KBO DFS: Spotlight Hitters DraftKings, FanDuel

If you weren’t here for KBO DFS over the weekend you missed some fireworks. Saturday and Sunday saw multiple games with teams going off for a pile of runs, as well as some strong pitching performances. The Bears were able to squeak out a 3-1 Sunday win over the Twins to complete the three-game sweep and pull into a tie with them for second place. Fun baseball all around.

KBO doesn’t play on Mondays, which makes this a prime opportunity to run down some of our early individual league leaders (note: 128 PA cutoff):

Hits/AB – Avg: Jin-sung Kang (49/119 .412), Mel Rojas Jr. (.382 63/165), Jung-hoo Lee (.381 61/160), Jose Miguel Fernandez (.374 64/160), Roberto Ramos (.362 46/127)

On-Base %: Jin-sung Kang (.470), Jung-hoo Lee (.453), Ah-seop Son (.442), Roberto Ramos (.441), Sang-su Kim (.434)

Slugging %: Jin-sun Kang (.739), Roberto Ramos (.724), Mel Rojas Jr. (.703), Preston Tucker (.650), Jung-hoo Lee (.637)

HR: Mel Rojas Jr. (13), Roberto Ramos (13), Sung-bum Na (12), Preston Tucker (11), Baek-ho Kang (10)

RBI: Preston Tucker (40), Mel Rojas Jr. (38), Aaron Altherr (37), Sung-bum Na, Jae-hwan Kim, Jin-sung Kang (35)

SB: Keon-chang Seo (9), Ji-hwan Oh (8), Woo-jun Sim (8), Chi-hong An, Aaron Altherr (7), Ha-seong Kim (6)

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

Tonight’s action gets a fresh slate of games to start the week. We have some quality pitching match-ups and middling game totals, with no game going over the 10.0 run mark. It will be interesting to see which bats stick out and where we might find some overlooked angles into this slate.

—-

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 (5:30 A.M. EST), official lineups have not been released, so be sure to double-check status before you plug players into your lineup.

Hanwha Eagles @ Samsung Lions – 10.0 run total (4.42/5.82) – Suggested Stack: Lions 1-5

The Eagles come in with three wins in their last ten games, which sadly means things have been looking up for them. The cellar dwellers have won 10 games on the season and just got rid of a guy who was supposed to be one of their best hitters in Jared Hoying. This franchise is a mess. Looking to capitalize for the next three days will be the Samsung Lions who are floating a couple games under .500 on the season.

The Eagles draw Chae-heung Choi who has done relatively well over his first six starts of the season, but he’s getting by on some luck and defense. Choi has been walking hitters at an untenable 12% while only striking out 16.9%, his FIP is about a half-run higher than his earned run average, but there’s probably even more opportunity than that on the right day. The Eagles will send their low-caliber lineup to face him. Two options I like in this lineup based on my home run model and Awesemo’s projections would be Yong-kyu Lee ($8/$4,100) and Tae-kyun Kim ($7/$3,700). Sung-yeol Lee ($9/$3,800) is projected to hit sixth tonight, but we’ve seen him up and down this lineup. I like him six, I like him better higher. Either way he fits into a three-man well with the other two hitters. Extend to a full stack that includes the top of the lineup to get even more unique with you builds.

The Lions will face Chad Bell who has been mostly a disaster so far for Hanwha in five 2020 starts. Judging by what the Eagles have been up to with their roster, Bell might be pitching for his job soon. The Lions are popping in Awesemo’s projections more than we normally see and they are pumped all the way up to third in the top stacks tool, which I don’t remember seeing at all so far this year. Unfortunately, the KBO DFS public is all over this spot. They’re pulling a playable 16.9% team ownership t their 13.1% chance of being the top stack on DraftKings, but a giant 24.6% on FanDuel with just 13.6% probability of being the top stack. Most of that ownership is going to key bats on this team like Tyler Saladino ($9/$4,700) who is pulling nearly 50% due to being far too cheap on both sites, Woon-seok Lee ($8/$4,200) and Ja-wook Koo ($9/$5,000). If you want to get to more unique lineups look to hitters like Hak-ju Lee ($7/$4,300) and Heon-gon Kim ($7/$3,900) here. Kim has been flat-out bad this year, but has multiple seasons displaying a quality hit tool – but limited power – over his KBO career. Lee is pulling interesting ownership on DraftKings where his position (SS) and team popularity should have him higher than we’re currently projecting him at under 10%. Might be a spot to jump on as a part of your stack.

