This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Friday's KBO action saw the struggling Eagles hand the Dinos their third loss of the season thanks, in part, to a quality start from Warwick Saupold. Meanwhile, the Twins pulled to just two games back, erasing a four-run deficit against the Wiz over the final three innings to win 6-5 after Hyun Soo Kim's walkoff single. Elsewhere, the Bears, Lions, Heroes and Giants all provided good stack options, each scoring at least seven runs. Saturday's slate again contains a mix of front-end and back-end starters, meaning there will be plenty of pitchers worth targeting and plenty worth stacking against. For those regularly setting their lineups at the last minute, be aware that this slate begins at 1:00 a.m EDT, with the Wiz vs. Twins matchup happening before the other four games.
Pitchers
Tae Hoon Kim ($7,300 DraftKings, $21 FanDuel as "SK Starting P") stands out among the most interesting pitching options as the cheapest of the group on both sites. His excellent 1.38 ERA and 0.77 WHIP through his first two starts isn't supported all that well by his 9:6 K:BB, but his body of work over the previous two seasons gives us reason to buy him as a quality arm. He did spend those two seasons in relief, but his 3.85 ERA and 24.5 percent strikeout rate over that stretch (half of which came during the league's high-offense era) are hard to argue with. He's thrown 85 and 98 pitches in his first two starts this season,
Friday's KBO action saw the struggling Eagles hand the Dinos their third loss of the season thanks, in part, to a quality start from Warwick Saupold. Meanwhile, the Twins pulled to just two games back, erasing a four-run deficit against the Wiz over the final three innings to win 6-5 after Hyun Soo Kim's walkoff single. Elsewhere, the Bears, Lions, Heroes and Giants all provided good stack options, each scoring at least seven runs. Saturday's slate again contains a mix of front-end and back-end starters, meaning there will be plenty of pitchers worth targeting and plenty worth stacking against. For those regularly setting their lineups at the last minute, be aware that this slate begins at 1:00 a.m EDT, with the Wiz vs. Twins matchup happening before the other four games.
Pitchers
Tae Hoon Kim ($7,300 DraftKings, $21 FanDuel as "SK Starting P") stands out among the most interesting pitching options as the cheapest of the group on both sites. His excellent 1.38 ERA and 0.77 WHIP through his first two starts isn't supported all that well by his 9:6 K:BB, but his body of work over the previous two seasons gives us reason to buy him as a quality arm. He did spend those two seasons in relief, but his 3.85 ERA and 24.5 percent strikeout rate over that stretch (half of which came during the league's high-offense era) are hard to argue with. He's thrown 85 and 98 pitches in his first two starts this season, respectively, so it sure looks as though he's being trusted to handle a true starter's workload. He'll face an unremarkable Tigers lineup that ranks seventh in runs per game this season.
On the opposite side of that same contest, Aaron Brooks ($7,800 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") makes for a slightly more expensive but similarly interesting option. Through his first three KBO starts, he has a 3.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and an excellent 17:0 K:BB. He also gets to face the anemic Wyverns lineup (which provides the biggest argument against selecting Kim), a unit which has scored a league-worst 3.6 runs per game this season.
Eric Jokisch ($8,900 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P") has been incredible through his first three starts this season, allowing just a single earned run. His strong showing shouldn't be a surprise, as he was excellent in his KBO debut last year, posting a 3.13 ERA and 1.13 WHIP while striking out 18.9 percent of batters and walking just 5.2 percent. He's improved on those strikeout and walk numbers in the early going this year, recording a 23.3 percent strikeout rate and 3.3 percent walk rate. The lefty won't have too tough of a matchup against the Giants, whose offense ranks sixth in scoring this year after finishing last in that category in 2019.
Top Targets
The Heroes easily could have been one of my picks for today's stacks, but they got edged out by a pair of similarly interesting groups. I'm still definitely looking to grab pieces of their offense against In Bok Lee, who has a 10.75 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP in his 39.1 career KBO innings. Jung Hoo Lee ($4,600 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) is the best of the bunch. The 21-year-old has been one of the best players in the league at the start of his fourth season, ranking fifth in OPS with a 1.152 mark. His three homers on the season are already halfway to his career high of six, but it's no surprise to see a young hitter who makes excellent contact (he's struck out in just 9.2 percent of his career plate appearances) add something to his game at his age.
Roberto Ramos ($3,400 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) remains an inexplicable bargain on DraftKings but slots into this section as he's still absolutely worth his high price on FanDuel. He may have the best case for MVP through 15 games, as he leads the league in OPS (1.307) and slugging percentage (.824) while tying for the lead with six homers. He'll get the platoon advantage against 21-year-old Wiz righty Min Kim, who's allowed 10 runs in 10 innings this season.
