DFS KBO: Saturday Cheat Sheet

Friday's KBO slate looked like it would feature an exciting pitcher's duel between Raul Alcantara and Hyun Jong Yang as the Bears and Tigers battled it out for the fifth and final playoff spot. Alcantara more or less held up his end of the bargain, throwing a quality start, but Yang was lit up for six runs in five innings as they Bears went on to win 14-3, with Kyoung Min Hur jumping up to the leadoff spot and going 3-for-5 with five RBI. Elsewhere, the Heroes also reached double digits, beating the Wyverns 12-5, with Jong Hyeop Heo homering three times. The Lions also impressed, beating the Dinos 8-2 as Dong Yeop Kim reached base four times and Chae Heung Choi struck out seven while allowing just one run in six innings. Elsewhere, Min Woo Kim allowed just one run in five innings but Dan Straily allowed just one run in eight, buying his Giants teammates the time to score three runs off the Eagles' bullpen to win 4-1, while Je Seong Bae's six scoreless innings and Mel Rojas Jr.'s league-leading 40th homer helped the Wiz past the Twins 5-2.

Saturday's slate, which again begins at 1 a.m. ET, contains what looks to be a fairly standard spread of starting pitchers. Note that the first games of the Lions-Dinos and Twins-Wiz doubleheaders will be included, but the nightcaps will not.

Pitchers

Casey Kelly ($9,300) doesn't have the easiest matchup against Mel Rojas Jr. and the Wiz, but it's been quite a while since anyone gave him much trouble. In his last five starts, he owns a 2.03 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Zoom out to his last 10 outings, and his WHIP stays the same while his ERA rises merely to 2.25. Such dominance is nothing new for Kelly, who cruised to a 2.55 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in his KBO debut last season, so there's reason to believe it can continue even given the tough assignment here.

Chris Flexen ($8,900) has had plenty of success in his first KBO campaign, as his 25.2 percent strikeout rate and 7.6 percent walk rate perhaps suggest that he deserves better than his 3.81 ERA. He missed nearly two months with a broken foot but has looked quite good in four starts since his return. His 3.86 ERA in those outings is no better than his season-long numbers, but it comes with a 1.10 WHIP and an excellent 13.3 K/9. Those big strikeout numbers give quite a bit of upside against the Tigers and their seventh-ranked offense.

Among the cheaper options, Hyun Hee Han ($6,700) looks like by far the best choice, and not just because he gets to face a Wyverns team which has scored two or fewer runs in eight of the last 12 games. He's been on quite a roll over his last three starts, throwing 18.1 scoreless innings while striking out 18, walking five and allowing just 10 hits. He's really been quite hot over his last 13 outings, posting a 3.32 ERA and a very impressive 0.95 WHIP over that stretch.

Top Targets

The Twins easily could have been one of today's stack recommendations against Wiz righty Min Soo Kim, who owns a 6.01 ERA on the season, but a pair of equally compelling options as the uncertainty surrounding Roberto Ramos (ankle) caused them to just barely miss the cut. I'm certainly interested in Hyun Soo Kim ($5,100) given the matchup, however. Kim is nearly always interesting, as his .349/.416/.560 slash line indicates. He's been as good as ever over his last 15 games, posting an OPS of exactly 1.000.

22-year-old Jung Hoo Lee ($5,300) hit .324 or better in each of his first three KBO seasons, so his .345 batting average this year is no surprise. He'd never slugged above .477 or hit more than six homers, however, so his .550 slugging percentage and 15 homers on the season certainly represent an impressive breakout. None of those homers have come in his last 20 games, but his .418/.484/.544 slash line over that stretch is still excellent. He should stay hot with the platoon advantage against Wyverns righty Jong Hoon Park, who owns a 6.46 ERA and a 10:12 K:BB over his last three starts.

Bargain Bats

I'm never sure exactly which category Ah Seop Son ($4,000) fits into, but I'll slot him in here as he's considerably cheaper than the top of the rather deep outfield pool. Not many of the league's best hitters have been much hotter than him lately, however, as he's hitting .382/.424/.564 over his last 13 games. He'll get the platoon advantage against Eagles righty Shi Hwan Jang, who owns a 5.52 ERA, a 1.64 WHIP and a 6:9 K:BB over his last three outings.

