DFS KBO: Wednesday Cheat Sheet

What looked like it could be a very high-scoring slate Tuesday turned out to be a relatively average one, with three teams scoring at least eight runs but no other team managing more than five. The Bears-Dinos game lived up to expectations, with a pair of unimposing starters getting lit up by the league's top two offenses in a game which the Dinos won 12-8. Meanwhile, in what seemed like the Eagles' best shot at a win in a long time, with their ace Warwick Saupold on the mound against a mediocre Giants team, nothing much changed for the league's worst team, as Saupold allowed seven runs in a 9-3 loss. While overall scoring wasn't too high, the lack of top-tier pitching options did indeed play out, as no pitcher struck out more than four batters, with Casey Kelly's four strikeouts in seven innings of one-run ball serving as the day's strongest performance. Wednesday's slate looks like a balanced one, with a fairly standard mix of pitchers worth targeting and pitchers worth stacking against. A quick heads up to those who are unable to set their lineups at the last minute: as of writing, the Tigers-Wiz game and Wyverns-Twins game both appear to be threatened by rain.

Pitchers

You'll have to pay up to get Eric Jokisch ($9,700 DraftKings, $29 FanDuel as "Kiwoom Starting P"), but I'd be happy to do so, as he sits in a tier of his own atop this slate. The lefty has a pretty clear-cut case as the second-best pitcher in the league this season, trailing only the Dinos' Chang Mo Koo. He's backed up his 1.49 ERA with a 0.94 WHIP, a 21.4 percent strikeout rate and a 3.6 percent walk rate. It says quite a lot about his season to date that his worst outing of the year, which came last time out against the Eagles, was still a quality start, as he gave up three runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. Pitching in hitter-friendly Daegu Samsung Lions Park shouldn't be much more than a minor concern for a pitcher of Jokisch's talents.

Aaron Brooks ($8,900 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Kia Starting P") has settled in as one of the best pitchers in the KBO through his first six starts, cruising to a 3.13 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. His 20.7 percent strikeout rate is solidly above average, while his 4.7 percent walk rate is quite strong. A matchup against the third-ranked Wiz lineup certainly isn't the easiest assignment of the day, though the Wiz have struggled of late, scoring just eight runs over their last four games.

Drew Rucinski may seem like the obvious third pitcher to recommend, but I'm not comfortable shelling out that kind of money for anyone facing the excellent Bears lineup, even someone as talented as Rucinski. Instead, I'll break from a tradition which has served me well over the last few weeks and recommend an Eagle, Min Woo Kim ($7,000 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel as "Hanwha Starting P"). His odds of getting a win may be quite slim, as the Eagles have lost 15 straight games, but there's enough here to make him interesting. Kim's 4.28 ERA and 1.22 WHIP are solid enough, but it's his 24.6 percent strikeout rate that gives him a fair amount of upside. He'll get the relatively easy task of facing the eighth-ranked Giants lineup, a unit which he held to just one run in seven innings back in mid-May.

Top Targets

Jin Sung Kang ($4,000 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) debatably still fits into the Bargain Bats category, as he remains wildly underpriced on both platforms given his performance and role even as his cost has continued to rise. When he moved up to the cleanup spot Sunday, it appeared to be simply due to Eui Ji Yang's day off, but he remained there Tuesday even with Yang back in action. Grabbing the cleanup hitter in the league's best lineup at this kind of price would be hard to pass up even if Kang wasn't hitting an absurd .458/.510/.807 on the season. He won't get the platoon advantage against Bears righty Raul Alcantara, but with the way Kang has been hitting all season, that shouldn't matter.

Jamie Romak ($5,300 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) is a bargain on FanDuel but worth considering at his high DraftKings price tag as well. After posting a modest .260/.349/.397 slash line in his first 20 games, he's been on fire over his last 10, hitting .345/.558/.862 with three homers and 11 RBI. He's been one of the best hitters in the league over his four-year KBO career, averaging 34.3 homers over his first three seasons while posting a career .934 OPS. He won't get the platoon advantage in this one, but the Twins' 18-year-old righty Min Ho Lee doesn't seem to be a particularly intimidating opponent, as his 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings isn't anywhere close to well-supported by his 14.5 percent strikeout rate and 9.7 percent walk rate.

Bargain Bats

Eun Sung Chae ($3,300 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) returned from a brief absence due to a knee injury Tuesday, slotting into the third spot between two of the best hitters in the league in Hyun Soo Kim and Roberto Ramos. Chae's bat isn't quite at the level of his two excellent teammates, but he's produced strong numbers for his cheap price. He's grabbed at least one hit in 12 straight starts, part of a season in which he's hit .321 with 22 runs and 23 RBI. He'll get the platoon advantage against Wyverns lefty Tae Hoon Kim, who's struggled in his move from the bullpen to the rotation this season, posting a 16:15 K:BB and a 4.94 ERA.

