving up lots of doubles among the 33 hits he's given up this year, or that (unlike American managers), his manager doesn't mind bringing Chong into the game with runners on base, then immediately having him give the first batter an intentional pass.

Maybe some of the KBO fans out there can explain this one to me; regardless, IBBs aren't indicative of a pitcher's skillset, so Chong's solid at the back end of the Wyvern bullpen. Those measly 8 saves are just an indication of the blowout wins his team's been getting.

Kia Tigers (3rd place: 38-31-4, 5.5 games back)

OF Yong-kyu Lee has yet to appear in a game since getting hurt in April, so Eric suspects he's out for the year. Unless he starts playing again in July, we'll stop updating him after this.

SP Suk-min Yoon: 0-0, 3.38 ERA. YTD: 2-3, 3.59 ERA, 7 Sv (2 blown)

In June, Yoon shifted to a starting role for several games, but still couldn't pick up a win. His overall numbers are generally strong—71 Ks and just 31 BBs in 67.2 IP are very strong ratios. The 7 HR and 67 hits he's given up in that time are an indication that KBO batters find him fairly hittable, however.

That he hasn't collected any saves may mean the shift to starter is permanent, whether that's because there's another closer on the horizon or he's filling in for an injured or underperforming starter. His numbers are quite strong for a guy in any position, and that versatility makes Yoon extremely valuable to the Tigers.

Hanwha Eagles (Last place: 24-44-3, 19.0 games back)

1B Tae-kyun Kim: .353, 0 HR, 2 RBI. YTD: .302, 6 HR, 16 RBI

If Kim's numbers look poor for the month, you're right. He spent most of the month on the DL, and only appeared in 4 games, though that BA reflects the 6 hits he collected in 17 ABs during those games. His absence has to be part of the reason why Hanwha went 7-18 for the month.

But he's back in the lineup now, and he's hit 2 HR in his last two July games, so Kim's going to do all he can to bring his team out of the doldrums.

3B Bum-ho Lee: .247, 3 HR, 14 RBI. YTD: .263, 14 HR, 51 RBI

Lee's slid far from his .300 April and solid WBC performance, so he's got to be happy to see Kim back to give him some protection in the lineup. Lee shot out of the gate with 9 HRs in April, but that pace has clearly slowed. Maybe if Kim and Lee can both get hot, Hanwha fans might see them climb over at least the LG Twins—though they're seven games back even of that team.

SP Hyun-jin Ryu: 1-4, 3.13 ERA. YTD: 7-6, 3.71 ERA

Just like his teammates, Ryu has suffered the problems of being on a last-place team. To lose four of your five starts for the month, you'd think he'd have a worse ERA than 3.13.

But run support is hard to come by on the Eagles, so Ryu's efforts have been for naught. That 3.71 ERA is due to his 5.24 ERA last month, so there is a bright side to this. His peripherals are fairly strong—90 Ks and 40 BBs in 102 IP is good, but 103 hits and 8 homeruns is weaker, though they're still good ratios.

Expect Ryu to continue to put up good strikeout and control numbers, but Hanwha needs to step it up if he's going to get his record back over .500.

Lotte Giants (4th place: 35-39-0, 11.0 games back)

C Min Ho Kang: .288, 3 HR, 11 RBI. YTD: .242, 9 HR, 26 RBI

It's good to see Kang pick up his BA a bit. He's got a good 82% contact rate, but his plate judgment leaves a bit to be desired (0.56 BB/K). He had a .485 SLG in 2008, so I'd expect his power to pick up a bit—his SLG is just .406 on the year.

1B/3B Dae-ho Lee: .289, 1 HR, 16 RBI. YTD: .282, 13 HR, 53 RBI

Lee's production clearly dipped for the month, power-wise. His SLG still stands at .496 for the season, continuing the decline that saw his SLG dip from .600 to .478. He ended the month with that lone home run, so let's hope that's a good sign for July.

"Big Boy" is one of my favorite KBO players, and I'd hate to see him perform so poorly in his magic age-27 season.

SS Ki-hyuk Park: .193, 5 RBI. YTD: .222, 15 RBI

MLB teams expect a lot from their shortstops, but we should think of the KBO like MLB in the 1970s and 80s—they tolerate a low BA from a shortstop if he's a defensive wizard. That description certainly fits Park, but hitting below .200 is weak, even for him.

Part of his problem is strikeouts: in 189 ABs, he's struck out 40 times, and only walked 19 times. That's not only a below average 78% contact rate, it reflects an extremely poor batting eye of .48. All of these are reflected in that low AB number; he's not playing full-time, and needs to learn some plate discipline to work his way back into the lineup.

Doosan Bears (2nd: 41-28-2, 2.5 games back)

2B Young-min Ko: .250, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB YTD: .196, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 4 SB

An injury kept Ko out for nearly all of June, so that line comes from the two games he did play in. He's back in the lineup now, so he can work on bringing that BA up, to help Doosan back into first place.

OF Hyun-soo Kim: .315, 5 HR, 23 RBI. YTD: .370, 14 HR, 58 RBI

Kim isn't tickling .400 the way he was in May, but he's still having a great year. Eric thinks he's a candidate for 2009 MVP, and his counting numbers are much better than Taek-keun Lee, above. They could make things very interesting down the stretch.

His full slash line for the year is .370/.454/.607, which shows how well he's been hitting. He's got 45 BBs (only two intentional) and 34 Ks, an excellent 1.32 BB/K ratio that shows his great year should continue.

I would say that a strong second half from Kim, combined with a first-place finish for Doosan, would make that MVP a lock.

OF Jong-wook Lee: .000, 0 RBI, 0 SB. YTD: .268, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 12 SB

No, Lee didn't go hitless for the month—well, he did in a way. Like Ko, he spent most of the month on the DL, so his line comes from the one 0-4 game he played in.

With both Lee and Ko healthy, Doosan should be competitive and give the Wyverns a good race in the second half.

Thanks as always to Eric for his fine stats, and keep reading the Asian-American Sports Examiner to see what happens in the rest of the KBO season.