This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Thursday's KBO slate was unfortunately another incomplete one, as rain wiped out both the Eagles-Tigers and Landers-Twins games. The three remaining games featured two close contests and one that wasn't so close, as the Lions easily handled the Bears by a 9-2 score. Jung Hyun Baek struck out eight over seven scoreless innings in that one, allowing just three hits, while Jose Pirela and Ja Wook Koo both had two hits and a homer. Elsewhere, an eighth-inning rally helped the Heroes past the Wiz, 6-4, with leadoff man Yong Kyu Lee driving in the go-ahead run with his third hit of the day, while Jin Gi Jeong's pinch-hit single knocked in the winning run to cap a four-run sixth inning as the Dinos defeated the Giants, 5-4.
Rain doesn't appear to be in the forecast for Friday's slate as of writing, so we should hopefully in for a full, five-game slate, one which features a large number of strong starters.
Pitchers
Sam Gaviglio ($6,800) was already my top recommendation on yesterday's cheat sheet before his game got rained out, and that came at a slightly higher price and against a Twins lineup which has been much better than the Tigers' ninth-ranked unit. He looks even better this time around. While his only two KBO outings to date were both quite poor, it's unwise to draw many strong conclusions from just two games. Anyone who's thrown nearly 300 innings at the highest level in the world deserves more than two bad games before we conclude that he doesn't have what it takes to succeed at a lower level, making Gaviglio a clear bargain at this price even if he weren't facing one of the league's worst lineups.
Odrisamer Despaigne ($8,300) was little more than an innings-eater last season, as he led the league with 207.2 frames but finished with a rather pedestrian 4.33 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. Suddenly, in his age-34 season, he's become a true frontline starter. He cruised to a 2.45 ERA and 1.26 WHIP before the break, and the improvement looks quite sustainable, as it comes with a massive jump in his strikeout rate from 16.4 percent to 25.1 percent. That number, which is good for fifth among qualified starters, gives him the potential for big upside on any given night, making him a surprisingly affordable option here against a Lions lineup which isn't nearly as scary away from home.
Sticking with the theme of surprisingly affordable pitchers, Won Joon Choi ($7,900) is very much at home in that group. Choi was mostly a reliever prior to last season, but he stepped up in a big way when the Bears had a hole in their rotation last year, cruising to a 3.29 ERA in his 18 appearances as a starter. This year, he owns an even better 2.80, backed by a 1.18 WHIP, a performance strong enough to earn him a spot on the Korean Olympic team. He didn't fare well on that big stage, allowing three runs in 3.1 innings of relief, but he should do much better back in his starting role against a Heroes lineup which technically ranks third in scoring but sits just 0.1 runs per game ahead of the seventh-ranked Landers.
Top Targets
The Dinos are squaring off against Min Woo Kim, who's having himself a nice season with his 3.89 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, but it's hard to count Eui Ji Yang ($5,400) out against anybody. His 10.9 DraftKings points per game is an incredible total for a catcher. Just three other backstops average even 6.0 points per game, while nobody else at the position averages more than 7.6. He got the day off in the first game of the second half after returning from the Olympics, but he's been right back at his usual level since then, going 4-for-7 with two runs and two RBI over his last two games. His 1.118 OPS leads all hitters, regardless of position, while he also ranks first in RBI (73) and tied for second in homers (20). He's walked 43 times against just 31 strikeouts, as there's seemingly nothing he can't do at the plate this season.
Third base is generally a fairly shallow position in DraftKings' KBO contests, but it's hard to go wrong with Kyoung Min Heo ($4,800). He lacks the typical power for the position, as he's never homered more than 10 times in a season and has cleared the fence just four times this year, but he makes up for it by being a top-tier contact hitter. His 5.7 percent strikeout rate led all qualified hitters last season, while his 6.3 percent mark this year is good for third. He should make tons of contact Friday, as he'll lead off and get the platoon advantage against Heroes lefty Seung Ho Lee, whose 19.1 percent strikeout rate this season has come mostly in relief. He struck out just 14.1 percent of opposing batters as a starter last season.
