Friday's KBO action saw only the Dinos and Wiz out of the league's seven contending teams manage a win. The Dinos got a strong outing from Myung Gi Song, who allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five in six innings, as they defeated the Twins by a 7-1 score. Odrisamer Despaigne threw a quality start for the Wiz while Jae Gyun Hwang's four hits and a homer helped make up for hitless days from Mel Rojas Jr. and Baek Ho Kang as the Wiz beat the Tigers 7-3. The other three contests all saw upsets from bottom-three sides. The Eagles managed their fifth straight victory as Brandon Barned homered in his third straight game to help his team beat the Giants 6-5, with Ju Suk Ha's walkoff single in the 10th inning deciding the outcome. Ricardo Pinto continued his recent hot streak, dominating the Heroes with eight strikeouts and just four hits allowed over seven scoreless innings, though 13 runs would be scored from the bottom of the eighth onwards in a game the Wyverns would eventually win 8-6 in 11 innings. Elsewhere, a seven-inning, three-run performance from Chae Heung Choi was enough to help the Lions slip by the Bears, 4-3.
Saturday's slate, which begins slightly earlier at 4 a.m. ET, contains quite a few pitchers who look like prime stack targets, with the only reliable arms coming in quite expensive.
Pitchers
Raul Alcantara ($11,000) is coming off one of his worst outings
Friday's KBO action saw only the Dinos and Wiz out of the league's seven contending teams manage a win. The Dinos got a strong outing from Myung Gi Song, who allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five in six innings, as they defeated the Twins by a 7-1 score. Odrisamer Despaigne threw a quality start for the Wiz while Jae Gyun Hwang's four hits and a homer helped make up for hitless days from Mel Rojas Jr. and Baek Ho Kang as the Wiz beat the Tigers 7-3. The other three contests all saw upsets from bottom-three sides. The Eagles managed their fifth straight victory as Brandon Barned homered in his third straight game to help his team beat the Giants 6-5, with Ju Suk Ha's walkoff single in the 10th inning deciding the outcome. Ricardo Pinto continued his recent hot streak, dominating the Heroes with eight strikeouts and just four hits allowed over seven scoreless innings, though 13 runs would be scored from the bottom of the eighth onwards in a game the Wyverns would eventually win 8-6 in 11 innings. Elsewhere, a seven-inning, three-run performance from Chae Heung Choi was enough to help the Lions slip by the Bears, 4-3.
Saturday's slate, which begins slightly earlier at 4 a.m. ET, contains quite a few pitchers who look like prime stack targets, with the only reliable arms coming in quite expensive.
Pitchers
Raul Alcantara ($11,000) is coming off one of his worst outings of the season, as he gave up five runs in five innings against the Twins his last time out, but his 8:0 K:BB in that start hardly suggests he's suddenly lost his edge. That was his second non-quality start in his last five trips to the mound, following a streak of 13 straight quality starts, though it's not as if he's been poor over his last five starts, as he's posted a 3.30 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over that stretch. It shouldn't be a surprise that even Alcantara's mediocre stretches are still quite good, as his 2.97 ERA on the season is backed by an excellent pairing of a 21.7 percent strikeout rate and a 3.7 percent walk rate. He's quite expensive and doesn't face the easiest matchup against the Heroes' fifth-ranked lineup, but he's a strong bet to live up to the price tag.
The Eagles may be on a five-game winning streak, scoring seven runs per game over that stretch, but it's hard to say that an offense which ranks last in the league at just 3.7 runs per game (nearly 1.5 runs below league average) is suddenly a tough matchup. Mike Wright ($9,500) therefore looks like a strong option despite some less than convincing performances of late. He did strike out seven Giants in six scoreless innings his last time out, though that followed a four-start stretch in which he had a 5.87 ERA and a 4.7 K/9. On the season overall, Wright hasn't been dominant, but his 4.13 ERA is a perfectly acceptable number and comes with an above-average 18.4 percent strikeout rate. That should be enough to get things done against the Eagles.
David Buchanan ($8,800) has been prone to the occasional blowup this season, allowing eight or more runs on three separate occasions, but he's generally been quite good, as his 3.62 ERA and 1.30 WHIP suggest. None of those poor outings have come in his last eight, a stretch in which he owns a 2.68 ERA. His 15.6 percent strikeout rate on the season is fairly modest for a pitcher with his overall numbers, which does somewhat cap his upside, but he's still a strong play here against a Wyverns offense which ranks second-last in runs per game.
Top Targets
It's Hyung Woo Choi ($5,100), not Preston Tucker, who now leads the Tigers in OPS, beating his American teammate .978 to .967 in that category despite the fact that Tucker comes in $900 more expensive on this slate. Both players will have the platoon advantage against Giants righty Seung Heon Lee, who's allowed 16 runs in nine innings in his short KBO career, and both will be strong options, but Choi's better recent performance earns him the recommendation here. In his last 21 games, the veteran is hitting .393/.441/.702 with five homers. In his last three games, he's gone 8-for-13, while Tucker has gone 2-for-12.
