This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Stacking Lions against soft-tossing lefty Hee Kwan Yu was the key to success in Saturday's KBO daily-fantasy contests. Eight different Lions (including three who started the game on the bench) had multi-hit days in the team's 16-4 victory, with Jae Il Oh leading the way by going 4-for-4 with a pair of homers. Stacking the Heroes or Wiz likely worked out fine as well, as both teams scored seven runs in their respective victories over the Twins and Tigers. Meanwhile, the Landers managed to hold the Eagles to just two hits in their 6-2 victory despite starter Artie Lewicki leaving with a shoulder issue after throwing just a single inning.
We're back to a standard, five-game slate Sunday, with contests kicking off at 12:58 a.m. ET. The set of games features far more than its fair share of premium stack targets, though there are still reliable starters available.
Pitchers
Andrew Suarez ($10,500) has a bit of an odd game log. In six of his first nine KBO starts, he's lasted at least six innings while allowing no more than two runs, holding the opposition scoreless in four of those, but he's twice failed to last longer than three innings. While he's coming off one of those bad starts, his high price is still well-deserved. The good has easily outweighed the bad for the former San Francisco Giant, as he leads all qualified starters with a 1.93 ERA and sits tied for fourth with a 1.13 WHIP. His 27.4 percent strikeout rate (second-best among qualified starters) gives him huge fantasy upside, and the fact that he's a southpaw should help him against a Heroes lineup that has plenty of talent but skews heavily left-handed.
Walker Lockett ($9,500) can't quite match Suarez's strikeout upside, as his 18.4 percent strikeout rate is right around league average, but he's a strong option nonetheless, even at hitter-friendly Daegu Samsung Lions Park. He's been excellent in nearly every start so far this season, allowing one or fewer runs in eight of his nine outings, leading to a 1.99 ERA. The righty is coming off two of his best starts of the season, striking out 16 batters while walking just three and allowing just a single run across 12 innings. He'd earn top billing here in any other park but is still very usable at the Lions' hitter-friendly home.
I try to avoid recommending the three most-expensive pitchers whenever possible, but this is a slate that doesn't contain any cheap options worth considering. Among the six cheapest arms, Young Kyu Kim's 5.93 ERA stands out as the best mark. The lack of inexpensive alternatives means Seung Won Moon ($8,800) practically counts as a budget option on the slate. His 3.05 ERA is probably better than he deserves, as it's aided by a .246 BABIP, but he'll still be a solid option even if that number rises by a fair amount. He's coming off his two best starts according to DraftKings' points per game, allowing just a single run on six hits across 12 innings, and there's little reason to believe the good times will end Sunday against the last-ranked Eagles lineup.
Top Targets
Jeong Hun Lee ($4,800) continues to build his case as the best use of your catcher slot outside of the incredible Eui Ji Yang (discussed below). While Yang has over a decade of dominance under his belt, Lee has less than a month. It's very hard to ignore what he's done since becoming the team's regular designated hitter in early May, however. The 26-year-old accomplished next to nothing in 14 games prior to this year but is hitting .359/.468/.516 with a pair of homers in 19 games this season. A .420 BABIP deserves some of the credit for that line as well as his 10-game hitting streak, but he's demonstrated great control of the zone, as seen in his 10:12 BB:K. He should stretch his streak to 11 games with the platoon advantage Sunday against Wiz righty William Cuevas, who owns a 7.39 ERA through six starts.
The Bears could have been one of today's top stacks in the league's most hitter-friendly park against Lions lefty Seung Min Lee, who owns a 6.43 ERA, but the fact that the team's best hitters are mostly left-handed gives the nod to other options. Leadoff man Kyoung Min Hur ($4,100) bats from the right side, however, and should be able to score multiple runs should the Bears cross the plate as often as expected. Hur doesn't have much power, but he's arguably the league's best contact hitter, as his 6.6 percent strikeout rate leads all qualified hitters this year, just as his 5.7 percent mark did last season.
