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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 on RotoBaller.
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 Friday, July 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
NOTE: For those who are used to playing MLB DFS on DraftKings, since the quality of pitching in the KBO is inferior to the MLB, the typical MLB cash game strategy of loading up on two high-powered arms for safety tends to be less successful. There are rarely two pitchers on a KBO slate who we feel extremely confident in for fantasy purposes.
On DraftKings, we've found that taking the lowest-salaried SP2 from the options you're legitimately considering will often cost you around 6-8 total points in your lineup but saves you almost $2,000 that you can spend up on bats who will more than make up that difference.
Drew Rucinski (NCD)
$9.1K DraftKings, $29 FanDuel
Rucinski is the highest-priced pitcher on the slate but that shouldn't scare you away from him. He's pitching at Jamsil, the best pitcher's park in the league, and comes into the game with a 2.30 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 10 quality starts in his 11 outings. You're not going to find much better consistency than that. On top of that, he has 65 strikeouts in 70.1 innings, which gives him the fantasy upside worthy of the top pitching option. Yes, LG has some solid offensive players, but Rucinski's strikeout potential means that you don't need to him to throw a clean slate to get a strong fantasy outing. With so many of the other top arms on the slate pitching against one another or not getting good match-ups, Rucinski is the clear top option for me and will be my SP1 in all my DraftKings lineups.
Chris Flexen (DOO)
$9.7K DraftKings, $25 FanDuel
Flexen is perhaps the only other option I'd consider as an SP1 in DraftKings if you wanted differentiation. As I mentioned above, it's become clear that paying up for your SP2 isn't the best strategy with KBO DFS, so his price takes him out of consideration there, and his recent track record is giving me a little pause. The American had been stellar in his first KBO season, throwing five quality starts out of his first six starts with a 2.92 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. However, the dominance hasn't been there since then. He's allowed at least three earned runs in four of his last five outings and got hit hard by Hanwha in his last start, giving up 6 ER on 9 hits over 4 innings. His strikeout upside has also been inconsistent, registering 15 strikeouts in games against NC and SK but only three total in games against Kia and Hanwha. What's more, Lotte has the fewest strikeouts in the league, which limits Flexen's fantasy upside. Lotte has been hitting the ball better of late, but they have tons of right-handed hitters and few players who can break open a slate with one swing, which means Flexen could easily keep them in check even without the strikeouts. I'm just not sure that leads to top arm on the slate upside.
Min-Woo Kim (HAN)
$7.1K DraftKings, $24 FanDuel
Welcome to my top choice for SP2 in DraftKings. Kim hasn't been great this year with a 4.83 ERA and 1.41 WHIP; however, he gets a really good matchup against an SK team that will be without its best hitter in Jeong Choi. That really leaves them Jamie Romak and nobody. That's good news for Kim and possibly fantasy owners since Kim has the best strikeout rate of any arm on the slate, striking out 54 batters in 50.1 innings. After allowing only 3 ER while striking out 14 in 10 innings against Doosan and KT, I feel good about Kim's chances of handling a depleted Wyverns lineup.
Won-Tae Choi (KIW)
$8.6K DraftKings, $27 FanDuel
I have to put Choi on here because he's a damn good pitcher. I just wish he had a better matchup. The right-hander has a 4.02 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP on the season, and he dominated Kia when he faced them on June 28th, throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and striking out six. That start was at home, and we know all about how Kia is a different offense at home. Also, with two starts in such close succession, it means that Choi won't catch the Tigers off guard this time. He has the ability to put up a big game, but there are a lot of factors working against him.
Other Options
- William Cuevas (KT) - 7.5K DraftKings, $25 FanDuel - Cuevas is on here as a SP2 consideration on DraftKings strictly due to match-up. The right-hander hasn't been good this year, with a 5.06 ERA, but he now gets to face a Lions team that hits .203 against right-handed pitching on the road, second-worst in the league, with no home runs and seven RBIs. In fact, even during their semi-recent hot streak, they had the league's worst average against right-handers. They don't have the power to destroy Cuevas with one swing, so he could have a solid if unspectacular night and give you the floor you need from an SP2
- Joo-han Kim (SK) - 5.4K DraftKings, $21 FanDuel - Kim is simply an SP2 punt play on DraftKings. His salary is incredibly low for a man pitching against the worst team in the league. His numbers look terrible, but he's a converted reliever who has only made three starts on the year. In one of those, he got wrecked by Lotte, but he allowed one ER in six innings against LG and one ER in four innings against Kia in his first start. He's not going to strike many people out, but if he allows one run against Hanwha over five innings, possible from his past games, then he would have given you positive production and saved you over $2,000 to use on bats.
