DFS KBO: Saturday Cheat Sheet

The Twins continued to disappoint Friday, losing their seventh straight game after the Wyverns' Geon Wook Lee threw six innings without allowing a single hit. Elsewhere, the Dinos opened their series against the Bears with a 9-3 win, with Aaron Altherr and Sung Wook Kim scoring three runs apiece out of the last two spots in the order. The Tigers ended the Heroes' eight-game winning streak, helped by Hyung Woo Choi's grand slam. Meanwhile, in a pair of battles between bottom-half teams, the Eagles got a rare win against the Wiz behind a quality start from Warwick Saupold, while Dan Straily was unusually mediocre, allowing four runs in 7.1 innings as the Giants fell to the Lions by a score of 6-4. Saturday's slate promises more excitement, with compelling matchups around the league and a number of top pitchers on the mound.

Pitchers

Eric Jokisch ($9,400 DraftKings, $28 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P") is a deservedly expensive option on both sites. His numbers are right up with the best in the league almost across the board, as he's second among qualified starters in both ERA (1.63) and WHIP (0.94). The one area where he doesn't excel is strikeouts, though his 18.5 percent strikeout rate is still an above-average mark. He had been in a slightly cold stretch in his first three starts in June, striking out a total of just seven batters, but he bounced back to strike out six in seven innings while allowing just one run on three hits against the Wyverns in his most recent start. He'll get a fairly easy matchup against the seventh-ranked Tigers lineup in this one and will get a boost as a lefty as the Tigers' top two bats, Preston Tucker and Hyung Woo Choi, both hit left-handed.

William Cuevas' ($8,000 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") 5.05 ERA through six starts is far from impressive, but it's likely at least somewhat attributable to the hip injury he battled early in the year. He looked quite good in his return Sunday against the Giants, tossing seven scoreless innings. Even with some poor early results thrown in, the righty's 1.21 WHIP, 18.2 percent strikeout rate and 5.2 percent walk rate are all quite solid. That all adds up to a package I'd be quite happy to invest in even if he weren't facing the Eagles, who rank last in the league in scoring (as well as most other categories).

The Twins are on a terrible run, but Chan Heon Jung ($7,100 DraftKings, $28 FanDuel as "LG Starting P") could be coming to the rescue. He's only made five starts this season, his first starts since 2008, but he's looked quite good in those outings, riding a 24.4 percent strikeout rate and a 5.9 percent walk rate to a 3.34 ERA. He'll face a Wyverns side which has won two straight games by a score of 7-0 but still ranks second-last in scoring this year.

A bonus fourth recommendation since the top three names are all quite expensive on FanDuel: Hyun Jong Yang's ($9,700 DraftKings, $22 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") price is wildly different on the two platforms. On DraftKings, his price tag reflects the fact that he was one of the best pitchers in the league last year, cruising to a 2.29 ERA  on the back of a 22.3 percent strikeout rate and a 4.5 percent walk rate. His FanDuel price tag is probably a closer reflection of what he's done this season, though it seems quite low, as his high 4.88 ERA comes with a solid 18.6 percent strikeout rate and 6.4 percent walk rate. He has a tough matchup against the Heroes, but getting a pitcher with his reputation at such a low price is hard to pass up.

Top Targets

Hyun Jong Yang does deserve respect for his past success, but it's not out of the question to bet against him in this one, especially since he was lit up for eight runs in four innings in his most recent start. If you're going to start a Hero against him, Ha Seong Kim ($5,300 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) looks like the best bet. His .270/.388/.506 season slash line is quite solid, especially for a shortstop, but he's only gotten better as the season has gone on. He's hitting .309 with six homers and five steals in 21 games this month and has been even hotter over his last five contests, going 7-for-21 with three homers.

Ja Wook Koo ($5,000 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) fits in the "Bargain Bats" category on FanDuel, but he's listed here because I'd be happy to pay up for him on DraftKings as well. Since returning from a thigh injury in early June, he's gone on to hit .306/.353/.532 in his last 15 games. The 27-year-old posted an OPS of .910 or above in each of his first four KBO seasons before falling to a .771 mark last season, but he appears to be right back on track this year. He'll get the platoon advantage against Giants righty Adrian Sampson, whose ERA still sits at 5.96 even after tossing six scoreless innings against the Wiz in his previous start.

Bargain Bats

The Bears face a rather unimpressive starter Saturday in Sung Young Choi, who owns a 6.75 ERA in 10.2 innings this season and a career 5.14 mark in 173.1 frames. He's a southpaw, though, which will likely keep me off of the Bears' top bats, who all hit left-handed. Right-handed leadoff man Kun Woo Park ($3,500 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) provides an affordable way to grab a piece of the second-best lineup in the league, however. You'll want to make sure he's actually in the lineup before committing to him, as he's had a few minor injuries this month and didn't play Friday, but he's been quite hot when available. He has 11 multi-hit games in his last 20 contests, hitting .436 over that stretch.