Kia Tigers @ Lotte Giants – 9.5 run total (5.33/4.39) – Suggested Stack: Tigers 3-4-5

Tonight’s starter for the Giants, Jun-won Seo has been pitching relatively well this season with his one major blip coming against this Tigers team about a month ago. He’ll look for some revenge tonight taking on Aaron Brooks and the 5^th place Tigers.

The Tigers land near the middle of the top stack tool in this spot. They’re the favored team but aren’t pulling a huge implied total. This is one of those spots that looks like it will be a better baseball game than it is a spot for KBO DFS picks. Most of the quality Tigers bats are drawing attention. Preston Tucker is among league leaders in most categories but is also among the more popular players on the slate. Min-sang Yoo ($7/$3,500) and Ho-ryeong Kim ($10/$3,700) can help make your build a bit less common if you use them with Ji-wan Na ($9/$3,800) and/or Hyung-woo Choi ($10/$5,000) in a three or four man stack.

The Giants are facing import starter Aaron Brooks. The American starter has been pitching well so far this season and probably deserves better than his 3-2 record. This is going to be a challenging spot for the Giants lineup. They rank last in the stack tool for both sites so no one will be playing them, which is about their best attribute as a team tonight. If you’re going here don’t mess around, you can play anyone you want. Hoon Jung ($9/$3,500) appears to have carved himself out a role atop this lineup and toward the other end of the order Chi-hong An ($9/$3,000) is among KBO leaders in stolen bases but is posting a disappointing .264/.333/.382 line so far in 2020. An has a .298/.365/.439 career line over more than 4,000 KBO plate appearances, so we know there’s quality in terms of the hit and on-base skills. Work these two into stacks with the middle of the order and hope for the best if you’re playing Giants tonight.

NC Dinos @ KT Wiz –9.5 run total (5.17/4.53) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 3-4-5-6-8

Is it me or did the Dinos finally cool off a little? The 4-6 over their last 10 tells me they’ve come back to Earth, but this team still packs a major punch on any given night. Tonight, they take on KT on the road and have a low-for-them implied total not too far north of five. The pitching matchup in this one will be high quality, with Drew Rucinski and Odrisamer Despaigne dueling, and the hometown Wiz are the firm underdogs.

The Dinos get star catcher Eui-ji Yang ($14/$5,900) back from his bout with vertigo today and he slots immediately into the cleanup spot as usual. He’s drawing ownership, but not nearly as much as usual, so it could be a day to play him if you normally go another direction for that reason. That applies to all of the Dinos bats here, everyone is well below where we typically see them owned. Putting together a stack including Yang with Sung-bum Na ($17/$6,000), Jin-sung Kang ($15/$4,600), Aaron Altherr ($16/$5,200) and any other hitter will be expensive but this team is getting about double the probability of being the top stack as they are ownership on both sites. Look at that stack then take another look t the KBO leaders at the beginning of this column. This is potentially a solid opportunity, if the Dinos can get into the atrocious Wiz bullpen early just look out scoreboard.

The Wiz have a low run total and a tough match-up here. Drew Rucinski has been one of the best starters in the KBO and is striking out around 20% of hitters. The Wiz lineup doesn’t have the same quality that the Dinos offer and they make a much less appealing option from near the bottom of stack rankings. No one will be on them, so getting to guys like Mel Rojas Jr. ($17/$5,100) and Baek-ho Kang ($16/$5,600) who are both currently among the better power hitters in the league, will be easy enough. Adding a hitter like Jeong-dae Bae ($9/$2,600) up top or Han-joon Yoo ($11/$3,200) from behind them makes a serviceable three-man option if you’re looking in that direction.

Follow us on all of our social channels for more KBO DFS picks! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.