KBO Top Hitter Stacks
NOTE: It's important to remember, as mentioned above, that KBO DFS has played out differently than MLB DFS. It impacts the hitters by limiting the depth of the stacks we recommend. Since many KBO lineups are not as deep as MLB lineups, you can get away with playing three-man stacks in almost all builds. Obviously, going up to four-men stacks in GPP is fine, but going above that is not really recommended in KBO. This means that a 3/3/2 stack becomes playable in GPP (especially if you stack a game) and 3/2/2/1 is completely feasible in a cash game lineup and allows you to get strong individual batters without having to worry about loading up on his teammates.
Doosan Bears
Doosan on the road is always likely to be a top stacking opportunity, even when they are facing a decent arm. So far this season, the Bears hit .325 on the road with 41 HR and 71 RBI, all tops in the KBO. It's hard to fade those kind of results, especially when they provide both high salary and low-cost options. Now, Jun-woo Seo has been solid this year, but this is a tall task for the 19-year-old. He has also hit a little bit of a rough patch lately going 16 IP, 16 H, 8 ER, 9 K over his last three starts. His inability to consistently pitch deep into games and his low strikeout numbers (27 in 54.2 IP) make me believe that Doosan should be able to do some damage against him and then get into a mediocre Lotte bullpen.
Main Targets:
- Jose Fernandez - 1B/2B (6.4 DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) - You're paying up for Fernandez tonight, but that's not exactly a bad idea. He has home runs in two of his last three games and hits .419 on the road with 7 HR and 25 RBI. Hitting second in the order gives him tremendous potential for points from runs as well, which is often overlooked in daily fantasy.
- Kyoung Min Hur - 3B (4.3K DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) - Hur has become one of the top-15 hitters in the KBO in terms of fantasy value and the price is slowly starting to match that. However, he's on quite a streak, collecting 17 hits over his last eight games. All but two of those games have also been in his cavernous home stadium, so if he's still swinging a hot bat, he could do real damage tonight.
- Jae Hwan Kim - 1B/OF (5.6K DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) Kim isn't as popular as some of the other Bears bats, but he's one of the most consistent fantasy bats in the KBO and has actually produced value at a top-10 rate. That's even more true on the road where he hits .333 with a team-leading 9 HR and 35 RBI. If you can't pay up for Fernandez, Kim is the way to go.
- Jae Il Oh - 1B (4.7K DraftKings, $15 FanDuel) - Oh's price has risen despite not really putting together a strong fantasy showing since July 2nd. He's been fine and nobody is turning their nose up at his 9 points a game or .360 road batting average, but the power hasn't been there with only 6 HR on the year and one in the last 15 games. However, many going on the road is the cure for that since Oh hits .440 on the road with five of his six HR and 23 RBI.
Secondary Targets:
- Joo-Hwan Choi - 1B/2B (3.7K DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) - Rostering Choi is about salary relief. He's another Bears hitter on a long hitting streak - 11 games and 18 hits - and has a .333 batting average on the road during the season with 5 HR and 27 RBI. All of that makes him worth rostering as your 2B on DraftKings at his price to save money to pay up elsewhere.
- Kun Woo Park - OF (4.9K DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) - Park's salary has risen to the point where it's honestly becoming hard to roster him. However, as the leadoff hitter on a team I expect to hit well tonight, he certainly factors into your roster decisions. Especially when you consider that he has two HRs in his last four games; although that only makes 5 on the season, so don't expect a power barrage.
- Se-Hyuk Park - C (4.3K DraftKings, $7 FanDuel) - Park is a strong option if you don't want to spend too much money at catcher. He's on an eight-game hitting streak, collecting 13 hits over that span, so he comes in swinging a hot bat. He also hits .293 on the road this season, which is enticing given the lack of good catching options.
KT Wiz
The Wiz are facing a left-handed pitcher, which is always something we want to target. As a team, they average 7.5 runs per game against left-handers with a .311 average, 17 HR, and 71 RBI, all good for second-best in the KBO. While Yoon-dong Heo hasn't allowed any big games, he's been decidedly average in his five starts, has never gone more than five innings, and has allowed at least two runs each of his last four starts. His 15 walks to only 11 strikeouts in 25 innings also tell us that he has major control issues and has likely been getting a little lucky to have allowed so few runs. Looking through a game log shows that he allows a lot of baserunners and tends to work himself out of jams. I think this is the game that a team finally gets to him with some big innings.
Main Targets:
- Mel Rojas Jr.- OF (6.5K DraftKings, $17 FanDuel) - Not only is Rojas one of the top-five fantasy hitters in the KBO, but he crushes left-handed pitching to the tune of .404, 6 HR, 16 RBI, and 17 R. He's the highest-priced bat on the slate, but he's also averaged 12 points per game on DraftKings and has hits in eight of his last nine. If I'm paying up tonight, it's for him.
- Jeong-Dae Bae- OF (3.4K DraftKings, $10 FanDuel) - People don't like Bae, I guess, and I don't understand it. The guy is hitting .338 on the season with 6 HR, 28 RBI, and 9.3 points per game on DraftKings and his salary barely moves. You should take advantage tonight since he hits .435 against left-handed pitching. He's likely to be in all of my lineups tonight.