Dixon Machado ($4,600 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) only really fits into this category on FanDuel, but he's also worth a look on DraftKings given the scarcity of options at shortstop. He had a very poor .196/.259/.361 slash line through his first 28 games, untenable for any player, let alone a team's lone foreign hitter. Something must have clicked at that point, though, as he's suddenly hitting .419/.431/.532 over his last 15 contests, going hitless just once. That's been enough to move him up to fifth in the order for the Giants' last six games. He'll get the platoon advantage Saturday against Lions lefty Jung Hyun Baek, who owns a poor 5.34 ERA this season.

Stacks To Consider

Wiz vs. Min Woo Kim: Mel Rojas ($5,900 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Baek Ho Kang ($6,100 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel), Jeong Dae Bae ($2,900 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)

Kim's statline isn't all bad. If you looked at just his 22.2 percent strikeout rate and 8.3 percent walk rate, you might think he was having a solid season. If you did that, of course, you'd be missing his awful 2.0 HR/9, as he's allowed a league-worst nine homers this season. The 24-year-old has the pedigree that comes with being the first-overall draft pick back in the 2015 KBO draft, but that's about it as far as his track record is concerned, as he owns a career 6.66 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP in 294.2 innings.

Rojas is the obvious place to start this stack based on his absurd recent run. His excellent .383/.431/.728 season slash line doesn't even tell the full story of how well he's playing lately. He's homered three times in his last four games, seven times in his last 14 and 12 times in his last 23, vaulting him into the league lead with 16, three ahead of both Roberto Ramos and Sung Bum Na. Pairing his ridiculous home run streak against the pitcher who's given up the most homers in the league thus far seems like a fairly obvious choice.

Kang has made a valiant effort in matching Rojas blow-for-blow during his hot streak. The 20-year-old missed three weeks with a wrist injury in late May and early June and went hitless in his first two games back, but he's since been on fire, going hitless just once in his last 14 games. He's hit .396/.441/.698 with five homers, 12 RBI and 13 runs over that stretch. He's now tied for sixth in the league with 10 long bombs, an impressive feat given that he missed such a large portion of the season.

The Wiz lineup understandably drops off quite a bit after that excellent pair, but Bae provides a cost-effective way to round out this stack. The leadoff man had done very little prior to this season, but he seems to be breaking out in his age-24 campaign, hitting .341/.389/.520 through 45 games. His .415 BABIP will undoubtedly fall and take a bite out of that line with it, though his four steals indicate that he has the speed to run at least an above-average mark. That speed is likely also a contributor to his 16 doubles, the third-highest mark in the league.

Twins vs. Ricardo Pinto: Roberto Ramos ($5,300 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Hyun Soo Kim ($5,100 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Kang Nam Yoo ($4,200 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel)

The Twins have lost seven straight games and were shut out Friday, so stacking them here may seem unwise. It's hard to look at Pinto's numbers and not think that this is the game in which they turn things around, however. Pinto's 4.26 ERA is perfectly adequate, but that's just about the only good number on his resume. His 1.70 WHIP, 12.9 percent strikeout rate and 11.3 percent walk rate are all quite poor. Pitchers with MLB experience deserve the benefit of the doubt at least early on in their KBO careers, but after nine starts, the righty has done very little to earn much respect.

If you're going to keep faith with the Twins despite their poor stretch, you should also keep faith with Ramos, who hasn't homered since June 11. He missed five games with ankle and back issues, but he hasn't homered in seven games since his return. That's not to say he's been terrible, though, as he's gone 6-for-18 over his last five games. In any case, Ramos' season-long numbers are a fairer reflection of his ability than his mediocre last few games. With a .352/.431/.676 slash line and 13 homers, he remains one of the most dangerous hitters in the league.

Kim has hit a solid .308/.333/.462 over the Twins' seven-game losing skid, though that could count as a cold stretch in a season in which he's hitting .341/.392/.508. Even when he's not at his best, though, the veteran outfielder remains an excellent contact hitter, and he's a great bet for a multi-hit game against a pitcher who's allowed opponents to hit .284 against him. Kim doesn't clear the fence often, hitting four homers so far this season after managing just 11 last year, but he has plenty of gap power, as his 17 doubles are good for second in the league.

Yoo has moved up to fifth in the order for his last three starts, and it's hard to say that spot is undeserved. He opened the season quite poorly, hitting .152/.245/.261 through his first 16 games, but he's been on fire ever since, posting a .386/.429/.542 slash line over his last 26 contests. With an .803 OPS, he sits a clear third among regular catchers, trailing only Eui Ji Yang and Dong Won Park, making him the best mid-priced catching option on DraftKings.