DFS KBO: Thursday Cheat Sheet

In a day full of big-name starting pitchers, the best pitching performance of the day on Wednesday's KBO slate came from the unheralded Bum Soo Kim, who held Mel Rojas Jr. and the Wiz to just one run in 5.2 innings while striking out nine in the Eagles' 7-3 victory. Drew Gagnon nearly matched him in the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Lions, striking out nine in the same number of innings while allowing two runs. Jung Hyun Baek pitched well for the Lions in that contest, allowing a single unearned run on just three hits in the same 5.2-inning workload. Elsewhere, Eric Jokisch had one of his worst performances of the year against the Dinos, but he's been so dominant this season that a seven-inning quality start still qualifies for that label. He struck out just two while allowing three runs on eight hits but earned the win after his side rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to win 7-4 and pull within four games of the league leaders. On the offensive side, Jae Hwan Kim had perhaps the performance of the day in the Bears' 7-2 win against the Wyverns, going 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBI. Thursday's slate looks overall to be quite similar to Wednesday's, with a handful of top pitchers headlining the group but a fair number of prime stack targets as well.

Pitchers

For the second straight day, the Bears' starter is inexplicably inexpensive on FanDuel, with Chris Flexen ($8,900 DraftKings, $20 FanDuel as "Doosan Starting P") looking like the obvious top play on that site. While he hasn't been quite as consistent as his teammate Raul Alcantara this year, Flexen has been quite good overall. He's recent form has been mixed, as he followed an awful start against the Eagles on July 4, in which he allowed six runs in just four innings, with a seven-inning, one-run performance against the Giants his last time out. On the season as a whole, Flexen's strong 3.86 ERA and 1.27 WHIP are backed by a 21.5 percent strikeout rate and a 7.5 percent walk rate. While it's not entirely clear which Flexen will show up Thursday, the good version appears more likely, as he'll face the Wyverns and their ninth-ranked lineup.

Chan Heon Jung ($8,300 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "LG Starting P") has been used cautiously this season as he fills a rotation role for the first time since all the way back in 2008, but the plan seems to be working. He's made seven starts on the season, typically heading to the minors for a full 10 days between each outing, and has cruised to a 2.62 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He's backed those numbers up with an excellent pairing of a 23.7 percent strikeout rate and a 5.7 percent walk rate. Six of his seven outings on the year have been quality starts, and he'll have a strong chance to make that seven out of eight against a Giants team that ranks eighth in scoring.

William Cuevas ($7,900 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") hasn't been as consistent as the Wiz would like this season, holding opponents to two or fewer runs four times but allowing four or more runs in each of his other five starts. Three of his four outings since returning from a hip injury have fallen into the former category, however, so there's reason to have some faith in him going forward. He owns a 2.84 ERA over those starts, far better than his 6.28 mark from his five outings prior to the injury. He'll have a good chance to keep his positive run going in this one against an Eagles team which ranks last in the league in runs per game.

Top Targets

Last season, it would have been unthinkable to recommend hitters against Tigers lefty Hyun Jong Yang, who finished third in MVP voting after posting a 2.29 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He looks like an entirely different guy this year, though, as he now owns a 5.56 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP after allowing 21 earned runs in 19.2 innings over his last four starts. An outing in the league's most hitter-friendly park, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, is unlikely to help him turn things around. Tyler Saladino ($4,400 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) will get the platoon advantage against him and looks to be a strong play. He missed over two weeks with a back issue recently but has reached base six times in four games since returning to the lineup. Saladino struggled early in the year, but he's been quite hot over his last 30 games, hitting .344/.483/.581.

It's been over a day since I last recommended Mel Rojas Jr. ($6,000 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), so it seems time to pay him his due again. He hasn't homered in either of his last two games, which practically counts a slump by his absurd standards given that he'd homered 17 times in his previous 36 contests, one homer shy of a nice round 0.5 homers per game. He's as likely as any player to homer on any given day, as his 21 bombs are five more than anyone else has managed so far this season. He'll face Eagles righty Min Woo Kim, whose 4.37 ERA is decent enough but who's had a fairly significant homer problem this season, allowing nine home runs, one shy of the worst mark in the league.

Bargain Bats

Hyung Jong Lee ($3,700 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel) dropped from third to fifth in the order Wednesday, though that's still a good enough spot to make him worth consideration Thursday, especially at his near-minimum price on FanDuel. Lee had missed nearly the entirety of the season after breaking his hand in spring training, but he's grabbed a hit in all four of his games since returning to the lineup Friday. He's been a solid hitter for the Twins for the last two years and should be a good bet in this one with the platoon advantage against Giants lefty Won Sam Jang, who owns a 7.20 ERA this year and hasn't posted an ERA below 5.50 since 2014.

Ji Wan Na ($4,000 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) earns a recommendation here for the second straight day with another unreliable lefty on the mound for the Lions. Yoon Dong Heo's 4.15 ERA looks decent on the surface, but it's come with a 1.73 ERA and a 13:17 K:BB. Na has now gone hitless in his last two games, but that followed an 11-game stretch in which he hit .326/.412/.518. On the season as a whole, he's hit .280 with nine homers and 40 RBI, with the latter two numbers both representing the second-best marks on the Tigers. The platoon disadvantage may be enough to keep me away from the likes of Preston Tucker given the plethora of other expensive options with better matchups on the day, but Na remains very much worth a look.

