This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
The start of a new week of KBO action sees the Twins alone atop the standings after winning 11 of their last 14 games, with their top-ranked pitching staff overcoming an offense which ranks just eighth in scoring. The Wiz, Landers and Lions all sit within two games of the league lead, while last year's Korean Series contestants, the Dinos and Bears, are tied for the final playoff spot at 5.5 games back. The Heroes sit two back of that pair, while the Eagles, Giants and Tigers continue to slip further back.
Tuesday's KBO slate features two matchups between the group of seven contenders, with the Twins taking on the Landers and the Heroes taking on the Bears. The slate is scheduled to have five games but may wind up with just four, as the Eagles-Lions game looks threatened by rain.
Pitchers
Not counting David Buchanan, whose game is at risk of cancellation, Odrisamer Despaigne ($8,300) has scored the most DraftKings points per game on the slate. He's gotten there via a 2.46 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, both of which represent a big improvement over his 4.33 ERA and 1.45 WHIP from his first season in Korea last year. He's been at least a bit lucky, as his .267 BABIP suggests, but he's also increased his strikeout rate from 16.4 percent all the way up to 23.3 percent. He's coming off his two highest-strikeout games of the year, whiffing nine in each of his last two outings. He'd easily be the top option on the slate (non-Buchanan division) even if he weren't facing a Tigers lineup which ranks last in scoring by a wide margin and which will be without Preston Tucker, who was demoted Monday.
Eui Lee Lee ($7,500) suffers from the fact that he'll be supported by that struggling Tigers lineup and will have to square off against Despaigne, but he's a high-upside option who could be worth a look in larger tournaments. The 19-year-old rookie hasn't been entirely consistent this season, as one might expect, and his 4.04 ERA isn't anything special, but he's flashed considerable potential at times. He's twice reached 10 strikeouts this season, including last time out against the Landers, when he allowed just a single hit in 5.2 shutout innings. He has a tough assignment against the second-ranked Wiz lineup Tuesday, and Despaigne is arguably too appealing of an option for cash games to justify starting the young lefty, but Lee is definitely worth a look for situations where you're fine with a high-risk, high-reward option.
Hyun Hee Han ($8,700) probably costs a bit more than he should, but he's one of the more reliable options on a day which features plenty of shaky arms. He returned to the rotation last year after spending a year in the bullpen and struggled to a 4.98 ERA, but that doesn't reflect how he pitched for most of the year. A two-start stretch in early July in which he allowed 17 runs in 3.2 innings inflated his ERA by over a run. He's been quite reliable this year, allowing no more than three runs in any of his 11 outings, leading to a 3.41 ERA that he's backed up with an 18.1 percent strikeout rate and 8.1 percent walk rate. Han doesn't have the easiest matchup Tuesday against the third-ranked Bears lineup, but he'll at least get to face them at pitcher-friendly Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Top Targets
Eui Ji Yang ($5,800) remains arguably the best hitter in the entire league, an argument that isn't hard to make considering he leads the KBO with a 1.113 OPS. He's seemingly always underpriced, no matter his price tag, as the fact that he provides that kind of value while playing catcher is worth so much more than if he did it at first base or in the outfield. At age 34, he really ought to be slowing down sometime soon, but he's shown no signs of doing so. After homering five times in his last seven games, he's now tied for the league lead with 16 homers. He's usable against nearly any pitcher, so Se Woong Park's respectable 4.17 ERA certainly isn't a good reason to avoid him.
Chang Ki Hong ($4,900) barely played prior to last season, coming to the plate just 56 times. In a league in which the stars often establish themselves as early as their teens, there was little reason to give him much thought in his age-26 season, but he emerged as one of the league's premier table-setters, posting a .409 on-base percentage thanks to a .279 average and 16.4 percent walk rate. Not only has he avoided fading back into obscurity this year, he's taken a massive step forward. His .474 on-base percentage sits second among qualified hitters, thanks to a .318 average and an 18.7 percent walk rate. He'll give his teammates plenty of RBI opportunities Tuesday, as he'll get the platoon advantage against Landers righty Tae Yang Lee, who owns a career 5.23 ERA and has spent most of the year in relief.
