DFS KBO: Friday Cheat Sheet

Despite the abundance of eyes on the rollout of the MLB season Thursday night, the KBO marches on across the globe Friday with its usual five-game slate. As usual, there is a good amount of offense expected. Two games sport projected double-digit run totals, while a third (Dinos-Wiz) falls just short with 9.5 projected runs. Two of the better pitchers in the KBO in Drew Rucinski and Aaron Brooks are on the hill, and accordingly, they each carry five-figure salaries. However, I only trust one of them to be worth it at their current price, which I'll elaborate on below.

As customary, I'll highlight both pitchers and hitters across various price points to consider for both cash games and tournaments. I'm primarily focused on two pitchers, but I've provided a third consideration as well, while also delving into the usual amount of bats and stacks that could pay off nicely in both cash games and tournaments.

Pitchers

Aaron Brooks ($10,100) comes at a slight discount over the highest-priced option in Drew Rucinski ($10,300), who draws a matchup against a Wiz team that's given him some trouble this season. Meanwhile, Brooks comes in with a solid average of 18.8 DK points per game and has scored between 17.2 and 25.4 DK points in four of his last five starts. He's done an impressive job of keeping the ball down as well, having allowed a minuscule three home runs across 83 innings and already churning out nine quality starts across his 13 trips to the mound. Brooks has also averaged a solid 16 DK points across his seven home starts, and the visiting Lions are one of the more power-challenged squads in the KBO, tying with the Twins for the fourth-fewest home runs (62) in the league over 66 games.

Shi Hwan Jang ($7,400) has the misfortune of toeing the rubber for the lowly Eagles, which has helped lead to a 2-5 mark for him on the season. However, a look beyond the surface noise makes Jang an interesting value proposition at pitcher Thursday. To begin with, he draws a matchup against the equally inept Wyverns, against which he owns a 2-1 record, 3.24 ERA and .231 BAA over three outings this season. SK also check in with a pedestrian .245 team batting average while averaging 8.2 hits and 3.9 runs per contest, the latter two figures better only than Jang's Hanwha squad. Then, consider Jang's recent body of work, which consists of three quality starts over his last four trips to the mound, and no outing with more than two earned runs allowed since he gave up four earned runs over six innings to the highly potent Dinos lineup back on June 5. Jang has also been more effective at home, where he sports a solid 3.96 ERA over five starts. Jang is certainly no sure thing for a victory given his typically poor run support, and he does have some control issues as well. Nevertheless, the opponent and his salary both make him worthy of consideration in tournaments.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jong Hoon Park ($9,300) 

Top Targets

Jose Fernandez ($5,700) is seemingly always worthy of consideration, with his .372/.436/.568 season slash that's partly comprised of 28 extra-base hits (16 doubles, 12 home runs) more than making his case. It's always worth noting Fernandez brings a rare and tantalizing combination of excellent power with low strikeout numbers, as he's only whiffed on a highly impressive 5.9 percent of his 303 plate appearances, an improvement from an already strong 8.4 percent across his 645 PAs in his 2019 KBO debut campaign. Even the same-handed matchup against southpaw Woo Chan Cha isn't prohibitive, as Fernandez has hit well against lefties at both the MLB and KBO levels and Cha just allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 4.2 innings to the Bears on July 7. That night featured a 4-for-4 performance from Fernandez that included a single and double off Cha, and the slugger is hitting .475 (19-for-40) with two doubles and two homers in nine games against LG pitching overall this season.

Jung Hoo Lee ($5,100) comes in with a .356/.411/.613 slash for the season, and he's been even better versus Giants pitching with a .364/.444/.636 line across six contests. Lee has also been a particularly effective hitter at home, posting a .378 average and 11 DK points per contest across a 33-game sample. Lee has five double-digit fantasy-point tallies in his last 10 games alone – a stretch that includes eye-popping 29- and 33-point performances – and opposing pitcher Se Woong Park makes for a tantalizing target. Not only does the right-hander come in with a 5.19 ERA over 12 starts, but he's been at his worst on the road with a 7.31 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and .341 BAA over a six-start sample.

Jin Sung Kang ($4,000) sports a salary worthy of a double take, as he'll come into Friday's action with a .360/.400/.585 slash that includes 25 extra-base hits (15 doubles, 10 home runs) and 45 RBI over his first 59 games. Kang has been swinging a blistering bat as well, hitting .382 (13-for-34) over the last 10 contests, and he's tagged Wiz pitching for a .320/.370/.520 slash across eight games this season. The surging first baseman draws what would best be termed as a neutral-to-slightly-above-average matchup versus Wiz starter Willie Cuevas on Friday, but at Kang's price and with his body of work, it could be hard to stay off him if you need a strong savings-upside combination.

