This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
The KBO managed to avoid any coronavirus-related cancellations last year, but that run of good fortune ended Tuesday. Thankfully, no player has tested positive yet, but a positive test for a Wiz coach saw the Wiz-Twins game canceled while the league completed contact tracing. The Bears-Eagles game was canceled as well, as the Eagles had just played the Wiz over the weekend. As of writing, the teams are all set to play Wednesday, with both canceled games getting made up as part of a doubleheader. Only the first half of those doubleheaders will be included on DraftKings' slate.
Pitchers
We're more spoiled for choice in terms of top pitching talent Wednesday than I can ever remember. It's certainly not often that Andrew Suarez ($8,600) would have merely the third-highest price on a slate. He sits third among qualified starters with a 2.35 ERA, a number he's backed up with a 1.20 WHIP and a 24.4 percent strikeout rate. He did have a bit of a blip two starts ago against the Heroes, allowing five runs, but that was the only time in his last seven outings that he's allowed more than two earned runs. He faces a tough task against the third-ranked Wiz lineup, but he's good enough to justify his surprisingly modest price tag nonetheless.
Won Joon Choi ($7,800) began last season as a reliever and wasn't a particularly notable one, posting a 5.40 ERA in 30 innings out of the bullpen. He was called upon to enter the rotation in mid-July due to injuries and underperformance by other Bears starters, however, and he pitched well enough to remain there the rest of the year, finishing with a 3.29 ERA in his 18 starts. He's only getting better in his first full season as a starter this year. Through 13 starts, he owns a 2.48 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He's given up more than three runs just once all year and is riding a streak of five consecutive quality starts. The only thing holding him back from being a top-tier fantasy starter is that he's done it all despite a modest 16.6 percent strikeout rate. That may cap his upside, but he should have a very high floor Wednesday against the ninth-ranked Eagles lineup.
With so many good options to choose from Wednesday, there's no particular need to seek out a budget option, but Woo Jin Ahn ($5,500) is certainly worth a look if you want to load up on top bats. Even if there was nothing to say about him beyond his solid 3.86 ERA, he'd be well worth his very cheap price. There's a lot more to like here, however, as the 21-year-old righty possesses a rare arsenal for a KBO pitcher, headlined by a 94.0 mph fastball and an 87.4 mph slider. That combination led him to a 3.00 ERA and 1.03 WHIP last season as a reliever. His return to the rotation wasn't going well in April, as he struggled to a 6.14 ERA and 1.91 WHIP in four starts, but he's been quite good since the calendar flipped to May. In his last nine starts, he owns a 3.17 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. He'll face a Giants team that's jumped up to second in scoring, but he's coming off a pair of starts against the Dinos and Bears in which he allowed a combined two runs on seven hits in 13 innings, striking out 14 while walking two.
Top Targets
Ja Wook Koo ($6,000) has been very streaky this season, but when he's hitting like he is right now, he's among the best bats in the league. After hitting .345/.429/.575 over his first 30 games, he collapsed and hit just .173/.213/.210 over his next 20. He's been as good as ever over his last 15 contests, however, grabbing at least one hit in all 15 while slashing .377/.424/.705, homering five times and stealing four bases. He'll get the platoon advantage Wednesday against Landers righty Wilmer Font, who's having a strong season but is coming off a start in which he was knocked around for five runs while striking out just three batters.
Jeong Choi ($5,600) is having an impressive renaissance in his age-34 season. While he's never seen his performance dip much, posting an OPS north of .900 in every season since 2010, he's only crossed the 1.000 mark once before, so finishing anywhere close to his current 1.052 OPS would represent one of the best seasons of an excellent career. The burst of power he's shown recently is remarkable, as he's homered four times in his last five games to give him a league-leading 20 on the season. Like every hitter on the slate, he doesn't have an easy matchup, though Lions righty Tae In Won is more hittable than his overall numbers suggest, as he posted a 1.00 ERA over his first six starts but owns a 4.37 ERA over his last six.
