This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Saturday's KBO action delivered on expectations, with the likes of Drew Rucinski, Eric Jokisch and Aaron Brooks producing strong pitching performances while the Bears and Heroes both put up double-digit runs. Rucinski's eight shutout innings, combined with the Twins' loss to the Wiz, helped the Dinos move back into a three-game lead atop the standings. The Dinos' pitching has been the driver of their success, as they've given up just 3.4 runs per game, nearly a run better than the Eagles' second-place mark of 4.3. Elsewhere, Byung Ho Park, Dong Yeop Kim and Mel Rojas all had multi-homer games, while Jose Fernandez's four-hit showing gave him 10 hits in his last three games. Sunday's slate, which begins at the rather reasonable hour of 10 PM PT for folks on the West Coast, looks like a potentially more wide-open one, with most teams going with mid-rotation starters. It's a day to load up on lefties, as all 10 starting pitchers are right-handed.
Pitchers
What do you get when you cross one of the best pitchers in the league with one of the worst offenses? Probably a very highly-owned arm. That should be the case Sunday when Mike Wright ($8,900 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "NC Starting P") faces an Eagles lineup which has scored the second-fewest runs this season. Wright hasn't been as elite as his 1.69 ERA through his first three starts suggests, as his 1.31 WHIP is more good than great, but his 22.9 percent strikeout rate
Saturday's KBO action delivered on expectations, with the likes of Drew Rucinski, Eric Jokisch and Aaron Brooks producing strong pitching performances while the Bears and Heroes both put up double-digit runs. Rucinski's eight shutout innings, combined with the Twins' loss to the Wiz, helped the Dinos move back into a three-game lead atop the standings. The Dinos' pitching has been the driver of their success, as they've given up just 3.4 runs per game, nearly a run better than the Eagles' second-place mark of 4.3. Elsewhere, Byung Ho Park, Dong Yeop Kim and Mel Rojas all had multi-homer games, while Jose Fernandez's four-hit showing gave him 10 hits in his last three games. Sunday's slate, which begins at the rather reasonable hour of 10 PM PT for folks on the West Coast, looks like a potentially more wide-open one, with most teams going with mid-rotation starters. It's a day to load up on lefties, as all 10 starting pitchers are right-handed.
Pitchers
What do you get when you cross one of the best pitchers in the league with one of the worst offenses? Probably a very highly-owned arm. That should be the case Sunday when Mike Wright ($8,900 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "NC Starting P") faces an Eagles lineup which has scored the second-fewest runs this season. Wright hasn't been as elite as his 1.69 ERA through his first three starts suggests, as his 1.31 WHIP is more good than great, but his 22.9 percent strikeout rate is quite strong for the KBO, and he's unlikely to face a tough test in this one.
Won Tae Choi's ($9,500 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P") price diverges significantly between the two sites, making him far more interesting on FanDuel, but he's worth consideration even as the most expensive arm on DraftKings. He's stumbled a bit out of the gate this season, posting an almost exactly league-average 4.80 ERA through his first three starts, but his numbers of the last two seasons have been quite good. He posted a 3.95 ERA during the league's high-offense era in 2018 and a 3.38 ERA with the de-juiced ball last year. He'll face a mediocre Giants offense that ranks sixth in runs per game this season.
If you're looking for a cheap option on DraftKings, Min Woo Lee ($7,000 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel) is your guy. He's primarily interesting due to the fact that he's facing the league-worst Wyverns' lineup, a unit which has scored just 3.6 runs per game this season. His 4.86 ERA and 1.44 WHIP through three starts this season are uninspiring, and his 5.43 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 61.1 innings last season were even worse, but there's enough in his peripherals to make him a palatable option in an easy matchup. His ERA last year was inflated by a .363 BABIP, while his 19.8 percent strikeout rate was solidly above the league-average rate of 17.2 percent.
Top Targets
Preston Tucker ($6,200 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) is a worthy inclusion whenever you can find the budget space. Even after a pair of hitless games, his season slash line sits at a remarkable .369/.446/.708, while his 21 RBI lead the league. He shouldn't be significantly challenged against Wyverns righty Ricardo Pinto. Any pitcher with MLB experience deserves some respect in the KBO, but Pinto hasn't delivered so far this season, posting a 6.32 ERA, a 1.85 WHIP and an 8:10 K:BB through his first three starts in the league.
The loss of Baek Ho Kang (wrist) is a big blow to the Wiz's lineup, depriving Mel Rojas ($6,100 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel) of some RBI opportunities, but it's also allowed him to move up to the cleanup spot. Rojas can do more than enough damage with his bat to be worth consideration regardless of his teammates, as his .455/.500/.742 slash line suggests. The switch hitter faces an unintimidating starting pitcher in Chan Gyu Lim, who recorded a 4.97 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP as a swingman last season.
