DFS KBO: Sunday Cheat Sheet

Saturday's four-game KBO daily-fantasy slate featured a total of 28 runs, with a full three quarters of those coming in the Bears' 13-8 victory over the Wiz. Stacking either of those lineups would have worked quite well, as Mel Rojas Jr. homered for the Wiz while each of the Bears' first six hitters recorded at least two hits. Very little was available on the offensive end in the other three games, though there were plenty of strong pitching options. Jake Brigham allowed just a single hit in seven scoreless innings as the Heroes defeated the Eagles 3-0, with leadoff man Joon Tae Park grabbing four hits. Elsewhere, David Buchanan allowed a single unearned run in six innings, but Seung Heon Lee allowed no runs in seven frames as the Giants beat the Lions 1-0. Meanwhile, Ki Hoon Kim allowed just one run on three hits over five innings, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers eventually fell to the Wyverns 2-1 to slide to 4.5 games out of the fifth and final playoff spot with just 17 left to play. 

Sunday's slate kicks off at 1 a.m. ET and features quite a few playable starting pitchers.

Pitchers

Drew Gagnon ($9,200) is the clear top option among a deep crop of pitchers, as he has a strong case as the best of the bunch and gets to face a Wyverns lineup that ranks second-last in scoring. He's been quite good all year outside of a four-start stretch in August in which he struggled to a 9.00 ERA and a 2.58 WHIP. He's long since put that rough patch behind him, however, as he's allowed no more than two earned runs in any of his last seven starts, a stretch in which he owns a 2.44 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

In the middle tier, Ben Lively ($7,100) stands out despite the fact that he'll be pitching in the league's most hitter-friendly park, as facing the sixth-ranked Giants lineup in that park shouldn't be too tough of a challenge. Lively's 3.88 ERA and 1.20 WHIP on the year are good enough on their own to make him well worth his modest price tag, though he's been pitching far better than that lately. In his last six starts, he's allowed more than one earned run just once, cruising to a 1.80 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP over that stretch.

Among the budget options, Won Joon Choi ($5,600) appears to be very underpriced. His low DraftKings points per game total is held back by the fact that he spent the early part of the season as a reliever. Since entering the rotation in mid-July, he's been everything the Bears could have hoped for, posting a 3.27 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 14 starts. He didn't strike out more than four batters in the first six of those outings, but he's since struck out five or more in seven of his last eight. He does have to face Mel Rojas Jr. and the Wiz on Sunday, which certainly isn't the easiest matchup, but it's rare to get a resume like Choi's for a price this cheap, so he's still worth a look despite some risk.

Top Targets

Ha Seong Kim ($5,700) likely doesn't have much time left with the Heroes, as reports surfaced earlier this week that he'll be posted for MLB teams to sign this offseason, something which had been rumored prior to the start of the campaign. He's doing his best to make the end of his Heroes career memorable even as his team collapses around him, winning just five of its last 15 games. Those losses certainly haven't been Kim's fault, as he's hit .407/.467/.611 over that stretch. He should stay hot Sunday against Warwick Saupold, who's performed better lately but who still owns an unimpressive 4.95 ERA on the season.

I strongly considered writing up a Tigers stack again in this column but stayed away due to the team's offensive struggles over the past few weeks. I'd still be interested in a Tiger or two against Wyverns righty Geon Wook Lee, who owns a 10.19 ERA over his last four starts. Hyung Woo Choi ($4,700) has been the hottest hitter on the team recently. "Recently" in this case stretches back two full months, a stretch in which he's hit .385/.445/.656 over 50 games. That extended run of excellent performance has seen his OPS rise all the way to .995, the second-best mark in the league. Despite his dominant performance, he's merely tied for the 18th-highest salary among hitters on the slate, making him quite a bargain even if he didn't have such an appealing matchup.

Bargain Bats

Sticking with the Tigers, leadoff man Won Joon Choi ($3,500) will also get the platoon advantage against the struggling Lee and is an interesting cheap option given the matchup. He's hit just one homer this season and has just 10 over his five-year KBO career, but he's been an effective contributor nonetheless, hitting .316/.382/.400 while chipping in with 11 steals. He's recorded at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games, a stretch in which he's hitting .378/.465/.432.

The Eagles could be a strong stack option on this slate if only they had enough trustworthy hitters, as they'll face Young Gun Jo, whose uninspiring 5.05 ERA comes with a very poor 20:26 K:BB. Si Hwan Noh ($2,800) has been on a roll lately and should be a strong cheap option at either second or third base. While he's gone hitless in his last two games, that followed a 17-game stretch in which he hit .317/.434/.619. That hot streak came out of nowhere, as he owned an OPS of .611 heading into that stretch, but it's believable that a 19-year-old who was the third-overall pick in the 2019 draft would be making legitimate improvements. In any case, it doesn't cost much at all to find out whether or not he can keep it going.