Bargain Bats
Sticking with the Landers on the theory that Won is one of the weakest options among a very strong group of arms, Yoo Seom Han ($3,500) remains a strong budget outfield option. He's not the best contact hitter, striking out 20.6 percent of the time while hitting a modest .260, but he has plenty of power for his modest price tag. He homered 15 times in 62 games last season and has cleared the fence 11 times in 63 games this year. Six of those homers have come in his last 16 games, a stretch in which he's hitting .318/.429/.727.
Selecting a Hero or two against Dan Straily may not be the worst idea despite the veteran righty's reputation. Nearly every pitcher on the slate is quite strong, and Straily has been shaky lately, striking out just two batters in his latest start after struggling to a 7.00 ERA in his previous five outings. Geon Chang Seo ($4,000) provides a cost-effective way to bet against Straily if that's something you're looking to do. The former MVP was struggling for much of the year, but the Heroes kept faith in him and moved him into the leadoff role in mid-June despite those struggles. The move has paid off, as he's hitting .296/.377/.556 with three homers in his last 12 games.
Stacks to Consider
Bears vs. Nick Kingham: Jose Fernandez ($4,800), Suk Hwan Yang ($4,200), In Tae Kim ($3,300)
There isn't a single pitcher on Wednesday's slate who I'd recommend stacking against under normal circumstances, so we'll have to lower our standards for what counts as an appealing stack here. Kingham is having a very solid season, backing up his 3.99 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with a strong combination of a 20.7 percent strikeout rate and a 7.1 percent walk rate. He recently missed over a month with a side injury, however, and he wasn't good in his first start back last week, lasting just two innings while giving up three runs (two earned). He only threw 46 pitches, and while that may be due to underperformance as much as anything, it means he's unlikely to be able to last particularly deep in Wednesday's game even if things are going well.
There's still more than enough talent left on the Bears' roster to create a compelling stack without Jae Hwan Kim (knee) and Kun Woo Park (fatigue). Fernandez continues to do what he does, riding a career-low 6.2 percent strikeout rate to a .332 batting average while homering nine times. Yang is turning into something new following an offseason trade from the Twins. He never produced an OPS north of .758 with his former team but owns an .862 mark thus far for his new team. Kim is also reaching a new level this season. His 223 plate appearances already more than double his previous career high of 110, but his .271/.389/.387 slash line justifies his everyday role and makes him a clear bargain at his cheap price as long as he bats in the top third of the order, where he's spent most of his time recently.
Dinos vs. Eui Lee Lee: Eui Ji Yang ($5,900), Aaron Altherr ($5,600), Hui Dong Kwon ($3,700)
There's plenty to like about Lee, a 19-year-old rookie who was selected in the regional round (a round that precedes the bulk of the draft in which teams can select a player from their local era) of the most recent draft. For a player with his lack of experience, his 4.30 ERA and 1.34 WHIP are quite commendable, and he's backed those numbers up with a 24.7 percent strikeout rate. Still, he's one of the weakest options among an incredibly deep group of pitchers, which doesn't bode well when he's facing the league's top-ranked offense. He's also been considerably worse since the start of May than he was during April, posting a 5.40 ERA in eight starts after cruising to a 2.42 ERA in four April outings.
We'll go with a trio of righties here against the young southpaw. Yang continues to feature here on a very regular basis, but it's not hard to see why, as his 11.1 DraftKings points per game lead all hitters at any position and lead all other catchers by a full 3.3 points. He's on one of his best stretches of a season that's been dominant throughout, as he's gone hitless just once in his last 12 games, homering seven times, driving in 19 runs and producing a 1.340 OPS over that stretch. Altherr started out hot before cooling off, but he's looked good again over his last seven games. He's grabbed at least one hit in all seven of those contests and has homered three times, giving him 17 for the season. Kwon remains one of the best bargains yet again, as anyone who's priced this affordably for the league's best lineup almost has to be. He'd justify his price tag even without those external factors, however, as his .273/.410/.496 is plenty impressive in its own right.
