DFS KBO: Thursday Cheat Sheet

Rain was again a factor in Korea on Wednesday, though at least it didn't wipe out the entire slate, leaving the Eagles-Lions and Twins-Wyverns games untouched. Those four teams produced nearly a full day's worth of scoring between them, plating a total of 36 runs, an average of nine apiece. No good pitching performances were available, with only the Twins' Chan Heon Jung lasting more than three innings, and even he wasn't good, giving up five runs over five frames. Quality offensive performances weren't hard to come by, however, with the two games producing a combined 10 homers. Eun Sung Chae and Min Ho Kang had perhaps the best performances of the day, each grabbing a pair of hits, a homer and four RBI, with Kang's quartet coming on one swing of the bat with his first-inning grand slam. Thankfully, rain finally appears to be a non-factor heading into Thursday's slate, which should be an entertaining one, as the collection of rainouts over the past two days have allowed several teams to skip their back-end starters in favor of more reliable arms.

Pitchers

Speaking of reliable, few KBO pitchers fit that description better than Drew Rucinski ($9,900), who owns an excellent 1.99 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP through his first 14 starts of the year, numbers which rank third and fourth, respectively, among qualified starters. He isn't quite as elite in terms of strikeout rate, though his 22.1 percent mark ranks seventh among that same group and still gives him plenty of upside. Additionally, his downside is just about as high as anyone in the league, as he's recorded a quality start in all but one of his outings this season, and that came all the way back in his second game of the year. He's allowed a total of just three earned runs over his last five starts and likely won't allow too many more against the Giants' eighth-ranked lineup in this one.

Chae Heung Choi ($7,300) isn't nearly in Rucisnki's category, but he's nevertheless a solid play for a rather cheap price. His primary appeal comes from the fact that he'll face the Eagles, who still rank last in run-scoring by more than half a run per game even after exploding for 12 runs Wednesday. Choi's solid 3.88 ERA and 1.34 WHIP have relied somewhat on help from a low .278 BABIP, as his 17.6 percent strikeout rate and 9.6 percent walk rate are both unremarkable. He's pitched quite well in the majority of his recent starts, allowing just 10 earned runs in his last five outings, with seven of those coming in one rough night against the Wiz, and he should be in for another good performance given the matchup Thursday.

It's been hard to figure out which version of Odrisamer Despaigne ($7,000) will show up on a given night this season, but at his low price, you won't have to pay much to gamble on getting the good version against the Tigers' seventh-ranked lineup Thursday. Nothing exemplifies his inconsistency more than his results over his last two outings, which both came against the league-leading Dinos. He allowed eight runs on 11 hits in just 4.2 innings in the first of that pair but followed that up by allowing just one run on four hits over 6.2 frames. On the season as a whole, his 4.41 ERA and 17.9 percent strikeout rate are rather forgettable, but he's been one of the better starters in the league at times and could be one again here.

Top Targets

Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,200) is no Mel Rojas Jr., but he's over a thousand dollars cheaper than his MVP-favorite teammate and competes with a much shallower pool at third base. He's on fire for over a month now, hitting .361/.421/.611 over his last 26 games, numbers surpassed by few hitters other than Rojas himself. He's settled into the second spot in the Wiz's third-ranked offense, helping him score 26 times over that stretch. He'll get the platoon advantage against Tigers lefty Hyun Jong Yang, who was excellent last season and excellent in his last start but quite poor over the course of the season, posting a 6.00 ERA.

Ja Wook Koo ($4,300) will be the Lions' unquestioned top hitter for the next few weeks after the team released the productive but oft-injured Tyler Saladino in order to create space for Daniel Palka, who will have to go through a mandatory two-week quarantine period before joining his new team. Koo wouldn't necessarily be the best hitter on many contending teams, but he's nevertheless a very productive piece, hitting .344/.400/.539 through 46 games while adding nine steals. The main thing separating him from the KBO's top tier is his modest power, as he's homered only seven times, but he could certainly add another in the league's most hitter-friendly park against Eagles righty Min Woo Kim, who's given up 1.4 HR/9 this season.

Bargain Bats

Brandon Barnes ($2,800) should feature very frequently in this section until his price rises to meet his talent level. The 34-year-old was by no means an elite hitter at the MLB level, posting a .242/.290/.357 slash line over 484 games, but every hitter deemed worthy of a KBO team's lone foreign hitter spot deserves respect until they prove otherwise. Barnes certainly hasn't done that thus far, hitting a solid .267/.353/.467 through eight games. Those numbers alone would be enough to justify his current price, and there's a good chance they'll continue to rise. He'll get the platoon advantage against Lions lefty Chae Heung Choi, who was mentioned as a potential pitcher to target above but who shouldn't be nearly intimidating enough to scare you away from Barnes should you elect not to include him in your lineup.

