DraftKings KBO: Saturday Cheat Sheet

This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.

Friday's KBO action was highlighted by a wild finish between the Twins and Landers. A total of five runs were scored in the ninth inning, with Shin Soo Choo scoring the final one on a botched rundown which saw the Twins chase down a runner who'd already been forced out while watching the winning run waltz home. 

See it for yourself here, courtesy of Daniel Kim:

Plenty of good pitching options were available on a day in which four teams were held to two or fewer runs. The pitchers' duel between Jake Brigham and Wes Parsons provided two of the best, with Brigham throwing seven shutout innings while Parsons allowed just one run in six frames as Brigham's Heroes emerged 2-0 victors. On the offensive side, stacking your pick of Giants likely worked out well, as the team's top five hitters combined for nine hits and seven RBI in a 9-1 victory over the Bears. 

Saturday's slate, which begins slightly earlier than usual at 4:00 AM ET, features quite a few playable pitching options but has some arms worth picking on as well.

Pitchers

The two most expensive pitchers on the slate are facing the league's two best lineups, but if you're going to pay up for one of them, I'd lean towards Ryan Carpenter ($8,700) against the Wiz over Eric Jokisch against the Dinos. He didn't look like the most inspired foreign pitcher signing after having a good but not great year in Taiwan last season, but he's been everything the Eagles could have asked for this year. Through eight starts, he owns a 1.94 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, backing those numbers up with a 24.2 percent strikeout rate, a number which keeps his fantasy floor high even if he allows more runs than normal like he did last time out against the Heroes, when he gave up four runs in seven frames, his first time allowing more than two earned runs all year.

Jong Hun Park ($8,100) struggled to a 4.81 ERA last season, but his 2021 campaign is going much better. Through seven starts, he owns a 2.68 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. His 19.6 percent strikeout rate is a near match for his 19.4 percent mark from last year, while he's slashed his walk rate from 11.3 percent to 8.9 percent, the second-best mark of his nine-year career. He should continue his strong age-29 season against a Twins lineup which has scored the second-fewest runs per game this season.

Won Joon Choi ($7,900) had been a starter for most of his career before stepping into the rotation in the middle of last year when the Bears were hit by injuries and underperformance. Pitchers typically fare worse in the rotation, but that wasn't the case for Choi, as he cruised to a 3.29 ERA in 18 starts after posting a 5.40 ERA in 24 relief appearances. This year, he's been even better. Through seven starts, he's backed up his 2.79 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP and a strong combination of an 18.4 percent strikeout rate and 5.7 percent walk rate. He'll face a very righty-heavy Giants lineup Saturday which sits a modest fifth in scoring.

Top Targets

Jung Hoo Lee ($5,300) didn't seem to be himself in April, finishing the month with a .269/.373/.344 slash line, though there were some positive signs, such as his 15:9 BB:K. He's been on fire ever since the calendar flipped to May, however, hitting an incredible .500/.587/.787 with a similarly dominant 11:4 BB:K. With a tiny 7.0 percent strikeout rate on the season, it's no surprise he's hitting .364. He's still yet to show much power, with his homer Wednesday representing his first of the year, but more could come soon, as he at least has plenty of gap power, with his 15 doubles ranking first in the league by a margin of four. He'll get the platoon advantage Saturday against Dinos righty Myung Gi Song, who's had a fine season but may not be at full strength in his first start back from an oblique issue.

Shin Soo Choo ($5,500) didn't start Friday's game due to an elbow issue but came off the bench to grab a hit and score the winning run. Assuming he's in the lineup Saturday, he'll be an interesting choice with the platoon advantage against Casey Kelly, who hasn't looked right recently, posting a 4.74 ERA and a 6:7 K:BB over his last three starts. Choo's .820 OPS on the season is below expectations given his extensive MLB resume, but he can blame a .256 BABIP for some of his underachievement. He's still chipped in with eight homers and nine steals and has had better luck at the plate over his last seven games, posting a 1.084 OPS while driving in nine runs.

