DFS KBO: Sunday Cheat Sheet

We've still had just one complete slate out of five in the KBO this week, but we did get to see four of the five games go through Saturday, with only the Wyverns-Eagles game getting rained out. The games that did go through led to a significant chance near the top of the standings, as the Tigers have now tied the Heroes in third place after winning three straight as the Heroes lost four in a row. The Tigers were victorious against the Lions on Saturday despite Aaron Brooks (5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 K) getting outpitched by Ben Lively (6 IP, 1 ER, 8 K), as they exploded to score seven runs off of Lions relievers to win 8-2. Meanwhile, Dan Straily struck out eight Heroes in seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits in the Giants' 6-3 win. Elsewhere, a five-run second inning by the Bears off Casey Kelly helped them to a 7-3 win over the Twins and brought them a game closer to the league-leading Dinos, who fell to the Wiz by a score of 6-2 as Jae Gyun Hwang, Mel Rojas Jr. and Baek Ho Kang reached base a combined eight times and scored four runs. We may be denied a full slate yet again Sunday, with the Wyverns-Eagles game again threatened by rain, but the games that do get played should feature some interesting matchups with a number of quality pitchers.

Pitchers

Speaking of quality pitchers, none has shown more quality than Chang Mo Koo ($10,800) this season. Through 12 starts, he owns an outstanding 1.35 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. While it's understandably taken a bit of good fortune to produce numbers quite that elite, as it's taken a .245 BABIP and an 83.3 percent strand rate to get him there, his underlying numbers are similarly dominant. He's walked just 5.1 percent of opposing batters while striking out 31.3 percent, a number that leads all over qualified starters by over five percentage points. Koo has only allowed more than two earned runs in one of his 12 starts this season, and while that did come against the Wiz, he had no trouble against them in his most recent start, striking out 10 while allowing just two hits in seven scoreless innings.

David Buchanan ($8,800) has been prone to getting blown up at times this season, allowing five or more earned runs three times and eight or more earned runs twice. He's been quite strong the vast majority of the time, though, holding opponents to two earned runs or less in each of his other 10 outings. Each of his last four starts has been quite strong, as he's allowed a combined four runs on 21 hits in 30 innings. Buchanan's modest 16.6 percent strikeout rate does cap his fantasy upside, but with a 3.36 ERA and 1.14 WHIP on the season he should be a strong play against the Tigers and their seventh-ranked offense.

Seung Won Moon ($8,100) remains the Wyverns' scheduled starter following Saturday's rainout. He's one of a  very small number of Wyverns who've surpassed expectations this season, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP through 13 starts. He's been on a roll after some early struggles, posting a 2.31 ERA and a 0.96 ERA in his last nine outings. His 21.1 percent strikeout rate is well above his previous career high, and it's been paired with a strong 6.2 percent walk rate. Even if he weren't facing the league-worst Eagles lineup Sunday, he's be a reliable option, but that easy assignment puts him over the top.

Top Targets

18-year-old Min Ho Lee owns an incredible 1.80 ERA in six starts and two relief appearances this season, but that doesn't appear to be an accurate reflection of his performance, as his combination of a 17.0 percent strikeout rate and an 11.1 percent walk rate is rather unremarkable. He's been quite unimpressive in those categories in his last three starts, striking out 13 and walking 13. If those mediocre numbers are indeed a more accurate reflection of his talent level than his ERA is, the Bears' top lefties should be very much in play here. Jose Fernandez ($5,800) remains the best of that group. He sits second in the league with 100 hits while also hitting 12 homers, just three shy of his total from last season.

Yesterday's column featured a Wyverns stack against struggling Eagles righty Warwick Saupold. That stack got edged out by a pair of slightly more interesting options in time around, but it remains an intriguing option with Saupold now set to start Sunday following Saturday's rainout. Dong Min Han ($4,000) earns the mention here as both the cheapest member of that stack and the only one who will get the platoon advantage against Saupold. The outfielder has homered in back-to-back games and in three of his last five contests, giving him nine in just 26 games so far this season in an injury-shortened campaign.

Bargain Bats

While Seung Won Moon was mentioned above as one of the best pitchers on the slate, Brandon Barnes ($3,000) should be in consideration for anyone who doesn't select him, as his price is far too cheap for a foreign hitter. He won't get too much help from his teammates, and he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire through his first five KBO games, going 4-or-18 at the plate, but foreign hitters deserve the benefit of the doubt in this league until they prove that they aren't top-tier players. The 34-year-old was never much of a hitter in his six-year big-league career, but his revamped swing helped him hit 30 homers at the Triple-A level last season, which seemingly bodes well for his time with the Eagles.

