DFS KBO: Sunday Cheat Sheet

Saturday's slate saw the Dinos lose consecutive games for the first time all season, quite a surprise given they've had Drew Rucinski and Mike Wright on the mound against the lowly Lions. The Dinos' bullpen was part of the problem again, but so were their bats, which David Buchanan helped to limit to just four hits. The Twins' loss to the Tigers meant the Dinos held onto their two-game lead atop the standings, however. 

Elsewhere, the Wyverns again beat the Eagles in a battle of stragglers and could finally move off the bottom of the standings if they sweep the series with a win Sunday. Several lineups put up big numbers Saturday, with the Lions, Heroes, Wyverns and Tigers all scoring at least nine runs and providing profitable stacks. The highlight of the day was perhaps Lions catcher Min Ho Kang, who homered twice. It's unlikely too many fantasy players got to enjoy that performance, however, as his OPS sat at .579 heading into the game, making him a rather unappealing option. 

Sunday's slate, which wraps up both Week 4 and May, starts at the practically reasonable hour of 1 a.m. EDT, so be sure to set your lineups early if you've gotten into the rhythm of checking lineups at 4 a.m. This slate is loaded with several of the league's top pitchers, though many are playing each other.

Pitchers

Drew Gagnon ($6,700 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") is somehow the cheapest pitcher on DraftKings while tied for the most expensive on FanDuel. His price on the latter site seems far more accurate, as he's been one of the best pitchers in the league through his first four KBO starts, cruising to a 2.70 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Those numbers are well supported by his excellent 33.7 percent strikeout rate and 5.4 percent walk rate. A date with Roberto Ramos and the fourth-ranked Twins lineup isn't the easiest of matchups, making him merely one of many good options on FanDuel, but when you can get that kind of dominance as the cheapest option on the slate on DraftKings, it almost doesn't matter who he's pitching against.

A matchup against the top-ranked Bears lineup certainly adds risk to Dan Straily ($7,200 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "Lotte Starting P"), but his talent makes that a risk worth taking, especially if the matchup drives his ownership down more than name recognition can drive it back up. The veteran righty has taken to the KBO quite well, recording a 2.86 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP through his first five starts. His 12.0 percent walk rate is something of a concern, but he has plenty of strikeout upside, striking out 27.4 percent of batters. The Bears can put up crooked numbers on anybody, so there's plenty of downside here, though they've cooled off lately, scoring just 3.3 runs per game their last six games.

For a top-end option on either platform, consider Chang Mo Koo ($9,400 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel). The 23-year-old lefty has been the top Korean pitcher in the league by some margin this season, striking out 30.8 percent of opposing batters while walking 7.7 percent en route to an incredible 0.62 ERA and a 0.66 WHIP. He hasn't just been beating up on bad teams, either, holding the league's top two offenses, the Wiz and Bears, to a combined one run in 16 innings. The sixth-ranked Lions lineup shouldn't give him much trouble, as he's already held them to six scoreless innings while striking out eight and giving up just two hits in his first start of the season.

Top-Shelf Targets

Jeong Choi's ($4,400 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) bat is finally waking up, and he's been dragging the struggling Wyverns with him, as they've won three consecutive and can climb out of the basement with a win Sunday. Choi's season batting line is still a poor .197/.167/.352, but he's been on a roll in his last five games, batting .467/.636/.867 with a homer. That homer tied him for fourth in KBO history with 337, and he should be up to second all-time by season's end as long as he can hit 15 more over the rest of the campaign. He'll get the platoon advantage here against Eagles lefty Chad Bell, who recorded a solid 3.50 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP last season but who shouldn't be expected to go too deep in this game, as he threw just 60 pitches last time out in his first start of the season after recovering from an elbow issue.

Jung Hoo Lee ($5,100 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) may look like an odd recommendation on the surface, as he's facing Wiz righty Je Seong Bae, who owns a 1.07 ERA this season. It's taken an unsustainable 90.9 percent strand rate to get Bae to that number, however, and he's struck out a modest 13.6 percent of opposing batters, so there's little reason to treat him as a truly elite arm. Lee is in the midst of a breakout season in his age-21 campaign, adding newfound power to his base of excellent contact, giving him a .356/.440/.609 season slash line.

Bargain Bats

With the Twins back on DraftKings' main slate Sunday, Roberto Ramos ($3,600 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) returns as the biggest bargain out there. Just how the early MVP frontrunner can be so cheap continues to be a mystery. It's gotten to the point where you need a good excuse not to play Ramos on DraftKings, as he's hitting .372/.449/.808 with 10 homers, three more than anyone else in the league. Unless you're starting Drew Gagnon (which does seem like a good idea, as discussed above) there's little reason not to take advantage of this incredible bargain, and he's still very much worth consideration on FanDuel, where he's justifiably one of the most expensive players on the slate.

