This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Thursday's KBO games were a low-scoring set, with six teams crossing the plate no more than four times. Multiple strong pitching performances were available, with the duel between Woo Jin An and Ariel Miranda featuring the best two. Both pitchers struck out eight while allowing just one run in seven innings, though neither earned a win, as the game was deadlocked until the 11th inning when Dong Won Park gave the Heroes a 2-1 lead with an RBI single. On the hitting side, Jeong Choi and Ji Hwan Oh both had two hits and a homer in the contest between the Landers and Twins, with Choi's Landers emerging 8-5 victors, while Jung Dae Bae went 2-for-4 with a homer and five RBI as the Wiz beat the Tigers, 6-3.
Friday's slate looks rain-free as of writing and will feature all five games despite the fact that the Landers-Dinos starts slightly later than the rest.
Pitchers
Walker Lockett ($10,000) has been consistently dominant all season for the Bears. In all but one of his 12 starts, he's allowed no more than one run, so it's no surprise that he's riding a streak of six straight quality starts. Early in the season, his strong outings required a bit more batted-ball luck, as his 27:15 K:BB over his first seven starts wasn't anything special, but he's been on another level over his last five outings, recording a 34:6 K:BB. He's struck out seven batters while walking none in both of his last two starts and should be in line for a similar performance Friday, as he'll face a solid but unspectacular Giants lineup that leans very right-handed at the top and will do so at the league's most pitcher-friendly park, Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Jake Brigham ($9,600) hasn't been the most reliable lately, but he deserves a mention here anyway as he'll face the last-ranked Tigers lineup, a unit that has scored just 3.77 runs per game this season. The Heroes didn't initially bring Brigham back this season, potentially due to the elbow troubles he battled last year, but he returned in mid-May following a dominant start to the season in Taiwan. He threw 12.2 scoreless innings over his first two starts but has struggled to a 5.08 ERA and 1.52 WHIP over his last five. Those aren't the kinds of numbers that would normally justify his lofty price tag, but the Tigers lineup has been bad enough that I'd be happy to look his way anyway, as he has a proven track record over five seasons in Korea. Facing an offense as bad as the Tigers should help him look like the guy who owns a lifetime 3.69 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over 111 KBO starts.
Among the day's cheaper options, consider Dinos righty Min Hyeok Shin ($7,600). Shin was merely a fifth-round pick back in 2018 and didn't do anything impressive in his 42-inning debut last year, posting a 5.79 ERA and 1.67 WHIP while striking out just 13.3 percent of opposing batters. He's suddenly become a very different pitcher this year, however. His strikeout rate has shot up to 19.0 percent, while he's maintained good control in the form of a 7.4 percent walk rate. That combination has helped him to a solid 3.73 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, numbers which should be good enough to justify his mid-tier price against the sixth-ranked Landers lineup.
Top Targets
Baek Ho Kang ($5,700) failed to record a hit Thursday, something the .395 hitter had only done 10 other times this season, though it wasn't exactly his fault, as the Tigers walked him in four of his five plate appearances. He's now walking 15.4 percent of the time, giving him a league-leading .495 on-base percentage to go along with his league-leading batting average. The only thing lacking from the 21-year-old's offensive profile right now is elite power, as he has just a modest seven homers, but more should be on the way eventually considering the 29 bombs he hit as an 18-year-old rookie back in 2018. He's an interesting option nearly every night but is especially interesting Friday, as he'll get the platoon advantage against Eagles righty Si Hwan Jang and his 5.40 ERA and 2.05 WHIP.
Grabbing some Eagles on the opposite side of that contest looks appealing as well, as they'll face struggling righty William Cuevas, who owns a 6.40 ERA after giving up six runs against the Bears his last time out. Eun Won Jung ($4,500) will get the platoon advantage against Cuevas and remains the most interesting bat on the team, especially as he's eligible at both second and third base. Elite plate discipline is the 21-year-old leadoff man's calling card, as his 19.3 percent walk rate edges out veteran Shin Soo Choo for the top spot among qualified hitters. Combined with his strong .297 batting average, that's led to a .434 on-base percentage, so he should have multiple chances to score should Cuevas struggle again.
