This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
The Bears took a 2-1 lead in the Korean Series on Friday, winning a high-scoring, back-and-forth contest by a 7-6 score. Jae Ho Kim's seventh-inning RBI single proved to be the decisive hit, capping a game in which the typically light-hitting shortstop reached base four times and drove in three runs. Sung Bum Na led all players with four RBI, including a solo homer, while Jin Sung Kang grabbed three hits. On the pitching side, Mike Wright and Won Joon Choi's late-season struggles continued, as they combined to allow eight runs in 4.2 innings.
The incredibly tight series, which has seen three games decided by a total margin of four runs, continues Saturday at the relatively early time of midnight E.T and will feature another set of Showdown contests from DraftKings. For Showdown games, you'll select six players in any combination of pitchers and hitters. One player will be designated as your "Captain," who will cost 1.5 times as much as the rest of your team but who will also earn 1.5 times as many points as your other players. Lineups must contain at least one player from each team. You are under no obligation to select a pitcher, though you could even theoretically attempt to squeeze in both starters.
I'll be shaking up the format for these previews to account for the unique nature of the Showdown format. I'll present a quick breakdown of both pitchers, followed by a pair of high-priced hitters from the team I'd rather build around as well as a few bargain bats to consider from both teams. The prices listed for each player are their price if used in the UTIL slot.
Pitchers
Myung Gi Song, Dinos ($11,000): Song spent much of the year as a reliever, and not a particularly exciting one. Through mid-August, he'd produced a fine but forgettable 4.05 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 26.2 innings of relief, striking out 28 batters while walking nine. He went on to make 12 starts down the stretch, and while his ERA came in at a solid 3.54 in those starts, his WHIP rose to 1.39, and his 44:30 K:BB in 61 innings was nothing special. Zooming in on just his last six starts paints a much more optimistic picture, however, as he allowed just one run in four of those while never allowing more than three. His 2.53 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over that stretch were both quite encouraging.
Min Gyu Kim, Bears ($7,800): It will be Kim, not Hui Kwan Yu, who started Game 4 of the previous round against the Wiz, on the mound to start this contest. Yu was pulled after just three batters in that contest, with Kim following him and throwing 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing just a single hit, so it's not hard to see why the Bears changed things up for this series. Kim has actually already pitched once in this series, earning the save in Game 2 on Wednesday, though it took him just nine pitches to record the final two outs of that contest, so he shouldn't be too strained pitching on two days' rest here. The 21-year-old righty's 4.89 ERA on the season in four starts and 25 relief appearances was nothing special, though his 1.29 WHIP was solid and his 21.2 percent strikeout rate was strong. Additionally, he looked quite good in 16.1 innings in October, posting a 2.20 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.
The Verdict: Slight lean towards Dinos. We'll get to see a pair of fairly interesting young righties who both ended the season strong, but Song's run came as a starter, which makes it somewhat more reliable. He'll also get to face a slightly easier lineup. For the second game in a row, however, this could be a game where skipping the pitchers might be a good idea, as the off day Sunday means neither team will hesitate to pull their starter early. Kim comes so cheap for a pitcher, however, that it could be justifiable to take that risk and captain him anyway for those building a Bears-based lineup.
Expensive Dinos
Sung Bum Na ($9,200): Na has a clear case as the best hitter so far in the Korean Series, as he leads all batters with six hits. Through three games, he's hitting .500 (6-for-12) with a pair of homers and five RBI. None of that should come as a surprise, as the MLB hopeful hit .324/.392/.596 with 34 homers, 115 runs and 112 RBI during the regular season. A hot hitter with his talent who will get the platoon advantage while batting third in the order makes for a strong captain choice here.
Eui Ji Yang ($9,800): The Dinos' number three and four hitters earn the spots here for the second straight day. Yang didn't grab a hit in Game 3, but he did reach base twice after getting struck by a pair of pitches. Overall, he's gotten on base six times in 13 plate appearances during the Korean Series. He ended the season hitting .357/.425/.760 with 15 homers in his last 35 games, a stretch made all the more impressive by the fact that he's a 33-year-old catcher, who theoretically should be beaten up by a long season and fading down the stretch.
Bargain Bats
Hee Dong Kwon, Dinos ($4,600): Budget space might be slightly less of a problem in this Game compared to previous games this series, but grabbing a hitter who comes in $1,400 cheaper than any other regular Dinos starter still seems like quite a good idea. Kwon is nothing special at the plate and won't get the platoon advantage to start this contest, but that sort of gap is hard to justify and will help you squeeze in one more top-tier bat. Kwon has gone a respectable 2-for-7 thus far in the Korean Series but has reached base an additional four times, getting walked twice and hit by a pair of pitches. He recorded a strong .373 on-base percentage during the regular season.
Soo Bin Jung, Bears ($5,600): Jung comes in at $1,000 more expensive than Kwon, but he's likewise a full $1,400 cheaper than his teammates. The case for including him is even stronger than it is for Kwon, as he'll get the platoon advantage here and will likely bat second in the order. While the center fielder spent much of the year batting in the bottom third of the order, he should be relatively immune to the Bears' constant lineup shuffles Saturday, as he produced a pair of hits out of the number two spot in each of the last two games. Even if he's confusingly dropped in the order, he'll remain a bargain at his price, as his .298/.367/.396 season slash line was perfectly respectable.
