DFS KBO: Friday Cheat Sheet

Thursday's KBO action saw the home sides win all six games, including a doubleheader sweep by the Twins over the Wyverns. Combined with the Bears' loss to the league-leading Dinos, that brought the Twins back into a tie for second place, though both the Bears and Twins are still a full five games. Elsewhere, Jun Won Seo's five shutout innings helped the Giants to a 5-0 win over the Eagles, who have now lost an incredible 17 straight games, while the Wiz offense emerged from a slump to score 13 runs against the Tigers, including eight against the previously effective Min Woo Lee. Friday's slate brings with it a new set of series, highlighted by a top-four showdown between the Dinos and Heroes. The Heroes will be looking to do better than when those teams last met, as the Dinos swept that series by a total score of 26-11. As of writing, rain appears to be in the forecast for the southern part of the country Friday, potentially threatening the Wiz and Lions in Daegu and the Heroes and Dinos in Changwon, though the rest of the games look safe. Friday's set of starting pitchers is quite top-heavy, so there should be ways to separate yourself from the crowd without taking a huge risk.

Pitchers

The pitching depth on this slate means you shouldn't feel compelled to pay up for Chang Mo Koo ($9,600 DraftKings, $30 FanDuel as "NC Starting P"), but he could still be the best value on the slate even as easily the most expensive option on both platforms. It's hard to overstate how dominant he's been this season, as he's allowed just three total runs through six starts, giving him a 0.66 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. No one can keep up an ERA quite that low over the course of a season, and the Heroes aren't pushovers, ranking fifth in scoring, but Koo's supporting stats are similarly excellent, as he's striking out 29.7 percent of opposing hitters while walking just 6.1 percent.

Drew Gagnon's ($7,400 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") 3.48 ERA through six starts is more good than great, but his underlying numbers suggest he's been pitching like one of the best pitchers in the league. His 29.0 percent strikeout rate and 5.1 percent walk rate are right in line with Koo's excellent numbers, and he's only given up a single home run. It looks as though some poor sequencing luck, which shows up in his low 61.2 percent strand rate, may be the only thing keeping his ERA above 3.00. He's been handed a relatively easy assignment Friday against a Wyverns lineup which has fallen back to ninth in scoring after averaging just 2.7 runs over their last seven games.

Dan Straily ($7,600 DraftKings, $26 FanDuel as "Lotte Starting P") has been excellent all season, as evidenced by his 2.23 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 26.1 percent strikeout rate. He's been even better over his last three starts, allowing a combined one run in 18.1 innings while striking out 18 and walking five. He'll get the advantage of playing in the league's most pitcher-friendly park, Jamsil Baseball Stadium, in this one. While the Twins' fourth-ranked lineup isn't the easiest assignment, Straily's last two starts came against the third-ranked Wiz and second-ranked Bears, who managed just a single run in 12 innings against him.

A quick note on a potentially conspicuous non-recommendation: Won Joon Choi ($4,000 DraftKings, $22 FanDuel as "Doosan Starting P") may be tempting as an incredibly cheap option on DraftKings who gets to face the awful Eagles. While he could be a good bet to produce on a per-inning basis, there's little chance he lasts long enough to record a win or a high point total Friday, as he's pitched in relief all season. He hasn't thrown more than 20 pitches since May 31 and hasn't thrown more than 30 since May 19.

Top Targets

Mel Rojas ($6,500 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) rebounded from a rare cold stretch, in which he went just 1-for-14 over four games, with a four-hit performance as part of the Wiz's big win Thursday. He's no longer hitting over .400, like he was prior to his brief cold patch, but it's not as if any part of his .391/.432/.703 season slash line is anywhere close to poor. He ranks second in the league with 32 RBI and is tied for second with 10 homers. His Wiz are worth stack consideration (provided their game goes through as scheduled) against Lions lefty Seung Min Lee, an 18-year-old who will be making his KBO debut.

While Dan Straily has been good all season and especially good over his last three starts, as discussed above, Roberto Ramos ($4,800 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) has been so great all year that he's virtually matchup-proof and is worth a look in any lineup which doesn't include the Giants' starter. While he's deservedly tied for the most expensive hitter on FanDuel, he's still cheaper than six other first basemen on DraftKings. After posting a .382/.460/.842 slash line in May, he's remained nearly as hot through the first nine games of June, hitting .375/.421/.688 with three homers. He's now homered 13 times on the season, three more than anyone else in the league, putting him on pace for 58.5 bombs over the KBO's 144-game season.

Bargain Bats

Jae Ho Kim ($2,600 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) missed out on the Bears stack discussed below, primarily due to the fact that he bats in the second half of the team's order, as it's best to stack players who hit near each other if at all possible. Given his performance this season and his cheap price, however, he's very much still worth a look whether or not you include his more expensive teammates. His hitless game Thursday followed a six-game stretch in which he went 10-for-20 with seven RBI. His .826 OPS on the season is a big step up from his .734 mark last year, but he's been even better than that in the recent past, posting an .870 OPS in 2018.