Bargain Bats
It may be difficult to fit in the incredible Baek Ho Kang ($6,100) on a day which lacks affordable, reliable pitching, but selecting leadoff man Yong Ho Cho ($3,800) could be a way to indirectly benefit from Kang's talent. Cho doesn't have a single homer in over 1,100 KBO plate appearances, but he's a career .286 hitter with a great eye (as seen in his 19.4 percent walk rate this season), making him an excellent table-setter for the likes of Kang. He'll get the platoon advantage Sunday against Tigers righty Min Woo Lee, who's allowed 11 runs in 8.1 innings this season after posting a 6.79 ERA last year.
The Giants are a potentially interesting stack Sunday against Dinos lefty Young Kyu Kim and his 5.93 ERA. If you're selecting just one of their players, consider Byung Hun Min ($2,100) over any of their rather interchangeable options who are all priced above $4,000. The 34-year-old posted an OPS of .799 or better for seven straight seasons before slumping to a .582 mark last year. Those struggles were likely related to the brain aneurysm that he underwent surgery for in January of this year. He looked great in 10 rehab games at the Futures League level at the start of the month, hitting .429/.500/.857, and he's since returned to the active roster, starting a pair of games and leading off in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. He'll be a strong budget option even if he bats much lower Sunday.
Stacks to Consider
Dinos vs. Jin Uk Kim: Eui Ji Yang ($5,400), Sok Min Park ($4,600), Jin Sung Kang ($4,300)
Kim should have a bright future ahead of him, as the 18-year-old lefty was the first-overall pick in the 2021 draft. His present is what matters for daily-fantasy purposes, however, and it doesn't appear to be nearly so bright. He started three times for the Giants at the start of the season and didn't look good in any of them, allowing at least a run per inning in all three. His 10.54 ERA may be slightly worse than he deserves, but his 1.98 WHIP and 12:13 K:BB tell a very similar story. He's looked better in three Futures League outings, but it's not as if a 3.60 ERA there is dominant, and the gap between the hitters in the Futures League and the ones in the KBO's best lineup couldn't be much wider.
On a day that lacks reliable cheap pitching, I've tried to keep this stack as cheap as possible by skipping Aaron Altherr, though things only get so cheap with a lineup as strong as the Dinos'. Yang remains by far the best thing to do with your catcher slot, outscoring everyone else at the position by at least 2.6 points per game. He'd be an excellent option at any position, as his 1.139 OPS leads all qualified hitters. Veteran third baseman Park is having a career year in his age-36 season, as his 1.084 OPS represents the highest mark in a career that began back in 2004. Kang could be swapped out for a lefty here, as he's not having a particularly strong season, but his .309/.350/.463 line last year makes him someone worth considering a gamble on in matchups like this one.
Landers vs. Si Hwan Jang: Shin Soo Choo ($5,800), Joo Hwan Choi ($4,800), Ji Hoon Choi ($3,400)
Jang was a pitcher I occasionally recommended as a budget option last season, as his 5.02 ERA at least came with a solid 19.1 percent strikeout rate. Just about nothing has gone well for him this year, however. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 11.5 percent, while his already-high walk rate has risen to 14.9 percent. It's no surprise to see his ERA and WHIP shoot up to 7.94 and 2.12, respectively, and that's even with him giving up zero homers in his 17 innings thus far. He's yet to throw more than four innings in any of his five starts this year, and there's little reason to believe that's about to change.
As with the Dinos stack above, I'm trying to stay slightly cheaper here due to the lack of inexpensive pitchers that I'm comfortable with. This stack therefore skips the excellent but expensive Jeong Choi in favor of a trio of lefties. Choo hasn't dominated the KBO as one might expect given his extensive track record of MLB success, but the fact that he still has an .803 OPS (to go along with eight homers and 10 steals) indicates how good he could be once his .247 BABIP improves. Joo Hwan Choi has been quite the free-agent signing thus far, as his .935 OPS is better than what he managed in all but one of his 13 seasons for the Bears. Ji Hoon Choi isn't nearly the same level of hitter but is interesting because he bats leadoff in front of the other names mentioned here. That's allowed him to score at least one run in each of his last 10 games, crossing the plate a total of 15 times over that stretch.
