This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
Thursday's KBO action saw the Dinos move into sole possession of first place thanks to their third straight one-run victory over the Wiz. Chang Mo Koo proved to be worthy of his expensive price, striking out 10 over eight scoreless innings in one of the most dominant pitching performances of the young season. Friday's slate will see a new set of matchups as teams begin their fourth series of the year. As of writing, rain appears to be in the forecast across the country, putting each game under at least small-to-moderate risk, as all five games on this slate will take place outdoors. This article will give recommendations as if the full slate will be taking place, but it will definitely be smart to check weather forecasts late in the day and pivot to focusing on whichever games seem safest if necessary.
PITCHERS
Note: FanDuel is using Team Starting Pitchers rather than individual starting pitchers, presumably to guard against last-minute changes that could occur at hours of the night when most reasonable Americans won't be checking their fantasy lineups.
After an awful 2019 campaign saw him crash out at the MLB level, Dan Straily ($7,000 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Lotte Starting P") seems to be getting back on track overseas. Through his first two starts, he's struck out 15 and walked three while allowing just six hits and two runs over 12.2 innings. He's still quite modestly priced (especially on DraftKings) despite that hot start and now gets to face
Thursday's KBO action saw the Dinos move into sole possession of first place thanks to their third straight one-run victory over the Wiz. Chang Mo Koo proved to be worthy of his expensive price, striking out 10 over eight scoreless innings in one of the most dominant pitching performances of the young season. Friday's slate will see a new set of matchups as teams begin their fourth series of the year. As of writing, rain appears to be in the forecast across the country, putting each game under at least small-to-moderate risk, as all five games on this slate will take place outdoors. This article will give recommendations as if the full slate will be taking place, but it will definitely be smart to check weather forecasts late in the day and pivot to focusing on whichever games seem safest if necessary.
PITCHERS
Note: FanDuel is using Team Starting Pitchers rather than individual starting pitchers, presumably to guard against last-minute changes that could occur at hours of the night when most reasonable Americans won't be checking their fantasy lineups.
After an awful 2019 campaign saw him crash out at the MLB level, Dan Straily ($7,000 DraftKings, $25 FanDuel as "Lotte Starting P") seems to be getting back on track overseas. Through his first two starts, he's struck out 15 and walked three while allowing just six hits and two runs over 12.2 innings. He's still quite modestly priced (especially on DraftKings) despite that hot start and now gets to face an Eagles lineup that ranks second-worst in runs per game this season.
Hyeong Jun So ($6,000 DraftKings, $21 FanDuel as "KT Starting P") is undoubtedly a risk, but as the second-cheapest pitcher on both sites, he could be a risk worth taking. The 18-year-old pitched for the national team at last year's U-18 Baseball World Cup, posting a 15:1 K:BB while allowing just two runs in 13.2 innings. He earned a win in his KBO debut last week, holding the defending-champion Bears to two runs in five innings. It's hard to feel too comfortable rostering an 18-year-old with a single game of KBO experience, but So appears to have the Wiz's trust, and the Lions' struggling lineup won't be the toughest of tasks.
Hui Kwan Yu ($9,200 DraftKings, $24 FanDuel) is quite expensive on DraftKings but looks like a fine value on FanDuel. He recorded a strong 3.25 ERA last season, but he doesn't have much strikeout upside at all, striking out just 9.3 percent of batters. He's worth consideration primarily because he's facing a Tigers lineup that ranks third-worst in scoring this season and finished second-worst in that category last year. He should have a good shot for a win as well, as his defending-champion Bears should be favored over the struggling Tigers, who rank second-last in run differential despite their 4-5 record.
TOP TARGETS
20-year-old Baek Ho Kang ($5,900 DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) looks strong at the start of his third career KBO season, grabbing at least one hit in all eight games, including three home runs among his 10 total hits. Despite the Wiz's 1-7 record, their offense has been perfectly decent, ranking fifth in runs per game, the same spot they finished last season. Kang and his teammates could go off against young Lions' righty Tae In Won, who owns an unremarkable 4.73 career ERA and a 13.7 percent strikeout rate.
The top hitter in terms of points per game on both sites, Jae Hwan Kim ($5,300 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel), is worth consideration any time the Bears face a righty, especially a weaker one such as Ki Young Im (discussed below). The defending champions' cleanup hitter saw his numbers fall off to a greater extent than most of the league's did last season with the de-juiced ball, as he posted an .804 OPS after three seasons with an OPS north of 1.000. He appears to be right back on track this year, posting a 1.384 OPS with four homers, 11 runs and 14 RBI through eight games.
