Well that’s more like it. KBO DFS owners got a slate more in line with what they’ve come to expect, with 3 teams going over the 10-run mark, and the LG Twins cracking 15 for the season’s highest team total. The Twins picked up a lot of offense from the bottom of their lineup, with low-owned infielder Ji-hwan Oh hitting two homers from the 9-spot and catcher Kang-nam Yoo adding one from the 8th. The Dinos and Lions also went over 10 runs, with Jin-sung Kang contributing a frustrating pinch-hit home run late in the game that only helped lineups that overlooked Eui-ji Yang’s return to the starting lineup. Samsung jumped all over the Lotte starter before pilling 7 additional runs on the Giants’ bullpen.
With dominant pitching performances from Odrisamer Despaigne and Tae-in Won there was one clear path to victory in most GPPs. Despaigne was a chalky option that was mentioned in every KBO DFS picks column out there. Won, on the other hand, was a sneaky option who was only 8% owned in the largest DraftKings tournament. Tonight’s pitching slate is similarly stark, with several teams rolling with options that are essentially unplayable for us. Landing on the right combination of starters is going to be a difference maker again.
The bulk of this analysis comes directly from reviewing Awesemo’s KBO DFS projections and the top stacks tool. Check out the rest of our KBO DFS picks content, Awesemo’s projections, rankings, and ownership on the site.
As usual, I’m going to look game by game, calling out a hitter or two from each team, and giving some top stacking options as we go. Pricing and popularity will be considered, more so as KBO DFS trends begin to emerge over the coming weeks. The numbers included with Suggested Stack are the projected lineup positions I would target for stacking that team, but do not restrict yourself exclusively to those spots. For example, if it says Wyverns 3-6 it means 3,4,5,6 in the projected lineup. If it says 1-2-3-5 it means those guys. If it means a two-man it will say so. I’m also going to start trying to include positions more, hopefully it helps speed up the process of finding guys as you build lineups.
With lock still hours away (5:30am), official lineups have not been released, so be sure to double-check status before you plug players into your lineup.
KBO DFS Picks: Hitting Breakdown for DraftKings + FanDuel
Kia Tigers @ KT Wiz – 9.5 run total (5.21/4.50) – Suggested Stack: Tigers 2-6
Well, trying to get contrarian with the Tigers bats last night didn’t work for anyone that tried it. KT starter Despaigne put up a brilliant start to completely shut them down in a 5-0 Wiz victory. Tonight, these teams see a bit of a reversal of fortune, with the Tigers starting one of the best veteran pitchers in the KBO, and the Wiz rolling out rookie contact machine Hyeong-jun So. There should be a ton of opportunity for the Tigers bats in this one. Ji-wan Na ($7/$3.5k) was mentioned in my new HR Picks earlier today and remains far too inexpensive just for the spot in this lineup. His history of hitting home runs makes him a great option until the price goes up. If left-handed infielder Min-sang Yoo ($7/3.8k) is starting and in the middle of the lineup he makes an affordable option with a playable projection as part of a Tigers stack against the weak young right-handed pitcher.
Scoring 5 runs without a home run is nice but it doesn’t get KBO DFS owners excited. Most of the Wiz’ runs at least came from the middle of the order last night, so they were relevant to lineups that cashed, but maybe not those that won. Tonight, the Wiz are up against one of the top strikeout pitchers in the KBO. In a matchup like this I would lean into some of the known quantities in this lineup. A smaller stack with Kang, Mel Rojas Jr. ($16/$5.9k), and Jae-gyun Hwang ($12/$4.8k) might be lesser-owned tonight than in an easier match-up. (Corrected to remove injured Baek-ho Kang, mistakenly listed in projected lineup vs LHP earlier)
LG Twins @ Hanwha Eagles – 8.5 run total (4.60/4.09) – Suggested Stack: Twins 2-4
It isn’t funny anymore, DraftKings. In this space last night, I said “The big takeaway in this one is that DraftKings clearly has something against Roberto Ramos ($16/$3.7k) whose price just doesn’t budge despite yet another home run last night. Until he’s appropriately priced on DraftKings, play Ramos, make money.” Ramos proceeded to hit another home run, his 3rd in as many days, and DK lowered his salary. Just keep rolling him out there, even in a tougher matchup against Warwick Saupold. Did I mention that the rest of the Twins pitched in, with the team totaling 15 runs on 19 hits? As displayed last night, this is a good lineup top to bottom, but the matchup against Saupold could be tricky. Projected 2-hitter Hyun-soo Kim ($14/$5.3k) landed in the HR picks column and is another strong option in this lineup. Keep an eye on ownership, if the Twins trend under-owned, they might be a good option against a popular pitcher.
The Eagles get Casey Kelly on the hill tonight. Kelly has made 2 shaky starts for the Twins so far and is looking to get things in gear. He’s better than he has pitched to this point, and the Eagles are a bad offense, so this is probably a good spot for him. The Eagles offense doesn’t have a ton of strength for us tonight, they have the lowest implied team total on the slate at barely a tick over 4 runs and are generally lousy. Jared Hoying ($11/$4.7k) is still looking for his swing. If you’re playing Eagles, he makes sense to get to in the middle of the lineup. Like we saw with Aaron Altherr this week, there is an acknowledged gap in general skill level that creates a reasonable expectation for some of the import players in the KBO. When they are slumping, getting to their return to the norm ahead of the crowd can be profitable.
