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Brian McKendry's KBO DFS lineup picks for contests on FanDuel and DraftKings on 5/31/20. Daily fantasy baseball analysis for pitchers, hitters and DFS stacks.
Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another KBO DFS column. I can't believe we're almost a month into the KBO season! We are starting to get bigger sample sizes for both our pitchers and hitters and allow us to see who are more reliable arms and bats are on a nightly basis.
New to KBO? DraftKings and FanDuel will use the same scoring system that they do for MLB, however, the roster builds are much different on FanDuel. You must roster two infielders, two outfielders, and two utility players along with a pitcher for a total of only seven players on FanDuel. DraftKings has kept its normal MLB structure with two starting pitchers and an entire eight-hitter lineup for a total of ten players. Building lineups on each site is going to be very different.
Today, I'll be providing my KBO DFS lineup picks and analysis for this five-game slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that locks at 1:00 AM on Sunday, May 31, 2020. Both DraftKings and FanDuel have large contests with big top prizes. DraftKings' largest contest has a top prize of $20K to first and FanDuel has a contest with a top prize of $4K to first. Make sure you are also following me @Grownfool on Twitter!
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KBO DFS Pitchers
Strikeout rates are much lower in KBO. An average MLB K% would be among the league leaders in KBO. The lower strikeout numbers make innings, wins, and quality starts (on Fanduel) much more important for KBO DFS. Most of the league leaders in innings pitched last season were foreign pitchers. Most of today's have had at least four starts and should be good for 90-100 pitches. Chad Bell only threw 60 pitches in less than four innings in his first start and could be limited to 80-90 pitches. Dan Straily and Jong Hoon Park have pitched less than six innings in three of their starts.
Chang Mo Koo - NC Starting P ($ DraftKings / $27 FanDuel)
Koo is arguably the best pitcher in the league. He leads the league in WHIP, ERA, and FIP, and is second in the league in K%. This will be his second start against Samsung who are one of the worst hitting team in the league. In the first, he pitched six innings with eight strikeouts and no runs.
Chris Flexen - Doosan Starting P ($ DraftKings / $25 FanDuel )
This is a great matchup for Flexen. Jamsil Stadium is the most pitcher-friendly park in the league. Lotte has a below-average offense and has only scored a combined six runs in the first two games of this series. Flexen's four quality starts make him a great play on FanDuel if you want to pivot off Koo and save a bit of salary.
Other starters to consider are:
- Drew Gagnon - Kia Starting P ($6700 DraftKings / $27 FanDuel ) - leads league in K%
- Jong Hoon Park - SK Starting P ($ DraftKings / $25 FanDuel) - top five in K% and Hanwha leads the league in K%
KBO Top Hitter Stacks
KBO de-juiced the ball last season and power numbers declined. Home runs are way up and it looks like the juice is back. Build stacks centered around middle of the order power hitters or top of the order speed. Don't overlook hitters batting sixth and seventh especially in top offenses. Some teams also have hitters with speed batting eighth or ninth that function almost like second leadoff hitters. Our preferred stacking strategy is 4/2/2 or 3/3/2 on DraftKings and 3/3 or 2/2/2 on FanDuel.
NC Dinos
Choi has pitched well in his last two starts in which he faced two of the worst teams in the league against lefties. That should change tonight as the Dinos have been one of the best teams vs lefties. Don't avoid Sung Bum Na because of the lefty/lefty matchup. He has three HRs against lefties and is likely to get two plate appearances against the bullpen. Suk Min Park, Jin Seong Kang, and Aaron Altherr also have multiple HRs against lefties.
- Aaron Altherr - OF ($5300 DraftKings / $11 FanDuel)
- Sung Bum Na - OF ($4800 DraftKings / $16 FanDuel)
- Suk Min Park - 3B ($4300 DraftKings / $10 FanDuel)
- Jin Sung Kang - C ($3300 DraftKings / $10 FanDuel)
Doosan Bears
Dan Straily has struggled on the road and the Bears have one of the top offenses in the league. Jose Fernandez and Jae Il Oh are top 10 in the league for wOBA and Jae Ho Kim is in the top 20. Kyung Min Hur leads the team in steals and has a wOBA of .366.
- Jose Fernandez - 1B/2B ($5400 DraftKings / $18 FanDuel)
- Jae Il Oh - OF ($3400 DraftKings / $16 FanDuel)
- Jae ho Kim - SS ($2100 DraftKings / $9 FanDuel)
- Kyung Min Hur - 3B ($2300 DraftKings / $8 FanDuel)
Other stacks to consider:
- KT Wiz - among the league leaders in wOBA vs lefties
- LG Twins - leads the league in wOBA and ISO vs righties and better on the road than at home
Conclusion
- Starting lineups will not be released until one hour before lock. Bench players are more likely to start on Sundays. If you are unable to stay up late, consider playing light or skipping this slate.
- Pitching is very strong tonight. Paying up for pitching and power is highly recommended. This is also a slate where 5/3 stacks on DraftKings and 4/2 stacks on FanDuel are more likely than usual to be optimal.
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