Se Hyuk Park ($3,300) didn't fit into the stack of elite Bears hitters listed below, but he's a strong budget option at the catcher position, with or without his teammates. He does come with a bit of risk, in that he missed a few games with a sore knee last week and only appeared in a pinch-hit capacity Tuesday, but he'll be a great value if he's in the lineup following Wednesday's rainout. His .295 batting average ranks second only to the excellent Eui Ji Yang among regular catchers, and he was quite hot prior to his injury, hitting .385 over a 16-game stretch. He'll get the platoon advantage against struggling righty Won Tae Choi (discussed below).

Stacks To Consider

Bears vs. Won Tae Choi: Jose Fernandez ($6,000), Jae Il Oh ($3,800), Jae Hwan Kim ($4,700)

Choi had been quite a reliable arm over the past two seasons, posting ERAs of 3.95 and 3.38 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He looked like much the same guy through the end of June this year, posting a 3.68 ERA that sat almost exactly halfway between those two marks. Everything fell apart when the calendar flipped to July, however, as he's given up 15 runs on 19 hits in just 11 innings, striking out six batters while walking nine. One of those outings came against a strong Wiz lineup, but the most recent pair have come against a pair of bottom-four units in the Tigers and Giants. The second-ranked Bears offense shouldn't have much trouble with him in this one if his recent struggles continue.

The second through fourth spots in the Bears' lineup contain the toughest stretch of left-handed hitters in Korea, and it's time to break out the full trio with a struggling righty on the mound. Number two hitter Fernandez leads the group and has been one of the best hitters in the league all season. His .364 batting average ranks second among qualified hitters, the same spot he occupied in his KBO debut last year. He homered just 15 times last season but has already managed 12 this year, increasing his slugging percentage from .483 to .557. He's also managed to trim his already low 8.4 percent strikeout rate all the way down to 5.6 percent.

Number three hitter Oh makes for a rather affordable option at a deep but expensive first-base position. He's managed just a modest seven homers in 54 games thus far this season, but more should be on the way, as he averaged 25.3 home runs over the previous four campaigns. He's done just about everything else right this season, cutting his strikeout rate to a career-low 15.5 percent while posting a career-high .338 batting average.

Cleanup man Kim has been both very hot and very cold at times this season, but he's on one of his hot streaks now and has been on one for quite a while. Over his last 32 games, he's hitting .353/.465/.569 while driving in 31 runs. He has 62 RBI over the course of the season, just one shy of the league lead. His presence at the heart of the Bears' order should give him plenty more RBI opportunities in this one unless Choi unexpectedly turns things around.

Heroes vs. Hui Kwan Yu: Ha Seong Kim ($5,800), Addison Russell ($2,700), Byung Ho Park ($4,500)

The other top stack of the day is found on the opposite side of the same contest. Whether it was luck or veteran savvy that kept Yu's ERA to a strong 3.21 despite overall poor peripherals through his first seven starts is unclear, but what's undeniably clear is that he's struggled significantly over his last six outings. He's struggled to a 7.42 ERA and a 1.85 ERA over that stretch, allowing at least four runs in all six turns in the rotation. His 9.2 percent strikeout rate on the season is the lowest among qualified starters, and while he's sometimes able to escape with a solid outing when the steady stream of batted balls consistently finds his teammates' gloves, that shouldn't be the expected outcome on any given night.

A shaky lefty on the mound for the Bears means it's time to load up on the top right-handed Heroes here. Number two hitter Kim leads that group. Kim is a strong all-around player, combining his .277/.387/.515 slash line with 16 homers and 10 steals, both of which are top-10 marks. He's scored 22 runs and driven in 22 more over his last 22 games, a stretch in which he's hit .298 with six homers.

Russell hit third in his KBO debut Tuesday and was scheduled to occupy the same spot in Wednesday's game before it was rained out. He'll seemingly be wildly underpriced until he has a few more KBO games under his belt, but there's little reason to believe he won't be one of the top hitters in the league. The majority of foreign hitters struggled significantly in sporadic playing time in the majors before heading overseas, but that doesn't describe Russell at all. His career .242/.312/.392 slash line in 615 MLB games was nothing special, but he certainly held his own, which can't be said for most of his contemporaries. He'd been a great value even if his price doubles, especially at the thin middle-infield positions.

We'll skip cleanup hitter Jung Hoo Lee here due to his platoon disadvantage (though he shouldn't be ruled out completely) and head to Park, who was pushed back to the fifth spot by Russell's arrival. The veteran first baseman's stat line certainly isn't unblemished this season, as his 30.7 percent strikeout rate is easily the worst mark among qualified hitters, while his .235 average is very low for the KBO, but he's still quite productive in the power department, tying for fifth in the league with 18 homers. Against a pitcher like Yu, who should struggle to put him away, he looks like a great value.