DFS KBO: Wednesday Cheat Sheet

Rain limited Tuesday's KBO slate to just three games, but those three games provided more than their fair share of excitement. The Dinos and Giants played a wild one in which they scored a combined 20 runs on 31 hits, with the Dinos coming back from a four-run deficit and going up 9-8 in the top of the ninth before Jung Hoon won it for the Giants with a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the inning. Dinos shortstop Jin Hyuk No had the performance of the day despite his team's loss, going 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI. Elsewhere, the Twins exploded for 24 runs in a blowout win against the Wyverns, with Eun Sung Chae driving in eight runs. Six different Twins homered in that one. In the third and final game of the day, the expected pitchers duel between Eric Jokisch and Raul Alcantara largely came to pass, with both pitchers allowing two runs over five and six innings, respectively, though the Heroes went on to score four runs off Bears' relievers to win 6-2. Wednesday's slate might not get the chance to follow up those exciting contests, as rain is in the forecast for everything except the Dinos-Giants game in Busan as of writing. In the games that do go forward, expect plenty of runs, as Wednesday's collection of pitchers is one of the weakest groups of the season.

PItchers

Trustworthy starters are in very short supply Wednesday, but Chan Heon Jung ($8,400) seems to fall into that category. His workload has been carefully managed this season as he pitches as a starter for the first time since 2008, and the plan certainly seems to be working. Through eight starts, he owns a 3.22 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, numbers that are well-supported by his excellent combination of a 23.4 percent strikeout rate and a 5.4 percent walk rate. He comes with some risk in that he was blown up for 10 runs (five earned) by the Giants in his previous start, though he's been quite good for the majority of the season and has an excellent chance to bounce back against the lowly Wyverns.

Tae In Won ($9,000) is quite expensive for his apparent talent level, but he's nevertheless one of the better options among a rather shallow pool. The 20-year-old doesn't seem to be nearly as good as his 3.12 ERA suggests, as it's taken a .282 BABIP and an 83.1 percent strand rate to get him to that mark. His 8.8 percent walk rate and 1.0 HR/9 are acceptable but mediocre, while his 14.1 percent strikeout rate is unimpressive. Still, Won is having a decent enough season, and a pitcher doesn't have to be very good to be worth starting against the Eagles, who are on a nine-game winless streak, averaging just 2.2 runs per game over that stretch.

Bum Soo Kim ($7,200) has seen his price mysteriously rise by $1,600 after his scheduled start Tuesday was rained out, making him less appealing than he was on yesterday's slate, but he at least comes with a tiny bit of upside, something that can't be said for the rest of the day's cheaper arms. Most of that upside comes in the form of his solidly above-average 21.1 percent strikeout rate, as his 14.5 percent walk rate and 1.3 HR/9 are both quite poor. His assignment against the sixth-ranked Lions offense isn't particularly difficult, even at the league's most hitter-friendly park, though his inclusion here is more a reflection of the lack of alternatives than a strong endorsement of his own track record.

Top Targets

Heroes lefty Seung Ho Lee has struggled to a 6.12 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP this season, making most of the Bears' best bats look like strong plays, though the fact that he's a southpaw does still somewhat hurt the team's top lefties. Kyoung Min Hur ($4,600) looks like the lineup's best value, even if he's stuck down in the fifth spot. He owns a strong .378/.417/.492 slash line over the course of the season, but he's been even better than that lately. He's currently riding a 20-game hitting streak, a stretch in which he's hit .474/.512/.526.

Hyung Woo Choi ($4,700) earned a mention here yesterday, though his game wound up getting rained out. He looks like a strong play again Wednesday, especially with the Wiz changing their scheduled starter to an even shakeir righty in Hyeong Jun So, who's struggled to a 5.90 ERA in his 11-start debut. The veteran slugger has been a steady force for the Tigers all season long, hitting .320/.422/.506 with 10 homers. He's been even better over his last 10 games, hitting .381/.435/.524, making him both cheaper and hotter than Preston Tucker, who's hit .211/.348/.368 over that same stretch.

Bargain Bats

Addison Russell ($2,600) is dramatically underpriced given his talent level, presumably the product of the fact that he's played just a single KBO game thus far. He went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in his debut Tuesday, serving as the Heroes' number three hitter, and faces an easy matchup Wednesday against Chi Guk Park, whose 3.19 ERA this season comes with a 1.55 WHIP and a 21:19 K:BB. While his KBO track record is minimal, he should be well-suited for the level, as he held his own in four MLB seasons, hitting .242/.312/.392.

