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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another KBO DFS column. If you haven't signed up for the RotoBaller Premium Slack chat, it's a great space to chat during the day about the lineups. You can also follow me and the other Rotoballer writers on Twitter. In particular, @efhatch1990dfs has his personal KBO DFS Cheat Sheets which you will now be able to find here on RotoBaller with the ease of a click.
New to KBO? Don't worry, we got you covered! 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 a good bit different on most nights, but I've tried to give you enough options and thoughts behind each option so that you can make the best decision based on your build preference. Today, I'll be providing my KBO DFS lineup picks and analysis for this five-game slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that locks at 5:30 AM on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. You can check our daily KBO Betting Picks as well, which Steve usually posts around 8 PM.
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KBO DFS Pitchers
Eric Jokisch (KIW)
$9.7K DraftKings, $29 FanDuel
I understand that the Samsung bats are waking up a bit and they play in a hitter's park, but I can't fade Jokisch with the way he's looked. In six starts, the left-hander has a 1.49 ERA, .94 WHIP, and a 30:5 K:BB ratio across 36.1 innings. In his one start against Samsung, he went six scoreless, while striking out seven, and only giving up three hits. Part of that has to do with Samsung hitting just .195 against left-handed pitching this season. When you pair that with the fact that they're fourth-worst in the league with 219 strikeouts, I think that Jokisch has a strong chance to put together a dominant outing.
Aaron Brooks (KIA)
$8.9K DraftKings, $25 FanDuel
Brooks has been great for the Tigers through his first six starts, which have all been quality starts, by the way. He comes into this game against KT with a 3.13 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and a .349 BABIP, which suggests that he might be in line for some positive regression. In his 37.1 IP, he has 31 strikeouts and only seven walks, which means that he's going to make teams work for runs. It also means that he's perfectly positioned to take advantage of a free-swinging KT team that is second in the league with 221 strikeouts and second to last in the league with 85 walks.
The Wiz has been a streaky offense, and they do have some dangerous left-handed batters in Mel Rojas Jr. and Baek-Ho Kang, so Brooks isn't a slam dunk option like Jokich. However, I'd feel confident throwing him into lineups in both cash and GPP. Personally, I'll be pairing him with Jokich in cash builds (pending weather).
THERE IS SOME RAIN IN THE FORECAST, SO KEEP AN EYE ON IT AS THE DAY GOES ON
Min-Ho Lee (LG)
$5.8K DraftKings, $23 FanDuel
The 18-year-old has been on fire to start the season; although, it needs to be said that both of his starts came against a weak Samsung lineup, However, he's not exactly getting a stiff test against an SK team that is second-worst in the league in average and third-worst in the league in home runs. The Wyverns have also hit only .234 against right-handed pitching, so Lee, who was the number one ranked Korean high school pitcher last year, can build on his early success of a 1.10 ERA and .92 WHIP across 16.1 IP.
There are a couple of reasons to be cautious with Lee. His age and inexperience are clearly one; however, he also has only nine strikeouts to six walks across his innings this year. The Wyverns are a patient team that is third in the league with 116 walks. If they make Lee consistently find the zone, they could work walks or favorable counts and get better pitches to hit. It may also chase Lee from the game early since he has only hit 100 pitches once in his brief KBO career. However, Lee is my preferred GPP pairing with Jokisch on DraftKings (pending weather).
THERE IS SOME RAIN IN THE FORECAST, SO KEEP AN EYE ON IT AS THE DAY GOES ON
Other Options
- Drew Rucinski (NC) - 10.2K DraftKings, $29 FanDuel - I know it's weird to put the highest-priced pitcher on the slate down here, but the Bears are a dangerous offense away from home. In particular, Rucinski's .346 batting average allowed to left-handed hitters worries me when he faces the likes of Jose Fernandez and Jae-Il Oh. Rucinski is good, but he's not going to be in a lot of my builds because of price and matchup.
- Min-Woo Kim (HAN) - 7.0K DraftKings, $24 FanDuel - Hanwha is in a crazy tailspin, so it's tough to back their players right now. However, the Giants (despite two innings of solid offense last night), are a mediocre lineup. Kim has only given up 28 hits in 33.2 IP while striking out 35. In his last start, he went 6 IP with 4 ER and 8 K against Kiwoom and got 16 DK points. I'd expect slightly better against Lotte, which makes him a solid floor play for cash games.
- Tae-Hoon Kim (SK) - 5.6K DraftKings, $23 FanDuel - Roberto Ramos was pulled from a two-run game last night and had battled a leg injury last week. It's possible that he's hit again. If so, LG would lose its most potent bat and would give Kim a leg up on a team full of left-handed hitters, which he has dominated this year.
