DFS KBO: Friday Cheat Sheet

Your success on Thursday's KBO slate likely depended in large part on your choice of pitcher. If you selected Drew Rucinski, you were rewarded with eight strikeouts and six shutout innings. If you went with the previously unimpressive Chan Heon Jung, you were rewarded with one of the performances of the season, as he struck out 11 Lions over seven shutout innings while allowing just five baserunners. On the other hand, Tae Hoon Kim was lit up for seven runs in just 3.1 innings, and Min Kim fared even worse, allowing eight runs while recording just seven outs. On the offensive side, the Bears, Dinos and Twins all reached double digits, leading to plenty of quality stacks. Friday's slate, which marks the beginning of the 10th series of the season, looks to be fairly short on reliable arms, so finding the right one will be key, as will finding the right stacks out of several options.

Pitchers

Expect deservedly sky-high ownership rates for Mike Wright ($9,100 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "NC Starting P"), as he's facing an anemic Eagles offense which has scored a league-worst 3.5 runs per game this season and which has scored just 2.7 runs per game over an ongoing 11-game losing streak. Wright didn't actually dominate the Eagles the last time he faced them, allowing a season-high four runs in six innings, but there's good reason to believe he'll have an easier time in this one. He's breezed through his first five KBO starts, recording a 3.21 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. A .240 BABIP and an 85.5 percent strand rate do offer some reason for at least mild concern going forward, but I'm willing to overlook those and focus on his solid 20.5 percent strikeout rate and strong chance at a win given the quality of his opponent Friday.

Won Tae Choi ($8,900 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P") doesn't have the easiest matchup against Roberto Ramos and the Twins' fourth-ranked lineup, but he's worth a look nonetheless as the slate's only other truly trustworthy starter. After cruising to a 3.38 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP last season, the 23-year-old has picked up right where he left off this year, posting a 3.67 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP through his first five starts. He's not a huge strikeout guy, as his 17.7 percent strikeout rate is very close to league average, but his low 5.3 percent walk rate helps him avoid big innings.

Things get dicey quickly after Wright and Choi. Ricardo Pinto ($7,500 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") isn't particularly reliable, but he's worth consideration given the alternatives. His 4.71 ERA and 1.78 WHIP through his first five KBO starts are mediocre at best, and his 17:17 K:BB is far short of even that low bar, but there's reason to believe he's better than that. The former MLB pitcher has at least looked a little better in his last two starts, allowing a combined four earned runs in 13 innings (though his 9:7 K:BB represents only a modest improvement). It's hard to select him with much confidence, but he could be decent enough against the seventh-ranked Lions lineup, a unit which won't get to take advantage of their hitter-friendly home park in this series.

Top Targets

Preston Tucker ($6,100 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) and the Tigers narrowly missed a stack recommendation here against Bears righty Young Ha Lee, who had solid numbers last season but who's struggled to a 5.14 ERA, a 1.82 WHIP and a 17:19 K:BB through his first five starts this season. Whether you stack Tigers or not, Tucker is worthy of inclusion her as he typically is whenever you can find the budget space. He's bounced back from a slightly cold stretch that followed his incredibly hot start and has now homered in two straight games, tying him for second in the league with eight bombs. He's still atop the leaderboard with 29 RBI, and he's making a ton of contact, striking out just 11.4 percent of the time, a near match for his 11.0 percent strikeout rate from his KBO debut last year.

Mel Rojas ($6,700 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) is extremely expensive on DraftKings, though that might drive his ownership rate down if you can find a way to fit him in. On FanDuel, he's merely one of a handful of similarly expensive options and looks like one of the best options among that group. He's riding a nine-game hitting streak, a stretch which has brought his season slash line to a remarkable .419/.466/.743. He's homered four times in his last four games, giving him eight on the season, tied with Tucker and Sung Bum Na for second in the league. He did leave in the middle of Thursday's game against the Bears, so you'll want to make sure he's starting before selecting him, but his team was down 11 runs at the time, so that might have been for nothing more than a well-deserved rest.

Bargain Bats

The Wyverns make for a potentially interesting stack against veteran righty Dae Woo Kim, whose 4.50 ERA this season is respectable enough but whose 7:7 K:BB and 5.99 career ERA sure aren't. For a cheap way to grab a piece of their lineup, consider Soo Kwang Noh ($3,300 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel), who's playable on DraftKings but particularly budget-friendly on FanDuel. His price tag is in line from his .250/.326/.312 line from last season, but it's not a good fit for his .322/.369/.475 line this year. He could be a force on the basepaths as well, as he stole at least 25 bases in each of the last two seasons but has only two steals this year.

