Second Round Preview and Stat Crunch

Let's take a look at what to expect in the second round of the 2011 KBO playoff.

Manager Yang of the Lotte Giants: Ready to Rumble

Combatants:

Lotte Giants, Busan, Korea, 2 League Titles (1984 and 1992), 4 straight playoff appearances. 2011 regular season vitals - 72-56-5, 2nd place in standings and automatic first round bye 

Offensively - .288 team batting average FIRST IN LEAGUE, 1324 safe hits FIRST IN LEAGUE, 713 runs scored FIRST IN LEAGUE, 111 team home runs FIRST IN LEAGUE, 463 walks drawn SIXTH IN LEAGUE, 112 stolen bases FIFTH IN LEAGUE, 836 strikeouts THIRD IN LEAGUE

Defensively - 4.20 team ERA FIFTH IN LEAGUE, 787 strikeouts LAST IN LEAGUE, 1187 innings pitched SIXTH IN LEAGUE, 1256 hits given up SECOND MOST GIVEN UP IN LEAGUE, 106 fielding errors MOST IN LEAGUE, 430 walks given up SECOND IN LEAGUE, 72 wins THIRD IN LEAGUE

SK Wyverns, Incheon, Korea, 3 League Titles (2007, 2008, 2010), 5 straight playoff appearances, 2011 regular season vitals - 71-59-3, third place in standings and winner of first round playoff over Kia Tigers (LWWWX)

Offensively - .268 team batting average FIFTH IN LEAGUE, 1189 safe hits FIFTH IN LEAGUE, 589 runs scored FIFTH IN LEAGUE, 102 team home runs THIRD IN LEAGUE, 491 walks drawn FOURTH IN LEAGUE, 111 stolen bases SIXTH IN LEAGUE, 915 strikeouts SIXTH IN LEAGUE

Defensively - 3.53 ERA SECOND IN LEAGUE, 1028 strikeouts FIRST IN LEAGUE, 1230.1 innings pitched FIRST IN LEAGUE, 1025 hits given up LEAST GIVEN UP IN LEAGUE, 70 fielding errors SECOND LEAST IN LEAGUE, 554 walks given up SECOND MOST IN LEAGUE, 74 wins SECOND IN LEAGUE

STAT NOTES: Lotte is the clear winner offensively. Lotte has a slew of first places in offensive stat categories. SK's offensive numbers are below average for an 8 team league. It is clear SK kept pace with its pitching. Despite an unsteady rotation due to injuries SK managed arguably the best pitching performance of the 8 team league this year. Lotte's pitching leaves a lot to be desired. Statistically, this is an extremely uneven match up ironically balanced by each team's wins totals. 

Players of Note:

Lotte - Lee Dae-ho - Korea baseball superstar comes off another stellar year. .357 (Magnum) batting average, 27 home runs, 113 RBI's sets standards for this team and the league as well. He has not played since October 6 due to his team's first round bye. He is entering the post season in a slight slump. He has 1 RBI, 0 home runs, and 2 hits in his last 5 games played. 

Lotte - Jang Won-joon - Mirroring Lee Dae-ho as he dominates his team in all defensive categories. However, his team leading 15 wins, 3.14 ERA and 129 strikeouts is slightly less impressive league wide as his offensive team mate. Jang is entering the post season on a tear. He has won 4 games in a row and let in only 2 runs in his last 5 starts. SK's weak offensive will not have a good time with dude.

SK - Choi Jeong - Playoff hero of past seasons was the best offensive player for SK this year. He hit 20 home runs with .310 batting average and batted in 75. Choi leading a team with mediocre numbers like this shows how weak SK is offensively. Completely invisible in the first round, he broke out of his 0 for 12 series slump with a 2 for 3 4 RBI game in SK's game 4 clincher against Kia. Is the clutch still in the man?

SK - Song Eun-bum - SK's pitching is the definition of team spirit. Song is this team's 2011 ace by default, but his 8-8 3.34 ERA is not going to have a lot of major league scouts calling. The rest of the team did okay so SK pitched well as a team. Song pitched game two of the first round playoff against Kia. He went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs for the win. This win was SK's first win of the series and they never lost again after to advance to this current round.

Notes: 10/16, 10/17, 10/19, 10/20, 10/22 are the series dates. Games 1 and 5 (if necessary are 2pm starts, the rest are 6pm starts. Lotte's game 1 starter is Jang Won-joon, SK's game 1 starter is Kim Gwang-hyun, this is the first time SK and Lotte have met in the post season, regular season series went to SK which won 10 times, lost 8 times, and couldn't settle once, Giants however are 2-1 over SK in their last 3 meetings, Naver reader poll reports 73.8% believe Lotte will win (5,818,601 votes).

LET'S DO THIS!