DFS KBO: Sunday Cheat Sheet

Saturday's KBO action was highlighted by yet another tight contest between the Lions and Twins, with the Twins scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th on a Hyun Soo Kim homer only to allow a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, capped off by a pinch-hit walkoff walk by Ho Jae Kim. The victory moved the Lions into a playoff spot and bumped the Twins down to sixth. Meanwhile, the Dinos scored eight runs off the Tigers' Hyung Jong Yang in their 9-2, with Suk Min Park homering as part of a four-hit day. Elsewhere, the Giants and Heroes exploded for 10 runs each over the Wyverns and Wiz, respectively, with each side's top three hitters combining for seven hits. In the fifth game of the day, five strong innings from Min Woo Kim helped the Eagles to a 6-2 win over the Bears, giving them three wins against the defending champions -- just seven fewer than their 10 wins against the other eight teams combined. Sunday's slate will be highlighted by the conclusion of the key Twins-Lions series and features a larger than normal group of mid-tier pitchers, which could lead to plenty of diversity in lineups.

Pitchers

Chan Heon Jung ($7,500 DraftKings, $29 FanDuel as "LG Starting P") looks like the best value of the day at his mid-tier DraftKings price, though he shouldn't be completely ruled out as the most expensive arm on FanDuel, either. While it's true that the Twins have been quite poor of late and the Lions have been surging, going 10-2 over their last 12 games while scoring 6.3 runs per game, Jung has been good enough this season to give reason to believe he'll reverse that trend. His workload has been carefully managed, as he's made just six starts, but his 2.56 ERA is backed by an excellent combination of a 23.2 percent strikeout rate and a 6.0 percent walk rate. He's not without risks, which are made worse by the fact that this game will happen in the most hitter-friendly park in the league, but he has enough upside to make those risks worth taking.

Aaron Brooks ($9,000 DraftKings, $27 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") theoretically comes with plenty of risk, as he's facing the league-leading Dinos lineups, but looking at his track record through his first 10 KBO starts suggests that he might not be much of a risk in any matchup. His 2.51 ERA and 1.13 WHIP are both excellent numbers (ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, among qualified starters) and are backed up by a 23.1 percent strikeout rate and a 5.3 percent walk rate. Those stats may even understate how well he's pitching lately, however, as he owns a 1.52 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and a 25:6 K:BB over his last four starts.

Seung Ho Lee's ($6,900 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P") season-long 4.50 ERA and 1.40 WHIP are rather unimpressive, but his 2020 campaign has really been a tale of two seasons. In his first six starts, the 21-year-old posted a 7.39 ERA, a 1.68 WHIP and a 17:14 K:BB. In his last four starts, a stretch which includes outings against the league's top two lineups, the Dinos and Bears, he owns a remarkable 1.13 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and a 15:2 K:BB. That's still a low number of strikeouts--they've come over 24 innings of work--which does cap his upside, but the fact that he hasn't walked a single batter in his last three starts demonstrates how well he's been hitting his spots of late. A matchup against the fourth-ranked Wiz lineup isn't the easiest of tasks, but he's shut down even better units recently, making him a fine budget pick.

Top Targets

The Dinos' Mike Wright is a notable absence from the pitchers listed above, as he's been far more mediocre than his top-tier price and 3.70 ERA suggest, pairing a high 10.5 walk rate with an only slightly above-average 18.4 percent strikeout rate. He's good enough that I haven't recommended a full Tigers' stack against him here, but I wouldn't avoid starting hitters against him, either. With Preston Tucker hitting an awful .088 over his last nine games, Hyung Woo Choi ($4,600 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) is the team's top left-handed bat to grab. He's hit an excellent .367/.424/.767 with three homers and 11 RBI over his last eight games and owns a .942 OPS on the season overall.

Kun Woo Park ($4,400 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) was featured in the bargain category quite often in recent weeks, but his recent hot streak has driven his price up to the point where he now qualifies for this category instead. After falling out of the leadoff spot due to an awful .190/.286/.304 slash line over his first 22 games, he's gone on to hit .388/.436/.510 over his last 25 contests and has long since reclaimed his spot atop the order. He'll get the platoon advantage Sunday against Chad Bell, who hasn't looked good in seven starts, posting a 7.88 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP.

Bargain Bats

Ah Seop Son ($3,900 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) is more of a mid-priced option than a true bargain, but he's cheap enough on DraftKings to qualify for this section. The right fielder is a very high-floor option, as he's been held hitless just three times in his last 30 games, hitting .376/.416/.528 over that stretch. He's only homered three times on the season, but expect him to get on base multiple times with the platoon advantage against Wyverns' righty Jong Hoon Park, who's struggled to a 5.64 ERA through his first 10 starts.