VALUE BATTERS
Roberto Ramos ($2,900 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) only fits into this category on DraftKings, but he's worth a look on both platforms. While he never reached the MLB level before heading overseas, we shouldn't be too surprised at his early success, as he hit an excellent .309/.400/.580 at Triple-A Albuquerque last season. Based on his .419/.486/.806 slash line through his first eight KBO games, it would be a surprise if he's not fielding calls from MLB clubs this offseason.
Jin Hyuk No ($3,200 DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) bats lower in the order than you'd like, never hitting higher than sixth this season, but he's a solid budget choice nonetheless. His 1.027 OPS through eight games is far higher than should be expected going forward, but his .782 OPS last year was quite respectable given that the league-wide OPS dipped to .722 with the de-juiced ball.
STACKS TO CONSIDER
Bears vs. Ki Young Im: Jose Fernandez ($6,300 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel), Jae Il Oh ($4,500 DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), Jae Hwan Kim ($5,300 DraftKings, $16 FanDuel)
The traditional stack of lefties at the heart of the Bears' order makes yet another appearance. (It's possible I should be recommending this group every single day, as I took a day off from listing them Wednesday only for Fernandez and Oh to combine for six hits and a pair of homers.) This trio is worth consideration any time the Bears face a mediocre or worse righty, and Im certainly falls into that category. While he recorded a strong 3.65 ERA back in 2017, he's been nowhere near that level since then, posting ERAs of 6.26 and 5.73 in the last two seasons, with a WHIP of 1.70 or worse in both years.
Frequent readers of this column will know this stack well, as it includes a trio of strong left-handed bats who hit second through fourth in one of the league's best lineups. No. 2 hitter Fernandez is perhaps the best of the bunch, though his price deservedly reflects that. He was primarily a contact hitter in his first season in the KBO last year, leading the league in hits but managing just a modest 15 homers. With league-wide power up across the board this season, Fernandez could have a chance at an all-around dominant offensive season, as he has two home runs already to pair with his 17 hits in just eight games.
Oh follows Fernandez out of the No. 3 spot and has been just as hot to start the year. He has a hit in all eight of the Bears' games, with eight of his 15 hits going for extra bases. He dominated Giants' pitchers during their midweek series, grabbing eight hits, four runs and five RBI.
Cleanup man Kim rounds out the trio. His 1.384 OPS edges out Fernandez's 1.335 mark as well as Oh's 1.302. He saw his home-run total plummet from 44 in 2018 to just 15 last year with the de-juiced ball, but his stat line this season offers potential evidence that the ball has been changed again, as he already has four homers through eight games.
Giants vs. Ee Whan Kim: Ah Seop Son ($3,600 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Dixon Machado ($5,700 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel), Dae Ho Lee ($4,600 DraftKings, $13 FanDuel)
Kim's numbers in his brief career couldn't scream "regression incoming" any louder. The 19-year-old owns a 3.98 ERA in 43 career KBO innings, but he's done so while striking out just 9.3 percent of batters while walking 13.0 percent. His season debut this year was much the same story, as he allowed just one run in five innings against the Heroes but walked four while striking out three. If his numbers looked like this over a longer career, we might be forced to assume that he'd figured out some secret sauce that enables him to way outperform his peripherals, but in such a small sample there's little reason to believe that's the case.
The Giants' lineup is very righty heavy, making left-handed outfielder Son a key part of any stack against the right-handed Kim. The team's No. 3 hitter has been on a tear this season, hitting .407/.543/.556 through eight games. He has a long track record of KBO success, hitting .295 or better for 10 straight seasons.
Are we sure this is the same Dixon Machado who struggled for parts of four seasons with the MLB's Detroit Tigers? Through his first five KBO contests, he'd already hit more homers (three) than he managed in 172 career MLB games (two). He owns a 1.084 OPS and 13 RBI through his first eight games in the league. His price may be inflated a bit too much on DraftKings based on what's still quite a small sample, but he's certainly worth inclusion in a Giants stack on FanDuel.
Veteran slugger Lee looks sharp at the start of his age-38 season, hitting a remarkable .414/.469/.655 through his first eight games. The cleanup hitter ranks ninth in career KBO home runs with 313 despite spending four years in Japan and one in the MLB. His home-run total dropped from 37 in 2018 to 16 last year, but with offense looking like it may be on the rise again this season, he could have a shot to return to the 30-homer level.