Bargain Bats
Justin Bour ($2,000) still costs the minimum, so he'll keep earning a spot here until that changes. You just don't see hitters with his MLB resume at the KBO level very often, so it would be a surprise if he doesn't wind up as one of the better hitters in the league. He could easily cost over $5,000 and still deserve strong consideration, but the only justifiable reason not to roster him at this price is because you'd rather differentiate yourself from the crowd. The first baseman has 92 career homers and a 114 wRC+ at the game's highest level, so he should have a good shot at launching the second homer of his KBO career in just his third game, as he'll get the platoon advantage against Giants righty Se Woong Park, who owns a fine but forgettable 4.29 ERA.
If you aren't including Sam Gaviglio as suggested above, Hyoung Woo Choi ($3,500) is worth a long look against him. Choi's price tag looks quite high next to his .213/.374/.342 slash line, but that line comes nowhere close to reflecting his considerable talent. Last season, he won the batting title by hitting .354 while also launching 28 homers and driving in 115 runs. You'd expected something of a decline in his age-38 season, but not one anywhere near this large. A .227 BABIP is clearly suppressing his numbers, but he also wasn't himself for much of the early part of the year, as he was battling an eye condition. He seems healthy now, as he's gone 3-for-7 with three walks since the break.
Stacks to Consider
Giants vs. Chan Kyu Im: Ah Seop Son ($3,600), Dae Ho Lee ($4,700), Chi Hong An ($3,700)
Im produced pretty unremarkable numbers for most of his career prior to last season, as his modest career-low ERA of 4.46 came all the way back in 2011. Last year was a career year for the righty, though his numbers still weren't anything too special. His 4.08 ERA came with a 1.41 WHIP, though his 21.3 percent strikeout rate was solidly above-average. He's only made four starts at the KBO level this season, but they've nearly all gone very poorly. In 17.2 innings of work, he's allowed 19 runs (15 earned), striking out 10 while walking 15. He only allowed four earned runs in 13 innings in his two starts after returning from the Futures League in late June, but his 8:7 K:BB in those starts hardly suggests he's figured things out.
The Giants are arguably a tricky team to stack, as their lineup contains a large number of above-average bats but no elite ones. Son is the only must-have here, as he's the only lefty who regularly bats in a key spot in the lineup. He started the season slowly but has since righted the ship, hitting .388 over his last 30 games. Lee followed him out of the third spot in the order Thursday and is a strong mid-tier option at a loaded first base position. The 39-year-old may be well past his peak, but he has an .854 OPS on the season and has homered in back-to-back games. An, who hit cleanup Thursday, rounds out this trio. He's among the cheapest of the Giants' rather interchangeable pieces, but he's having a strong season, hitting .308/.373/.454.
Eagles vs. Jae Hak Lee: Eun Won Jung ($4,500), Jae Hoon Choi ($4,100), Ju Suk Ha ($4,100)
It's an uncomfortable feeling recommending two Eagles stacks in one week, but it's tough not to recommend stacking against Lee. The 30-year-old righty had a 3.75 ERA as recently as 2019, but the wheels have fallen off since then. He struggled to a well-deserved 6.55 ERA last season and has been a disaster in his five starts this year, posting a 7.59 ERA and 2.02 WHIP. He only allowed one earned run across his final two starts before the break, but that came with a very poor 4:7 K:BB, so it's hard to be optimistic. The Eagles don't have many reliable hitters, but each of their playable bats should be a strong option Friday.
The stack listed here features the team's typical top three bats. Jung doesn't have much power, homering three times last year and four times this season, but he fills the leadoff role well. His .298 batting average and remarkable 18.2 percent walk rate have combined to help him to a .425 on-base percentage. Choi's value comes mainly from his lineup position, as no other catcher regularly bats second like he does. Over his last nine games, which includes seven from before the Olympic break, he's homered three times and posted a .950 OPS. Ha is by no means an elite hitter, but he regularly bats third and has shown enough with his bat to be interesting when he gets the platoon advantage against a pitcher as shaky as Lee, hitting .274/.351/.392 on the year.