If he were facing any other team, I'd likely recommend a stack against Bears' lefty Hui Kwan Yu, who has finally brought his strikeout rate (9.0 percent) above his walk rate (7.7) after striking out five Heroes in his last start but whose underlying numbers still don't support even his mediocre 4.73 ERA. I can't in good conscience recommend a full Eagles stack, but I'm at least somewhat intrigued by Jae Hoon Choi ($3,300 DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) as a cheap option at the thin catcher position on DraftKings. His overall .258/.331/.356 season line is unimpressive, but he hit fifth in each of the Eagles' last three games and owns a .342/.405/.474 slash line over his last 12 contests. With the platoon advantage against an unintimidating lefty, that's enough to make him interesting as a catcher.

Stacks To Consider

Wiz vs. Min Soo Kim: Jung Hoo Lee ($4,800 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Keon Chang Seo ($4,600 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Ha Seong Kim ($5,400 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel)

The Wiz's pitching staff has been the primary reason they're stuck in eighth despite a fairly strong lineup, and Min Soo Kim deserves a share of the blame in that regard. In five starts and nine relief appearances this season, the righty has struggled to a 5.79 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. A .392 BABIP can undoubtedly be blamed for some of his struggles, but he allows hitters to put the ball in play far too often, recording a very low 12.6 percent strikeout rate. He's kept runs off the board well in his last three outings, allowing a combined four earned runs, but he's only struck out five batters in 17.1 innings over that stretch, so it's not as if he's suddenly become an intimidating arm. The Heroes have reached double digits in three of their last five games and could push to do so again Sunday against Kim.

The Heroes show up quite frequently in this column (deservedly so given their performances of late), so regular readers will know this stack by now. Left-handed outfielder Lee leads this group, as he always does with a shaky right-hander on the mound for the opposition. His three-hit performance Saturday means he now has seven multi-hit outings in his last 12 games. He's hitting a remarkable .406/.453/.688 over his last 25 games, somehow managing to make a significant improvement on his .349/.418/.575 line in his first 27 contests.

Leadoff man Seo joins Lee as the other lefty who regularly hits in the top half of the Heroes' order, so he's a natural second selection here. His home run Saturday was just his fifth of the season, but he's a very productive player even with modest power. He's a prototypical leadoff man, hitting .301/.406/.464 with nearly twice as many walks (31) as strikeouts (17) while tying for the league lead with 12 steals. The 2014 KBO MVP has been particularly hot over his last eight games, hitting an incredible .419/.514/.710 with six walks and zero strikeouts.

We'll have to go with a right-handed hitter to complete this stack, but Ha Seong Kim is easily a strong enough batter to make him worth a look even without the platoon advantage. His overall .281/.392/.505 slash line tells the story well enough on its own, but it doesn't reflect how well he's been hitting of late. In his last 10 games, he's hit .359/.438/.692 with 11 runs, 15 RBI, three homers and four steals. The young shortstop, who could be playing in MLB this time next year, is an excellent all-around producer out of the number two spot in the lineup, slotting in neatly between Seo and Lee.

Wyverns vs. Se Woong Park: Jeong Choi ($5,300 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Jamie Romak ($4,700 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Tae In Chae ($2,400 DraftKings, $5 FanDuel)

It's difficult to recommend stacking the ninth-ranked Wyverns lineup, which came into this weekend series having scored a total of four runs in the last five games. Their bats started to wake up in their last two games, however, as they've scored a respectable 11 runs in the first two games of the series. That respectable stretch should continue against Park, who's allowed four or more earned runs in five of his last seven starts. On the season as a whole, he owns a 5.87 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The 24-year-old's 17.4 percent strikeout rate and 7.7 percent walk rate are both roughly average marks, but he's allowed a poor 1.6 HR/9.

While most of his teammates' bats have gone cold, the same can't be said for Choi. He's been held hitless just twice in his last 18 games, posting a .308/.392/.723 slash line with eight homers over that stretch. Despite homering just twice in his first 33 games, he's now tied for ninth in the league with 10 over the course of the season. With eligibility at a pair of shallow positions (third base and shortstop) on DraftKings, he's very much worth trying to fit into your lineup even though he'll lack the platoon advantage in this one.

Romak hasn't gone cold lately either, hitting .333/.366/.590 with three homers over his last 10 contests. On the season as a whole, his .279/.384/.514 line is a hair better across the board than his .276/.370/.508 line from last season, though that's canceled out by the higher offensive environment across the league this year. While he also won't have the platoon advantage here, Park is a weak enough opponent to make that not much of a worry, so he makes a great pair with Choi batting out of the third and fourth spots in the order.

While the Wyverns' best two bats can compete with the top pair in any lineup, their lack of depth has sunk them this far. There's a case to be made for keeping this as a two-man stack, though number five hitter Chae makes for an interesting and incredibly cheap option, as he costs the minimum on FanDuel and barely more than that on DraftKings. He missed over a month with a rib injury and didn't play much of a role initially upon returning in mid-June, but he's slotted into the number five spot in each of the Wyverns' last four games, going 9-for-15 with a homer. The 37-year-old isn't the same hitter he was at his peak, but he'll get the platoon advantage in this one and doesn't have to do a whole lot to return a profit at his bargain-basement price.