DFS KBO: Tuesday Cheat Sheet

Sunday's KBO slate was limited by rain to just three games. Two of the games went to extras, with the Heroes getting yet another quality start from Eric Jokisch and a combined five hits from Addison Russell and Jung Hoo Lee to beat the Lions 4-2 in the 10th inning following Lee's two-out, two-RBI double. The Bears and Dinos went all the way to the 12th, with a three-run rally giving the defending champions a 7-4 victory for their first series win against the Dinos in four attempts this season. The Tigers-Giants game wasn't nearly so close, as the Giants won 8-0 behind a surprisingly strong performance from the struggling Kyung Eun Noh and a surprisingly weak one from Drew Gagnon. Rain could be a factor ahead for Tuesday's slate, though as of writing, only the Giants-Wyverns game appears to be at risk, and even that game looks to have a chance of going forward.

Pitchers

Tyler Wilson ($8,000) hasn't been everything the Twins expected this season, but he still stands out among a particularly weak group of starters on this slate. After posting ERAs of 3.07 and 2.92 in his first two seasons in Korea, Wilson's 4.20 mark this year is rather disappointing, and it appears to be largely deserved given his fine but forgettable 17.1 percent strikeout rate and 7.7 percent walk rate. He's been better over his last four starts, though, posting a 3.52 ERA, and the eighth-ranked Tigers lineup shouldn't be a particularly challenging task.

I'm not entirely confident in Odrisamer Despaigne ($7,700) against a Heroes lineup which has scored 10 runs per game since the arrival of Addison Russell, but he still deserves consideration as one of the most talented pitchers in this uninspiring set. He's had more than his fair share of ups and downs this season, but he's been mostly up lately, posting quality starts in five of his last six outings. His eight-run blowup against the Dinos in mid-July demonstrates that his downside is certainly still there, but his eight-strikeout, one-run performance last time out against the Tigers demonstrates his considerable upside.

Jae Hak Lee ($8,000) doesn't feature here often, but he doesn't often get to play the Eagles and their last-ranked lineup. There's no denying that Lee has been poor this season, as his 6.04 ERA and 1.56 WHIP come with a 15.1 percent strikeout rate, a 9.6 percent walk rate and a 1.2 HR/9. He was much better last season, posting a 3.75 ERA, but his inclusion here is more about just how poor the Eagles have been all season than about his own talents. In two starts against them this season, Lee has allowed a respectable five runs on 10 hits over 12 innings of work.

Top Targets

Hyun Soo Kim ($5,000) remains quite hot and is clearly the Twins' top hitter at the moment, even with Roberto Ramos beginning to emerge from his extended slump. Kim has generally had just modest power throughout his KBO career, but he's homered nine times in his last 23 games while driving in 30 runs and hitting .389/.471/.756. He'll get the platoon advantage against Tigers righty Min Woo Lee, who owns an unimpressive 5.19 ERA this season.

Ja Wook Koo ($4,300) needs to carry the Lions' offense until Daniel Palka is able to join the team, though he's certainly capable of doing so. He doesn't quite have the top-tier power necessary to be one of the league's top handful of hitters, hitting just seven homers in 50 games this season, but his overall .338/.407/.518 slash line is nevertheless quite strong. He's also chipped in with 10 steals. He'll get the platoon advantage against Bears righty Seung Jin Lee, who may be nothing more than an opener in this one, as he's appeared just three times this season, all in relief.

Bargain Bats

While Jae Hak Lee was mentioned as a pitcher worth targeting given his matchup against the Eagles, Brandon Barnes ($2,800) remains an Eagle worth selecting for any lineup which doesn't include Lee. The veteran outfielder is far too cheap for a hitter deemed worthy of one of a team's precious few foreign player spots. He hasn't been a star through his first 11 games in Korea, but he's certainly held his own, hitting .268/.375/.439. That line alone is enough to justify his low price, but it's not hard to foresee him reaching another level once he gets more games under his belt.

This will probably be Addison Russell's ($4,000) final day in this section, as his price is finally rising to meet his talent. It's still quite low for a player who was a competent major-league hitting for 615 big-league games, hitting .242/.312/.392. He looked overqualified for the KBO through his first five games, hitting .400 with a homer, two doubles, five runs and six RBI.While Odrisamer Despaigne is one of the better pitchers on the slate, there are very few pitchers who should be too imposing to consider Russell as long as he remains a mid-priced option.

