This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Saturday's KBO action saw a handful of standout performances on the mound and in the batter's box. Casey Kelly shut out the Heroes through six innings, while Tae Hoon Kim shut the Dinos out through seven. Preston Tucker obliterated the Bears to the tune of four hits, a homer, three runs and seven RBI, giving him 45 points on DraftKings and 64.1 points on FanDuel, though he left late with a leg injury and may not get the chance to repeat that performance Sunday. The upcoming slate could be a low-scoring one, as the 11th or 12th game of the season means that most teams are trotting out their ace or number two starter. These Sunday slates could be the most competitive on both sites, as the 1 am ET start time means that American fans have an easier time adjusting to late lineup changes, so it's certainly worth doing your research for this one.
PITCHERS
Sunday's slate is loaded with pitchers I'd be quite comfortable with. That means you may not feel the need to pay up for Drew Rucinski ($9,200 DraftKings, $26 FanDuel as "NC Starting P"), though you're likely to see a strong performance if you do. He gets to face an anemic Wyverns offense which ranks last in the league with just 2.9 runs per game. He's had one good start and one poor one thus far this season, but his numbers over a full season last year offer plenty of reason to be confident,
Saturday's KBO action saw a handful of standout performances on the mound and in the batter's box. Casey Kelly shut out the Heroes through six innings, while Tae Hoon Kim shut the Dinos out through seven. Preston Tucker obliterated the Bears to the tune of four hits, a homer, three runs and seven RBI, giving him 45 points on DraftKings and 64.1 points on FanDuel, though he left late with a leg injury and may not get the chance to repeat that performance Sunday. The upcoming slate could be a low-scoring one, as the 11th or 12th game of the season means that most teams are trotting out their ace or number two starter. These Sunday slates could be the most competitive on both sites, as the 1 am ET start time means that American fans have an easier time adjusting to late lineup changes, so it's certainly worth doing your research for this one.
PITCHERS
Sunday's slate is loaded with pitchers I'd be quite comfortable with. That means you may not feel the need to pay up for Drew Rucinski ($9,200 DraftKings, $26 FanDuel as "NC Starting P"), though you're likely to see a strong performance if you do. He gets to face an anemic Wyverns offense which ranks last in the league with just 2.9 runs per game. He's had one good start and one poor one thus far this season, but his numbers over a full season last year offer plenty of reason to be confident, as he recorded a 3.05 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in his debut season in the KBO.
Odrisamer Despaigne ($8,500 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") faces a mediocre Lions offense which ranks sixth in scoring so far this season after finishing seventh in that category last year. The Cuban righty's first two KBO starts have gone quite well. In 11 innings, he's allowed just 10 hits and four runs, striking out 14 while walking just one. That's good for a 31.8 percent strikeout rate, far higher than what can be expected from most KBO starters, though that number is likely to regress a fair amount, as Despaigne struck out just 14.0 percent of batters over 363 innings at the MLB level.
On the opposite side of that same game, Ben Lively ($7,000 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "Samsung Starting P") makes for an interesting, if risky, cheaper option. The Wiz's second-ranked offense is a somewhat intimidating prospect, and the Lions' unimpressive lineup hurts Lively's chance for a win, but those factors seem to be priced in. For a reasonable price, Lively is a pitcher with MLB experience who owns a solid 4.04 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and a high (for the KBO) 23.7 percent strikeout rate through his first 11 starts in Korea.
TOP TARGETS
If you aren't into Lively as a cheaper pitching option, Baek Ho Kang ($5,600 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) makes for a strong play against him, as he does against most righties. The young slugger already has nine extra-base hits through 10 games, including three homers. He saw his home-run total fall from 29 in 2018 to 13 last year as the de-juiced ball led to offense cratering around the league, but his pop seems to be returning this season.
ByungHo Park ($5,200 DraftKings $14 FanDuel) hasn't gotten going this season, hitting just .205/.311/.385 with a 28.9 percent strikeout rate, fifth-worst among hitters with at least 30 plate appearances. His track record suggests he'll get hot sooner rather than later, however, as he's hit at least 31 homers with a batting average no worse than .280 and an on-base percentage no worse than .398 in each of his last six KBO seasons. A matchup against Twins lefty Woo Chan Cha, whose 4.12 ERA and 1.43 WHIP last year were fine but far from intimidating, could be what Park needs to get back on track.
VALUE BATTERS
I'm off the Bears' excellent but expensive top-tier bats in this slate due to the early performances of Tigers starter Aaron Brooks, who owns a 1.42 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP through two starts. If you still want a piece of the league's top offense, though, Joo Hwan Choi ($2,200 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) offers a very cheap way to accomplish that. He's especially interesting on DraftKings due to his incredibly low price and second-base eligibility, a position that can be difficult to fill at times. The Bears' number five hitter has had an excellent start to the season, hitting .310/.375/.690 with three homers and seven RBI.