Ja Wook Koo ($4,700 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) only fits this category on FanDuel, but he's very much worth a look on that platform. He returned from a thigh injury at the start of the week to grab five hits in the Lions' three-game series against the Heroes, including a two-run homer in Thursday's win. In 14 games this season, he's hitting an excellent .367/.429/.612, and while a .410 BABIP is undoubtedly propping up his numbers, he's been an above-average hitter in each of his six KBO seasons, making him a good value as the number three hitter in the league's most hitter-friendly park. He'll get the platoon advantage against Wiz righty Odrisamer Despaigne, who started the season quite strong before getting lit up for 14 runs on 22 hits in just 10 innings over his last two starts.

Stacks to Consider

Bears vs. Chad Bell: Jose Fernandez ($6,300 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Kun Woo Park ($3,600 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Jae Il Oh ($4,000 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel)

Bell's struggles this season are merely one of many things which have gone wrong for the Eagles, who have lost 17 straight games, but his underperformance certainly isn't helping, as he's provided nowhere near the level that KBO teams expect from their two foreign pitchers. Elbow issues delayed Bell's season debut, meaning he's only pitched three times this season, but his performance in those outings suggests he may not be fully healthy. He's been knocked around to the tune of a 9.00 ERA and a 2.09 WHIP in 11 innings, striking out seven batters while walking nine. He's yet to throw more than four innings in a start. While the fact that he throws left-handed could turn you away from the Bears' best hitters, who are all lefties themselves, but Bell's track record this season suggests he won't be in the game for long.

Fernandez leads this stack even though he won't get the platoon advantage, at least for as long as Bell remains in the game. He does hit worse against same-sided pitching, most notably in the power department, as all 20 of his career KBO homers have come against righties, but his contact ability remains excellent, as he's hitting .326 against southpaws in 221 at-bats against the in Korea. He's cooled off a bit following his blistering start, hitting a modest .290/.338/.371 over his last 15 games, but a series against the league's worst pitching staff should wake his bat back up.

Typically the only righty who bats anywhere near the top of the Bears' lineup, Park started the season quite poorly and was temporarily removed from his leadoff spot, but he's deservedly back in that role now. Over his last 10 games, he's hit an excellent .447/.500/.579, stealing two bases and scoring nine times. He should get on base early and often Friday and will have plenty of chances to score with the Bears' best bats hitting behind him.

Oh, who follows Park and Fernandez in the lineup, is another lefty who won't get the platoon advantage to start the game but who I wouldn't be afraid to use here based on how poor Bell has been. Additionally, he doesn't appear to struggle against southpaws, hitting .296 against lefties and .297 against righties over the seven seasons for which that splits data is available at Statiz. Oh has been on fire over his last four games, reaching base multiple times in all four contests and hitting a pair of homers.

Dinos vs. Seung Ho Lee: Eui Ji Yang ($6,100 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Jin Sung Kang ($4,200 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Aaron Altherr ($4,800 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel)

Another day, another Dinos stack. While the Heroes have some quality arms atop their rotation, the 21-year-old Lee isn't one of them. His 4.48 ERA and 1.51 WHIP last season weren't terrible, and the fact that he held his own at age 20 was commendable, but he hasn't met even that mediocre standard through six starts this season. He's struggled to a 7.39 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP, and his 13.3 percent strikeout rate and 10.9 percent walk rate hardly suggest that he's underachieved.

The deep and balanced Dinos lineup contains strong stack options regardless of the handedness of the opposing pitcher. Yang leads this stack of righties with a southpaw on the mound for the Heroes. After grabbing five hits, including a pair of homers, in a three-game series against his former team, the Bears, Yang's season slash line now sits at .319/.400/.606. He's well on his way towards a third straight season with an OPS north of 1.000, quite an achievement at any position, let alone catcher.

Kang's price is finally starting to catch up to his ridiculous numbers, but he's still worth a look nearly every game. He homered as part of a three-hit day Thursday and has now recorded multi-hit games in four of his last six outings, hitting .480 with three homers, eight runs and 11 RBI over that stretch. Those numbers hardly stand out for him this year, though, as he owns a ridiculous .451/.500/.813 season slash line.

Altherr would be a more frequent recommendation were he not consistently stuck in the bottom third of the Dinos' order, but his numbers suggest he should be moving up soon, and he's hit the ball well enough to be worthy of inclusion here regardless of where he bats. After struggling to a .172/.273/.276 line in his first 10 KBO games, a performance likely affected by a nagging hand injury, he's hit at the level expected of a team's lone foreign bat over his last 22 contests, slashing .325/.413/.688 with seven homers and 29 RBI. The fact that he's tied for third in the league with 31 RBI while batting seventh or eighth for the majority of the season is a testament to both his talent and the depth of this Dinos lineup.