Stacks To Consider

Dinos vs. Chad Bell: Eui Ji Yang ($5,400), Jin Sung Kang ($4,200), Suk Min Park ($4,100)

Another day, another Dinos stack, though they'll rarely face a pitcher who's struggled as much as Bell has this year. Elbow issues have limited the American lefty to just nine starts this season, and he hasn't looked right when available, struggling to a 7.44 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. While a .357 BABIP inflates those numbers somewhat, his 15.3 percent strikeout rate, 10.4 percent walk rate and 1.5 HR/9 are all quite poor. He did perform better in his previous outing, allowing just two runs in five innings in his first start back from his latest trip to the injured list, but it's hard to say he's truly been fixed, as he struck out just two batters in that outing, a game which came against the lowly Wyverns.

Yang hasn't been at his best this season, but he's still the top option at a thin catcher position. That's not to say his .300/.381/.520 slash line is anything close to poor, but he's capable of even more, having posted an OPS north of 1.000 in each of the last two seasons. There are reasons to believe his numbers will be even better going forward, as his .294 BABIP this season is well below his marks of .351 and .354 from the two previous seasons. Even if he's "only" a .901 OPS player the rest of the year, that's more than enough to make him a tremendously valuable catcher, especially while he bats cleanup for the league's best lineup.

Regression was always going to come for Kang, who opened the season with a remarkable .432/.484/.784 slash line through his first 35 games after previously accomplishing very little in sporadic playing time. He crashed hard over his next 18 contests, hitting .182/.188/.227 while tumbling down the lineup, but he's seemingly figured things out, posting a .345/.368/.473 line over his last 13 games. That's moved him back up to the third and fourth spots in the Dinos' last two games, and he'll be a great value if he occupies a similar spot Tuesday against Bell.

The 35-year-old Park seems to be reversing the effects of aging this season, as hit .917 OPS represents his strongest mark since 2016, his first year with the Dinos. His .304/.424/.492 slash line appears to be sustainable, as his .314 BABIP isn't particularly high. He's displayed excellent control of the zone this season, walking 15.5 percent of the time while striking out at a 13.0 percent clip. His power is fairly modest, but his 10 homers are certainly enough to justify his price given the matchup Tuesday.

Wiz vs. Seung Ho Lee: Mel Rojas Jr. ($6,400), Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,100), Jeong Dae Bae ($4,000)

Lee struggled to a 7.83 ERA in five starts in the month of May before rebounding to record a surprising 1.86 ERA in five June starts. He crashed hard after the calendar flipped to July, however, posting an awful 16.20 ERA in three starts. He's been out of action since July 17 but will be thrust into a rather difficult matchup against the third-ranked Wiz lineup. There's little reason to believe he'll suddenly return to his June form, as his 6.12 ERA over the course of the season comes with a 1.56 WHIP and a 14.5 percent strikeout rate.

Rojas is incredibly expensive, but he's an excellent bet to be worth every penny. He's been remarkably consistent all year, posting a 1.164 OPS in May, a 1.137 OPS in June and a 1.296 OPS in July. He got off to a great start in the first game of August, going 2-for-4 with a triple and a homer Sunday. The MVP favorite leads the league in homers (26) and RBI (68) and is just one point shy of Kyoung Min Hur for the league lead in batting average (.389).

Hwang, who spent a brief period with the MLB's San Francisco Giants back in 2017, started the season quite poorly, hitting just .256/.287/.372 over his first 32 games. He's turned things around dramatically since that point, hitting an impressive .367/.430/.560 over his last 29 contests. He's cemented himself in the second spot in the order, helping him score 30 times over that stretch, and batting right in front of Rojas should give him the chance to score a few more in this one.

With a lefty on the mound for the Heroes, we'll skip cleanup hitter Baek Ho Kang in this one (though Lee has struggled enough that Kang shouldn't be ruled out completely). We'll also skip the struggling Han Joon Yoo, heading straight to number six hitter Jeong Dae Bae in a slightly disconnected but still powerful stack. The 24-year-old didn't do much prior to this season, but he's in the middle of a breakout campaign, hitting .335/.397/.513. A .425 BABIP undoubtedly inflates his numbers by a fair amount, though he does have the speed to run an above-average BABIP, as he's stolen 13 bases.