Ahhh. The smell of recent stat compilation accumulating to a larger sample size of weighted relevancy…nothing quite like that cup of fuel at 12:35 am.
But the invigoration doesn’t end there. These Vegas over/unders feel like they’re climbing by the day, as there have been six teams score in double-digits since this past Sunday (and two of them have been the league-dominating NC Dinos).
And through the parity of it all, there are pitchers on DraftKings slinging well over 30 DraftKings Fantasy Points nearly every night. It’s all a thing of sheer beauty for any fan of Daily Fantasy Baseball, but also serving as a silver lining to all fans of live sports (so long as you don’t mind huffing out those early morning slates).
As we head into the weekend, we’ve got new matchups beginning Friday and lasting through early Sunday’s slate. This includes plenty more stats to gobble up in preface to setting lineups, and furthermore angling to attack against chalk pitchers and stacks in tournaments.
Let’s dive into a weekend of KBO Baseball!
Hitters
Jin Sung Kang (C), NC Dinos (vs. HAN)
As the field falls head-over-heels for the powerfully talented Eui Ji Yang at Catcher for the NC Dinos (and rightfully so), if you merely scroll down some, you’ll not only shed off a ton of the field ownership but add even more power to the equation. Enter: Jin Sung Kang, of the very same NC Dinos.
Kang is blasting the jacket off the ball at a blistering .423 ISO, which is the third-highest in the league this season among all KBO players. Averaging nearly 10 DraftKings Fantasy Points per game, the mind-boggling aspect of it all is that people are actually paying up for a far chalkier player on the same team (likely due to Eui Ji Yang batting in the cleanup 4-spot, opposed to the 7-hole for Kang).
While it indeed is an unfortunacy that you cannot roster both Eui Ji Yang and Jin Sung Kang on DraftKings (since they both are restricted to the Catcher position), one silver lining to the two is you can gauge the opposing pitcher handedness you’ll be working with on any given night to roster opposite at the Catcher position accordingly.
Take your choice of lefty Kang, or righty Yang, because they tend to both start most nights, with Kang playing 1st Base in actuality. (On FanDuel, you’re lucky enough to roster both.)
(UPDATE 5/22, 1:39 am: My mistake on the batting-handedness of Kang, as he is indeed a Righty. Everything else still stands with my argument for him.)
Yong Ho Jo (OF), KT Wiz (vs. LG)
Before we get too emotionally invested in this guy, just a bit of a disclaimer here: Yong Ho Jo does not play every slate, and he has posted just 31 plate appearances this season (which 30 PA is my cutoff line for several stat category sample sizes). He is projected on all reliable sources to be starting on Friday morning at Designated Hitter, but in case that falters, you can’t blame me (and just take him another night instead).
Yong Ho Jo has posted three straight games of double-digit fantasy points at just above bare minimum salary, $2,500 on Friday (oh, I think I see why he’s projected to start now). Within those numbers (14, 10, 18 DKFP), the one downside is he has scored zero home runs so far this season, so no bonus there thus far. He’s batting a .154 ISO, so I wouldn’t exactly prepare for that moment anytime soon either (he has no home runs in four seasons with two different teams).
However, those fantasy points don’t just fall out of the sky. He has a career .715 OPS, with an outstanding 1.229 OPS in the 2020 season…and with no home runs to add to the slugging side of that equation, that’s simply ridiculous. With a KBO-leading .583 wOBA and 253 wRC+ (while striking out in only 6.5% of his at-bats), the blueprint to fantasy production is evident in small ball success.
On Thursday morning’s slate, Yong Ho Jo was merely owned by 10% of the field, which is quite something given the cost combined with everything mentioned above (indicating part of the field is playing with “safe” lineups containing predictable starters).
Jae Won Oh (2B), Doosan Bears (vs. SAM)
Consider this rendition of the article to be the Featured Value edition, because I seem to be gravitating in that direction for these matchups. And it’s topped off with Jae Won Oh, $2,400 Second Baseman for the Doosan Bears.
What do I like here? A lot of the simple surface measures: Samsung’s suspect pitcher in Ben Lively, the fewer plate appearances to shave the field ownership off the selection (23 PA in 2020), and some fairly noteworthy power at a cheap price (.261 ISO, 2 HR). He’s also projected to start on Friday morning, and depending on if he continues the double-digit fantasy performances, he may start again this weekend.