Bargain Bats
Hyung Jong Lee ($3,400) isn't the most consistent hitter in the league, but he's far more talented than his modest price suggests. Injuries limited him to just 81 games last season, but he homered 17 times while hitting .296/.370/.547. He's hitting just .220/.356/.447 this year, but a very low .228 BABIP has a lot to do with that. He's shown more power recently, with two multi-homer games in his last six giving him eight homers in 44 games on the year. He'll have a good chance to homer again in the weekend series against the Lions at the league's most hitter-friendly park and could do so Friday, as he'll get the platoon advantage against veteran lefty Jung Hyun Baek. Baek has allowed just two total runs in his last five starts, but his 14:17 K:BB over that stretch suggests that streak won't last.
The Lions are always interesting at home, even against Woo Chan Cha, who's allowed just two runs in three starts this season but owns a 10:7 K:BB. Won Seok Lee ($2,900) will get the platoon advantage against the 34-year-old southpaw and is a strong budget choice at the hot corner, as he nearly always is at home. The veteran third baseman is hitting just .234/.327/.340 on the road this season, but his line jumps to .292/.409/.517 at hitter-friendly Daegu Samsung Lions Park. He swung a very hot bat during the Lions' previous series against the Eagles, going 7-for-10 with a homer and two doubles.
Stacks to Consider
Heroes vs. Min Woo Lee: Hye Seong Kim ($5,500), Jung Hoo Lee ($5,100), Geon Chang Seo ($3,700)
Most of the time when you see a starter scoring 0.5 DraftKings points per game, you can safely assume he's spent most of the year pitching in relief. That's not true of Min Woo Lee, who's started six times and pitched out of the bullpen once this year. The 28-year-old righty was bad enough last season, finishing the year with a 6.79 ERA and 1.66 WHIP, but the Tigers would be thrilled if he could return to even that poor level this year. In 27 innings of work, he owns an awful 10.00 ERA and 1.93 WHIP, striking out just 11.9 percent of opposing batters while walking 10.4 percent. He's allowed seven runs with a 1:3 K:BB in two of his three starts thus far in June, so there's no reason to believe he's on the verge of turning things around.
The stack listed here features a trio of lefties who should hit in the first three spots in the order. Kim doesn't have the same talent at the plate that his similarly-named ex-teammate Ha Seong Kim has, though a 12-for-29 stretch over his last seven games has raised his season slash line to a respectable .288/.356/.365. He boosts his fantasy value by a large amount with his legs, as he's stolen a league-leading 25 bases. Jung Hoo Lee is among the league's best hitters in everything expect the power department, though two of his three homers on the season have come in his last four games. He's an elite contact hitter, striking out just 6.3 percent of the time while hitting .355, and he has an excellent eye, walking at a 14.0 percent clip. Seo's .691 OPS on the season is poor, but he's interesting here nonetheless, as any inexpensive leadoff man would be against a pitcher as shaky as Min Woo Lee. Even in a down season, he's still walked as many times as he's struck out this season, giving reason to believe in a bounceback.
Dinos vs. Jae Young Shin: Eui Ji Yang ($5,900), Sung Bum Na ($5,500), Hui Dong Kwon ($3,200)
It doesn't take much to incentivize a Dinos stack, as the team leads the league in scoring by a margin of 0.25 runs per game. They'll be as attractive as ever against Shin. The 31-year-old righty was drafted by the Dinos back in 2012 and later moved to the Heroes, where he won Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 with a 3.90 ERA. He didn't do much the next four years, however, struggling to a 5.46 ERA and 1.45 WHIP while striking out just 13.0 percent of opposing batters. The Heroes released him last season after he gave up seven earned runs on 13 hits in five innings of relief work. He started this year in independent ball before joining the Landers, who almost certainly wouldn't be turning to him if not for the fact that they've lost both Jong Hun Park and Seung Won Moon to elbow injuries and are still without Sam Gaviglio, who's yet to join the active roster after signing in early June.
It's hard to start a Dinos stack with anyone other than Yang, as the veteran backstop continues to build his MVP case. After homering six times in his last 10 games and driving in 16 runs, he now leads the league in both of those categories, as well as OPS (1.124). Na hasn't been at his best this season, but getting the platoon advantage against Shin should help him get back on track. That's not to say he's been bad, either, as his .281/.361/.494 line is one that most hitters in the league would be very happy with. Kwon hasn't had quite an everyday role lately, so it's tough to include him if you can't check the lineups when they come out, but he's a great value play whenever he starts. He's quite inexpensive for someone who regularly bats second in the league's best lineup, and he owns an .868 OPS despite a BABIP of just .244.
