KBO DFS: Spotlight Hitters DraftKings, FanDuel

Another big night for some good folks in the Awesemo baseball Slack channel in KBO DFS last night, with a lot of the top stacks getting things done there were a ton of familiar names at the top of GPP standings, and some very big winners. Great to see!

A 55-run slate with four of five games cracking the 10-run mark gave us a ton of quality KBO DFS picks to work with. The big night from the LG Twins, scoring nine from the top spot in Awesemo’s stack rankings, with most of the relevant bats producing, was an important building block in lineups. Lotte, Kia, and KT all made great second stack options. Personally I piled a bit too much of the Dinos in hoping to get them at disproportionate ownership, but they didn’t pop like they needed to in order to make an ok night a great one.

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

Tonight’s slate is interesting, with a slim list of reliably good pitching options – Chris Flexen just back from a hamstring injury can’t be fully counted on in my book – and three game totals over 10 we should have some good options here again. There are one or two spots where I think we might be able to pick off another low-owned play or two to take advantage of.

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 (5.07/5.65) – Suggested Stack: Wiz 2-6 (DraftKings) / Wyverns 2-5 (FanDuel)

These two team took a good baseball game into the tenth last night, after the Wyverns tied it at five in the bottom of the ninth. The Wiz manufactured a run in the tenth and SK couldn’t counter, taking the loss. The Wyverns are favored again tonight, with the more experienced of the two starting pitchers on the hill.

The Wiz take on Tae-hoon Kim who has been getting by on smoke and mirrors so far this KBO season. His 4.91 earned run average and 1.27 WHIP are better than his 5.30 FIP, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio (K-BB%) is hilariously bad at -0.7% with 20 walks and 19 strikeouts in 33 innings over his six starts. This should be a spot to target with Wiz bats. The projections look strong and the Wiz rank third in the stack tool on DraftKings, but lower on FanDuel. Their ownership on both sites looks very favorable though, making this a great spot. If you feel like getting to guys like Jae-gyun Hwang ($12/$5,200), Kyung-soo Park ($8/$3,500) along with the more popular guys it’s a great approach to the stack. Projected leadoff hitter Yong-ho Jo ($8/$2,800) is going well under-owned and is a good option at a great price.

The Wyverns get rookie Byung-wook Jo tonight. Jo is making his first start of the season, after allowing a run in two innings of relief following his call-up last week. Jo should be stretched out, he was working as a starter in the minors, but he also may work as an opener so temper expectations. If the Wyverns can get to the terrible KT bullpen early here, they’ll be in great shape. They rank better than normal on the top stack tool, but the public is on them as well. The heart of this order looks great, with the two through five hitters pulling quality projections. This could be a good spot to differentiate your catcher spot and your lineup in general on DraftKings, where Heung-ryu Lee ($7/$2,900) is cheap and not overly popular. Tae-hyuk Nam ($3,000) doesn’t provide the pop we want from a sixth-hitting first baseman here though, making him a tough add. KBO DFS players should stick with Kang-min Kim ($8/$3,300) and the big RBI spots for stacks here.

LG Twins @ Hanwha Eagles – 10.0 run total (5.97/4.27) – Suggested Stack: Twins pick ‘em

Well that didn’t last long. The Eagles’ hopes of going on an 18-game win streak to counter their recent futility were dashed in the first inning when the Twins jumped all over them for five runs, ultimately winning a 9-5 ball game. The Eagles didn’t totally embarrass themselves, however, scratching out a few runs on their 11 hits, so maybe there’s a little life to work with on a good day. This probably isn’t that day.

The Twins are heavy favorites here, with their implied run total bumping up against the six run mark. KBO DFS regulars know these guys pretty well by now, there are quality bats to mix and match up and down this lineup. The Twins are still without power hitter Bob Ramos, who is due back tomorrow, but they’ve been getting by just fine in his absence. Eun-sung Chae ($11/$3,300) had a three for four night with a home run and continues to rake at a discount. Everyone from Chun-woong Lee ($9/$3,500) through Ji-hwan Oh ($3,100/$9) hitting eighth can be worked into a stack somehow, which will be necessary to overcome the team’s popularity as the top ranked stack on the board.

Jared Hoying ($9/$4,900) should climb back up this lineup tonight after hitting sixth in his return from a couple days’ absence with lingering pain in his foot. The slugger pops up immediately as the highest projected Eagles player in Awesemo’s projections for tonight and is the obvious building-block here most nights. Getting pieces like Yong-kyu Lee ($8/$4,000) hitting leadoff ahead of him as table-setters makes sense, though there’s not much to love on the backend of this lineup. In a pinch I don’t totally hate Jin-ho Jung ($8/$2,800), assuming he goes tonight. The veteran outfielder has been in a rotation lately, sitting out again last night, in the hopes of getting his limited bat going.

Lotte Giants @ Kiwoom Heroes – 10.0 run total (4.40/5.43) – Suggested Stack: Heroes 1-5

This was a spot we liked last night and neither side disappointed in a 7-5 Giants win. Both teams got production from key bats and were found in lineup combinations at the top of GPP standings. With a slightly better pitcher on the hill for the Giants, the Heroes implied team total comes down a touch tonight, and I’m not sure this is the same caliber spot it was yesterday.

