Aaron Brooks Outduels Noh Kyung-eun in the KBO

While negotiations between the MLB Player’s Union and the owners of the big-league clubs drag on, the Korean Baseball Organization has begun its season, with a game per day broadcasted on ESPN, helping to fill our need for baseball.

Last night, the Kia Tigers defeated the Lotte Giants 7–3, behind a strong offensive effort against Giants’ starter Noh Kyung-eun and a good outing from starting pitcher Aaron Brooks. Brooks, a 30-year old former MLB pitcher with 170 + innings of experience, outdueled his 36-year old opponent Noh, keeping the Giants’ lineup quiet over 6 innings.

Noh Kyung-eun struggled against the Tigers, allowing 6 runs in 5+ innings of work. It was an unfortunate continuation of his way his season has unfolded, with a 5.57 ERA. He primarily struggled against left-handed hitters, allowing 2 of his 3 home runs to lefties Preston Tucker and Choi Hyoung-woo.

Other than that, Noh struggled to throw consistent strikes, only putting the ball in the strike zone about 61% of the time, which is a lower rate than you’d like to see. If he was a swing and miss guy, getting a lot of chase swings out of the zone, that number would be acceptable, but…