The heavily right-handed Giants lineup easily could have been a stack recommendation here against Heroes lefty Jae Woong Kim, who owns an unremarkable 4.44 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in his 24.1 inning debut this year, appearing almost exclusively out of the bullpen. Several Giants are worth consideration on this slate, but I'll highlight Dae Ho Lee ($3,900) as an inexpensive option among a deep but pricy pool of first basemen. The 38-year-old is still a very capable hitter at the tail end of his career, hitting .309/.391/.500 with 11 homers. He's already just five homer shy of his total of 16 from last season and has seen his slugging percentage jump by 65 points.

Stacks To Consider

Heroes vs. Jun Won Seo: Jung Hoo Lee ($5,500), Keon Chang Seo ($5,200), Ha Seong Kim ($6,100)

The Heroes have crashed hard in the month of July after being hot for most of June, going 7-13 in 20 games this month. They've been even worse lately, losing four straight games while scoring a total of just nine runs. They still have plenty of talented bats atop the order, however, and a matchup against Jun Won Seo could be what they need to get going again. Seo has been decidedly mediocre all season, striking out just 11.9 percent of opposing batters while allowing 1.5 HR/9, leading to a 4.82 ERA. He's been ever worse over his last two outings, allowing 12 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits in just seven innings of work.

Lee is a strong play against nearly every righty, and he looks especially good against Seo. The right fielder is having a breakout age-21 campaign, as he's already doubled his previous career high with 12 homers but hasn't sacrificed any contact to get there, as his .352 batting average is just four points below his career best. That batting average is good for third among qualified hitters, while his 53 RBI rank sixth.

Leadoff man Keon Chang Seo joins Lee as the other lefty who regularly hits in a key spot in the Heroes' lineup. The 30-year-old has fallen off from where he was back in 2014, when he won the MVP trophy, but he does everything you could ask for from a table-setter. His excellent 13.8 percent walk rate is well above his 10.0 percent strikeout rate, helping him to a strong .397 on-base percentage. He has quintessential leadoff speed as well, swiping a league-high 16 bases, just one less than his total from last season.

Kim is quite expensive, but he should be well worth the price, as he leads all other shortstops in DraftKings points per game and leads all of them except Jeong Choi by more than two points. He won't get the platoon advantage against Seo, but he's a good enough all-around offensive player that he's worth a look nonetheless, especially given Seo's unimpressive track record. Kim's .274 batting average doesn't pop off the page, but it comes with a .381 on-base percentage thanks to an excellent 14.3 percent walk rate. He's also chipped in with 15 homers (tying him for seventh in the league) and 10 steals (tying him for eighth).

Twins vs. Young Ha Lee: Hyun Soo Kim ($4,600), Roberto Ramos ($4,700), Ji Hwan Oh ($4,400)

Lee has been quite poor all season, struggling to a 5.96 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. While a .361 BABIP and a 63.4 percent strand rate undoubtedly inflate those numbers, he hasn't been good in the areas he can more directly control either, as he's striking out just 13.8 percent of opposing batters while walking 10.8 percent. Lee has been especially poor over his last seven starts, allowing at least four earned runs in six of those outings. He owns a 7.54 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP over that stretch.

A struggling righty on the mound for the Bears means it's time to load up on the Twins' top lefties. Based on recent performance, it's Kim, not Ramos, who deserves top billing here. Kim has been an excellent contact hitter throughout his 13-year KBO career, posting a lifetime .322 batting average, though he's averaged just 14.3 homers per season and hit just 11 last year. He already has 13 bombs this campaign, eight of which have come in his last 17 games, a stretch in which he's hit an outstanding .397/.468/.824.

Ramos was the best hitter on the Twins early in the year and perhaps the best hitter in the entire league, as he hit .380/.448/.796 with 13 homers in 31 games before landing on the injured list with ankle and back issues. He hasn't been the same player in 28 games since his return, homering just four times while hitting an unimpressive .236/.325/.396. He's perhaps been showing signs of life very recently, though, going 4-for-13 with a double and a homer over his last three games. That's enough to make him worth a look given Lee's struggles.

Oh slots in right in front of Kim and Ramos in the number two spot to round out this trio of lefties. He carries the fifth-highest price tag among all shortstops, though he looks like a good value based on his recent performance. He's riding a 10-game hitting streak, a stretch in which he's hitting .349 with three homers, 10 runs and 10 RBI. His season-long numbers are quite solid as well, as he's hitting .279/.327/.455 with seven homers and 11 steals through 65 games