KBO DFS: Spotlight Hitters DraftKings, FanDuel

As my dad always likes to say, “they didn’t build all those casinos by being wrong.” Vegas nailed the big game of the night being the Bears vs. Dinos showdown. In fact, the 12.5 game total fell well under the final score in a 12-8 Dinos victory. The other critical lineup for KBO DFS players to get to for GPP-winning constructions last night was Lotte. The middle of the Giants order went bananas on starter Warwick Saupold, with the third through seventh hitter in the lineup accounting for 11 hits and all but two of the Giants’ runs in a 9-3 win.

Without a dominant pitching performance on the night winning came down to rostering the exact right bats. With a few quality match-ups and a two games in jeopardy of being rained out, the line between success and failure might be even more fine tonight.

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

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 content, Awesemo’s projections, rankings, and ownership on the site for all your KBO DFS needs.

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.

Hanwha Eagles @ Lotte Giants – 10.0 run total (4.46/5.77) – Suggested Stack: Giants 1-5

The run total goes slightly up in this one after the Giants pounded Warwick Saupold for 7 runs last night. The Eagles look to even the series up tonight, taking on Kyung-eun Noh. Noh is a mediocre starter who had a decent 2019. For his career Noh has mostly shown a propensity to give up the home run and walks far too many in comparison to his miserly strikeout numbers.

This could be a get-right spot for the Eagles, but I wouldn’t go crazy rostering them. Tae-kyun Kim ($7/$3,700) was my pick in the KBO DFS home run options piece today, and I think he makes a good play as a cheap under-owned one-off, or as part of a small stack in the middle of this lineup. For the latter, add Jared Hoying ($9/$4,900) and any of the top three hitters. Several of the hitters in the projected lineup are not in the FanDuel player pool tonight, but you aren’t missing out on much on that site.

The Giants are facing 24-year-old Min-woo Kim. Kim is currently in his third year as a starter and has delivered results beyond his career numbers so far in 2020. To misquote the Beatles, I’m not a believer. Kim has a FIP more than 1.2 runs higher than his ERA and is the same guy who gave up 19 home runs in just 99 innings in 2018.

This is a great spot for the Giants and KBO DFS players have absolutely noticed. The Giants rank fourth in the top stack tool, with around a 12% chance of being the top option on both sites. Their ownership is a little less than twice that on both sites. The projected lineup has two dead spots in the middle in Yoon-Seok Oh ($2,400 DraftKings only) and Joon-tae Kim ($5/$2,200) both of whom are going under-owned where they are available. Neither projects well for Awesemo tonight and they aren’t drawing anything in my home run model, but if they’re untouched hitting fifth and sixth, working the in with the chalky bats is a quick way to get different. To be clear, the top four bats in the lineup are where you want to be, the others are for differentiation purposes only.

Kia Tigers @ KT Wiz – 10.5 run total (5.79/4.94) – Suggested Stack: Tigers 9-1-3-4-5

Outside of a home run on either side last night’s game was a mostly tame affair, with these two teams combining for just 12 hits in a 3-2 Tigers victory. The looming rain in this one is the only thing that might put out the fire the Tigers bats are going to ignite with the gas can on the mound for the Wiz. Tigers bats could be in prime position to do some damage if the rain holds off, making this a critical one to watch. The odds-makers agree, this game is tied for the highest total on the slate, and the Tigers have a healthy implied run total approaching six.

The Tigers rank near the top of the stacks tool on both sites but aren’t as popular as they should be on DraftKings. This looks like a great spot for KBO DFS players to jump on if that trend holds through lock. They’re fine on FanDuel as well, but the ownership play isn’t there the same way. On either site, projected ninth hitter Chan-ho Park ($9/$3,800) could be an interesting option wrapping around to the top of this lineup where all the ownership will be. On DraftKings, Min-sang Yoo ($7/$3,800) makes a quality pivot from the ludicrously popular options from other teams at first base. Sun-bum Kim ($8/$4,400) doesn’t pull a great number in Awesemo’s projections, but he should be hitting second in this lineup and won’t be overwhelmingly popular. A good mix of him in your Tigers stacks should help you get to unique constructions while maintaining a quality lineup.

The Wiz have a low-for-them implied run total under five tonight with import starter Aaron Brooks on the mound for the Tigers. The projections are reflecting the low quality of the spot here, with the Wiz ranking in the bottom third of stack options on both sites. They look just slightly less popular than they should be. The spot isn’t ideal, Brooks is quality, but they add the advantage of taking on a somewhat widely owned pitcher as well, so if you get this one right it could have upside. On FanDuel only Mel Rojas Jr. ($16/$6,400) is drawing any popularity at 24%. On DraftKings no one on the team is above 13%. Yong Ho Jo ($8/$2,800) has been one of the better bats in the KBO over the last few weeks, but KBO DFS players have been slow to take note because he doesn’t hit home runs. Masher Baek-ho Kang ($16/$6,100) is back from injury and plugged into the heart of this lineup to take care of that, however. Using Jo with Kang, Rojas, and a few bats from atop this lineup is the approach if you’re playing Wiz tonight.

