KBO DFS: Spotlight Hitters DraftKings, FanDuel

Welcome back to KBO DFS and a fresh slate of match-ups, I hope your weekend dreams of big money finishes in PGA and NASCAR DFS came true. You didn’t miss much with the weekend slate offering reduced prize pools for KBO DFS across the board. Add in the weird scheduling caused by rain outs and makeup double-headers plus a bumpy night with a popular optimizer using the wrong player pricing on Saturday night and it was probably for the best to be focused elsewhere.

KBO doesn’t play on Mondays, which makes this a prime opportunity to run down some of our early individual league leaders (note: 110 PA cutoff):

Hits/AB – Avg: Jin-sung Kang (45/100 .450), Jose Miguel Fernandez (59/146 .404), Mel Rojas Jr. (54/141 .383), Bob Ramos (42/112 .375), Jung-hoo Lee (50/138 .362)

On-Base %: Jin-sung Kang (.509), Jose Miguel Fernandez (.456), Bob Ramos (.449), Ah-seop Son (.442), Sang-su Kim (.439)

Slugging %: Jin-sung Kang (.810), Bob Ramos (.777), Mel Rojas Jr. (.709), Preston Tucker (.629), Sung-bum Na (.624)

HR: Bob Ramos (13), Mel Rojas Jr. (12), Sung-bum Na (11), Preston Tucker (10), Aaron Altherr (9)

RBI: Mel Rojas Jr. (36), Aaron Altherr (35), Preston Tucker (34), Jose Miguel Fernandez (32), Sung-bum Na (31)

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

Tonight’s slate is a mixed bag, with some good pitchers going and no real stand-out game totals or incredible surface level offensive spots. We’ll dig in and see what good options we can uncover for your KBO DFS picks tonight. On the plus side, the weather looks clear across the board so we won’t need to put on our meteorologist costume tonight.

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.

KT Wiz @ SK Wyverns – 10.5 run total (4.92/5.83) – Suggested Stack: Wiz 1-5

In a duel of teams who are both glad that Hanwha is in the league, so no one notices how terrible they’ve been, the 13-22 KT Wiz visit Incheon to take on the 12-23 SK Wyverns. The lopsided totals in this one reflects the pitching match-up we’re seeing, with Ricardo Pinto and the Wyverns the heavy favorites.

The Wiz will land around the middle of the top stacks tonight given the match-up against the 26-year-old Venezuelan hurler. Pinto has pitched to a respectable 4.28 FIP this season, but there is opportunity in his 10.1% walk-rate. He strikes out very few hitters, with his strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.2%, 33^rd out of 38 qualified KBO starters. The Wiz lineup is going to offer an ownership advantage on both sites as well, this is a spot I like. Mel Rojas Jr. ($16/$5,200) is one of the higher rated power options on the slate in my home run model. Yong-ho Jo ($8/$2,700) cooled off last week but should be returning to the lineup after sitting on Sunday. He makes a quality option hitting in front of the power bats in the middle of this order. Filling out the straight-line stack up top with Jeong-dae Bae ($10/$2,700), Baek-ho Kang ($16/$5,700), and Han-joon Yoo ($12/$3,500) is viable where the positioning works.

Unfortunately for Wiz fans, it doesn’t look like they brought a pitcher with them tonight, starter Min-soo Kim is just plain bad at this. The converted reliever has a track record of getting bombed when making starts in his career, and 2020 has been no change so far, though he did manage to strike out six in his last start against Kia. The Wyverns look like they’re in a quality spot tonight, but they will be popular on both sites, which might put me off this one a bit in the end. Jeong Choi ($14/$4,700) and Jamie Romak ($11/$5,100) are taking the top off the home run model today, stacking them with Eui-yoon Jeong ($7/$2,600) is going to be a very popular approach to a full stack and a widespread three-man. Get different with some lower owned guys like Jin-gi Jeong ($7/$3,200) for GPPs.