Eun Sung Chae ($3,300) returned from a nearly two-week absence due to a back injury Tuesday, exploded for three hits and eight RBI in the Twins' 24-7 win, with four of those RBI coming on a grand slam. His season-long .265/.327/.402 slash line is unimpressive, but that's held back by a .344 OPS over a 13-game stretch between a pair of trips to the injured list in late June and mid-July, when he clearly didn't seem to be healthy. He hit a solid .300/.352/.433 over 39 games prior to his first injury, an indication of his talent level when fully healthy. He'll get the platoon advantage against Wyverns lefty Seung Geon Baek, who's struggled to a 7.62 ERA and a 2.15 WHIP in 13 innings thus far this season.

Stacks To Consider

Dinos vs. Won Sam Jang: Aaron Altherr ($5,900), Eui Ji Yang ($5,500), Jin Sung Kang ($4,200)

The Dinos scored nine runs in the series opener Tuesday, and the league's best lineup looks set for another big day here. Jang has made just four starts this season and certainly hasn't made a good case for more heavy usage, as he's struggled to an 8.38 ERA, a 1.71 WHIP and a 7.8 percent strikeout rate. The 37-year-old southpaw was an effective arm earlier in his career but hasn't finished with an ERA below 5.50 since 2014.

Jang has averaged less than five innings per start this season, but it still makes sense to stack the Dinos' top righties here. While it would be nice if Altherr were reliably hitting higher than eighth, he's talented enough to be worthy of inclusion wherever he bats. He hasn't been at his best over his last nine games, hitting just .171, leading to his move down the lineup, but his season-long .287/.352/.586 slash line remains excellent. He's filled up the stat sheet, tying for second with 18 homers while tying for sixth with 11 steals. He's also second in RBI with 62, just one behind Mel Rojas Jr., an impressive feat given how frequently he's hit in the bottom third of the order

Yang has been the top choice at catcher throughout the year, at least when he wasn't out with one of his many minor injuries. He's battled through those ailments to hit .299/.382/.519 through 56 games, excellent numbers if still somewhat disappointing given that he's posted a four-digit OPS in each of the last two seasons. He's looked healthy in his last two games since returning from a two-game absence due to a back injury, going 4-for-8 with a walk.

Kang was very hot and then very cold this season, posting a 1.268 OPS over his first 35 games and a .416 mark over his next 18, causing him to rise up the Dinos' lineup and then crash back down to the bottom third. He's re-established himself in the fifth spot over the last four games, a deserved role given his .375/.405/.450 slash line over his last 10 contests. The Dinos do shake up their batting order quite often, but Kang will be a good value against Jang wherever he hits.

Giants vs. Sung Young Choi: Hoon Jung ($4,300), Jun Woo Jeon ($4,600), Dae Ho Lee ($4,200)

The opposite side of this contest features a similarly tempting stack target. 23-year-old lefty Sung Young Choi hasn't been good in seven starts and one relief appearance thus far this season, struggling to a 5.21 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. Those numbers may actually overrate his performance thus far, as he's struck out just 9.0 percent of opposing batters while walking 11.5 percent. He's also been a victim of the home run ball, allowing 1.9 HR/9.

The heavily right-handed Giants don't feature in this section often, but they look like a great choice against a weak southpaw. Veteran leadoff man Hoon Jung looks like a great place to start. His season-long .329/.394/.497 slash line is undoubtedly inflated by a very unsustainable .410 BABIP, but it's hard to argue with his recent performance. He's gone hitless just one in his last 10 games, recording eight multi-hit games and a .383/.408/.617 slash line over that stretch.

Number three hitter Jeon has hit the ball quite well this season, as his .290/.353/.496 comes with a far more believable .301 BABIP. He's been a strong hitter for quite a few seasons, posting an OPS of .840 or better for three straight campaigns. Like Jung, he's gone hitless just once in his last 10 contests, hitting .385/.478/.692 with three homers over that stretch.

At age 38, cleanup man Lee is the oldest of this trio of right-handed veterans, but he also has by far the best track record. He sits eighth all time on the KBO home run leaderboard with 323 career homers despite spending four seasons in Japan and one in the United States. He's not the player he was at his peak, when he recorded four seasons with an OPS over 1.000, but he remains a very capable hitter, hitting .306/.395/.492 with 11 homers through 67 games.