DFS KBO: Thursday Cheat Sheet

Yesterday's cheat sheet acknowledged that it's always difficult to stack the Wyverns, but those who did Wednesday could hardly have been more richly rewarded. In a battle of basement-dwellers, the Wyverns exploded to a 26-6 victory over the Eagles, with Jeong Choi and Kang Min Kim each homering and driving in five runs while Ji Hoon Choi reached base five times and scored four runs. The surging Twins also enjoyed a blowout win, beating the Tigers 10-1 as Casey Kelly gave up just one run in six frames while Roberto Ramos homered and reached base four times. In the marquee matchup of the day, the Heroes moved back to within half a game of the first-place Dinos with their 6-4 win, with Jake Brigham striking out seven Dinos and allowing just a single unearned run in his five innings of work. Elsewhere, the Wiz got past the Lions 6-4 despite Mel Rojas Jr. going hitless, while Adrian Sampson threw six shutout innings as the Giants beat the Bears 7-3. We should be in for yet another full slate Thursday, and it lines up to be quite an interesting one, with five foreign pitchers starting.

Pitchers

Raul Alcantara ($10,000) has been among the best pitchers in the league this season and is deservedly the most expensive option on the slate. He ranks sixth among qualified starters in ERA (2.81), fifth in WHIP (1.10) and sixth in strikeout rate (21.8 percent). All those numbers actually understate how good he's been for most of the year, however. He owned an unremarkable 4.63 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP through his first six starts, but he's posted a 2.02 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and a 71:8 K:BB over his last 12 outings. He'll face a Giants lineup which has been better of late but which still ranks sixth in runs per game.

David Buchanan ($7,900) has given up eight or more runs three times this season, but he's also given up two or fewer on 12 occasions. He's coming off a pair of such outings against the bottom-dwelling Eagles and Wyverns, allowing a combined one run on seven hits over 14 innings. He'll get what should in theory be another easy matchup Thursday, facing those same Wyverns, who still rank second-last in scoring even after their 26-run explosion Wednesday. Buchanan's 3.70 ERA comes with an unimpressive 14.9 percent strikeout rate, but he should still have well more than enough in his arsenal to shut down a lineup which has been quite bad for most of the year.

Shi Hwan Jang ($7,200) comes with plenty of risk, but he's an interesting high-variance option who could be worth consideration as a budget play in larger tournaments. His last four outings demonstrate the breadth of possibilities quite well, as he made a pair of scoreless outings in which he allowed a total of four hits in 13 innings, but those were sandwiched between a pair of starts in which he failed to complete the fifth inning. On the season as a whole, his 23.4 percent strikeout rate ranks third among qualified starters, giving him plenty of upside, but his 12.2 percent walk rate is second-worst among that group, leading to an unremarkable 4.54 ERA. He'll face a Wiz lineup which ranks fourth in scoring at 5.6 runs per game but which has scored just 4.6 runs per game over its last 12 contests.

Top Targets

Hyung Woo Choi ($4,500) has been on fire lately, hitting even better than his more expensive teammate Preston Tucker (who's also a playable option on this slate). Choi is riding an eight-game hitting streak, hitting .485/.541/.758 over that stretch. He's been quite good all year in his age-36 season, posting an overall .333/.424/.519 slash line, though his modest total of 11 homers keeps him cheaper than the league's best bats. He'll get the platoon advantage against Dinos righty Mike Wright, who owns a 5.40 ERA over his last four starts.

Kun Woo Park ($4,700) has shown surprising power of late, with three of his nine homers on the season coming in his last six games. That power explosion probably won't last too much longer, as he hit just 12 and 10 homers over the last two seasons, but his overall .301/.374/.466 slash line is right in line with his marks from recent years. His Bears will face Giants righty Se Woong Park, who owns an unimpressive 4.75 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP on the season.

Bargain Bats

The Eagles would likely have been one of the stack recommendations in this piece if they had enough reliable hitters, as they'll face Wiz righty Je Seong Bae, who's seen his ERA spike to 4.80 after giving up 14 runs on 20 hits over his last two outings. In the absence of any real trustworthy teammates, Yong Kyu Lee ($3,000) earns a spot here for the second straight day. The leadoff man will get the platoon advantage against Bae and should be a strong table-setter in this one, as he owns a .382 on-base percentage. Don't expect any power--he's hit just one homer this year while slugging .310--but he should get on base multiple times and could add to his total of 14 steals.