Doosan Bears @ NC Dinos – 10.5 run total (4.56/6.19) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 3-4-5-6-8

Last night’s game lived up to the hype, with these two teams combining to put 20 runs on the board. Despite the big total, we only saw two home runs in the game, with gap power dominating to keep runners moving. The Bears get a chance at redemption here, but it’s a tall order against Drew Rucinski who has been nothing short of the class of the KBO import starters so fa in 2020. The pitching match-up has the overall game total down by a full two runs, with most of that coming out of the Bears end, as their implied run total plummets to 4.56.

Getting the Bears at an ownership advantage in a good spot is a great thing, but this isn’t that spot. They rank in the bottom half of the top stacks tool and are underwhelming at best in the projections. If you want to get different on FanDuel the Bears will be basically untouched, so feel free to load up on Jae-il Oh ($15/$3,500), Jae-hwan Kim ($17/$5,500), and Jose Miguel Fernandez ($18/$6,000) if you want to go with some of the slate’s priciest bats in one of its worst spots.

The Dinos total comes down just a bit tonight, despite the match-up against the 5-1 Raul Alcantara. Alcantara doesn’t light the world on fire with his stuff, but he is generally effective in the KBO. It will be interesting to see how he handles this killer Dinos lineup seeing them for the first time this season. The Dinos send up quality bat after quality bat on a nightly basis.

Looking down the lineup, Aaron Altherr ($15/$4,600) has been cruising along lately, but KBO DFS players seem to be holding an early season slump against him. Let other people make that mistake, find ways to work Altherr into your Dinos stacks. Getting to him by building down from Sung-bum Na ($17/$5,600) is the chalkier way to go, although Jin-sung Kang ($13/$4,000) has similarly been smoking the ball and not getting the popularity he deserves in the middle of this order. If you want to start from Altherr and wrap-around through the top of this lineup with Min-woo Park ($12/$4,700) I can support that approach here as well. The Dinos are down a bit in the stack rankings and look under-owned on FanDuel, making this a prime spot.

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SK Wyverns @ LG Twins – 9.5 run total (4.54/4.34) – Suggested Stack: Twins 1-2-3-4-6

The Wyverns dumped three late runs on the Twins bullpen last night, breaking a 2-2 tie, ultimately holding on for a 5-3 victory. Getting Jeong Choi ($14/$5,000) back in the middle of the lineup after a few days off to deal with an injury helped get the Wyverns going, but most of the damage came on a three-run home run by Jamie Romak ($11/$5,300). Both sluggers are in play for KBO DFS owners again tonight, but the Wyverns are not an exciting stack. Add in the questionable weather in this one, and this is a spot I’m not looking to build a lot of lineups around. Twins starter Min-ho Lee displayed a quality arm with some strikeout upside last time around and could have another nice game tonight. Only Romak will be popular if you’re going to the Wyverns, so build-out a stack with Choi, Eui-yoon Jeong ($7/$2,700) and Soo-kwang Noh ($6/$3,200) if you feel like getting Wyverns in your life.

The Twins got their three-hitter Eun-sung Chae ($11/$3,300) back last night but this lineup never really got going the way we were hoping. They get another shot tonight against Tae-hoon Kim. Kim has delivered numbers right around his expectation so far in 2020 and has been successful in limiting runs despite an atrocious 16:15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’ll be put to the test here against a lineup that knows how to pound out hits. Chun-woong Lee ($10/$3,500) is an affordable bat who gets overlooked atop this lineup. Plugging those two into your outfield is a great way to start off a Twins stack before you get to the Ramos decision. Get to Y.T. Park ($10/$2,300) and Kang-nam Yoo ($8/$3,700) down bottom to get different.

Kiwoom Heroes @ Samsung Lions – 10.0 run total (6.07/4.17) – Suggested Stack: Heroes 2-3-4-5-7

Riding a solid night by their third baseman, Byung-woo Jeon ($5/$2,300) the Heroes eked out a 5-3 victory over the Lions last night. Tonight, the Heroes are the top ranked stack on both sites in their match-up with Jung-hyun Baek. Baek’s year is off to a disastrous start, after posting reasonably successful seasons the last three years. The Heroes’ total is pushed up over six runs in this one and they look primed for a big game. All of the relevant bats will be popular on DraftKings tonight, there’s only so much you will be able to do mixing and matching names like Jeon and Hye-sung Kim ($7/$2,500) along with the key bats like the two Parks. Projected three-hitter Jung-hoo Lee ($14/$5,200) looks under-owned on both sites for his spot in this batting order. Be aware, however, that his 2020 total of five home runs represents 26% of his career total to date. The kid is a quality bat, but expectations should be tempered.

This will probably end up being one of those spots where I write off the Lions with some snarky paragraph about how bad they are and how good the pitcher they’re facing is. With Eric Jokisch on the mound for the Heroes that’s exactly the spot we’re looking at again here. Jokisch hit a minor speed-bump, allowing three earned runs in his last start, but he’s been dominant to this point in his season. The Lions rank last in the stacks tool on both sites. They will send up bats like Dong-yeop Kim ($8/$3,000) and Ja-wook Koo ($9/$4,500) who I do not recommend playing. Lions bad, pitcher good, bad spot; like I said.