For the first two weeks of the season, everything seemed to be going the NC Dinos’ way. The Dinos, the perennial bridesmaids of the Korean baseball world, have come within bunting distance of the KBO series title for the past four seasons, but never quite managed to go the distance. It looked like things were going to be different this season – and then it all went wrong.
The Dinos, established in 2011, were promoted to the KBO in 2013. After a respectable debut season in 2013, the Dinos advanced to the postseason in 2014. They have continued to do so ever since. This year could be the first year since their debut season that the Dinos fail to reach the postseason, as they are currently second to last.
The NC Dinos and their rollercoaster ranking
Things started going wrong for the Dinos at the start of April. The team fell into a nine-game losing streak from April 5, when they lost to the Samsung Lions. The losing streak ties the record for the worst in the club’s history, and proved to be a sign of things to come.
The Dinos’ biggest weakness this season is the pitchers. Although looking at the statistics it doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Only three Korean pitchers – Son Min-han, Lee Tae-yang and Lee Jae-hak – in the club’s history have ever picked up more than 10 wins in a season. After Son retired in 2015 and Lee Tae-yang was released due to a match fixing scandal, things weren’t looking good for the Dinos.
As the Dinos don’t have the strongest starting pitchers, they’ve spent years improving the overall strength of their bullpen. During the 2016 season, the Dinos led the league in bullpen ERA, at 4.15. Then in 2017, they finished second at 4.32. But you can tell that they still need more work. Especially from the odds we are seeing in sports betting for the Dinos.
