DFS KBO: Saturday Cheat Sheet

Thursday's KBO action saw a number of unexpected results and exciting finishes. The Twins homered four times against the Dinos, including twice off newly-acquired reliever Kyung Chan Moon in his Dinos debut, scoring a total of six runs in the final two frames to win 10-4. The Tigers waited quite a well as well, recovering from a poor outing from Drew Gagnon, who allowed six runs on nine hits and four walks in just four innings, to score four times in the bottom of the ninth against the Wyverns, winning on Ji Wan Na's walkoff three-run homer. The Wiz left it even later, winning 5-3 following Jae Gyun Hwang's 12th-inning double, a full six innings after both Odriamer Despaigne and Raul Alcantara had left the game after tossing a pair of quality starts. Elsewhere, Se Woong Park and the Giants' bullpen combined to hold a strong Heroes lineup to just one run on five hits in their 5-1 win, while David Buchanan and the Lions' pen held the Eagles to one run and just four hits in their 10-1 victory, with Min Ho Kang, Gye Beom Park and Ji Chan Kim combining to score seven runs in the bottom half of the Lions' lineup. 

Saturday's slate looks to be yet another full one, with no games threatened by rain as of writing. Finding trustworthy pitching could be quite difficult on this slate.

Pitchers

I would expect extremely high ownership rates for Tyler Wilson ($9,200), even against the Dinos, as he's the only remotely reliable option on the slate. His 3.89 ERA and 1.39 WHIP both represent fairly significant steps back from his numbers from his first two KBO campaigns, in which he posted an ERA no higher than 3.07 and a WHIP no higher than 1.16. Most of his struggles came early in the season, as he posted a 4.47 ERA over his first nine starts but owns a 3.07 ERA over his last seven. He comes with plenty of downside against the loaded Dinos lineup, though pretty much every pitcher on this slate has tons of downside, so there's a pretty clear argument for taking the most talented option.

It's not often that a pitcher with an ERA north of 5.00 has deservedly the second-highest price on the slate, but that seems to be the case with Seung Ho Lee ($8,500). The 21-year-old has had a roller coaster of a season. After struggling to a 7.83 ERA in five May starts, he posted a 1.86 ERA in the month of June. As soon as the calendar flipped to July, he fell off a cliff, posting a 16.20 ERA over three outings, but he's suddenly back to being good again, as he owns a 1.50 ERA in a pair of August starts. Lee's overall numbers don't paint a particularly convincing picture, as he owns a 5.35 ERA, a 1.48 WHIP and a 15.9 percent strikeout rate, though those aren't all that bad compared to the available alternatives. The fact that he's coming off a pair of strong starts is enough to make him stand out among this group, and he'll have a chance to make it three good ones in a row against the sixth-ranked Giants lineup.

It was hard enough finding a second starter to recommend on this slate, and finding a third is considerably more difficult. The generally reliable plan of starting whoever faces the Wyverns or Eagles seems like the way to go here, with Ki Hoon Kim ($5,700) against the Wyverns looking like a better option than Sung Hwan Yoon against the Eagles, even with the Wyverns' bats starting to wake up over their last three games. That's not to say Kim is anything close to imposing, as he owns a 5.40 ERA in 15 innings this season, with all but one of his 11 appearances coming in relief. His 23.8 percent strikeout rate and 6.3 percent walk rate are at least encouraging peripherals, giving him at least a bit of upside, though he's interesting primarily for his price and opponent.

Top Targets

Preston Tucker ($6,300) may not deserve the second-highest price tag on the slate, as he's merely eighth in points per game, though there's a good chance he lives up to his price in this one. He's homered four times in his last nine games, posting a 1.111 OPS over that stretch. That gives him 20 homers on the year, good for a share of third place. Like many hitters on the day, he'll get a rather easy matchup, though he'll likely have one of the easiest, as he'll get the platoon advantage against Wyverns righty Joo Han Kim, who owns a 6.83 ERA and a 10:14 K:BB in 27.2 innings this season.

Min Ho Kang ($4,200) has seen his price continue to rise, but he'll earn yet another mention in this article as he remains one of the best options behind the plate even though he no longer fits into the bargain category. His season breaks down neatly into a pair of 33-game halves on either side of a trip to the injured list with a side injury. In the first, he hit a poor .200/.244/.412. Since his return, he's hit an incredible .379/.467/.680. He should remain hot with the platoon advantage against Eagles lefty Chad Bell, who's struggled to a 7.94 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP this season.

Bargain Bats

It's a shame there aren't many Eagles worth including, as Lions starter Sung Hwan Yoon looks quite exploitable, posting a 6.00 ERA and a 1:5 K:BB over his first three starts this season. If the league's last-ranked lineup gets anything going against the 38-year-old, Yong Kyu Lee ($3,300) stands a good chance to be in the middle of it. Don't expect any power from the veteran, who has just six extra-base hits on the season and who's hit just 25 homers in his 16-year KBO career. He's a solid contact hitter, posting a .273 batting average, helping him to a team-leading 39 runs. He's also added 14 steals, tied for fourth in the league.