In a move which could certainly backfire, I'll recommend not just one, but two Eagles for this slate. Leadoff man Yong Kyu Lee ($4,100 DraftKings, $8 FanDuel), who's really only interesting on FanDuel given his confusingly high price tag on DraftKings, is the lone Eagles hitter having anything close to a respectable season and the only regular with an above-average OPS. His mark in that category sits at .778, the product of a .308/.470/.372 slash line. He'll get the platoon against Giants righty Kyung Eun Noh, whose 6.58 ERA would make him an excellent pitcher to stack against if only there were enough Eagles who were worth stacking.

Stacks to Consider

Heroes vs. Jung Hyun Baek: Ha Seong Kim ($6,200 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Dong Won Park ($4,700 DraftKings, $10 FanDuel), Byung Ho Park ($5,000 DraftKings, $12 FanDuel)

Baek is better than his 10.29 ERA and 2.14 WHIP through three starts suggest, but that doesn't mean he's good. His 32.4 percent strand rate and 3.9 HR/9 are comically unsustainable, and his .407 BABIP should fall quite a bit as well, but even after factoring those out, he's still a pitcher who's striking out a modest 16.2 percent of opposing batters. Last season, some good batted-ball luck helped him to a 4.24 ERA, but he needed all the help he could get, as his strikeout rate was just 12.1 percent. He's allowed five homers in 10 innings at hitter-friendly Daegu Samsung Lions Park already this season and could give up a few more Wednesday against a Heroes lineup which is tied for second in the league in that category.

With a lefty on the mound for the opposition, we'll look to stack the Heroes' top righties here. Shortstop Kim, who's expected to be made available for MLB teams to sign this offseason, leads the way. The number two hitter was quite poor out of the gate this season, hitting .143/.234/.238 over his first 11 contests. He's surpassed expectations over his last 20 games, though, hitting an excellent .365/.500/.622 with four homers and three steals. He now owns an .894 OPS on the season, a near match for his .885 mark from 2019, a season in which he stole 33 bases while hitting 19 homers.

Dong Won Park is always among the best uses of your catcher slot on DraftKings and is a steal on FanDuel, even though he's lumped in as a generic infielder, thanks to his very cheap price. He's been a below-average hitter for most of his career but started to show signs of a breakout last season, posting an .813 OPS. He's been on a tear through 30 games this season, hitting a remarkable .361/.404/.660, good for a 1.063 OPS, fifth among qualified hitters. His seven homers, nearly half of his previous career best of 15, tie him for sixth in the league.

An inability to make contact proved to be Byung Ho Park's downfall in his brief stateside journey with Minnesota, but his power has never been in doubt. The story looks much the same for him this season, as he's hit a solid six homers but has paired that with a very low .208 batting average. That number can be blamed in part on a very high 31.8 percent strikeout rate, though he hasn't had that problem in the recent past, as he struck out just 22.0 percent of the time last year, a season in which he hit .280 with 33 homers. Getting the platoon advantage against Baek at the league's most hitter-friendly park makes him worth a look in this one despite his struggles, though he's still quite expensive on DraftKings and has to compete at a very deep first-base position, so you may want to consider other alternatives on that site.

Tigers vs. Min Kim: Preston Tucker ($5,800 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Hyung Woo Choi ($5,700 DraftKings, $11 FanDuel), Ji Wan Na ($3,800 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel)

The Tigers' offense ranks a mediocre seventh in scoring, but they could look much better than that against Kim. The 21-year-old righty's 7.83 ERA and 1.83 WHIP tell the story of his season quite well on their own, but a deeper look doesn't paint him in any better light. He's struck out just 12.4 percent of opposing batters this season while walking 14.2 percent. Even lumping in his slightly better numbers from his first two KBO seasons doesn't make him look anywhere close to good, as he owns a career 13.5 percent strikeout rate and a 11.0 percent walk rate to go along with his 5.29 ERA and 1.64 WHIP.

Any Tigers stack, especially one against a righty, has to start with Tucker. After hitting a solid .311/.381/.479 in his first season in the KBO last year, he's kicked into another gear this season, at least in terms of power, as he's hitting .320/.381/.598 through his first 31 games. His eight homers tie him for fourth in the league and are already one shy of his total of nine in 95 games last season. It's worth noting that his season-long numbers (and presumably also his price tags) are propped up by a very hot start, as his .863 OPS over his last 13 games is a near match for his .860 mark from last season, but this matchup looks like one in which he should be worth his expensive price.

Choi remains a steal on FanDuel but doesn't look particularly over-priced on DraftKings. The 36-year-old is riding a 10-game hitting streak, hitting .382/.463/.765 with six walks and just two strikeouts over that stretch. The veteran's six homers this season give him 308 for his KBO career, good for 12th all-time. He and Tucker make for an excellent pair of power-hitting lefties in the heart of the Tigers' order.

Na follows Tucker and Choi in the lineup, and while he won't get the platoon advantage against Kim, he does come with a rather cheap price tag, especially on FanDuel. The 35-year-old posted an OPS of .944 or better in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018 before struggling to a .669 mark in a small sample of 56 games last year. He looks to be most of the way back this season, hitting .308/.395/.490 through his first 30 games.