Not quite as attention-striking as the aforementioned two batters, but a fantastic one-off or Doosan stack addition at next-to-nothing cost.
Other Batters I Will Gladly Be Rostering This Weekend:
High ($4,500+):
-Jose Miguel Fernandez (1B/2B), DOO
-Preston Tucker (OF), KIA
-Mel Rojas Jr (OF), KT
-Aaron Altherr (OF), NC
-Hyung Woo Choi (1B/OF), KIA
-Eui Ji Yang (C), NC
-Byung Ho Park (1B), KIW
-Ja Wook Koo (1B/OF), SAM
-Sung Bum Na (OF), NC
-Jeong Choi (3B/SS), SK
Mid ($3,600-$4,400):
-Jung Hoo Lee (OF), KIW
-Min Woo Park (2B), NC
-Sun Bin Kim (SS), KIA
-Kun Woo Park (OF), DOO
-Dong Won Park (C), KIW
-Byung Hun Min (OF), LOT
-Won Seok Lee (3B), SAM
Bargain ($2,100-$3,500)
-Ji Wan Na (OF), KIA
-Chun Woong Lee (OF), LG
-Roberto Ramos (1B), LG
-Keon Chang Seo (1B/2B), KIW
-Myung-gi Lee (OF), NC
-Ah Seop Son (OF), LOT
-Jae Ho Kim (SS), DOO
-Kang Min Kim (OF), SK
Pitchers
Young Kyu Kim, NC Dinos (vs. HAN)
Projected starter for the NC Dinos against arguably the most offensively inept ball club of the KBO in the Hanwha Eagles, how in the hell this guy is just $5,500 (and the second-cheapest starting pitcher on the slate) is well beyond me.
His numbers were shaky in the first outing against the LG Twins but he’s since posted a 19.1 DKFP performance (albeit against lowly SK), and now getting another soft opponent in Hanwha. While he’s merely in his second season in 2020, the 20-year old has gone 11 innings in two starts, with no balls-on-base awarded to any batters thus far.
While his weakness may be deemed as the long-ball power hitters, giving up 3 HR in two starts this season, his ability to achieve moderate strikeout numbers (4 & 5 K’s in both games) makes him an absolute no-brainer at this price point, allowing practically any stack you’d like on offense. Just be aware that he will likely be a chalk player, but at this price it’s very hard for it to kill you (and Hanwha shouldn’t be the ones to do it either).
Tae Hoon Kim, SK Wyverns (vs. KIA)
A bit of a contrarian play here, I anticipate the stacking against teams of the bottom tier to be stacked against as a regular early morning lineup theme. But in order to take down tournaments, one must keep aware that differentiating in your lineups somewhere is a given requirement. And that’s where I’d like to recommend a pivot at pitcher over the weekend in Tae Hoon Kim.
The veteran 30-year old pitcher is entering his tenth year in the KBO, as well as his tenth with the SK Wyverns. I think his numbers in the past two seasons, and leading up to now, are indication that Tae Hoon Kim is on the up and up. His WHIP has gone from a very acceptable 1.32 in 2018, down noticeably to 1.26 in 2019, and currently rocking an outstanding 0.77 WHIP for 2020, and that’s including a loss.
He has a 19.6% strikeout percentage this season, which is down in comparison to the past two years, but the season is young and I believe the more important indicators are there, as his BABIP is also down to a .129 in 2020.
I will be rostering a fair share of Tae Hoon Kim come Saturday or Sunday’s slate, where I expect him to be starting and ruining some KIA Tigers stacks across the field.
Other Pitchers I Will Happily Be Rostering This Weekend:
Friday:
-Odrisamer Despaigne, KTW
-Jake Brigham, KIW
-Hyun Jong Yang, KIA
-Kyung Eun Noh, LOT
-Casey Kelly, LG
Sat (UPDATED Friday, 5/22):
-Eric Jokisch, KIW
-Raul Alcantara, DOO
-Aaron Brooks, KIA
-Drew Rucinski, NCD
-Woo Chan Cha, LG
Sun (UPDATED: Saturday, 5/23):
-Mike Wright, NCD
-Chan Gyu Lim, LG
-Won Tae Choi, KIW
-William Cuevas, KT
-Young Ha Lee, DOO
Stacks
(UPDATED Saturday, 5/23):
While I will be getting to just about stacks from every team in the next three days, the following are going to be favorites that I’ll be chasing for a variety of reasons rolled into one ranking (in numerical order):