Eun Sung Chae ($3,900) hit an awful .093/.204/.140 during a 13-game stretch from late June to mid-July before being sent to the minors to work on his swing. The assignment evidently helped, as he's been on an absolute tear since returning less than two weeks later. He's gone hitless just once in his last 15 games, hitting .415/.451/.631 with an incredible 26 RBI. Unlike teammates Hyun Soo Kim and Roberto Ramos, he won't get the platoon advantage against struggling Dinos righty Jae Hak Lee, who owns a 5.64 ERA, but he's much cheaper and has been hotter than both recently.

Stacks to Consider

Bears vs. Min Soo Kim: Jose Fernandez ($6,200), Jae Hwan Kim ($5,600), Jae Il Oh ($4,200)

Nearly every lineup looks very stackable on this slate, so we might as well stick with one of the units that has been among the best throughout the season. The second-ranked Bears lineup will face the struggling Kim, who owns a rather poor 6.04 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP through 53.2 innings this season, starting nine games and appearing out of the bullpen in nine more. Those numbers are inflated by a .371 BABIP, but bad luck is only a small portion of what's gone wrong for him this season. He's allowing far too much contact, striking out just 12.7 percent of opposing batters, and has given up four homers over his last four starts.

It's hard to stack the Bears and not lead with Fernandez, even if he hasn't been at his best lately. He's gone hitless in four of his last seven games, though he's still hitting .296 over that stretch thanks to grabbing three hits in one game and four in another. It says quite a lot about his season to date that a .296 stretch counts as a slump. He sits third in the league with 118 hits after leading the league with 197 last season and already has 14 homers, just one shy of his total from last season.

Cleanup man Kim has been streaky this season, but he's been on one of his better streaks lately. He's homered five times in his last 15 games, hitting .302/.393/.660 over that stretch. His 1.054 OPS in those games is reminiscent of his numbers from 2016 to 2018, where he posted a quadruple-digit OPS each season, winning the MVP in 2018. His numbers fell off hard with the dejuiced ball last season, as he managed just 15 homers, but he already has 16 in 78 games this season.

Oh slots in between Fernandez and Kim as part of the toughest trio of lefties in the league. His mid-tier price makes him an affordable option among a very expensive pool of first basemen. While it's largely a deserved price tag, as he has modest power for the position, hitting just 10 homers so far this year and topping out at 27 for his career, he's hit for more power recently, hitting three homers in 11 games in the month of August while posting a 1.022 OPS.

Wiz vs. Seung Jin Lee: Mel Rojas Jr. ($7,000), Baek Ho Kang ($5,500), Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,300)

The opposite side of the same contests features just as compelling of a stack, with the fourth-ranked Wiz offense taking on a pitcher who has made just four appearances this season. Through one start and three relief appearances, Lee has allowed seven runs in 4.2 innings. His 4: K:BB hardly suggests that he's gotten unlucky. In 65 total innings across the 25-year-old's three-year career, he owns a 6.23 OPS and a 1.63 ERA. While his 3.55 ERA in 33 Futures League innings is decent enough, his 24:18 K:BB at that level isn't particularly promising.

We may finally be coming close to the point where Rojas is overpriced, as only three other hitters even come within $1,000 of his lofty price tag. Still, given the matchup, it's worth trying to find a way to fit him in Saturday. He's in the middle of his worst three-game stretch in over two months, grabbing just a single hit, but the last time he was on a similar run (from June 9 to 11), he followed it up by going 4-for-5 and homering for three straight games. The clear MVP favorite has dominated nearly every category, leading all three Triple Crown categories, though his six-homer lead over the rest of the field may be his most impressive achievement thus far.

While it's strangely been over a month since Kang last homered, that doesn't mean he's been hitting poorly. In his last nine games, he owns a .353/.450/.441 slash line. It would be surprising if his power drought lasted too much longer, and a game with the platoon advantage against a weak righty should be the prime opportunity for him to hit one over the fence. Kang hit 29 homers as an 18-year-old rookie in 2018 before seeing his total dip to 13 last season with the dejuiced ball, though he homered seven times in his first 18 games this year, so that power is definitely still in there somewhere.

Hwang rounds out a rather expensive stack, though his eligibility at a fairly thin third base position makes him frequently worth paying up for. He was the hero with a game-winning double in the 12th inning Friday and has been quite hot recently, hitting .333/.414/.647 over his last 13 games. The number two hitter slots in directly in front of Rojas and Kang, helping him to a tie for 10th with 53 runs on the season.