I’m sure no English media outlet in Beijing will bother to do this, so here’s a position by position breakdown on tonight’s game. I watched both Korea vs. Cuba exhibitions in Seoul early this month and have seen most of the other Korean team games on TV. It’s still a small sample, but believe me, in the world of baseball blog information overload, that’s more than most.

I’m wondering if this game will get any coverage in the West. It’ll be a shame if it doesn’t, but if you find yourself in just that position you can follow it online via updates here.

Catcher:Korea’s starter Jin Kap-young was injured during the tournament and has been replaced by Kang Min-ho. Kang has had a breakout season offensively in the KBO, but is not the defensive presence that Jin is. Ariel Pestano on the other hand is a very good defensive catcher, that could loom large as Korea loads the top of its lineup with two quick leadoff style hitters. Pestano isn’t great with the bat but is having a solid Olympics (.259/.350/.556).

Advantage: Cuba

Firstbase:Lee Seung-yeop’s dramatic HR in yesterday’s game somewhat makes up for the horrid Olympics he’s been having (.154/.267/.308). Cuba’s regular firstbaseman Alexander Mayeta has also struggled and has found himself on the bench for two straight games in favor of Hector Olivera. Olivera is a faster, slappy hitter, as opposed to Mayeta, who is a power guy. Olivera is also 5 for 13.

Advantage: Even

Secondbase:This is where Cuba begins to look very tough. Yuliesky Gourriel isn’t Cuba’s best player, but would probably start for a MLB team. He’s had a down tournament (.258/.378/.323), but is a very dangerous hitter and a solid defender. Ko Min-yeong is one of my favorite Korean players and is somewhat of a similar player to Gourriel. Similar, but slightly less.

Advantage: Cuba

Shortstop:Eduardo Paret is excellent defensively and has a plus bat. Kim Min-jae is a very average shortstop in my eyes and it perplexes me he was brought as basically an unchallenged starter. He’s not bad with the glove, but he’s batting .000 on the tournament. There aren’t many good shortstops in Korea, but there are several good young shortstops coming out of high school. But  one of them is going to Chicago. Tee-hee.

Advantage: Cuba

Thirdbase:Kim Dong-joo is a savvy veteran hitter and fields his position well. Michel Enriquez is a similar player and one of the few Cubans that will take a walk. It’s basically a toss up, but I’m going to give the advantage to Kim, who thrives on pressure.

Advantage: Korea

Leftfield:Kim Hyun-soo has been starting recently and smacking the ball around at a .435 clip. Problem is, he’s very young and emotional and hasn’t played in this kind of environment before. During yesterday’s game versus Japan he was rolling his eyes and getting huffy about strike calls. Frederich Cepeda on the other hand is, like everyone else on this Cuban team, a veteran who’s seen it all. More importantly he’s stroking the ball 348/.529/.739 and has scored 11 runs.

Advantage: Cuba

Centerfield:This would be a great place for Korea to get an advantage, beacuse Lee Jeong-wook is electric. He’s a great fielder, is blazing fast and has a little pop. Unfortunately this is also where one of Cuba’s best players starts. Giorbis Duvergel is another world-class athlete — fast and powerful –he’s a little like Grady Sizemore and would likewise challenge 20/20 in the bigs. I’ll never forget seeing Duvergel gun down Lee Jeong-wook at the plate during the first exhibition in Seoul. I’ve never seen a throw like that.

Advantage: Cuba

Rightfield:What can you do? Korea’s outfield is solid. Since inserting Kim in left Ichiro-clone Lee Yong-kyu has moved to right. He’s fast, has great range and can get on base. He’s been one of Korea’s best hitters (.458/.500), but this is where Alexei Bell, arguably Cuba’s best offensive player starts. He’s crushing the ball and is 15 for 29 with three doubles, three triples and a HR. Are you kidding me?

Advantage: Cuba

DH:Finally some relief for Korea. Lee Dae-ho has been the team’s best hitter. He’s tied for the Olympic-lead with three HRs, and is slugging .905. Cuba’s Alfredo Despaigne is also great and is the guy Lee is tied with with three dingers. He’s also one of several free swingers on Cuba and his OBP is .406. Lee’s is .586.

Advantage: Korea

Starting pitching:Both teams will have quick hooks and will go deep into their bullpens if need be. Who starts is less important in my eyes, although Ryu Hyun-jin is very capable of dominating games, so I’ll give a slight advantage to Korea here. I think Adiel Palma might start for Cuba. He’s a lefty and Korea has some trouble with lefties. Actually Cuba does too.

Advantage: Korea

Bullpen:If Ryu doesn’t dominate early expect to see a carousel of relievers ranging from sidearmer Chong Tae-hyon, lefty specialist Kwon Hyuk, and de facto closer Yoon Suk-min. I wouldn’t even be shocked to see Kim Kwang-hyun, who pitched eight innings get tossed  out there. Korea will go to great lengths to win this game. The one guy you won’t likely see is Han Ki-joo, the supposed closer who has a 19.21 ERA in three appearances.

Cuba will also throw anyone, but if they can bridge the gap from the starter to the seventh or eighth expect to see Pedro Lazo. He’s thrown 13 1/3 innings already, but one thing we can glean from all the jokes people make about Lazo’s age (which could be anywhere from 37-100), is that this will be his last Olympics. He’s actually in very good condition right now. Expect him to leave it all out on the field.

Advantage: Even

Final Analysis: As you can see there aren’t many reasons on paper to pick Korea here. Cuba is more talented and more experienced in international play. The fact that this is the final Olympic baseball medal for at least eight years will weigh heavier on this veteran Cuban squad than most of us can know. This also happens to be the biggest game in Korean baseball history. Korea will have a home field advantage in this game, regardless of whether 100 or 10,000 Koreans show up.

I actually think Cuba is the better team, but I also picked Korea to win the gold from the beginning and selfishly and egoicly  would like to see that come to fruition. Remember, Korea did pummel Cuba 15-3 in an exhibition. Sure it was just an exhibition, but it counts for something. More importantly they beat Cuba 7-4 a few days ago. Lets just hope it doesn’t come down to Tinkerbell rolling the dice.

But one thing I’ll mention here in the final final final  analysis  is the fact that Korea, in a way, has already won it’s gold medal in beating Japan. As I poke around through all the sports dailies here I’m noticing there isn’t much coverage of Cuba versus Korea, but there’s  an ton of  coverage of Korea versus Japan. Might that come into play tonight?

I guess if I had to gamble I’d say the chances of Ryu throwing a great game are higher than the Cuban offense exploding against him. My pick is Korea.