If you're not hopping on the Dan Straily train, Soo Bin Jung ($2,000 DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) is an interesting budget option, as he's a minimum-price player on DraftKings and costs barely more than the minimum on FanDuel. That's not to say his .256/.299/.317 line this season has been good, but his career .279/.351/.373 line suggests there's room for improvement. He's interesting mostly because he's become the leadoff man for the league's highest-scoring lineup, a unit that got even better with Jae Il Oh's recent return from a side injury. Straily isn't a particularly easy opponent, but betting on the league's best offense against one of the league's best pitchers is a justifiable move, and Jung offers the cheapest way to place that bet.

Stacks

Wiz vs. Seung Ho Lee: Mel Rojas Jr. ($6,100 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,000 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel), Woo Jun Sim ($3,300 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel)

This slate is short on truly exploitable pitchers, but Lee's 5.23 ERA is easily the highest among the day's starters. That's not to say the 21-year-old is anything close to terrible, as both his 17.2 percent strikeout rate and 8.1 percent walk rate are about league average. In a day that lacks obviously exploitable pitchers, however, we'll have to settle for stacking against a mediocre one, and that seems to describe the young lefty thus far in his career. In 188.1 total KBO innings, split across three seasons, he owns a 4.83 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP.

The Wiz's lineup may not be the same without Baek Ho Kang, who's out with a wrist injury, but they still have one of the best hitters in the league in Rojas. The switch-hitting cleanup man has recorded at least one hit in all but two games this season, helping him to a .409/.458/.636 slash line. While he may not hit .400 the rest of the way, he has an established track record as one of the league's top bats, hitting .301 or better with an OPS no worse than .914 in each of his first three seasons in the KBO.

Hwang may have been unsuccessful in his brief trip stateside, struggling to a .459 OPS in a tiny sample of 18 games for San Francisco back in 2017, but he's had plenty of success in his native country, posting a career .802 OPS in his 13-year career and an OPS of .827 or better in each of his last five campaigns. He's hitting .297 to start this season, though he's only homered once. With power up across the league, however, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Hwang start to hit the ball out of the park soon, as he's hit at least 20 homers in each of his last four seasons.

Leadoff man Sim is primarily interesting for his lineup position and his shortstop eligibility. He's a solid contact hitter, posting a .287 batting average this season, though a complete lack of power has limited him to a .649 OPS. Still, he'll have the platoon advantage in this one against the day's weakest pitcher, so he should get a few chances to score in this one. He could also do some damage with his legs, as his six steals tie him for the league lead.

Dinos vs. Chae Heung Choi: Eui Ji Yang ($5,200 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Jin Sung Kang ($3,300 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Aaron Altherr ($5,300 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel)

The fact that one of the day's stack recommendations is for a lineup facing a pitcher who owns a 1.88 ERA this season should be an indication of how strong the pitching is on this slate. It's also an indication that Choi's excellent ERA isn't a particularly accurate reflection of what we should expect from him going forward. That mark is backed by a 1.04 WHIP, but it's also required an unsustainable .203 BABIP and an 85.4 percent strand rate. In 106.2 innings as a swingman last season, Choi struggled to a 4.81 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, which appears to be a more accurate reflection of his talent. A strong Dinos lineup should be able to score plenty of runs against him in this one, especially in the league's most hitter-friendly stadium, Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

With a southpaw on the mound, we'll look to stack righties in this one, though I was burned by lefty Sung Bum Na's ($4,800 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) two-homer game the last time the Dinos faced a lefty, so I don't hate subbing him in for any of the options listed here. Among the righties, though, Yang is the best on the team and one of the best in the league. Last year's MVP runner-up has battled through some minor injuries this season to hit .328/.429/.586, giving him an OPS north of 1.000 for the third straight year. He's been particularly hot over his last eight games, hitting .375 with three homers.

You can't include both Yang and Kang on DraftKings, where they're both listed as catchers despite Kang playing just one inning there in his KBO career, but they're a great pair on FanDuel. Kang had essentially no track record prior to this season, never receiving more than 104 plate appearances in the season and never doing much with those limited opportunities. That explains why he's still so cheap despite his outstanding .453/.517/.797 slash line this campaign. A fair amount of regression should undoubtedly be expected, but the 26-year-old has a long way to fall while still being a great value.

Some early struggles, which may have been primarily due to a nagging hand injury, caused the Dinos to move Altherr to the bottom third of the order, which has made him hard to justify at his still-high DraftKings price. He's worth a look as part of a stack in this one, however, as these three righties hit fourth, fifth and seventh Saturday, providing that close proximity you hope to find in an ideal stack. Altherr's overall .247/.329/.466 slash line is solid but unspectacular, but he's been starting to heat up over his last nine games, hitting .345/.424/.655 over that stretch with a respectable 18.2 percent strikeout rate after striking out 38.8 percent of the time in his first 13 KBO contests.