The Dinos face what should in theory be a difficult matchup against Tigers righty Drew Gagnon, but he hasn't been close to his best lately, posting an 8.36 ERA, a 2.43 WHIP and a 10:12 K:BB over his last three outings. Leadoff man Myung Gi Lee ($3,300) provides an excellent cheap way to grab a piece of the league's best lineup. He's not one of the team's best bats, though his overall .330/.382/.402 slash line is quite respectable. He's been incredible over his last 14 games, though, hitting .460/.514/.603 while going hitless just once.

Stacks to Consider

Heroes vs. Yun Sik Kim: Ha Seong Kim ($5,900), Addison Russell ($5,700), Byung Ho Park ($4,600)

The third-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Kim could one day be a shutdown arm, but the 20-year-old lefty hasn't shown any signs that he's close to that at this point. Through 14 outings, including 10 relief appearances and four starts, he owns a 7.50 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP, striking out just 14.8 percent of opposing batters. Looking at just his four starts, the picture appears even worse, as he's given up at least our runs in all four outings without ever lasting longer than 5.1 innings, giving him an 8.05 ERA. Weirdly enough, two of his four starts to date have come against these Heroes. He didn't give them any trouble in either of those outings, and that's unlikely to suddenly change this time around.

The Heroes have strong options from both sides of the plate, but we'll load up on the righties here with a southpaw on the mound for the Twins. Number two hitter Kim is a great option to lead any stack, as his .284/.387/.502 slash line would play anywhere but is excellent for a player eligible at shortstop. He's scored a full point per game more than any other player at the position. The potential future MLB player is among the KBO's best power-speed threats, as he's tied for seventh in the league with 19 homers and tied for eighth with 13 steals.

Cleanup man Russell has had a bit of an up-and-down start to his time in Korea, but I'm still quite happy to include him here given the matchup. After posting a 1.023 OPS in his first five games, he posted a .451 mark over his next six. He's bounced back from that short slump to go one a six-game hitting streak, hitting .375/.400/.458 over that stretch. His overall .314/.377/.414 slash line could well end up being close to the floor for a player who held his own at the plate over five MLB campaigns.

Park returned to the lineup Wednesday following a brief absence with a back issue, going 0-for-2 but reaching base twice on a walk and a hit by pitch. He's been very much a boom-or-bust option this year, as his 29.9 percent strikeout rate ranks last among qualified hitters, while his .229 batting average ranks third-worst among the same group. Despite those numbers, he remains a productive fantasy option, as the ball still goes very far when he does occasionally make contact, giving him 20 homers, tied for fourth in the league.

Lions vs. Seung Geon Baek: Dong Yeop Kim ($3,000), Won Seok Lee ($3,400), Min Ho Kang ($4,500)

The Lions have been quite poor for several weeks, but a matchup against Baek could be what they need to get their eighth-ranked offense going at the plate. The 19-year-old has barely played this season, making just three starts and two relief appearances, but his numbers in 16 innings are very poor across the board. He owns an 8.44 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP, walking 17.3 percent of opposing batters and giving up six homers. His numbers in 37 Futures League innings aren't impressive, either, as he owns a 5.84 ERA.

Kim has been bad enough to be sent down to the minors twice this season, but he's been on a roll lately. Over his last 10 games, he's hitting .424/.459/.879 with four homers. He now owns quite a respectable .284/.320/.479 slash line over the course of the season, well above his .215/.265/.338 line from last season. His 2019 numbers are the exception over his five-year career, as he posted an OPS of .767 or better in each of his first three seasons.

Cleanup man Lee has been overall fairly mediocre, but that's reflected in his price, making him fit in well with this budget stack. In 72 games overall, he's hit a respectable .271/.352/.419 with eight homers. He went hitless in his first two games back from a wrist injury last week, but he's since gone on to grab five hits in his last five games. He's had an OPS above .770 in each of his last four seasons and is right in line to make it five straight this season.

Kang is probably the best hitter on the Lions at the moment, and he's been one of the best hitters in the league for quite some time. He hit just .200/.244/.412 through his first 33 games before landing on the injured list with a side issue in mid-June, but he's been an entirely different hitter in 37 games since his return, hitting .357/.436/.626, numbers that would be elite anywhere, not just behind the plate.