Bargain Bats

If Casey Kelly's name scares most people away from the Landers--and to be fair to him, he did throw seven shutout innings last time out against the Lions, though striking out two batters hardly suggests he dominated--it could be worth selecting multiple of the team's bats. Ji Hoon Choi ($2,800) is an interesting candidate as a cheap leadoff man who will get the platoon advantage. His .222 batting average is very poor, but a .246 BABIP appears to be the primary culprit. There's little reason to expect a low BABIP going forward, as he has plenty of speed, as seen in his seven steals. He's shown great plate discipline, walking at a 17.6 percent clip to go with a 11.8 percent strikeout rate, and his batted-ball luck appears to be turning around, as he's riding a five-game hitting streak.

If you're looking to stay cheap at catcher, consider the Eagles' Jae Hoon Choi ($3,400). He isn't anything special at the plate, but he's posted an above-average batting line for two straight seasons, a very respectable achievement for his position. He's on track to do the same this year, and his .235/.374/.318 slash line should rise along with his .261 BABIP going forward. He's jumped up to the number two spot in each of his last five starts and will get to face Wiz righty Hyeong Jun So, who's come nowhere close to repeating his Rookie of the Year form, struggling to a 6.83 ERA and 1.84 WHIP in his first six starts.

Stacks to Consider

Lions vs. Gi Yeong Im: Jose Pirela ($6,000), Hae Min Park ($4,400), Jae Il Oh ($3,900)

Im started last year well but eventually fell apart, finishing the year with a 5.15 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. That poor ERA represented his best mark in three years and could be his best for several more if his numbers thus far this season are any indication. Even after allowing a season-low one run against the Dinos in his most recent start, he owns a 7.06 ERA and 1.60 WHIP through six outings, striking out just 12.9 percent of opposing batters while walking 10.1 percent. An outing in the league's most hitter-friendly park isn't exactly what he needs to turn his season around.

The stack suggested here skips the expensive Ja Wook Koo and Min Ho Kang, both of whom have struggled recently. Pirela certainly hasn't, posting a 1.123 OPS over his last 11 games, though that hardly counts as a hot streak given that he posted a 1.032 OPS prior to that point. His 12 homers are good for second in the league, with all but two of them coming at home. Park struggled for much of April but moved to the leadoff role in early May and has been quite hot, hitting .396/.468/.491 over his last 15 games. Oh missed most of April with an abdominal injury and struggled to a .499 OPS in his first seven games as a Lion, but he's since gone on to hit .277/.382/.914 with three homers in his last 13 games.

Bears vs. Se Woong Park: Jae Hwan Kim ($5,700), Jose Fernandez ($5,200), In Tae Kim ($2,900)

Park pitched respectably enough last season, finishing the year with a 4.70 ERA, a number that came with a 16.4 percent strikeout rate and a 7.1 percent walk rate. He started this season much better, posting a 3.24 ERA and 1.14 WHIP across his first three starts, but he's been considerably less impressive over his last three, struggling to a 7.53 ERA and 1.81 WHIP. Free passes have been an issue over that stretch, as he's walked three batters in each outing. He's still far from the worst starter in the league, but he's nowhere near intimidating, so the fourth-ranked Bears lineup should have little trouble with him.

Lefties Jae Hwan Kim and Fernandez are key members of any Bears stack against a right-hander. Cleanup man Kim has swung a hot bat all year and sits tied for third with 37 RBI and tied for fifth with nine homers. Fernandez has a respectable six homers but is much more contact-focused. His .333 average practically counts as a disappointment given his lofty standards, as he hit .344 and .340 in his first two years in Korea. You could go with any of the Bears' top three righties to round out the stack, but I've gone with the left-handed In Tae Kim in order to keep things cheaper. He's nothing special, but his .287/.418/.356 slash line in his first season as a regular is more than good enough to justify his low price.