Stacks To Consider

Dinos vs. Sung Hyun Moon: Aaron Altherr ($5,600 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Suk Min Park ($4,500 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Hee Dong Kwon ($3,200 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)

The Dinos need a win Thursday to avoid getting swept for the first time this season, though the pitching matchup between Drew Rucinski and Moon certainly suggests they're in good shape. Moon's 1.46 ERA may look intimidating on the surface, but even a cursory glance at the rest of his statline reveals very few reasons to worry. That ERA has come in just 12.1 innings, a number which represents all but one of the innings he's thrown over the last five years. His ERA this season, which has come in just one three-inning start plus eight relief appearances, isn't at all backed up by his underlying numbers, as it's come with an 8:8 K:BB. The fact that Moon hasn't thrown more than three innings in a game so far this season suggests this will look more like a bullpen game for the Heroes than a true start, but trading in Moon for the soft underbelly of the Heroes' bullpen in the early innings is unlikely to make Dinos hitters' jobs any harder.

With Moon unlikely to pitch deep into this game, I'm not concerned about the platoon advantage here, though with the way Altherr has been swinging the bat, he'd be an easy inclusion even if circumstances were different. He was stuck low in the lineup for much of the year following a brief early slump, but he's hit fourth or fifth in all but one game this month. That role is very much deserved, as he's hit .362/.405/.754 over his last 18 games, hitting seven homers while driving in 19 runs and scoring 20 times.

Park has also bounced around the lineup, but he's hit no lower than sixth in each of his last 14 starts, most frequently batting fifth. The veteran has been a steady presence for the Dinos lately as some of the team's top bats have slumped, hitting .333/.390/.556 over his last 15 games. The 35-year-old may not be the hitter he was at his peak, when he posted an OPS north of .900 seven times in an eight-year span from 2009 to 2016, but he remains a capable hitter at the tail end of his career, following up his .871 OPS from last season with an .858 mark this year.

Kwon has featured in this column frequently in recent weeks, as he's jumped into a key role in the Dinos' league-leading lineup on the back of a .301/.418/.519 slash line. He hit second for most of the month, though he moved back to third in each of the Dinos' last two games, placing him closer to Altherr and Park's likely spots. He's cooled off a bit lately, hitting just .212 over his last 10 games, but his overall slash line appears to be mostly a legitimate breakout rather than a small-sample BABIP fluke, as his .325 mark in that category this season isn't far out of line with his numbers from his last five seasons, where he finished with a BABIP between .291 and .324 each year.

Bears vs. Seung Geon Baek: Kun Woo Park ($5,000 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Kyoung Min Hur ($4,700 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Jae Hwan Kim ($5,700 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel)

The second-ranked Bears lineup is in a rather similar situation to the top-ranked Dinos offense, facing a pitcher who's barely thrown any innings this season. Baek has made one start and a pair of relief appearances this year, throwing a total of nine innings. He's allowed seven runs over that stretch while posting a poor 9:9 K:BB. His 2.33 ERA in a similarly small sample of 19.1 innings as an 18-year-old rookie last year looks much better on the surface, but it came with an unimpressive 14:12 K:BB. The young lefty hasn't thrown more than 67 pitches in an outing this season, so he probably won't be asked to go too deep in this contest, giving the Bears the chance to hit against what will probably be some of the Wyverns' weaker relievers.

As discussed with Moon above, I wouldn't be too worried about the platoon advantage here, given that Baek seems unlikely to pitch deep into this game. Still, the Bears have a pair of righties worth rostering, so I'll lead with them here. Park started the season quite poorly, causing him to lose his leadoff role for a brief period, but he's been deservedly back in that spot for quite a while now. His .319/.392/.484 slash line is a near match for his .319/.397/.465 line from last year, but he's been even better than that over his last nine games, grabbing at least one hit in all nine while posting an overall .351/.405/.649 slash line.

Hur is particularly interesting with a southpaw on the mound, as he's hit first against five of the last six lefties he's faced, bumping Park back to third. Hur has swung the bat well for most of the year, but he's been particularly hot in his 18 games since returning from a broken finger in late June, hitting .425/.462/.548 with just four strikeouts. He'll be a great value if he leads off again in this one, though he'll be worth considering on both sites even if he hits lower in the order, as he's quite cheap on FanDuel as is one of the better options at a shallow third-base position on DraftKings.

Any of the Bears' top left-handed bats could be worth a look to round out this stack given how unimposing Baek seems to be, but I'll highlight Kim here. He's firmly past the extended slump he was stuck in from late May through mid-June, when he hit .141/.233/.281 over a 17-game stretch. Following his three-hit game Wednesday, he's now hitting .378/.510/.537 over his last 23 contests. He drove in 23 runs over that stretch, giving him 54 RBI for the year, the third-highest total in the league.