Bargain Bats
The Landers easily could have been one of today's top stack recommendations, as they'll face Twins righty Chan Kyu Im, who was demoted after allowing 12 runs in 4.2 innings while striking out two and walking eight in his first two starts of the year. Ji Hoon Choi ($3,600) isn't one of the team's top bats, but he offers plenty of value at an affordable price. He's typically hit leadoff this season and has filled the role well, with his 13.3 percent walk rate helping him to a .365 on-base percentage. He's also boosted his value with 14 steals. Four of those steals have come in his last nine games, a stretch in which he's hit .314/.368/.486.
Sticking in the Landers' outfield, Yoo Seom Han ($3,000) will also get the platoon advantage against Im and offers arguably even more value at an even cheaper price. Han isn't the best contact hitter, as he's struck out 22.0 percent of the time this season and is hitting just .258, not far from his 21.2 percent strikeout rate and .249 average last season. He has plenty of power, however, homering 15 times in 62 games last season. His 10 homers in 57 games this year is a less impressive total, but he's picked things up dramatically recently, clearing the fence five times in his last 10 games. That's gives him far more upside than you'll typically find at his price point.
Stacks to Consider
Heroes vs. Young Ha Lee: Jung Hoo Lee ($5,100), Hye Seong Kim ($5,200), Yong Kyu Lee ($3,500)
Young Ha Lee's season has gone so poorly that his previous start, in which he allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in 6.1 innings against the Lions while striking out just two batters, stands as one of his best of the year. That's a real disappointment for the Bears, as Lee struggled as a starter last season before appearing to figure things out after a move to the bullpen. He struggled to a 5.52 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in the former role before cruising to a 1.04 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in relief. He's done far worse than revert to that poor form in six starts this year, as he owns an awful 10.44 ERA and 2.16 WHIP on the year, numbers that come as no surprise given his 12:15 K:BB. It's hard to see him remaining in the rotation for long unless he turns things around dramatically, and there's no reason to believe that's about to happen.
The lefty-heavy Heroes lineup features plenty of strong options to choose from. The trio listed here hit third, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the team's last two games. Jung Hoo Lee is one of Korea's top MLB prospects, as the 22-year-old has demonstrated elite contact ability at a very young age while also playing strong defense in the outfield. He walked more than he struck out in each of the previous two seasons, but his 13.6 percent walk rate is more than double his 6.6 percent strikeout rate this season, helping him to a .354/.449/.521 slash line. Kim has boosted his fantasy value with his league-leading 24 steals, but he swings a decent bat as well, hitting .284, a near match for his .285 average from last season. Yong Kyu Lee spent the past several seasons as one of the only decent hitters on a struggling Eagles squad, but he's a lot more interesting for fantasy purposes now that he's surrounded by stronger teammates. He doesn't offer much in the way of power, homering just twice over the last four seasons, but he's gotten on base at a .380 clip this season thanks to a .286 average and a 12.1 percent walk rate.
Giants vs. Jae Hak Lee: Dae Ho Lee ($5,000), Dixon Machado ($4,800), Ah Seop Son ($3,200)
Jae Hak Lee recorded a 3.75 ERA as recently as 2019, but he's completely fallen apart since then. He struggled to a 6.55 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 19 starts last season, but that apparently wasn't close to as bad as things would get. He was trusted with a rotation role again to start this year but lost it very quickly after allowing 12 runs in 7.2 innings over his first two starts, striking out five while walking 10. He then was sent to the Futures League, where his 4.99 ERA in six starts didn't exactly inspire confidence. He's needed in the rotation again, but his first start back with the team last week went poorly yet again, as he allowed five runs in 4.1 frames. It would be a surprise if things went much better for him this time around.
The top of the Giants' lineup features a large number of righties who are solidly above average but not stars, so their stacks are perhaps the most flexible in the league. Dae Ho Lee and Machado are two such righties. Lee is one of the top Korean hitters of all time, hitting 341 homers (good for fourth all-time) despite the fact that he spent five years of his prime in Japan and the United States. He's well past his prime at age 39 but is still swinging a hot bat, hitting .322 with nine homers in 38 games. Machado is a rarity among the league's foreign hitters, as the shortstop's primary value comes from his glove. He's far from useless at the plate, however, especially when compared to his peers at his position, as his .796 OPS ranks third among regular shortstops. Unlike Lee and Machado, Son will get the platoon advantage Tuesday, though he may not even need it to be a strong value play at his very low price. He hit just .261 through his first 45 games this year after hitting .352 last season, but he's been on a tear over his last 14 games, hitting .431 with nine multi-hit contests.