SK Wyverns @ Doosan Bears – 12.5 run total (5.51/7.28) – Suggested Stack: Bears – dealer’s choice.
The Wyverns pitching staff did an admirable job defying oddsmakers last night by keeping the Bears to only 4 runs on an implied total over 6. Let’s see them pull that trick off again here, with a total nearly a full run higher. More on that momentarily. The Wyverns get veteran pitcher Yong-chan Lee, who is a moderately good strikeout pitcher, but puts way too many runners on base. There might be some sneaky opportunity here for the Wyverns, and their 5.51 run total isn’t entirely pathetic. The fact that they have been terrible to this point might keep them out of KBO DFS picks columns, suppressing ownership industry-wide. Buy remember, they pretty much suck so temper expectations. Jin-gi Jong ($9/$3.5k) and Jong-wook Ko ($7/$2.3k) aren’t anyone’s idea of a great play, but they’ll be hitting ahead of the power in this lineup, so building this stack 1-4 is probably the straightforward correct approach. Eui-yoon Jeong ($7/$2.4k) is an inexpensive option with some pop from lower in the order.
With an implied team total over 7 runs and taking on what has all appearances of either a bullpen game, the Doosan bats are in prime position to go off once again. They’re going to be as popular as they are good again tonight, so getting to some of the lower owned pieces will be hugely important if they do hit. Usual leadoff hitter Kun-woo Park ($12/$4.0k) dropped to the bottom of the order last night and saw only 10% ownership on DraftKings. Park’s season is off to a slow start with a .197/.305/.310 triple slash over his first 82 plate appearances, but the career history is there for a turnaround across the board. This is a good hitter who can drive the ball and steal bases. Catcher Se-hyuk Park ($7/$3.0k) does enough to drive the ball that he makes a playable option at those prices, but he’ll be sneakier on FanDuel where there are no positional requirements.
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Samsung Lions @ Lotte Giants – 10.5 run total (5.05/4.82) – Suggested Stack: Giants 2-5
The Lions blew up for 11 runs last night, getting the Lotte early and often. With most of the production coming from the middle of the lineup and the obvious hitters, this was a critical spot for KBO DFS owners last night. Won-seok Lee ($8/$4.1k) had a 5-RBI day as an inexpensive column favorite and import Tyler Saladino ($8/$4.2k) hit a home run. Both of these players are workable options again tonight, and the Lions lineup still carries a ton of salary value. Keep an eye on where they land in team ownership in the top stacks tool heading toward lock, they’re likely to get some additional attention.
The Giants scored a measly single run on 5 hits and just looked flat against the Lions last night, making a temporary ace of starter Tae-in Won. Tonight, they might have a little more luck against an 18-year old rookie making his first career start. The heavily right-handed and powerful Giants lineup may have an opportunity to feast on the 5’11” lefty. I don’t see much reason to mess around here, veteran hitters Jun-woo Jeon ($14/$4.9k), Ah-seop Son ($12/$4.0k), Dae-ho Lee ($11/$4.7k), and Chi-hong An ($10/$3.1k) make for a killer 4-man combo in the middle of this lineup. This is a group that can put a big hurt (copyright Frank Thomas) on a young starter.
Kiwoom Heroes @ NC Dinos – 11.5 run total (5.21/6.56) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 1-6
When the Dinos beat the Heroes as badly as they did last night, does that make mascot Swole Daddy the bad guy? The Heroes didn’t get much going in a 10-3 rout, making Jae-hak Lee look good in a 6-strikeout performance. Tonight they may stand a better chance against a young lefty sarter. The Heroes have a healthy run total despite being the underdogs in this one and could offer some sneaky options for KBO DFS owners. Ha-seong Kim ($14/$6.0k) landed in the HR options column ahead of more popular teammate, projected cleanup hitter Byung-ho Park ($12/$5.0k), and Keon-chang Seo ($11/$3.5k) has displayed a bit of emergent power early in 2020. These 3 with a lower-owned teammate or two would be my approach to the Heroes lineup tonight.
But the Heroes lineup isn’t where I’m making a big stand. The pitcher for Kiwoom tonight is a complete and total mess. Dae-hyun Jung has a career ERA of 6.63 in 128 appearances and more than 50 starts. His career WHIP is 1.78. Over his last 58 starts he’s struck out around 2 hitters per game. And he hasn’t made a start since August of 2017. The Dinos are going to destroy this pitcher tonight (cue the CGSO) and I want as much of them as I can cram into lineups. All of our usual favorites are in play, Eui-ji Yang ($13/$4.8k) made his return to the lineup with a home run last night and his backup Jin-sun Kang ($10/2.6k) hit a pinch hit homer that scored for a few KBO DFS owners in a big spot they’d overlooked, either is in play depending on who starts. Aaron Altherr ($10/$5.1k) is quickly getting on track but still might be slightly overlooked. Suk-min Park ($10/$3.8k) scored 3 times and hit a home run last night and looks dynamite again today. Can we just play all the Dinos?
Favorite Stack: NC Dinos
HR Call: Dong-yeop Kim (Samsung Lions)
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