Bargain Bats
Jin Sung Kang ($2,900 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) has become a frequent feature here thanks to his cheap price and inexplicable catcher eligibility. He's enjoyed a regular role at first base in the absence of Chang Min Mo (shoulder), taking advantage of his opportunities to hit three homers and drive in 13 runs in just 40 plate appearances while posting a 1.401 OPS. He and his Dinos teammates will face an easy matchup against Eagles righty Shi Hwan Jang, who's struggled to a 7.20 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP in three starts this season.
Jae Won Oh ($2,100 DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) has moved in a starting role in the absence of Jae Il Oh (side), batting fifth and starting at second base in each of the last three games as Joo Hwan Choi slides over to first. He's taken to his new role very well, grabbing five hits, scoring four times and driving in six runs over those three contests. Oh posted an awful .164/.267/.271 slash line in 204 plate appearances last season, but he recorded a strong .313/.370/.463 line in 521 plate appearances in 2018. His Bears could be in for a big day against David Buchanan, a pitcher with big-league experience who's probably better than his 7.50 ERA suggests but who might not turn things around against a tough lineup in a hitter-friendly park in this one.
Stacks to Consider
Heroes vs. Jun Won Seo: Jung Hoo Lee ($4,500 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Keon Chang Seo ($3,500 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel), Ha Seong Kim ($5,100 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel)
Jun Won Seo looked good in his first start of the season but followed that up with a pair of quite poor ones, allowing 12 runs in just nine innings. The righty is still just 19 years old and has plenty of room to grow, but he hasn't shown much in 112 career KBO innings to this point, posting a 5.71 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. He struggles to put hitters away, recording a 12.8 percent career strikeout rate. That could be a problem against a Heroes lineup which led the league in scoring last season. The unit started the season somewhat slowly but has picked things up lately, scoring 8.5 runs per game over the last six contests.
Lee is the clear choice to lead any Heroes stack. The 21-year-old is in the midst of a breakout campaign, hitting .381/.458/.714 with 19 RBI and four homers, just two shy of his career-high of six. He's always been a strong contact hitter, posting a batting average no lower than .324 and a strikeout rate no higher than 11.2 percent over his first three seasons, but his newfound power makes him one of the best overall hitters in the entire league.
Leadoff man Keon Chang Seo remains an excellent mid-priced option in this contest. He's riding a 12-game hitting streak while hitting .308/.392/.462 on the season overall. The 30-year-old is a perennial on-base threat who owns a .393 career on-base percentage. Expect to see him have multiple chances to score if the Heroes go off as expected in this one.
Number two hitter Ha Seong Kim won't get the platoon advantage and is probably the worst value of this trio, but he's a strong inclusion in this one nonetheless. The 24-year-old shortstop, who could have an MLB future as he's expected to be posted this offseason, grabbed three hits and a home Saturday to raise his season slash line to .274/.392/.516. He has a long track record as a strong hitter for his position, hitting at least 19 homers with an OPS of .835 or better in five straight seasons.
Lions vs. Young Ha Lee: Ja Wook Koo ($4,500 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel), Hak Ju Lee ($3,300 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel), Dong Yeop Kim ($2,900 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)
After recording ERAs of 5.55 and 5.28 in his first two KBO campaigns, Lee recorded a strong 3.64 ERA with help from the de-juiced ball last season. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of that mark, however, as he struck out just 13.0 percent of opposing batters. He didn't prevent walks at a notable clip, recording an 8.8 percent walk rate, so his low ERA looks to be primarily the product of a .272 BABIP and a very low 0.3 HR/9. Contact management may work in Lee's pitcher-friendly home park, Jamsil Baseball Stadium, but he's pitching in the league's most hitter-friendly venue, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, in this one. The Lions' lineup is one of the weaker ones in the league, but this could be an opportunity for them to do some damage against a pitcher who lets his opponents put the ball in play quite frequently.
While the Lions frequently make for an interesting stack in their home park, finding the hitters worth stacking can be a challenge. Koo is the most obvious choice, though he left Saturday's contest after four innings with a sore thigh, so you'll definitely want to double-check the lineups prior to this game if you decide to select him. The outfielder, who typically bats second for the Lions, owns a .361/.452/.556 slash line with three steals in 11 games this season. He saw his OPS drop to a still-solid .775 with the de-juiced ball last year but had managed an OPS of .916 or better in each of his first four seasons in the league.
Lee is incredibly cheap on FanDuel and occupies the thin shortstop position on DraftKings. Those are the primary reasons to consider him, as his .257/.333/.369 slash line in 129 career KBO games hardly turns heads. Still, he'll have the platoon advantage against a potentially shaky starter in a park where offense typically dominates, making the Lions' number five hitter an interesting budget option.
Kim rounds out this inexpensive stack. He won't get the platoon advantage in this contest, but he occupies a key spot in the order, batting second for most of the season before moving to cleanup for the Lions' last two games. The designated hitter struggled to a .215/.268/.338 line last season in a small sample of 60 games, but he's gotten out of the gate hot in this one, hitting .282/.301/.479 with four homers, two of which came in Saturday's loss.