On the opposite side of that same contest, the Eagles lineup looks interesting against Giants righty Seung Heon Lee, who owns a 10.29 ERA in four career starts. Very few Eagles have looked interesting at any point this season, but Si Hwan Noh ($3,300) does at the moment. The 19-year-old infielder went hitless against the great Dan Straily on Friday, but facing Lee should help him get back to the form he showed in his previous 10 games, in which he hit .378/.477/.730 with two homers, 10 runs and eight RBI.

Stacks to Consider

Bears vs. Min Woo Lee: Jose Fernandez ($6,000), Jae Hwan Kim ($5,400), Joo Hwan Choi ($4,300)

The Bears' offense has been struggling for quite a while, but they awoke from hibernation in quite a big way Friday with their 14-run explosion. While 14 runs is quite a lot to expect in any given game, they should be in line for another big number here against Lee. The righty's 6.42 ERA and 1.58 WHIP tell the story well enough on their own, but that actually overrates how well he's been pitching lately. He's allowed three or fewer runs in just three of his last 11 starts, posting an 8.17 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP over that extended stretch.

Fernandez was dropped to fifth in the order Friday but responded quite well, scoring two runs after reaching base twice on a walk and a double. His slump has been a big part of the Bears' struggles, as he's hit just .234/.277/.338 over his last 19 games. One good game certainly isn't enough to say that he's definitely fixed things, but it would be surprising if a hitter of his talents struggles against a pitcher like Lee, regardless of how he's hit lately. Even after his slump, his season-long slash line sits at a fantastic .348/.409/.509.

Kim actually hasn't been struggling like many of his teammates. He's only hitting .234 over his last 14 games, but he's homered four times and driven in 12 runs over that stretch, posting a .947 OPS overall. That's solidly above his season-long .852 OPS, the product of a .265/.372/.481 slash line. His role as the cleanup man in a lineup that has been one of the league's best for most of the season has helped him drive in 96 runs, the most on the team and good for eighth on the league leaderboard.

Choi is the hitter I'd turn to complete this trio of lefties, rather than the usual Jae Il Oh, who was benched Friday after hitting .149/.241/.216 over his last 20 games. Choi is one of a very small number of Bears hitters who's actually surpassing expectations recently. In his last 12 games, he's hitting .415/.520/.683, homering twice while walking more times (8) than he's struck out (6). Those two homers have come in his last two games, a pair of contests in which he's gone 4-for-8 at the plate.

Lions vs. Jae Hak Lee: Ja Wook Koo ($4,300), Dong Yeop Kim ($2,600), Daniel Palka ($2,600)

Lee did look quite good his last time out, striking out six while walking one and allowing just three hits in 5.2 scoreless innings, but is one good outing against the lowly Eagles enough to wipe away the disappointment of an overall very poor season? Almost certainly not, especially when that immediately followed a start in which he was chased after 3.2 innings by the similarly poor Wyverns, allowing five runs while walking four and striking out just two. On the season as a whole, very little has gone right for the righty, who turns 30 on Sunday. His 6.44 ERA and 1.62 WHIP look well-deserved considering his 15.4 percent strikeout rate and 10.5 percent walk rate.

Koo has been quite solid at the plate throughout the season, hitting .312/.388/.462 on the year. He's managed just a modest 11 homers, but his strong contact combined with his 17 steals has made him a valuable fantasy asset, especially as he's locked in as the Lions' number three hitter, which has value even in a generally unimpressive lineup. He was cold for much of September, hitting .257/.333/.371 over an 18-game stretch, but he appears to be back now, as he's gone 6-for-17 at the plate over his last five games.

I've been referring to Kim as the most underpriced player on DraftKings for a bit now, as his price has risen all of $100 in the past two days despite the fact that he's gone 6-for-8 with two homers, six RBI and a steal in those contests. He's been one of the best hitters in the league over his last 19 games, hitting an excellent .434/.463/.750 with seven homers and 22 RBI over that stretch. He's been so good for so long that he's completely erased his first-half struggles and now has a season-long .316/.351/.519 slash line, making his low price tag rather confusing.

Palka is just as cheap as Kim, and it's similarly hard to explain. He hasn't been nearly as good as Kim has lately (though that's true of nearly everyone in the league), but his price doesn't reflect the benefit of the doubt that former MLB players deserve when they make the step down in competition. He struggled to a .212/.289/.388 line over his first 22 KBO games, but his bat has started to wake up lately, as he's hitting .250/.325/.472 over his last 10 contests.