LG Twins @ Hanwha Eagles – 10.0 run total (6.12/4.14) – Suggested Stack: Twins 2-3-4-7-8

I don’t know how to break it to you guys, but the streak is over! Hanwha managed to take both games from Doosan on Sunday, avoiding setting the new record losing streak and remaining tied at the top with 18. So, they’re also bad at setting records for being bad. Can’t win with these guys.

Tonight, the second place LG Twins come to town and the Eagles are sending lowly punching bag Min-jae Jang to the hill. The Twins are still missing injured Bob Ramos, but it should hardly matter here. This is not a good pitcher and this lineup is loaded with quality options. The Twins rank as Awesemo’s top stack on both sites here, and I love these bats across the board as usual. The top half of the order is in play one through four. I like Kang-nam Yoo ($8/$4,100) as an option at catcher despite the popularity on DraftKings, and as a good differentiator at IF or UTIL on FanDuel. Ho-eun Kim ($2,700) has taken over at first base in Ramos’ absence and is hitting well in the middle of this lineup, although he doesn’t appear to be on the FanDuel slate.

The Eagles are still bad, don’t get excited just because they scraped together a few wins. This team ranks in the bottom third of stacks tonight but is drawing double the ownership they should be on FanDuel. They’re facing capable Chan-heon Jung, a converted veteran reliever with decent career numbers who has done well in four starts so far. Jung has posted three quality starts to go with 25 strikeouts in 23 innings. I like him to carve up some Eagles tonight. If you want to be on the bird’s side in that duel you can stick Jared Hoying ($9/$4,900) in your lineup, but you knew that. I would focus on Tae-kyun Kim ($7/$3,300) and Eun-woo Jung ($8/$4,900) on either side of him in limited fashion for three-man stacks instead of deploying Hoying as a way-too-popular one-off.

Lotte Giants @ Kiwoom Heroes – 9.5 run total (3.78/5.97) – Suggested Stack: Giants 2-3-4 (this is one for the readers who ask why I never pick a stack from the worse team; Heroes are clearly better)

With the Giants still hovering around .500 ball for the season and the Heroes keeping their heads above water with a 20-16 record, but not really pulling away, this could be a better baseball game than it is a quality option for KBO DFS players. The run total is suppressed with an ace on the hill, but the Heroes are seeing a healthy implied team total approaching six.

The Giants will draw Eric Jokisch tonight. The big lefty has been tearing through the KBO again so far in 2020 and probably won’t have much trouble with the Giants lineup despite a few quality bats. The Giants lose a quality bat with Chi-hong An heading to the IL with a hamstring injury as well, so this lineup is diminished. The Giants rank near the bottom of the stack tool and no one is going to be on them. If you want to play the top part of this lineup as an upside play at around 10% of your exposure, you’ll be more than triple the field if they do pop, and there’s still power to like there. If that’s your approach there’s no real need to get cute, Ah-seop Son ($13/$3,400), Jun-Woo Jeon ($13/$4,100), and Dae-ho Lee ($10/$3,700) make for a great three-man. Bolt Byung-hun Min ($9/$3,300) onto it from the top to make it four, but I’m not quite sure where we go for five. I don’t love Machado or the other hitters here.

The Heroes look like they’re in a good spot, Awesemo’s projections for them look strong, they pop in my home run model and they rank third in the top stack tool tonight. Giants starter Kyung-eun Noh has had a shaky KBO career outside of a reasonable 2018. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 and his return to action has been an adventure so far. He was good last time out but that came against the Eagles so I’m discarding it almost entirely. This is a pitcher to draw against and the Heroes bats are likely to be mandatory for KBO DFS GPP success tonight. Byung-ho Park ($13/$4,900) is going to be extremely popular on both sites as the quality of this lineup. Building around him with less popular options like Hye-sung Kim ($9/$2,600) and Byung-woo Jeon ($5/$2,700), along with the more obvious guys.

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NC Dinos @ Kia Tigers – 9.0 run total (5.09/4.11) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 3-4-5-7-8

A matchup of American import starters has the totals for these teams dramatically down from their norms. The Dinos have continued to roll along at 26-9, winners of seven of their last 10 games. Odds-makers aren’t taking the bait though, keeping the Dinos total just a hair over five implied runs.