- Kyung-Eun Noh (LOT) - 6.0K DraftKings, $22 FanDuel - I want to be clear that I'm only including Noh because there are two games that are potentials for rainouts, and I like three of the four arms in those games, so that doesn't leave many usable SP. Noh would only be a GPP option because he faces a struggling Hanwha lineup who he held to one run over six innings in his last start against them.
KBO Top Hitter Stacks
Kiwoom Heroes
Kiwoom is a strong offense and a team that has won eight of their last ten games. They get a Samsung team that has been playing better but is still a lower third offense and will roll out a truly suspect starting pitcher tonight. Jung-Hyun Baek spent three weeks on the DL and then came back last week and got rocked by LG, giving up 8 ER on 14 hits across 4 IP.
The 32-year old has been relatively average throughout his KBO career, never posting an ERA better than 4.24. Perhaps, most importantly, he has a home run issue, giving up six home runs in only 14 innings this year. Kiwoom is second in the league with 33 home runs on the season, which is a match made in heaven. When you pair that with the fact that Kiwoom has hit .304 versus left-handers this year, I think you have the top offensive stack of the night.
Main Targets:
- Jung-Ho Lee - OF (5.2K DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) - Even though Lee is left-handed, he's hit .400 in 25 at-bats this year against left-handed pitching. He's yet to hit any of his four HRs off of a lefty, but he went 4-5 last night, is hitting .409 over his last ten games, and hits in the middle of the Heroes' order, so he's always a strong option.
- Don-Won Park- C (4.7K DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) - The clear #2 fantasy catcher in KBO after Eui-Ji Yang, Park has seven home runs and a 1.067 OPS on the season. He's hit .433 over his last 10 games with two HRs and 13 RBIs. The usual five-hole hitter, he gets plenty of RBI chances every game.
- Ha-Seong Kim - SS (6.2K DraftKings, $15 FanDuel) - Despite being a right-handed hitter, Kim has hit just .263 with zero of his five HRs against left-handed pitching this year. Still, it's only been 19 at-bats. The 24-year-old is hitting .284 on the season, batting second for the Heroes, but his salary on DK makes him tough to fit into lineups, even if he is on a nine-game hitting streak.
- Byung-Woo Jeon- 2B/3B (2.3K DraftKings, $5 FanDuel) - Jeon came back from injury two weeks ago and has hit .371 with two HRs and 12 RBIs over his last ten games. Plus, he's basement-priced and hits 6th in the order. I love him for salary relief.
Secondary Targets:
- Keon-Chang Seo - 1B/2B (3.8K DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) - Seo hits lead-off for the Heroes and, despite being left-handed, has hit left-handers better than right-handers this season. He doesn't hit for much power and has hit only 4-for-20 over his last five games, but he leads the league with seven steals, which gives him a little added fantasy value.
Hye-Sung Kim - 2B/SS (2.5K DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) and Jeong-Hyeop Heo OF (2.1K DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) are both solid salary-relief options but are battling injuries, so check on their status before the game.
NC Dinos
Yes, Raul Alcantara's numbers look good at first glance, but the Dinos are the best team in the league and just hung 12 on the Bears. Doosan's already poor bullpen will also be depleted after having to use six pitchers in last night's game, so they are going to need Alcantara to go deep into the game if they want the Dinos to avoid the chance to feats on that bullpen. I'm just not sure that's likely.
The Dominican native has a 4.63 ERA and 1.49 WHIP but has allowed 43 hits in 35 IP and has a .339 batting average against when facing lefties. I don't expect the Dinos to demolish him, but they're going to put runs up, so I would look to get their bats into some lineups, particularly the left-handed hitters.
Main Targets:
- Sung Bum Na - OF (5.6K DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) - Left-handed and the Dinos best hitter. He's hitting .339 with 10 HRs and a 1.094 OPS on the season and has been hot lately, hitting .349 with four HRs and 11 RBI over his last 10 games. I'm still not sure why Preston Tucker is priced above him, but I'd find it hard to make a lineup without Na tonight
- Eui Ji Yang - C (5.9K DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) - The best fantasy catcher in the KBO, but you're gonna have to pay for it. The former Bear crushed his old team last night, going 2-3 with a BB, a HR and 5 RBI. He hits fifth in a powerful lineup, which is why he has 16 RBI over his last 10 games.
- Jin-Sung Kang - 1B/OF (4K DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) - Another Dinos bat who is on fire. Kang is hitting a ridiculous .458 on the season with 7 HRs and a 1.323 OPS. The clean-up hitter is also hitting .432 with 2 HRs and 11 RBI over his last 10 games.
- Min Woo Park - 2B (4.8K DraftKings, $12 FanDuel) - Park has only registered a .294 average over his last 10 games with 3 RBI and 6 R, but he's a left-handed hitter at the top of the Dinos lineup who comes in wit a .322 average on the season. He might be in a good spot against Alcantara.
