This article is part of our Dream11 Fantasy KBO series.
LG Twins (8-5) vs Samsung Lions (5-9)
Thursday, May 21, 5:30 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Min Ho Lee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Tae In Won (1-0, 5.73 ERA)
Game Preview
The Lions left their negative run of results in the rearview mirror Wednesday with a surprising 3-1 over the Twins, who had Tyler Wilson on the mound, but they still sit near the bottom of the standings with a 5-9 record. The Twins are now 8-5 and share second place of the standings with the Doosan Bears, although both teams trail the league-leading NC Dinos (11-2) by three games. The Twins will try to bounce back by turning to Min Ho Lee for his first start of the season. He's yet to allow an earned run in four innings of relief this year. Meanwhile, the Lions will counter with the 20-year-old Tae In Won, who got rocked for five runs in five innings during his last outing. The Lions will need an improved performance from Won as well as their lineup, which sports the league's second-worst batting average. As a group, they're hitting just .233 with a mere 10 homers.
Injuries
Woo Seok Ko – Twins – 10-Day IL – Knee
May 18 - The Twins announced Sunday that Ko underwent arthroscopic surgery to address meniscus and MCL damage in his left knee, Jae-hyung Roh of The Chosun Ilbo reports. He's expected to be sidelined for at least three months while rehabbing from the procedure. After recording
LG Twins (8-5) vs Samsung Lions (5-9)
Thursday, May 21, 5:30 AM EDT
Projected starters
RHP Min Ho Lee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Tae In Won (1-0, 5.73 ERA)
Game Preview
The Lions left their negative run of results in the rearview mirror Wednesday with a surprising 3-1 over the Twins, who had Tyler Wilson on the mound, but they still sit near the bottom of the standings with a 5-9 record. The Twins are now 8-5 and share second place of the standings with the Doosan Bears, although both teams trail the league-leading NC Dinos (11-2) by three games. The Twins will try to bounce back by turning to Min Ho Lee for his first start of the season. He's yet to allow an earned run in four innings of relief this year. Meanwhile, the Lions will counter with the 20-year-old Tae In Won, who got rocked for five runs in five innings during his last outing. The Lions will need an improved performance from Won as well as their lineup, which sports the league's second-worst batting average. As a group, they're hitting just .233 with a mere 10 homers.
Injuries
Woo Seok Ko – Twins – 10-Day IL – Knee
May 18 - The Twins announced Sunday that Ko underwent arthroscopic surgery to address meniscus and MCL damage in his left knee, Jae-hyung Roh of The Chosun Ilbo reports. He's expected to be sidelined for at least three months while rehabbing from the procedure. After recording a save in one of his two appearances this season, Ko reported the knee injury to the club Thursday before he was sent in for further evaluation. The Twins' medical staff quickly determined that Ko would require a scope to address the knee issue, rendering him unavailable through at least early August. With Ko out of the mix, manager Joong-il Ryu indicated that Sang Gyu Lee will be the Twins' primary closer, while Woo Young Jung is the next man up behind Lee.
Hyung Jong Lee – Twins – Out – Wrist
May 10 - Lee, who suffered a fractured wrist in a preseason game, is expected to return in late May or early June, Newsis News Agency reports. Lee broke the fifth metacarpal in his left hand, but he should be a big part of LG's offense when he returns after hitting .286 with 13 home runs and an .800 OPS last season. Yong-taik Park has received more playing time as a result of Lee's injury.
Jung Hyun Baek – Lions – 10-Day IL – Calf
May 12 - Baek will miss at least a week with soreness in his left calf, KBO analyst Jin-Hyeok Jang reports. It's not clear how much time Baek will miss, but he will be out at least one week according to the KBO's roster rules. Baek garnered the Opening Day start for Samsung, but he has clearly not been himself this season, allowing eight earned runs in 10.0 innings over two starts.
Young Jin Choi – Lions – Out – Not Injury Related
May 13 - Choi was demoted to the minors on Monday, Yoo Jee-ho of Yonhap News Agency reports. A corner infielder by trade, Young played the outfield last week and struggled, leading to the decision by manager Huh Sam-young to send Young to the minors to get more outfield reps. "He's a capable infielder, but he needs more reps in the outfield," Huh said. "We decided to give him some time to work as an outfielder in the minors."
Seong Gyu Lee – Lions – 10-Day IL – Head
May 16 - Lee was removed from Samsung's first-group entry Saturday, according to the team's official Twitter account. It's not certain why Lee was taken off the roster, but it likely has something to do with him taking a pitch off his helmet just a couple nights ago.
Ben Lively – Lions – Day-To-Day – Hand
May 19 - Lively (hand) is not expected to miss his next turn in Samsung's rotation, Sung Yoon Park of SPOTV News reports. Lively left his last start Sunday in the second inning after being struck on his pitching hand by a battled ball, but tests taken since have revealed no more than swelling, and it does not appear he will miss any additional action. Lively is currently lined up to take the ball Saturday against Doosan.
Seunghwan Oh – Lions – Out – Suspension
May 13 - Oh is sitting out the first 30 games of this season for a suspension first levied back in 2016, due to an incident that occurred in November 2014. The former Cardinals and Rockies reliever has a long history of pitching well as a closer for Samsung. A tweet from 2018 from former FanGraphs writer and current Lotte Giants employee Sung Min Kim describes the situation, and a 2016 article from Criz Hombrebueno of CalvinAyre.com details the actual incident the suspension stems from. Upon return, Oh will be a candidate to resume his closing duties for the Lions.
LG Twins Expected Lineup
SP – Min Ho Lee
2. Hyun Soo Kim
7. Ji Hwan Oh
8. Kang Nam Yoo
Samsung Lions Expected Lineup
SP – Tae In Won
1. Sang Su Kim
2. Dong-Yub Kim
3. Ja Wook Koo
4. Won-seok Lee
5. Hak-ju Lee
7. Hun Gon Kim
8. Min-Ho Kang
9. Hae Min Park
Top picks:
Roberto Ramos, Twins: Ramos is back as the main captaincy option for this game and is coming off a 1-for-3 day Wednesday, a game in which he homered against lefty Chae-heung Choi. Ramos leads the league with six homers while posting a .395 average in his first 52 at-bats.
Min Seong Kim, Twins: Kim has gone 1-for-6 over his last two games following a two-game absence last week, but he should be able to bounce back sooner rather than later. His average has fallen to .286, but he makes up for it with a stellar .390 OBP mark.
Tae In Won, Lions: The Lions had to shut down the Twins' offense to get the win Wednesday, and Won will have to be at his best for that to happen again in this contest. The 20-year-old righty is coming off a poor outing – five runs on five innings – but he'd recorded a quality start in his first start of the season. He has some upside to go along with a fair amount of risk.
Ja Wook Koo, Lions: Koo went 2-for-3 during Wednesday's win and has now quietly assembled a six-game hitting streak. The 27-year-old right fielder is hitting .455 with one home run and five RBI over that stretch.
Captaincy Options:
3. Tae In Won
Dream11 Team
P – Tae In Won
C – Kang Nam Yoo
IF – Min Seong Kim (VC)
IF – Roberto Ramos (C)
IF – Ju-hyeon Jung
OF – Hae Min Park
OF – Hyun Soo Kim
OF – Chun Woong Lee
OF – Ja Wook Koo
