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Welcome back RotoBallers! How did you do on last night's slate? I fared better on FanDuel than I did on DraftKings. I made a last minute change or two on DraftKings swapping out Ha Seong Kim for Dixon Machado and that was the difference between cashing and not. Kim just felt too expensive to me on DK. Such is life....which brings me to the 6/21/20 KBO DFS slate.
We've had a variety of different slates this week. But tonight's slate sticks out as one of those in which there is likely to be less overlap between your FanDuel entries and your DraftKings entries. Both sites have slates that that locks at 4:00 AM on Sunday, June 21, 2020. Yet there are enough differences between the two slates that are noteworthy. Make sure you are also following me @MarkStrausberg for my KBO and other picks on Twitter in case I post some changes!
But I will try to note some of the differences below, but one of the first differences starts with the pitchers for tonight's 6/21/20 KBO slate.
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KBO DFS Pitchers
Hyun Jong Yang is a very good pitcher. His 36 Ks, 3.89 ERA, and 1.16 WHIP speak for themselves. But $9700 seems just a touch high for a pitcher who has yet to shut an opponent out and/or has his stats without face the amazing offense that is the NC Dinos. He should be a few hundred less and not the costliest pitcher. He is a far more attractive option on FanDuel, where he is not the most expensive pitcher on the slate but priced at $28.
The good news is that I do like Eric Jokisch on both sites. Those three pitchers should be your top three arms tonight. Some of the others make for interesting contrarian plays, but none jump out as strong value plays.
Getting back to our three studs tonight, I honestly don't understand why Jokisch is as affordable as he is on DraftKings. Last time I checked, a 1.68 ERA and 0.99 WHIP was pretty good. And that's even more impressive in the KBO. If he was a "control pitcher" maybe his low price would make sense, but he's punched out 34 batters this season already. It's not like his match-up is tough either.
He's facing the SK Wyverns who have the second lowest batting average, runs, and HRs in the league! I've liked Jokisch since the beginning. Tonight is a slam dunk I can't resist.
Depending on your choice of site and price sensitivity, both of these pitchers should be in your lineups tonight.
Other starters to consider are:
- Alcantra feels a little overpriced on both sites given how well LG has been playing lately. But he is tied for the lead in wins and does have the seventh most Ks. He has given up more than three earned runs just twice this season, and his 7.9 K/9 does give him a decent floor tonight.
- Kyung Eun Noh makes for an interesting SP2 and contrarian play. He's very affordable on DraftKings and after a jagged first five games, has pitched really well his last two outings. On a night where offense might be limited, he can give you salary space to spend up for some of the bigger bats
KBO Top Hitter Stacks
Lotte Giants
William Cuevas is having far less success this year than he did last year. His ERA is a swollen 6.28 ERA with a less-than-desirable 1.33 WHIP. He is a better pitcher than that and he's had some lingering injury issues. Is tonight the night he gets his season back on track? I'm willing to get against it. I have tons of LG shares.
Like our pitchers, Jun Woo Jeon's pricing is not consistent between the sites. He has eight dingers on the season and is hitting .333 in his last ten games. If he fits in your lineup, get him in. But I like most of his lineup mates as well. Dae Ho Lee went long two nights ago. bringing his total to seven and is still hitting above .300.
A cheaper alternative to Jeon is Ah Seop Son, who doesn't offer much power, but is hitting .353 on the season and .413 over his last ten games. 2B Hoon Jung missed the first month plus of the season but is making up for lost time and has hit safely in all nine of his games so far this season. Despite the return of Jung, 2B Chi Hong An continues to play every day and brings a decent floor at a low price, especially if he adds another stolen base to the seven he has already.
The aforementioned disappointment regarding Dixon Machado was a little overblown as he still went three-for-four last night and is now hitting .429 over his last ten games. Finally, if you are looking for a cheap sleeper, consider IF Min Soo Kim who has played in just two games, but if gets the call to start tonight, has hit .333 so far.
What other stacks should you consider? To continue the theme, depends on what site you are playing. Since I will be starting Kang for sure on FanDuel, I'll be supporting him with at least one Kia hitters stack there.
KIA Tigers
Any KIA stack is incomplete without uber-stud Preston Tucker, who is winning a lot more than a car this year....
Dude is RAKING #KBO #PRESTONTUCKER #BASEBALL https://t.co/WkXNBySdAl
— lomalova143 (@lomalova143) May 17, 2020
After a short dry spell earlier this month, he's en fuego again, having extended his hitting streak to nine games and last night's 4-for-4 with a roundtripper. He is hitting .472 his last ten games bringing his average up to .357, which pairs quite nicely with his 11 HRs.
Tucker's teammate, Hyung Woo Choi, is appropriately priced on DraftKings but its the opportunity on FanDuel that we need to jump on immediately. A veteran OF for $10 hitting .304 with six homers? Yeah, I'll take that. If I need savings, I will also grab the $9 Ji-Wan Na, who has been a little cold lately, but is under-priced given that he has six homers and is hitting .296 on the season.
Another hitter worth being on your radar is a perfect symbol for the theme of this piece, as his name is actually spelled differently on the two sites. H0 Ryeong/Ryung Kim has reached base his last four games in a row and is hitting .309, plus has a couple SBs to boot. He's an affordable roster filler on both sites if you need it.
I like the Kiwoom pricing on DraftKings better and I have a number of shares of Ha Seong Kim (not making that mistake again!) and Jung Hoo Lee, but I won't be stacking the Warriors on FanDuel. But if you're looking for another stack, might as well go with the chalky NC Dinos.
NC Dinos
The Dinos will be opposing Min Woo Kim, who has yet to record a victory this year. It's tough when you are playing for Hinwha to do so, but he's not helping himself with a 5.25 ERA either. He also has a tendency to give up the long ball, and has given up a pair of HRs in each of his last three starts. And now he's gotta face the Dinos and their league leading 58 HRs? This might not be suitable for immature audiences!
Sung Bum-Na is one homer behind HR leaders Roberto Ramos and Mel Rojas Jr. after hitting another one last night. Wouldn't surprise me if he hits another tonight. If he fails to go yard however, it will be hard for him to earn his high salary on both sites.
I'd prefer to save a few bucks and go with Aaron Altherr. Altherr can be very streaky, but that makes him the perfect GPP play. Don't be surprised if he breaks the slate tonight like he did a week ago when he put up nearly 41 FPs on FanDuel! Or if you want something a little more reliable, you could splurge on Jin Sun Kang, who is hitting .426 with nine round-trippers on the season.
Of course none of those guys are cheap. If you need a couple cheap options, consider Hee Dong Kwon and Myung-Gi Lee as another OF, who both can be had for single digits on FanDuel. The former is having an extremely solid season hitting .340 with four home runs and would likely have more if he had more playing time. The latter is getting regular playing time. He's not a big power threat, but he is hitting an eye-popping .514 his last ten games.
Other stacks to consider:
- Like usual, the Doosan Bears are in play. Opposing pitcher Min Ho Lee has stellar ratios. Yet its worth noting he's had only three starts, with two against SAM and one against SK. If you can afford 'em, I'd consider 'em!
- Ricardo Pinto has only given up one homer on the year. He also has a 1.65 WHIP. As long as you don't expect a lot of round-trippers, KIW could be a low-cost under-the-radar stack.
Good luck in your KBO DFS lineups tonight!
More Fantasy Baseball Analysis