The Bears have an easy enough matchup against Heroes lefty Seung Ho Lee, who owns a mediocre 4.79 ERA, but the fact that many of the team's top hitters are both struggling and left-handed means that other stacks look more appealing on this slate. Right-handed leadoff man Kun Woo Park ($4,000) looks like a solid inclusion, however. While he's also struggled at times recently, he appears to be pulling out of it over the last six games, hitting .318/.375/.455. On the season as a whole, his .297/.363/.470 slash line is good value at his fairly modest price, especially given that he leads off for one of the league's top lineups.
Bargain Bats
Dong Yeop Kim ($3,000) has seen his price steadily rise, but he remains probably the most underpriced player on the slate. Looking at just his overall .310/.339/.505 season slash line makes him seem like a decent bargain at his cheap price tag, but he's been significantly better than that of late. In his last 13 games, he's hitting .444/.446/.759 with five homers, 14 runs and 14 RBI. Stretching back to August 2, the date he returned from a demotion to help him sort out his swing, he's hitting .382/.403/.641 over 39 games. He should stay hot in the league's most hitter-friendly park against Young Woo Jo, who owns a 5.63 ERA and an 11.4 percent strikeout rate.
The Giants are one of many teams who could have earned a stack recommendation in this article, as they'll face Tigers righty Min Woo Lee and his 5.84 ERA. Ah Seop Son ($3,900), the only left-handed hitter who typically finds himself anywhere near the top of the order, has featured frequently here against shaky righties and does so again ahead of Saturday's contest. He has five multi-hit games in his last seven chances, hitting .387/.406/.516 over that stretch.
Stacks to Consider
Twins vs. Je Seong Bae: Roberto Ramos ($5,700), Hyun Soo Kim ($5,200), Chang Gi Hong ($2,900)
Bae has somehow managed to allow two or fewer earned runs in three of his last four starts, but his 7:13 K:BB over that stretch suggests he's gotten incredibly lucky. A similar trend has existed for him over his last eight starts. His 5.79 ERA and 1.62 WHIP over that stretch are both poor, but his 21:25 K:BB suggests things could have been much worse. It's possible he'll continue avoiding the worst of the damage here, but the smarter bet seems to be that his ERA will finally rise to meet his underlying numbers.
You don't need Ramos to get the platoon advantage against a poor opposing starter for him to be a quality addition, but it certainly doesn't hurt. With the way he's hitting right now, however, he's practically a must-start against anyone. He's potentially re-opening the MVP race after Mel Rojas Jr. appeared to be running away with his, as his five homers in his last five games have made him the new home run leader with 38, one more than Rojas has managed. He owns an incredible 1.892 OPS and has driven in nine runs over that stretch.
Kim has been the Twins' top bat for much of the year and remains an excellent option even if Ramos is currently the most exciting Twin. Kim has been in a run of good form lately himself, as his hitless day Friday ended an eight-game hitting streak in which he posted a .517/.543/.724 slash line. On the season as a whole, he's third in the league in hits (158), second in RBI (106) and fifth among qualified hitters in OPS (.988).
Leadoff man Hong has benefited from Ramos' and Kim's hot streaks in the heart of the order, as he's scored 10 runs in his last 10 games. While he's cooled off a bit since his 18-game hitting streak ended last week, he still owns quite good numbers dating back to mid-August, hitting .336/.434/.453 in his last 32 games. His price is partially what makes him a particularly interesting option here, but number two hitter Ji Hwan Oh ($4,700) should be in consideration for those with more budget space.
Wiz vs. Yun Sik Kim: Mel Rojas Jr. ($5,800), Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,600), Jeong Dae Bae ($3,700)
Stacking the opposite side of that contest seems to be an equally good idea. Kim has made eight starts and 10 relief appearances thus far in his rookie season, posting a 6.56 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He's been particularly poor in his last two outings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits in seven innings of work. His 7:1 K:BB in those contests is in theory a good sign, but it's just about the only one on his record thus far. On the season as a whole, his 7.6 percent walk rate is decent, but he's striking out just 14.8 percent of opposing batters.
Switch hitter Rojas is always the correct place to start a Wiz stack as long as you have the space to include him. As mentioned above, he's been surpassed by Roberto Ramos in the home run race, but he still dominates the top of the leaderboard, ranking second in that category and first in RBI (108) and OPS (1.075). He's cooled off over his last eight games, hitting just .250 with a single extra-base hit, but he's still seeing the ball quite well, walking at a 25.7 percent clip over that stretch. A game against Kim is the prime opportunity for him to return to vintage form.
While Rojas hasn't been at his best, Hwang has more than picked up the slack. Over his last 24 games, he owns a .372/.439/.606 slash line, scoring 27 runs. Judging by just his season-long .878 OPS, you might be tempted to think he was a second-tier bat. His numbers are significantly held back by a poor start to the season in which he posted a .657 OPS through his first 33 games. In his last 72 games, he owns a .980 OPS, which would be good for sixth among qualified hitters had he been able to hit at that level since Opening Day.
With a southpaw on the mound, we'll skip left-handed cleanup hitter Baek Ho Kang in favor of the leadoff man Bae. The center fielder's .302/.311/.465 slash line over his last nine games is below his season-long numbers in the walk department but is strong everywhere else, as he's homered twice, stolen two bases, driven in nine runs and scored 10 more over that stretch. The 24-year-old had accomplished very little prior to this season, and his .376 BABIP casts some doubt on the sustainability of his numbers, but his 17 steals suggest he has the speed to reliably post a high number in that category.
