DFS KBO: Thursday Cheat Sheet

After Tuesday's rather low-scoring day, Wednesday's KBO slate provided a more mixed set of results. The Heroes' 13-1 blowout win over the Tigers provided both the highest and lowest scores of the day, with Jake Brigham striking out five in six scoreless innings while Ha Seong Kim homered twice and drove in five runs. The Wiz were the other team to reach double digits, scoring six runs in four innings off Adrian Sampson in their 10-5 victory as the bottom two hitters in the order, Sung Woo Jang and Woo Jun Sim, led the way with three hits apiece. There was plenty of scoring to be found in the Lions-Dinos contest as well, with the Dinos winning 8-7 in a game in which Hee Dong Kwon and Daniel Palka both homered. Elsewhere, Tyler Wilson struck out six and allowed just one earned run in seven innings against the Wyverns as Hyun Soo Kim drove in four runs in the Twins' 6-2 victory, while the Bears fell to 4-5 on the season against the lowly Eagles after losing 6-5, with Brandon Barnes' first-inning grand slam setting the tone for the underdogs.

Thursday's slate again contains some strong names at the top of the pitcher pool, though there are plenty of exploitable options at the bottom.

Pitchers

Eric Jokisch ($9,600) has dominated all season, leading all qualified starters in ERA (2.13) and WHIP (0.99). While his unimpressive 16.9 percent strikeout rate suggests he's gotten a bit lucky and at least somewhat limits his fantasy upside, that's just one very slight blemish on an otherwise excellent record. He ran into a bit of trouble in late August, suffering a minor shoulder injury and struggling in his first start back, but he appears to be fully past the issue now. In his last two starts, he owns a 13:0 K:BB in 13 innings, allowing just a single earned run on eight hits. The Wyverns' ninth-ranked lineup is unlikely to be a particular challenge for him in this one.

In the middle tier, Se Woong Park ($7,500) looks quite interesting, and not merely because he gets to face the last-ranked Eagles offense. He started the year quite poorly, struggling to a 6.08 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. That start holds his season-long numbers back pretty significantly, as he's now been quite good for quite some time. In his last 14 starts, he owns a 3.22 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Zoom in on just his last seven outings, and he has a 2.45 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. His strikeout rate on the season remains a fine but forgettable 17.9 percent, which does cap his upside, but his floor should be very high given his matchup and recent performance.

In the bargain bin, Won Joon Choi ($6,700) looks confusingly affordable. Don't be fooled by his low number of DraftKings points per game, as he spent the opening part of the year as a reliever. Since entering the rotation in mid-July, however, he's been a stabilizing force for a shaky Bears staff, posting a 3.20 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 11 starts. He's not coming off his best outing, as he allowed four runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings against the Wiz his last time out, but he should be in for an easier time against the Lions' eighth-ranked lineup in the league's most pitcher-friendly park, Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

Top Targets

Many of the Bears' top bats have struggled lately, but Jae Hwan Kim ($4,200) appears to be pulling out of his slump and should be a good value pick until his price tag rises to its previous levels. He hit .167/.250/.259 over a 14-game stretch that began back in late August, but he seems to have sorted things out over his last five games, as he's grabbed five hits, including two doubles and three homers. He now sits ninth on the year with 23 home runs. He'll get the platoon advantage against Ben Lively, who's allowed nine or more hits in fewer than five innings in two of his last four starts.

The Dinos could have been a stack recommendation for this slate against Twins rookie righty Min Ho Lee, who owned a 10.80 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP over a four-start stretch before reversing course with a solid outing against the Eagles his last time out. The league leaders are banged up, however, and will be without Sung Bum Na (hamstring) and potentially Eui Ji Yang (toe). Min Woo Park ($4,800) will get the platoon advantage against Lee and looks like a strong option even in a Dinos lineup that's lacking some firepower. He's riding a 10-game hitting streak, posting a .450/.465/.575 line over that stretch while stealing five bases.

Bargain Bats

Sticking with the Dinos, early-season budget favorite Hee Dong Kwon ($2,400) looks like a playable option again following an extended slump. He had a quadruple-digit OPS as late into the season as July 2 but wound up losing his place as a regular after hitting .184/.325/.276 over the next two months. He's put in an encouraging performance over his last 15 games, however, hitting .311/.347/.444. That helped him move up to the sixth spot in the order Wednesday, and he hit as high as second last week. If Eui Ji Yang misses a game with his toe injury, he could move into a similar spot here, which would make him an excellent value play.