Stacks to Consider

Bears vs. Odrisamer Despaigne: Jose Fernandez ($5,700), Jae Il Oh ($4,100), Kun Woo Park ($4,500)

Stacking against Despaigne may seem odd at first glance, as the former MLB pitcher has been decent at worst this season, as his 4.18 ERA indicates. With a deep group of decent-or-better pitchers, however, and on a day in which the worst pitchers are facing some of the league's worst offenses, it's worth loading up on one of the league's best lineups even against a pitcher who definitely isn't terrible. Despaigne has been far from his usual standards lately as well, as he's allowed five runs in two straight starts. In four of his last five outings, he's allowed eight or more hits, posting a 5.34 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP over that stretch.

Fernandez had been in quite a slump in late September and early October, hitting .196/.259/.235 over a 13-game stretch despite striking out just three times. His fortunes appear to be changing over his last four contests, however, as he's gone 8-for-17 at the plate with a homer, four RBI and five runs scored. It looks like it's time to buy back in on a player who's been among the KBO's top hitters when he's on his game. On the season overall, he's hitting .346/.409/.506, placing him fourth in the league in batting average.

Oh had been in a slump that was even deeper than Fernandez's. In his final 19 games of September, he hit a miserable .129/.228/.157. He's been far better since the calendar flipped to October, however, hitting .452 in nine games and grabbing 10 hits, four runs and five RBI over his last four. He comes cheaper than most of the league's best first basemen, which is perhaps understandable given his modest 15 homers, but his overall .312/.386/.485 line is quite solid and makes his inexpensive price very justified given his matchup and spot in the heart of one of league's top lineups.

Park won't get the platoon advantage here, unlike the aforementioned pair, but he's a strong option nonetheless. He's joined many of his teammates by heating up in a big way recently, going 11-for-22 at the plate with a pair of homers over his last six games. On the season overall, his .302/.367/.474 slash line is quite solid, while his 14 homers represent his highest total since 2017. He dropped back from leadoff to the sixth spot in his most recent game, but he's worth consideration wherever he hits.

Dinos vs. Ho Nam: Eui Ji Yang ($5,600), Aaron Altherr ($4,900), Suk Min Park ($3,700)

Nam has done nothing wrong in his 12 innings this season, posting a 2.25 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. None of those innings have come against a lineup as nearly as good as the Dinos, however, with eight of them coming against the lowly Lions. He does own a solid combination of a, 18.8 percent strikeout rate and an 8.3 percent walk rate in his limited action, and his 2.18 ERA in 20.2 Futures League innings is quite strong, so it's certainly not impossible to envision the 20-year-old lefty having a decent day here. Still, betting on the league's best lineup against a very inexperienced pitcher who wasn't much of a prospect, going 45th overall in the 2019 draft, seems like a good idea given the deep pitching pool on this slate. Additionally, he's never thrown more than 78 pitches in any of his four KBO appearances, which could be a problem for the Twins, as their bullpen was forced to throw seven innings during Saturday's doubleheader.

The Dinos have plenty of talent from both sides of the plate, but we'll load up on the righties here against the young southpaw. Yang has just one hit in his last three games, but that's not nearly enough of a sample to conclude that he's suddenly gone cold. He's been dominant at the plate for quite some time, hitting .386/.452/.674 with 14 homers and 52 RBI over the 49 games prior to that brief slump. He leads all catchers in nearly every relevant stat and is well worth his expensive price.

Altherr jumped up to the second spot in the order in his most recent game and broke a stretch of five straight hitless games. While that's not the most inspiring recent performance, the outfielder has been quite good at the plate for the majority of the season and becomes extra interesting if he remains in a prime lineup position, especially as his recent slump has somewhat suppressed his price. On the season as a whole, he's hitting .276/.350/.545 while joining Ha Seong Kim as the only player with at least 20 homers and 20 steals, recording 29 and 20, respectively.

The 35-year-old Park is understandably not the same player he was at his peak, when he hit 26 or more homers with an OPS of .982 or better over three straight seasons from 2014 to 2016, but he's aging quite gracefully. His .304/.431/.467 season slash line puts him within striking distance of posting a .900 OPS for the eighth time in his career and the first time since 2016. If his recent form is any indication, he's quite likely to exceed that mark, as he's homered three times in his last five games while going 7-for-17 at the plate.