DFS KBO: Saturday Cheat Sheet

Friday's KBO slate had something for everyone. 

If you like shootouts, the Giants-Lions and Heroes-Wyverns games had you covered, with the four teams combining for 46 runs. Sang Su Kim, Min Ho Kang and Ji Chan Kim each crossed the plate three times in the Giants' 15-10 win, while Jung Hoo Lee grabbed three hits, a homer and four RBI, though that wasn't enough for the win as his Heroes fell 12-9. 

If low-scoring games are more your style, those were available as well, highlighted by the Tigers' 4-2 win over the Bears. Aaron Brooks held the defending champions to just two runs in eight innings of work to pick up the win in that contest. Elsewhere, the Dinos are quickly becoming the favorite team of everyone who's a big fan of ties -- there's probably at least one of you out there, right? -- picking up their second in their last five games as both they and the similarly offense-first Wiz failed to score more than three runs over 12 innings. 

Finally, if you're a fan of bad teams getting blown out, the Twins provided that for you, cruising to an 8-0 win over the lowly Eagles as Chan Gyu Lim allowed just two hits in six scoreless innings and Ji Hwan Oh homered twice. 

Whether or not Saturday's slate will offer such a diverse display remains to be seen. It projects to be fairly high-scoring overall, with an untrustworthy group of starters making up the majority of the slate, but top-tier pitching is available as well.

Pitchers

It doesn't get more top-tier than Chang Mo Koo ($10,400 DraftKings, $28 FanDuel as "NC Starting P"), who's having a remarkable breakout season in his age-23 campaign. The young lefty leads all qualified starters in nearly every relevant statistic, including ERA (1.48), WHIP (0.81) and strikeout rate (30.4 percent). He'll face a tough matchup Saturday against a loaded Wiz lineup, a team that has been the only one to give him trouble this season as they knocked him out after scoring five runs (four earned) in just four innings back in late June. That was the only time he's allowed more than two runs this year, though, so his larger track record suggests he should be in for yet another big day.

Shi Hwan Jang's ($7,600 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Hanwha Starting P") overall 4.69 ERA and 1.72 WHIP certainly don't inspire a ton of confidence, though he's been on quite a good run lately. In each of his last four starts, he's allowed just a single run, striking out 24 batters while walking just seven over that stretch. On the season as a whole, his 23.3 percent strikeout rate gives him a fair amount of upside, though it's generally been offset by a 11.5 percent walk rate. If not for a .379 BABIP, however, his ERA could look a lot better despite his walk issues. He doesn't have the easiest test in this one against the fifth-ranked Twins lineup, a unit that's heavily left-handed at the top and which has averaged nine runs over its last three games, but Jang's strikeout upside and recent performance make him stand out from an overall uninspiring group of arms.

Speaking of risky pitchers with some strikeout upside, Jong Hoon Park ($9,300 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "SK Starting P") fits that description quite well. His 23.3 percent strikeout rate has exactly matched Jang's strong mark, and it's come with a similarly poor 10.6 percent walk rate. His 5.20 ERA is quite poor, though a high .335 BABIP and a low 656 percent strand rate seem at least partially to blame for that. He's far too expensive on DraftKings for me to have much interest in him against the fourth-ranked Heroes lineup, but he's very reasonably priced on FanDuel.

A quick note on Ben Lively ($7,400 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as Samsung Starting P"), who's notably absent from the recommendations above: While he should be a strong option for the Lions eventually, as he struck out 24.6 percent of batters while walking just 5.5 percent in his nine-start debut last year, this doesn't look like the game in which to play him, even against a generally unimpressive Giants offense. He'll be making his first start in nearly two months after returning from a side injury, but he threw just two innings in his lone rehab start, so it would be a surprise to see him go any deeper than four frames in this one.

Top Targets

While Jong Hoon Park was listed above as a pitcher with some upside, making him more appealing than several less interesting options, he's not someone who should scare you away from the Heroes' top bats if you aren't selecting him yourself. With that in mind, Jung Hoo Lee ($5,000 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) looks like as strong a play as ever. He's been quite hot lately, recording five multi-hit games over his last seven contests, posting a 1.032 OPS over that stretch. It's unclear whether that really counts as a hot streak for him, however, as his overall OPS on the season sits at 1.035, the product of an excellent .361/.417/.618 slash line. He's already homered 11 times, one shy of doubling his previous career high of six.

Ja Wook Koo ($4,400 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) missed a pair of games last week with a minor thumb issue, but he's looked very healthy this week, going 9-for-16 at the plate. He's stretched his hitting streak to eight games, a run in which he's hit .515. He's been the Lions' best hitter all year long, leading the team with a .958 OPS, the product of a .355/.404/.555 slash line. He'll get the platoon advantage in the league's most hitter-friendly park against Giants righty Se Woong Park, who's struggled to a 5.21 ERA this season.

Bargain Bats

Kyoung Min Hur ($4,300 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) costs about as much as Koo, but his placement in this section feels justified due to his very cheap FanDuel price. It's hard to square that price tag with his numbers since returning from a finger injury, as he's hit an incredible .438/.477/.550 over his last 20 games. His overall .371/.408/.494 slash line through 44 games this season also seemingly should make him far more expensive. While a .373 BABIP undoubtedly deserves some of the credit for his strong numbers, he's also struck out in just 4.7 percent of his plate appearances, so he should be able to sustain a very high batting average. He should be in for a big day against Tigers lefty Ki Hoon Kim, who's been used exclusively out of the bullpen this season after struggling to a 5.56 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP as a rookie last year.