Ricardo Pinto was mentioned as a pitcher worth consideration above, but he's far from an imposing opponent. If you don't select him, consider starting Tyler Saladino ($3,900 DraftKings, $8 FanDuel) against him as a mid-priced option at third base or shortstop on DraftKings or a budget choice on FanDuel. His price on both sites looks quite cheap given that he's rebounded from a slow start to move up to a deserved role as the Lions' number three hitter. His hitless day Thursday ended a streak of five straight multi-hit games and four straight multi-RBI contests, a run which has dragged his season slash line up to a strong .274/.365/.507.

Stacks to Consider

Dinos vs. Shi Hwan Jang: Sung Bum Na ($5,400 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel), Min Woo Park ($4,800 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Myung Gi Lee ($3,000 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)

The league-leading Dinos' lineup shows up quite frequently in this space, but there's rarely been a better day to build a Dinos stack than this one. You don't have to look much past Jang's 6.93 ERA or 2.11 WHIP through his first five starts this season to see why. A .438 BABIP is undoubtedly partially to blame for his struggles, and he's struck out a strong 24.2 percent of opposing batters, but that's come with a poor 14.1 percent walk rate. It's not as if he's been good in recent seasons, either, as he struggled to a 4.95 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP last year even with the de-juiced ball.

Na leads this stack, as he usually does with a righty on the mound for the opposition. The slugger is having the sort of season he needed to have if he's to fulfill his dream of making the jump to MLB this offseason, hitting .333/.429/.627. His eight homers tie him for second in the league, while his 24 runs tie him for the league lead.

Second baseman Park gets a boost from his positional eligibility on DraftKings, but he's worth a look regardless of where he plays. His .320/.393/.480 slash line is strong across the board, though his batting average and on-base percentage have actually been even higher across his eight-year career, as he owns lifetime marks of .327 and .409 in those two categories. The leadoff man should have plenty of chances to score in this one, as he's done 20 times already this season.

Lee is included here primarily for his price and lineup position. There are plenty of much stronger Dinos bats worth considering if you have the budget space, but Lee will get the platoon advantage while sliding into the second spot in the order between Park and Na. The veteran outfielder doesn't do much other than hit for average, but he's done that at a .282 clip this season and owns a .312 career batting average in his 11-year KBO career.

Giants vs. Min Soo Kim: Ah Seop Son ($3,800 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel), Dae Ho Lee ($4,300 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Chi Hong An ($3,000 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)

It's not every day you face a pitcher with a 14.14 ERA or a 3.14 WHIP. Those numbers have come in just seven innings for Kim this season, all in relief, but they hint at what we could expect to see Friday. Batters are hitting .513 against him, and while it's taken a .581 BABIP to get there, you don't generally get to a number that poor via pure bad luck. Kim's numbers in 81.2 innings in a swingman role last season don't offer much reason for optimism, as he struggled to a 4.96 ERA. He struck out just 15.8 percent of opposing batters while allowing 1.1 HR/9 (well above the league's overall 0.7 HR/9 mark). The Giants' offense may be struggling this year, sitting ninth in scoring, but a date with Kim could snap them out of their funk.

The Giants are very right-handed, which is unfortunate against the right-handed Kim, though he's been poor enough that I'm willing to stack them nonetheless. Son is typically the only lefty who bats anywhere near the top of the Giants' order, making him an obvious inclusion in this stack. He's gotten on base at an excellent .444 clip this season, the product of a .330 batting average and a 17.9 percent walk rate. That's helped him into a tie for seventh in the league with 21 runs this season, quite an achievement given that the Giants as a whole have scored the second-fewest runs in the league.

Lee has generally been overshadowed on DraftKings among a very deep pool of first basemen, though he's quite cheap on FanDuel and gets to compete at the much broader generic infield slot. Even at age 37, he can still hit, as evidenced by his .333/.405/.458 slash line. He's only homered twice this year, but he'll have a decent shot to add a third in this game given Kim's home run problems. He managed 34 and 37 homers in 2017 and 2018, respectively, before the ball was dejuiced, so he could finish around 30 again this season with the ball looking lively again.

An hasn't been anything special this season and won't get the platoon advantage, but the matchup and the fact that he jumped up from fifth to third in the Giants' last game makes him worth a look Friday. The second baseman's .257/.315/.356 slash line this year is modest at best, but he has a track record as a fairly strong bat, hitting .315 or better in three straight seasons while breaking the 20-homer mark twice. He's found a way to be productive this year even while struggling at the plate, stealing a league-leading seven bases, already tying his best mark since 2014.