On the opposite side of that same contest, the Twins also deserve stack consideration against Dinos lefty Sung Young Choi, who owns a 5.40 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Their lineup skews heavily left-handed at the moment, however, with Eun Sung Chae ($3,700) serving as the only right-hander in their top six spots in recent games. Chae is a strong option with the platoon advantage here, as he's gone 6-for-16 in four games since returning from a side injury. In his last 25 games prior to suffering the injury in late August, he was hitting .343/.393/.505 with 36 RBI.

Stacks to Consider

Heroes vs. Geon Wook Lee: Jung Hoo Lee ($5,600), Hye Sung Kim ($5,200), Keon Chang Seo ($4,700)

Geon Wook Lee's 5.20 ERA on the season makes him a compelling enough stack target all by itself, though it doesn't nearly capture the full story of how he's pitching lately. Despite the fact that the righty had thrown just two total KBO innings prior to his age-25 season, he actually started the year quite respectably and has a 3.29 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP through the end of July. Things have really fallen apart for him since then, however, as he owns a 7.57 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP over his last nine starts, walking more batters (34) than he's struck out (33). The Heroes' top bats should have runners to drive in all day against Lee in this one.

The Heroes have strong options from both sides of the plate, but we may as well stick with the lefties here against a right-hander. Jung Hoo Lee, who just turned 22 last month, has been one of the best hitters all year, ranking eighth among qualified hitters with a .955 OPS, the product of a .340/.406/.548 slash line. While his 15 homers are the fewest among the top 14 players in that category, they represent a perfectly respectable total and are one more than he managed in his first three seasons combined. He'd been in a bit of a slump in late August and early September but is in fine form now, hitting .429/.510/.524 over his last 11 games.

Kim has settled into the second spot in the Heroes order, batting there in each of the last six games. While he's not as good a hitter as the similarly-named Ha Seong Kim, he's a perfectly serviceable middle infielder. On the season overall, he owns a respectable .282/.341/.413 slash line. He's most notable for his speed, as he sits tied for third in the league with 21 steals. He's swung a particularly hot bat recently, however, hitting .429/.467/.607 over his last seven contests while scoring seven times.

Seo has typically been the Heroes' leadoff man this season, though he's moved back to the number three spot, sandwiched between Kim and Lee, for the last four games. His strongest skill may be his excellent control of the zone, as he's walked in 15.3 percent of his plate appearances while striking out just 9.0 percent of the time. That's helped him to a strong .285/.394/.405 slash line. You could also make a case that his speed is his best weapon, however, as he leads the league with 23 steals. Either way, he's quite hot at the moment, hitting .390 over his last 10 contests and going 9-for-15 at the plate in his last four.

Giants vs. Warwick Saupold: Ah Seop Son ($3,800), Jun Woo Jeon ($4,000), Hoon Jung ($4,500)

Even at his best, Saupold was hardly a dominant arm. He owned a solid 3.50 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP through the end of June (10 starts) but had just a 5.7 K/9 at the time. In 12 starts since the beginning of July, that K/9 has dropped still further to 4.9, while his ERA and WHIP have spiked to 7.38 and 1.64, respectively. While he's walking just 4.8 percent of opposing batters on the year, it's hard to consistently keep runs off the board when you strike out just 13.1 percent of opposing batters. Opposing hitters are hitting .307 against him, a number which seems unlikely to fall in this contest.

Selecting which of the Giants' several similarly good but not great hitters to include in a stack is never easy, but it makes sense to kick things off with Son, who's the lone left-handed Giant who typically hits in the team's first five or six spots in the order. Primarily batting out of the second spot, Son has homered just seven times this season but has walked (46) more than he's struck out (43), helping him to a strong .351/.414/.478 slash line. That batting average trails only Jose Miguel Fernandez and Hyun Soo Kim among qualified hitters.

Jeon, the number three hitter, hasn't lost a step in his age-34 campaign. His .291/.356/.492 season slash line is a near match for his .301/.360/.481 line from last season. He's been improving those numbers over his last 24 games, hitting .344/.429/.589 with five homers and 21 RBI. Two of those homers have come in his last two games, giving him 20 for the season. He just needs two more the rest of the campaign to tie his total of 22 from last year, matching the second-highest mark of his career.

Leadoff man Jung doesn't have the same track record, but the 33-year-old is in the middle of the best season of his career. His .311/.397/.459 season slash line is good for an .856 OPS, his best mark since a 29-game sample back in 2011. Like his aforementioned teammates, he's swung a hot bat recently, hitting .364/.436/.515 over his last nine games. His .361 BABIP casts a bit of doubt on his numbers, though he's been above that mark twice and above .350 three separate times, so there's reason to believe his line is somewhat sustainable.