- Kyung Soo Park- 2B (3.5K DraftKings, $8 FanDuel) - 2B is often one of the trickiest positions on DraftKings, so Park solves that problem tonight. He's hitting .297 with 7 HR and 34 RBI on the year and hits .324 off of left-handed pitching with 3 HR and 11 RBI. For his price, he's a great option at the keystone.
- Baek-ho Kang - 1B/OF (5.7K DraftKings, $16 FanDuel) - Kang is one of the best hitters on the Wiz, so I have to list him, but he's a left-handed hitter who hasn't been great against lefties. Despite hitting .333 with 11 HR and 33 RBI on the season, Kang hits .268 with only 2 HR off of lefties. That's not brutal, but not the production you're looking for at that salary.
- Sung Woo Jang - C (3.4K DraftKings, $8 FanDuel) - If you're paying down at catcher tonight, Jang is a decent option since he just homered two nights ago and hits .290 off of left-handed pitching. All you really need is for him to pick up two hits and he's made a profit on his price.
Kiwoom Heroes
Kiwoom is facing a struggling starting pitcher with a minor home run problem in a good ballpark. That's enough to get me interested in restoring a few of their bats. Hyun-jong Yang has a solid track record of success for Kia, but the 32-year-old has been struggling this year to the tune of a 5.55 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP while allowing eight home runs in his 11 starts.
More recently, over his last three starts, he's pitched 14.1 IP and allowed 26 hits, 4 HR, and 17 ER while striking out only six and walking three. Those are the kind of numbers you want to attack. Kiwoom as a team just hasn't been great against left-handed pitchers, so you need to pick and choose your bats.
Main Targets:
- Jung-Ho Lee - OF (4.5K DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) - Lee has been Kiwoom's best and most fantasy-relevant hitter. He's hitting .358 on the year with nine HR, 43 RBI, and averaging 10.4 points per game on DraftKings. Against left-handed pitching, he's hitting .326 with 10 RBI but no home runs. Even without the power, if the Heroes get to Yang, Lee figures to be at the center of it.
- Don-Won Park- C (5.1K DraftKings, $9 FanDuel) - Park has been struggling of late, but is still one of the premier options at the position, hitting .278 with nine HR and 33 RBI on the season. His average against left-handed pitching on the season has been an atrocious .207, but he leads the Heroes with four HRs against lefties, so he can make himself fantasy relevant with one swing.
- Keon-Chang Seo - 1B/2B (4.4K DraftKings, $11 FanDuel) - Seo has become one of the better DraftKings options at 2B with 9.3 points per game. On the season, he's batting .296 with five HRs and 26 RBI. However, he earns those points with his 11 steals and 14.2 BB% which gets him on base and running. His .306 average against left-handed pitching isn't bad either.
- Byung-ho Park - 1B (4.3K DraftKings, $14 FanDuel) - You roster Park for his power, and he showed that on Tuesday when he came off the bench for a pinch-hit HR. He's hit .229 against left-handed pitching but has 15 HR on the season, so if anybody is going to take advantage of Yang's tendency to give up the longball, it's him.
Small Stacks
As I mentioned above, small stacks in KBO DFS are more about picking and choosing your bats to fill out your lineup. You don't need to worry so much about having three or so from a particular team. As such, I'm going to give you some bats I like on a couple of teams because you're likely to mix and match as you want.
- Jamie Romak (SK) - 1B/OF (4.4K DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) - Yes, Kim has good strikeout upside, but he also has a 4.83 ERA and has allowed nine HRs in 50.1 innings. Romak has 10 HR on the year and could easily take Kim deep.
- Dae Hoe Lee (LOT) - 1B (3.8K DraftKings, $13 FanDuel) - I mentioned that Flexen has hit a little bit of a rough patch of late. If you want to bet that continues, Lee is perhaps your best option. He's hit .306 with 10 HR and 41 RBI on the season and has continued to well out-produce his salary.
- Jun-Woo Jeon (LOT) - OF (4.4K DraftKings, $12 FanDuel) - Jeon is another solid option if you're hedging against Flexen. He averages 9 points per game on DraftKings and just put up 26 on Wednesday with a 2-5 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R effort, which shows his upside.
- Aaron Altherr (OF) (5.6K DraftKings, $15 FanDuel), and Sung Bum Na (OF) (5.8K DraftKings, $18 FanDuel) - I'm lumping these two Dinos bats together because it's the same story for both: they're top-five bats on the year in terms of fantasy value, but they've run a little cold of late. They're in an average match-up in a pitcher's park, but could be solid GPP one-offs if you have the salary.
Good luck with your DFS contests everyone. Be sure to stop back every day for more KBO DFS analysis here at RotoBaller!
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