With Aaron Brooks on the hill for the Tigers the Dinos have a tougher task than usual, but there’s plenty of quality in this lineup as usual. They lose shortstop and quality late lineup bat Jin-hyuk No to injury here but there are still league leading bats from which to make our KBO DFS picks tonight. Jin-sung Kang ($14/$4,200) has been absolutely mashing of late, leading the league in hitting and on-base plus slugging (OPS) in the middle of this ridiculous run-producing lineup. Did you realize that Aaron Altherr ($16/$4,700) is quietly fifth in the league in home runs and second in the league in RBI? Both of these guys are high-end options to attach to the Sung-bum Na and Eui-ji Yang builds, and there is plenty to like about going different directions with additional quality from the Dinos. Did I mention they’re going under-owned as the fourth-ranked stack? That has some appeal to me going against a highly owned starter when it’s a lineup this talented.

The Tigers on the other hand rank dead last in the top stacks tool and I’m not looking their way much despite a small ownership edge. There’s just not enough chance of them popping for the big numbers on the night to worry about. The implied total is scraping the four-run line, but if you want to look this direction against Drew Rucinski no one will be on Preston Tucker ($17/$5,400) who is sitting fourth in the league in homers and third in RBI. If I knew Emac were reading I would make a Carnac reference and ask if you had Ji-wan Na ($9/$3,400) on the card in the envelope here. I’ll give you a minute to google that. Na is still too cheap and packs some power, he makes sense as part of your limited deployment of Tigers bats if you feel like rolling the dice. Finishing off the trifecta of obvious but un-owned names for your three-man stack is Hyung-woo Choi ($10/$5,000).

Samsung Lions @ Doosan Bears – 10.0 run total (4.20/6.04) – Suggested Stack: Bears 9-1-3-4-5

The Bears are the laughingstock of the KBO until further notice, with their powerful squad dropping two straight games to the Eagles. Or maybe they’re just nice guys and felt bad. Let’s give them a pass after all, we’re probably going to need them tonight.

The Lions come in at a respectable 17-19, playing .500 ball in the last week. They manage to bang out big totals from time to time and got a quality hitter back from injury, so they deserve a touch more attention and respect than we’ve given them previously. Now that that’s over with, this isn’t a great option for me tonight. If I had to play them, it would be on FanDuel where their chances of being the top stack are outstripping their popularity at the moment. Bats like Won-seok Lee ($8/$4,100) and Ja-wook Koo ($9/$4,700) make strong options, Koo is Awesemo’s highest projected player on the slate. I still like getting to Tyler Saladino ($8/$4,300) as part of these stacks, but he never projects well. It’s an opportunity play hitting in the heart of the order, and he’s wielded a hot stick lately. Shortstop Hak-ju Lee ($7/$3,600) makes a good addition to this stack as well. Only Koo will be widely owned with Raul Alcantara on the mound for the Bears.

With a top three implied team total on the night the Bears rank near the top of the stacks tool on both sites, and KBO DFS players will be going to this lineup often. The loss of Jae-il Oh to injury diminishes the top of this order somewhat, though. The match-up against starter Jung-hyun Baek isn’t going to intimidate anyone though, and this lineup is more than capable of launching a few long-balls against the home run prone starter. They’ll be popular plays, but Jose Miguel Fernandez ($17/$6,300) and Joo-hwan Choi ($11/$2,500) are both pulling high-end projections from Awesemo tonight. The rest of the bats from top to bottom look like they provide quality mix and match possibilities, and the positional flexibility that this team continues to offer on DraftKings is hugely helpful for getting to unique builds. I like everyone down to nine-hitting Min-seok Kwon ($7/$2,400) who isn’t great but wraps around well, plays second and third on DraftKings, and pulls a respectable projection for his spot in the lineup. Just be wary as always that we’re sacrificing the upside of added plate appearances when we play hitters from late in the lineup.