ALSO CONSIDER: Mel Rojas Jr. ($6,200); Dong Won Park ($5,500); Hyung Woo Choi ($4,900); Kyoung Min Hur ($4,400)

Bargain Bats

Hoon Jung ($3,800) has been an excellent road performer this season, as evidenced by his .345/.378/.524 line over 19 games. Three of Jung's four homers and 15 of his 22 RBI on the season have come when traveling, and he's been seeing the ball particularly well lately with five multi-hit efforts in his last six contests. Jung is also in a good spot versus opposing right-hander Won Tae Choi, who's allowed three homers over his last eight innings alone and nine round trippers overall across 12 starts.

Jeong Dae Bae ($3,200) is a player with an even more eye-opening salary than Jung, as he sports a .328/.391/.498 slash across 65 games this season, a line partly comprised of 27 extra-base hits (18 doubles, three triples, six home runs). Bae offers a bit of everything, as he's also swiped 11 bases. Then, consider Bae has been an excellent hitter at home, where he owns a .366/.412/.602 slash with 18 extra-base hits and 20 RBI over a 33-game sample. The matchup versus Dinos starter Drew Rucinski may not look overly appealing on paper, but it's worth noting Rucinski has allowed a .333 average to Wiz hitters in two starts this season, a figure which includes a solo homer he surrendered to Bae in his most recent encounter with KT on June 23.

Stacks to Consider

Bears vs. Woo Chan Cha: Jose Fernandez ($5,700); Jae Il Oh ($4,200); Jae Hwan Kim ($4,900); Kyoung Min Hur ($4,400)

As elaborated on in Fernandez's entry, Cha has been highly vulnerable this season, including against the Bears. Doosan sports a co-slate-high projected total of 5.5 runs as well, and they check into the game averaging a KBO-high 10.7 hits per game while also scoring the second-most runs (6.2) per contest.

Oh makes for a solid way to follow up the rostering of Fernandez, as he's available at a highly affordable cost and comes in with a .347/.405/.546 slash on the season. The infielder has shown solid pop with 18 doubles and seven homers as well, and despite the same-handed matchup against Cha, note that Oh owns a .360 average over six games versus Twins pitching this season.

Kim has displayed both impressive power and patience at the plate, as he boasts 21 extra-base hits (nine doubles, 12 homers) and 42 walks across 64 games. That's led to an impressive .381 on-base percentage for the season, and it's also worth noting he sports a .364/.488/.515 line in nine contests versus LG in 2020.

Finally, Hur makes for a highly cost-effective way to wrap up the Bears onslaught. The third baseman is averaging 9.1 DK points per game and checks in with a .380/.423/.503 line for the season, including an eye-popping .409/.440/.505 slash in 24 home contests. Hur also comes in swinging a red-hot bat, as he's hitting a blistering .459 (17-for-37) over his last 10, a stretch that includes seven two-hit efforts.

Heroes vs. See Wong Park: Keon Chang Seo ($4,800); Ha Seong Kim ($6,100); Jung Hoo Lee ($5,100); Dong Won Park ($5,500)

ALSO CONSIDER: Byung Ho Park ($4,600)

As elaborated on in Lee's entry earlier, Se Wong Park has struggled considerably throughout the season. The Heroes also come in averaging the fourth-most runs per game (5.5) in the KBO.

Seo makes for an effective way to get things started, with his .303 average and .401 OBP partly comprised of 19 extra-base hits (nine doubles, five triples, five homers). Seo has also been excellent at supplementing his fantasy production with 16 steals -- helping lead to his average of 9.2 DK points -- and he's hitting .333 over the last 10 games.

Kim checks in averaging an excellent 10.6 DK points, including 11.7 over the last 10 games, on the strength of a five-homer barrage during that span. The slugging shortstop has 15 round trippers overall on the season, and the tallies of 22, 26 and 30 DK points that he boasts over the last 10 games offer a glimpse at his massive upside.

Lee's ample positive attributes were already discussed earlier in the article, and Park makes for a solid bookend to the stack. The backstop owns a .287/.355/.527 slash with 25 XBH (15 doubles, 10 homers) and 38 RBI over 57 games. Park has also punished Giants pitching for a .429 average and two homers over four games this season, further supporting his candidacy in the appealing matchup.