Bargain Bats
Aaron Altherr ($5,500 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) only fits into this category on FanDuel but is worth a mention nonetheless as his price appears to be far too low on that site. He certainly hasn't made his mark yet at the KBO level, though some of his early struggles can be attributed to a nagging hand injury. After posting a .549 OPS through his first 10 games in Korea, he's turned things around over his last five, recording a 1.042 OPS while homering twice and driving in six runs. It's hard to pass up the chance to own a player who was an above-average hitter at the MLB level in the not-too-distant past against a weak starting pitcher (discussed below) for such a cheap price.
The Wiz's offense will be significantly weaker over the next few weeks while Baek Ho Kang recovers from a wrist injury, but leadoff man Woo Jun Sim ($2,800 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) remains a good cheap option, especially on DraftKings, where he gets to fill the shallow shortstop slot. His primary value comes from his legs, which won't be affected by Kang's absence, as he's stolen a league-leading six bases already this season after stealing 24 last year. Even without their top hitter, the Wiz should still have plenty of chances to score against Twins lefty Woo Chan Cha, who's struggled to a 4.62 ERA through his first three starts.
Stacks to Consider
Bears vs. Dae Woo Kim: Jose Fernandez ($6,400 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Jae Hwan Kim ($5,900 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Joo Hwan Choi ($2,600 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel)
The Bears likely would have featured in this section yesterday had we known for certain that Jae Hwan Kim would be back from his foot injury. As it turns out, they should have been mentioned, as Kim did indeed return to a unit that put up 12 runs, thanks, in part, to Lions starter Ben Lively leaving with a side injury after recording just a single out. The overtaxed Lions bullpen could be in trouble again at their hitter-friendly home park in this one, and they could be in line for quite a lot of work with Dae Woo Kim on the mound to start. Kim spent all of last season in relief, struggling to a 5.13 ERA, though that number looks quite good next to his 7.93 ERA from 2018 and his 9.54 mark from 2017.
Jae Il Oh will be out for a little while with a side injury, but that makes it slightly easier to fit in the Bears' other expensive but elite bats. Fernandez headlines that group. He reclaimed his spot as the highest-earning hitter on DraftKings (while sitting fourth on FanDuel) after his three-hit, six-RBI performance in the series opener. He'll be deservedly very highly owned, but you won't want to miss out on a guy who's hitting .476/.529/.730 on the season, especially when he's facing a weak starting pitcher in the most hitter-friendly park in the league.
Jae Hwan Kim missed Thursday's game with a foot injury but returned to action Friday. He's cooled off a bit since his hot start to the season, hitting .179 with no homers over his last seven games. Still, the 2018 MVP remains one of the best hitters in the league, with four homers and a .980 OPS, and should get the chance to go off in this one with a big run total likely in store for the Bears.
Choi has moved up to the third spot in the order in Oh's absence, and the opportunity to grab the number three hitter in one of the league's best lineups at Daegu Samsung Lions Park is hard to pass up at his cheap price. The 32-year-old is hitting .250/.321/.542 with three homers this season, already one shy of his total of four homers in 87 games last season. That power isn't out of nowhere, though, as he slugged .582 while hitting 26 bombs in 2018.
Dinos vs. Min Woo Kim: Sung Bum Na ($4,800 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Min Woo Park ($4,200 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Jin Sung Kang ($2,900 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel)
Kim has been quite good through 18.1 innings this season, striking out 19 en route to a 1.96 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. While it's possible he's breaking out at the start of his age-24 season, it's going to take far more than just three appearances to outweigh his significant struggles from his first five seasons. In 254.1 innings prior to this year, he recorded a 6.87 ERA while striking out just 15.0 percent of opposing batters and walking 10.2 percent. It's certainly believable that he's improving, but it's far too early to suggest he's even an above-average arm, let alone an elite one.
It's hard to begin a Dinos stack with anyone other than Na. His .246/.352/.443 slash line is more good than great, but it's not clear that the knee injury which cost him the majority of last season is to blame, as he seems to be having some bad BABIP luck. While his .289 BABIP looks perfectly decent in isolation, he's been a very high BABIP guy over the course of his career, managing a mark of .371 or better in six straight seasons. He can still take a walk and can still hit the ball out of the park, but he's strangely failed to hit a double so far this season. Expect his slash line to rise as his batted balls start finding the gaps in the opposing defense.
Park is perhaps the best leadoff hitter in the KBO, as he knows how to take a walk and makes contact with virtually every pitch he chooses to swing at. He's walked seven times this season while striking out just twice, helping him to an excellent .371/.435/.532 slash line. The second baseman should have the opportunity to score multiple runs if the Dinos make Kim return to his previous form in this one.
Aaron Altherr, mentioned above in the "Bargain Bats" section, is the player with whom I'd complete this stack on FanDuel, but on DraftKings Kang is my preferred play. His ability to provide good numbers for a cheap price at the catcher position (despite being definitely not a catcher) is extremely valuable on that site. He's been batting low in the order and won't have the platoon advantage, but you have to take what you can get at catcher sometimes. Plus, it doesn't really matter where a player is batting when he's hitting .467/.529/.833 through 12 games.
