This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
The pitching depth on Tuesday's slate suggested it would be a low-scoring day, and that certainly came true. Two teams -- the Lions and Eagles -- were shut out, while two others scored just one run and a total of eight were held to four runs or fewer. Good stacks were hard to come by, as even the Dinos and Bears, the two teams who scored more than four runs, didn't get a ton of production from their top bats. If you kept faith in Aaron Altherr, who is still quite expensive on DraftKings despite his poor start and the fact he has been dropped to the bottom third of the Dinos' order, you were rewarded with a homer, two runs and four RBI. On the other hand, if you went with Jose Fernandez, who seemingly piles up multiple hits night in and night out, you were rewarded with a nothing more than a sacrifice fly. Wednesday's slate looks like it should be a considerably higher-scoring one, with the majority of teams trotting out back-end starters. Several of the weaker starters will face the league's weakest lineups, though, so there will be some difficult decisions to be made.
Pitchers
In a shallow group of pitchers, Odrisamer Despaigne ($8,300 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") stands out as the clear top option. The veteran righty has cruised through his first four starts in the KBO, striking out 22.1 percent of opposing batters while walking just 2.1 percent en
The pitching depth on Tuesday's slate suggested it would be a low-scoring day, and that certainly came true. Two teams -- the Lions and Eagles -- were shut out, while two others scored just one run and a total of eight were held to four runs or fewer. Good stacks were hard to come by, as even the Dinos and Bears, the two teams who scored more than four runs, didn't get a ton of production from their top bats. If you kept faith in Aaron Altherr, who is still quite expensive on DraftKings despite his poor start and the fact he has been dropped to the bottom third of the Dinos' order, you were rewarded with a homer, two runs and four RBI. On the other hand, if you went with Jose Fernandez, who seemingly piles up multiple hits night in and night out, you were rewarded with a nothing more than a sacrifice fly. Wednesday's slate looks like it should be a considerably higher-scoring one, with the majority of teams trotting out back-end starters. Several of the weaker starters will face the league's weakest lineups, though, so there will be some difficult decisions to be made.
Pitchers
In a shallow group of pitchers, Odrisamer Despaigne ($8,300 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") stands out as the clear top option. The veteran righty has cruised through his first four starts in the KBO, striking out 22.1 percent of opposing batters while walking just 2.1 percent en route to a 2.25 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. It wouldn't be a surprise if that strikeout rate starts to fall, as he struck out just 14.0 percent of batters over his six-year big-league career, but it's clear that he's quite a capable arm at the KBO level. He'll face the sixth-ranked Tigers lineup in this one.
The pool thins out considerably after Despaigne, making Min Jae Jang ($6,700 DraftKings, $22 FanDuel as "Hanwha Starting P") an interesting budget option despite some uninspiring numbers. His 5.62 ERA and 1.69 WHIP through three starts this season aren't in any way good, though they're mostly the product of a poor start his last time out, when the Wiz managed 12 hits and six runs against him in four innings. His 5.43 ERA and 1.48 WHIP last year weren't good either, but a .362 BABIP bears a lot of the blame there, as his 19.6 percent strikeout rate and 5.1 percent walk rate were both strong. There's enough here to make him interesting, even against a Twins lineup that ranks a solid fourth in runs per game.
Facing the Bears' top-ranked lineup means I'm out on Seung Won Moon ($8,500 DraftKings, $23 FanDuel as "SK Starting P") on DraftKings, where he's the second most expensive option on the slate, but he's potentially worth the risk as a cheaper play on FanDuel, given the unimpressive alternatives. His 5.62 ERA and 1.69 WHIP this season aren't strong marks, though they've come with a 24.3 percent strikeout rate and a 4.0 percent walk rate. Additionally, his 3.88 ERA and 1.13 WHIP last season were both strong, though his peripherals were less impressive. There's obviously potential for a massive downside here given how strong the Bears' lineup has been, but he offers more upside than most other arms on the slate will provide.
Top Targets
Sung Bum Na ($4,400 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) is heating up after a modest start to the campaign. He's had six multi-hit contests in his last eight games, hitting .382 with eight RBI over that stretch. The Dinos have kept him as primarily a designated hitter as he works his way back from a knee injury which cost him most of the 2019 season, but he made his first start in the field Sunday, seemingly a positive indicator about his health. He'll get the platoon advantage against Heroes righty Hyun Hee Han, who had a good year in relief last season but who's struggled during the current campaign, posting a 5.62 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP over three starts.
Mel Rojas ($6,200 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel) is hurt along with the rest of the Wiz by the loss of Baek Ho Kang (wrist), but he remains a strong option nonetheless. He's gotten off to an incredibly hot start this season, hitting .427/.469/.680 in 82 plate appearances. He'll face Tigers righty Ki Young Im, who does have a strong 3.38 ERA backed up by a 1.06 WHIP and a 14:2 K:BB this season, though his 5.73 and 6.26 ERAs the last two seasons suggest he's still very much a beatable arm.