Doosan Bears @ SK Wyverns – 10.0 run total (5.77/4.46) – Suggested Stack: Bears Dealer’s Choice

The Bears roll into town fresh off a three-game sweep of their arch-rivals the LG Twins, tying the Twins for second place and looking to keep the momentum going against the lowly two-legged dragons (Wyverns). The Wyverns are losers of six straight and nine of their last 10 games, so this should be a spot the Bears can keep things rolling.

Tae-hoon Kim hasn’t been bad through his KBO career, but he doesn’t blow anyone away and, in a story KBO DFS owners know well, he yields too much contact and allows too much opportunity. The Bears could get into this picnic basket of a pitcher and feast. They rank as Awesemo’s top stack on both sites tonight, while pulling reasonable ownership on DraftKings and opportunistic ownership on FanDuel. Projections like these bats up and down the order. You can pay up to get different with Jose Miguel Fernandez ($17/$5,900) who hits second and is among KBO leaders in all important offensive categories. Stacking him with Soo-bin Jung ($7/$2,500) up top is a great way to get this build in gear, and this lineup plays nine deep tonight. Kyoung-min Hur ($8/2,200) is likely to be back from injury tonight and could be a sneaky low-owned play depending where he lands in the order. I like him in an RBI spot or as a wrap-around from nine, not necessarily in the seventh or eight spots.

The Wyverns aren’t getting much love from odds-makers against Chris Flexen here. Flexen is 11^th among qualified KBO starters in strikeout percentage and has an earned run average and FIP both under four. If you’re looking to the Wyverns bats here because you misread all the data and are playing the wrong team, you’ll need to get more unique than just mashing in Jamie Romak ($13/$4,600) and Jeong Choi ($15/$5,100) so look at Kang-min Kim ($7/$3,000), Jong-wook Ko ($7/$4,100), and Eui-yoon Jeong ($7/$2,400) and build that stack out to a full five if you truly want to get nuts about it.

Kiwoom Heroes @ LG Twins – 10.0 run total (5.47/4.75) – Suggested Stack: Heroes 3-7

Our last game is the first in what should be another high-quality series featuring the Twins. When I said that on Friday it apparently doomed my adopted Twins to being swept, so here’s hoping for the best. This one has a weird pitching match-up and is one of the games with a 10-run total, so there could be some good KBO DFS picks available.

The Heroes get an interesting spot, with Twins pitcher Yun-sik Kim making his debut as a starter. The Twins used the third overall pick in this year’s draft on the 21-year-old who made eight shaky appearances out of the bullpen before getting sent down to the minors for some polish earlier in the season. He’s been stretched out as a starter in recent weeks but it’s difficult to trust him here, and the Heroes rank second in the stack tool on both sites. They are drawing a lot of ownership on the key bats here, so getting different with a few guys from lower in the order could be key. The popular guys like Byung-ho Park ($13/$4,300) and Dong-won Park ($10/$5,300) will be in a ton of lineups, so stick them together with Jung-hoo Lee ($14/$4,800), Hye-sung Kim ($9/$2,700) and Jeong-hyeop Heo ($7/$2,000) hitting after them to get different and more affordable. Ha-seong Kim ($15/$5,400) is among the KBO league leaders in stolen bases and gets on base at a nearly .400 clip, but he’s very popular among KBO DFS owners today.

The Twins are hurting a bit. Eun-sung Chae is going to miss some time with an injury, taking a critical bat out of the middle of this lineup. There is quality to cover it, but how things shake out in the batting order will be interesting to watch. This is a rare night where I can’t even work my way around to a backhanded way to recommend the Twins bats, they rank near the bottom of the stack tool and look over-owned. With a rare total under five, odds-makers seem to agree. Roberto Ramos ($17/$5,300) has one of the highest individual projections on the slate, but to me he’s too popular to play as a one-off and not part of an appealing stack. If you want to work the Twins in I would probably discard Ramos and play a low-owned low-cost three-man stack like Kang-nam Yoo ($10/$4,000), Ji-hwan Oh ($9/$3,000), and Y.T. Park ($8/$2,000).