The Giants get KBO-strong 23-year-old starter Won-tae Choi, who has been good but unspectacular so far this season. Choi has a strong K-BB% at 12.3% but that’s more reflective of his low 3.7% walk rate than his strikeout ability; his 16% strikeout rate ranks 25^th among 38 qualified starters. The Giants aren’t lighting up the stack rankings again, but they won’t be too popular and the top half of the lineup looks good in projections once more, so this could be a sneaky play again tonight. My home run model doesn’t love the spot for the Giants though, with not many of their hitters reaching more than an average chance to hit one out. The core of any Giants stack needs to focus on Jun-woo Jeon ($13/$4,300) who hits second as the team’s best current bat. Byung-hun Min ($9/$3,400) works from the leadoff spot and building down Dae-ho Lee ($10/$3,900) is always my preference here. Keep an eye on Dixon Machado ($10/$4,000) either as a wrap-around from the bottom of the order or if he bumps up in the lineup again tonight to hit behind Lee. He’s not a slugger but has shown that he can get a hold of one every now and then and there could be opportunity.

The Heroes look set to smash here tonight. The power meter on my home run model is buried again by both Parks in the middle, but they’re the names everyone plugs in anyway. Keon-chang Seo ($11/$3,900) catches the eye in the leadoff spot tonight. The on-base machine has the skills to make things happen for KBO DFS points with his wheels or by getting on in front of the mashers and projected three-hitter Jung-hoo Lee ($14/$5,300) has been absolutely crushing KBO pitching so far this season. The 21-year-old has already equaled his home run production of each of the last two years with six so far on the season and seems to have really made a leap. The straight-line stack up top here seems like it would be too popular, but it might be workable if you get a bit offbeat with your second stack or pitching.

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NC Dinos @ Kia Tigers – 9.5 run total (5.65/4.08) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 3-4-5-7-8

I’m not going to lie to you guys, I might have gotten carried away mashing in some lower-owned Dinos bats trying to thread the needle in the mini-max last night. It didn’t end up bad and we were in the black for the tournament, but if these bats had shown up it would have been so much better. Apologies to everyone who suffered from my putting the whammy on them.

Tigers starter Min-woo Lee doesn’t do a ton to get us excited on the strikeouts or limiting opportunities front, but his FIP of 3.87 is more than a full run lower than his 5.09 earned run average, suggesting he’s gotten somewhat unlucky in going 3-2 so far this season. The Dinos bats should hardly notice the speed-bump as they roll over him. There’s plenty to like here and the Dinos rank second in the top stack tool, while drawing lower than expected ownership, making me want to pile my luggage right back on this bandwagon. My home run model likes both Aaron Altherr ($16/$4,700) and Suk-min Park ($10/$5,000) with quality ratings from late in the lineup, and Awesemo’s projections look like they agree. Jin-sung Kang ($14/$4,500) is too cheap in the middle of this order for the quality he’s been providing so far this year, and Myung-gi Lee ($9/$3,200) is an inexpensive regular at the top of this lineup that can help make Dinos stacks work for KBO DFS players. This is a high-quality spot, I expect the ownership to draw closer to even as we approach lock, but it will take a lot of inefficiency to scare me off the Dinos again tonight.

The Tigers are falling victim to the Dinos deep pitching staff here, with another suppressed total with another American import starter on the mound in Mike Wright. Wright has been dealing so far in 2020, his 21.6% strikeout rate ranks 10^th among qualified starters and he sits at 5-1. The one thing Wright hasn’t done well is pitch deep into games, not throwing more than six innings yet this year, leaving him only a deceptive three quality starts in seven tries. The Tigers bats to get to if you’re going with them are the easy names in the middle. Preston Tucker ($17/$5,600), Hyung-woo Choi ($10/$5,000), and Ji-wan Na ($9/$3,500) in a straight line three-man will be completely un-owned. If you want to go broader or mix things up I don’t have issues extending that to Ho-ryeong Kim ($10/$3,500) or Joo-Chan Kim ($3,700) if they’re leading off and hitting fifth respectively.

Samsung Lions @ Doosan Bears – 9.5 run total (4.07/5.73) – Suggested Stack: Bears 3-7

Samsung got just enough pitching to hold off the Bears in a 4-3 squeaker of a win last night. Doosan starter Raul Alcantara put up a respectable game, striking out seven over his six innings, but coughed up the lead in a three-run Lions sixth inning that was aided by a poorly timed hit batsman and a critical walk.

Tonight the Lions draw the return of starter Chris Flexen, who has been on the inured list with a hamstring issue the last ten days. Flexen has been dynamite so far in his KBO career and could be a great option for KBO DFS owners if we can reliably say he’s going to go six innings. I’m not sure how the pitching coaches for the Bears plan to handle it, so keep an eye out on both sides of this match-up for that news. If the Lions can get into the bullpen early, I like them a bit more than projections are reflecting, but they’re not a strong play here from near the bottom of stack rankings. Ja-wook Koo ($9/$4,800) and Won-seok Lee ($8/$4,200) along with one other Lions bat would be my approach to small shares of three-mans here, not much more.

The Bears look set to tear things up here against middling starter Dae-woo Kim. The home run model basically went around twice on Jae-hwan Kim ($17/$5,700) tonight, but there are no money-back guarantees in baseball. The bats around him in this lineup look dynamite once again, and the maneuverability they provide is an asset. The bottom of the lineup even presents some reasonable options for KBO DFS, with Jae-ho Kim ($9/$2,800), Se-hyuk Park ($7/$3,100) both pulling decent late-lineup projections and not too much ownership at key positions on sites where things like that matter.

But seriously, Jae-hwan is going to hit one out tonight.