Bargain Bats
No one has been a better judge of the zone this season than Ah Seop Son ($3,700 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel), whose 20.3 percent walk rate and 7.6 percent strikeout rate have helped him to an excellent .361/.481/.459 slash line. He doesn't have a ton of power, hitting just 10 homers last year, but he could be on base all day against Lions righty Tae In Won, who owns an unimpressive 14.0 percent strikeout rate and a 4.78 ERA in 130 career innings. Son's role as the Giants' number two hitter in the slate's most hitter-friendly park makes him a strong mid-priced option on both sites.
While Wyverns righty Seung Won Moon is decent enough to merit a mention as a risky but playable option above, he's certainly not imposing enough that you should avoid all Bears hitters against him if you're not that risk yourself. Joo Hwan Choi ($2,500 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) provides a cheap way to get a piece of the best lineup in the KBO. He's especially interesting on DraftKings, where he's extremely cheap and fills the second base slot. He's moved up to third in the order in the absence of Jae Il Oh (side), though his .865 OPS and four homers would make him interesting at his price even if his lineup spot were less appealing.
Stacks to Consider
Wyverns vs. Hui Kwan Yu: Jamie Romak ($5,500 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel), Jeong Choi ($4,500 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel), Eui Yoon Jeong ($2,500 DraftKings, $7 FanDuel)
Yu may have recorded a 3.25 ERA last season, but there's little reason to be intimidated by him. He recorded an awful 6.70 ERA back in 2018 but somehow reduced that number by half the next season, even as his strikeout rate fell from an already low 12.5 percent to an even-lower 9.3 percent. That drop appears to be the result of his HR/9 falling from 1.5 to 0.4 and his BABIP falling from .348 to .283, both of which should be expected to regress. This year, he owns a solid 4.20 ERA, but that has come with a 2.00 WHIP and an anemic 6.9 percent strikeout rate. The Wyverns offense has been quite poor this season, but Yu could provide them the opportunity to get on track.
Seemingly the entire Wyverns' lineup is old, injured and/or underperforming, a surefire way to wind up starting the season 3-15. In that context, Romak's respectable .284/.351/.433 slash line looks quite strong. He's still rather expensive on DraftKings, but his price has dropped to a very reasonable level on FanDuel. He's nearing the tail end of his career at age 34, but he can still mash, tying for second with 29 homers last season.
Choi was the player who tied Romak's home-run total last season, a campaign in which he hit .292/.405/.519. That explains why he's still so expensive despite his undeniably awful .153/.306/.327 slash line this season. Just about nothing has gone right for him other than his 13.9 percent walk rate, though he can likely blame a .182 BABIP for some of his struggles. It would be a surprise if he's truly fallen off a cliff, as he's only 33 years old and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down in recent seasons, posting an OPS over .900 for 10 straight years. Maybe a game against Yu will help him finally get going.
Jeong completes this trio of old and underperforming Wyverns. The 33-year-old has hit just .255/.327/.298 this season, but he's been a strong option for the last several years, recording an OPS of .791 or better in five straight seasons. Most importantly, however, he's been batting second against lefties, giving you the Wyverns' second through fourth hitters should you play this entire stack.
Lions vs. Se Woong Park: Dong Yeop Kim ($3,100 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel), Hak Ju Lee ($3,500 DraftKings, $6 FanDuel), Ji Chan Kim ($2,600 DraftKings, $5 FanDuel)
This series features two of the league's weakest lineups in the slate's most hitter-friendly park. The pitchers won out in the opener, with the Giants winning a pitchers' duel 1-0, but both lineups look like interesting stack options Wednesday. Park hasn't had much success in his first three starts this season, struggling to a 5.93 ERA, a 1.76 WHIP and a 14.1 percent strikeout rate. He was fine in 12 starts last season, recording a 4.20 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP, but downright awful in 12 starts and a pair of relief appearances the season prior, posting a 9.92 ERA and a 2.29 WHIP. Unintimidating at his best and a batting-practice pitcher at his worst, Park looks like someone even the struggling Lions could put up big numbers against.
This stack will inevitably be a very cheap one, as not a single Lion costs more than $9 on FanDuel. Dong Yeop Kim has been great value for his price thus far this season, rebounding from a poor 2019 campaign to hit .275 with four homers and 16 RBI. He won't get the platoon advantage in this one, but his spot as the Lions' cleanup hitter should give him the chance to get in on several rallies if Park struggles as expected.
Hak Ju Lee has moved into the third spot in the order in the absence of Ja Wook Koo (thigh), making him great value for his near-minimum price on FanDuel. This shortstop is hitting just .214 on the season, but he's riding a four-game hitting streak in which he's scored four times and driven in six runs, grabbing an extra-base hit in each contest. With the platoon advantage and a prime lineup position against a weak starter, he's an easy inclusion.
Ji Chan Kim rounds out this very cheap stack. The 15th-overall pick in this year's draft, the 19-year-old didn't play much of a role early in the season, but he's started and hit second in three straight games, grabbing a hit in each. He doesn't have much of a track record, but he's incredibly cheap, and, like Lee, gets the platoon advantage in a key lineup position against a shaky opposing pitcher.