Jin Sung Kang ($2,300 DraftKings, $8 FanDuel) earns a mention here primarily due to the fact that he's listed as a catcher on DraftKings, despite playing just one inning there in his entire KBO career. Kang didn't play much of a role in the Dinos' first several games, but he's started three straight contests, grabbing three hits. The Dinos have one of the friendlier matchups on the slate (discussed below), and Kang could be a cheap way to get in on that action while filling a typically thin position. Don't play Kang if you're unable to check your team once lineups are posted, however, as it's too early to say that he's a locked-in everyday player at this point.
STACKS TO CONSIDER
Dinos vs. Seung Geon Baek: Aaron Altherr ($6,200 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel), Suk Min Park ($4,900 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel), Eui Ji Yang ($5,300 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel)
Baek's 2.33 ERA in his debut as an 18-year-old rookie looks great on the surface, but it came in just 19.1 innings, all in relief. His underlying numbers don't offer a whole lot of reason to believe that he's a strong option just yet. Baek's 17.3 percent strikeout rate was almost exactly league-average, but it came with a very high 14.8 percent walk rate. His ERA was helped considerably by his 87.0 percent strand rate, but that should be expected to regress this season.
With a shaky lefty on the mound for the Wyverns, it may finally be time to take a shot on Altherr. He's yet to really get going in his first KBO season, struggling to a .172/.273/.276 slash line while battling a minor hand injury. Those struggles may make his price tag on DraftKings, the second-highest among all hitters, hard to stomach, but he's an easy inclusion on FanDuel, where his poor performances have caused his price to plummet. As a hitter who held his own in the MLB and who bats in the heart of the order for a strong Dinos lineup, he's a good bet to break out sooner or later, and a matchup against Baek could be what he needs to kick into gear.
Park, who typically bats fifth for the Dinos, has gotten off to a hot start this season, hitting .286/.400/.643 with three homers in 10 games. The veteran third baseman has a long track record of KBO success, posting an OPS no lower than .792 in each of the last 12 seasons. Even as offense fell off across the board last season, Park saw his OPS jump from .819 to .874, so he certainly doesn't appear to be fading as he begins his age-35 campaign.
Don't play Yang if you won't be able to check on your team after lineups are released (typically around one hour prior to first pitch), but if he plays, it's certainly worth including last season's MVP runner-up against an unimposing starting pitcher. Yang's health is unfortunately something of a mystery. He pulled up with an apparent hamstring issue while running the bases last Sunday and didn't start the next game Tuesday, though he appeared off the bench. He then started both Wednesday and Thursday before heading back to the bench for Friday and Saturday's games, though he again appeared off the bench Friday. If he plays, he's easily the best offensive catcher in the league, posting an identical 1.018 OPS in each of the last two seasons.
Giants vs. Min Woo Kim: Ah Seop Son ($3,500 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Byung Hun Min ($4,000 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel), Jun Woo Jeon ($4,500 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel)
It's possible that Kim finally figured something out at the start of his sixth season in the KBO, as the 24-year-old's 2.38 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 30.2 percent strikeout rate in 11.1 innings this season are all quite strong. It's going to take far more than 11.1 innings to prove that he's truly any different than the guy he was in his first 254.1 innings in the league, however, and that guy wasn't anything close to good. Prior to this season, Kim owned a 6.87 ERA, a 1.75 WHIP and a 15.0 percent strikeout rate.
The Giants' lineup is very right-handed, making the left-handed Son a key inclusion in any stack. The number three hitter has been on a tear to start the season, grabbing a hit in all but one of his first 10 games while hitting .424/.548/.576 overall. He saw his OPS fall along with the rest of the league to a still-solid .761 last season, but he recorded an OPS no lower than .880 for six straight seasons prior to that.
After Son, the Giants have a handful of similarly-price and similarly-effective right-handed bats. Leadoff man Min gets the nod here as a slightly cheaper option. The 33-year-old has typically had only modest power, though he already has two homers on the season. Getting on base is his calling card, as he owns a .400 on-base percentage and hasn't produced a number lower than .377 in that category in any of the last seven seasons. That's helped him score nine runs already this year.
Jeon earns the final spot here, though that could easily go to first baseman Dae Ho Lee ($4,500 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) depending on your lineup needs. The number two hitter grabbed three hits Saturday to bring his season line up to .333/.362/.622. The veteran hasn't slowed down in his early 30's, hitting .321 with an average of 24.3 homers over the last three seasons.