It's always difficult to recommend an Eagle, though it's similarly difficult not to recommend at least one batter against Twins lefty Woo Chan Cha, whose ERA has jumped up to 6.04 after he gave up six or more runs in three of his last four starts. Jin Haeng Choi ($3,100 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel) looks like the Eagle to grab. The cleanup man has gone hitless in his last two games, but that followed a 10-game stretch in which he hit .317 with three homers. In 25 games overall this season, he's hitting .258/.309/.506 with six home runs.

Stacks To Consider

Dinos vs. Byung Wook Jo: Sung Bum Na ($5,700 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel), Eui Ji Yang ($5,600 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel), Aaron Altherr ($6,000 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel)

Another day, another Dinos stack. It's hard not to look in the direction of the league's best lineup against a pitcher like Jo, an unproven rookie who's received very limited opportunities and hasn't done much with them. The 22-year-old struggled to a 6.17 ERA in 11.2 Futures League innings this season but was called up for his KBO debut nonetheless in mid-June and has made three starts and a pair of relief appearances. His 4.57 ERA and 1.43 WHIP through his first 21.2 innings haven't been terrible, but he's struck out an anemic 7.7 percent of batters. Nothing on his track record suggests he'll give a lineup as good as this one much trouble.

An unimposing righty on the mound means Na looks like the best candidate to lead this stack. He missed six days with an injury to his right hand, but he returned to the lineup Friday, going hitless but reaching base twice on a pair of walks. The brief time away from the field has dropped his price slightly on both sites, though that doesn't line up with his pre-injury performance, as he'd recorded a .957 OPS over his last 10 games before getting hurt.

It's rarely hard to justify selecting Yang, especially on DraftKings, where he sits on his own as the clear top option among a shallow pool of catchers. His overall .298/.386/.542 line would be quite good at any position, but it's far beyond expectations for a backstop. That line is actually below Yang's recent standards, as he posted an OPS north of 1.000 in each of the last two seasons, though a drop in his BABIP, which sits at .287 after coming in higher than .350 in each of those year, appears to be the primary culprit. Even if his current line is indeed an accurate reflection of his current talent level, his price tag would be very much justified.

Altherr has jumped around in the Dinos' lineup for much of the season, though he remained in the fifth spot for the third straight day Friday even after Na's return, hitting right behind Na and Yang. He's been swinging a hot bat for quite some time, hitting .333/.373/.679 over his last 20 games, homering seven times and stealing four bases over that stretch. On the season as a whole, his .975 OPS ranks 10th, while he sits second in RBI (56), tied for second in homers (16) and tied for third in steals (11). His power and speed combination is unrivaled in the KBO, as only one other player (Ha Seong Kim) with more than five steals has double-digit homers.

Wyverns vs. Hyun Hee Han: Jeong Choi ($5,300 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Dong Min Han ($4,300 DraftKings, $8 FanDuel), Ji Hoon Choi ($2,700 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel)

Hyun Hee Han had been decent enough through his first nine starts of the year, posting a passable if unimpressive 4.38 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. Something has gone very wrong over his last two outings, though, as he's given up 17 runs while recording just 11 outs. Those two appearances sandwiched a brief trip to the injured list with a knee injury, though he missed just one turn in the rotation. It's somewhat of a surprise to see him get the call again Saturday given the extent of his recent struggles, though the Heroes have had trouble filling out the back of their rotation and evidently failed to find a better option. The team does have a strong bullpen, though that unit has been called upon for 12 innings over the last two days, so sending Han packing early in this one is unlikely to make the Wyverns' jobs much tougher.

It's been quite difficult to fill out a Wyverns' stack lately, though Jeong Choi remains a very capable place to start. He's been on fire in seven games since returning from a brief absence due to pelvic soreness, hitting .440/.563/.760 with a pair of homers and seven RBI over that stretch. The veteran struggled significantly over the first three weeks of the season, but he's been incredible since late May, hitting .347/.469/.674 in his last 43 games, good for a 1.143 OPS, a number which would rank second in the league if he'd been able to hit that level for the entire season.

Han has gone an unimpressive 2-for-12 at the plate since returning from an extended absence due to a shin injury, though he homered in a pinch-hit appearance Friday. Prior to his injury, he'd been the Wyverns' best hitter, posting a .317/.368/.667 line with six homers in 17 games. That level may be higher than we should expect from Han going forward, as he posted a respectable but unexciting .265/.375/.396 slash line with just 12 homers with last seasons' de-juiced ball. He hit a combined 70 homers over the two previous seasons, however, slugging above .600 each year, so he looks like a strong play here against Hyun Hee Han, especially on FanDuel, where he's very inexpensive.

Jamie Romak may be the hitter many would expect to see as the third member of this stack, but he's battled elbow soreness in recent days and went just 4-for-32 at the plate over his last nine games. Ji Hoon Choi gets the nod here instead. He's generally an unexciting player, showing good contact but not much else in his .292/.342/.351 slash line, though he's also stolen six bases. He's interesting in this contest primarily because he's very cheap and will be leading off while getting the platoon advantage against a struggling righty.