Secondary Targets:
- Myung-Gi Lee - OF (2.8K DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) - I don't normally play Lee, but he's a cheap left-handed hitter who hits second for the Dinos and went 3-5 with 2 R last night. He's not a bad salary play.
- Jin Hyuk No - 2B/SS (3.5K DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) - No has been one of my favorite NC salary plays on the season. He hits at the bottom of the order, but he hits .348 vs RHP and is hitting .393 with 8 runs over his last 10 games.
- Aaron Altherr - OF (4.9K DraftKings, $15 FanDuel) - I don't think Altherr has the best match-up tonight, and he hit 8th in the Dinos' lineup yesterday which will limit his RBI chances, but you have to mention a guy who is hitting .324 with 4 HR and 18 RBI over his last 10 games.
- Hee Dong Kwon - OF (2.1K DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) - Kwon hits in the bottom of the Dinos' order and has cooled a bit of late, but he's still hitting .338 with a .950 OPS on the season and is a great value if you need exposure to their lineup.
Small DFS Stacks
Kia Tigers
The Tigers are an enigma, and they've certainly been cold on offense lately, totaling 12 runs in their last 5 games. However, they get a prime "get right" matchup today against Kim Min. The 21-year-old has run hot and cold this season, compiling a 7.83 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in five starts. His big problem right now is his command, issuing 16 walks to 14 strikeouts in 23 innings. It's also prevented him from pitching deep into games and has forced more use out of a bad KT bullpen.
What prevents me from recommending Kia as a main stack is a look at Min's game log, which suggests that his real problem was running into Doosan twice. In his two starts against Doosan, he's let up 15 ER on 18 hits in 6.1 IP, while striking out three. In his other three starts, against Kiwoom, Samsung, and LG, he's giving up 5 ER across 16.2 IP, while striking out 11. He's always going to have command problems and lefties are killing to him the tune of a .373 average, but the Kia offense is hot and cold enough for me to not want to rely on them for a full stack.
REMEMBER THAT THERE IS SOME WEATHER CONCERN IN THIS GAME.
Main Targets:
- Preston Tucker - OF (5.8K DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) - Tucker is 2-12 in his last three games and has hit only .231 in his last 10 games. However, he's the main power hitter on Kia and hits second in their order, which gives him a good chance to knock in runs and score on his own.
- Hyung-woo Choi - 1B/OF (5.7K DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) - Choi has been the hotter hitter in the Kia lineup of late. The three-hole hitter is batting .382 with 4 HR and 7 RBI over his last 10 games, so he could be the one that really gets to Min tonight.
- Min-Sang Yoo - 1B (3.8K DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) - In terms of just average, Yoo has been Kia's best hitter over their recent rough patch. He's posted a .419 average over his last 10 games with 9 RBI but only one HR.
Sun-Bin Kim is hitting .340 but he's right-handed and left the last game with a hamstring injury, so I wouldn't be relying on him (CHECK THE LINEUP BECAUSE HE LEFT THE LAST GAME WITH AN INJURY).
Lotte Giants
Everything I said above about Min-Woo Kim above also makes it possible to hedge the other side and roster some Giants bats. Losing 15 games in a row can really sap morale. Not to mention that Kim has already given up seven home runs on the season. I'd be shocked if the Giants didn't knock one out tomorrow.
Main Targets:
- Dae Ho Lee - 1B (3.9K DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) - Lee homered last night, which gives him four on the season. He also has nine RBI over his last 10 games and hits clean-up for the Giants. If somebody is going to take advantage for Kim's propensity to give up home runs, it's Lee.
- Ah Seop Son - OF (3.5K DraftKings, $12 FanDuel) - The Giants' lead-off hitter his been seeing the ball well with hits in nine of his last 10 games. Over that time, he has a .33 batting average and nine runs scored. It seems that he's no longer stealing bases, which saps some value, but he went 3-5 with a run and RBI last night, so if the Giants mount a rally, he'll likely be involved.
- Jun Woo Jeon - OF (4.3K DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) - Jeon should arguably be the Giants' power hitter, but he has only four home runs on the season after hitting 22 last year and 33 the year before. He's been quiet of late, with a .222 average over his last 10, but he has the power to put one out.
- Dixon Machado - 2B/SS (4K DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) - Machado has never been a great offensive player, but his defense will keep him in the lineup. He's also gone 2-4 in back-to-back games, so maybe there is a little offensive breakout coming. I'm tempted to take the chance as a one-off in a GPP lineup.
Good luck in your DFS contests everyone. Be sure to stop back every day for some more KBO DFS analysis here at RotoBaller!
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