Wednesday's KBO action saw the two teams on opposite ends of the standings score double digits, while no other team scored more than five runs. The Dinos demolished the Wyverns by a 12-3 score, with Young Gyu Kim striking out nine while allowing just two unearned runs in six innings while Sung Bum Na led the way offensively with a grand slam. Meanwhile, the Eagles continued their strangely strong record against the Bears, winning 10-0 behind seven shutout innings from Warwick Saupold and four RBI from Jung Hyun Park. Elsewhere, Drew Gagnon and Eric Jokisch each allowed just two runs, with the Tigers eventually scoring one more off the Heroes' bullpen to win 3-2, while Chan Heon Jung and Se Woong Park also tossed a pair of quality starts, with homers from Hyun Jong Lee and Hyun Soo Kim helping Jung's Twins to a 5-3 win over the Giants. In the final game of the slate, Ben Lively allowed just one run in seven innings, but seven Wiz relievers combined to hold the Lions to just three runs, allowing the Wiz to score four more off the Lions' bullpen to win 5-3.
Thursday's slate, which remains at the earlier time of 1 a.m. ET, looks to be rather light on trustworthy pitching.
Pitchers
Odrisamer Despaigne ($10,500) isn't necessarily as reliable as you'd like for a pitcher of his price, and pitching in the league's most hitter-friendly park does add risk, but that's largely cancelled out by the fact that
Wednesday's KBO action saw the two teams on opposite ends of the standings score double digits, while no other team scored more than five runs. The Dinos demolished the Wyverns by a 12-3 score, with Young Gyu Kim striking out nine while allowing just two unearned runs in six innings while Sung Bum Na led the way offensively with a grand slam. Meanwhile, the Eagles continued their strangely strong record against the Bears, winning 10-0 behind seven shutout innings from Warwick Saupold and four RBI from Jung Hyun Park. Elsewhere, Drew Gagnon and Eric Jokisch each allowed just two runs, with the Tigers eventually scoring one more off the Heroes' bullpen to win 3-2, while Chan Heon Jung and Se Woong Park also tossed a pair of quality starts, with homers from Hyun Jong Lee and Hyun Soo Kim helping Jung's Twins to a 5-3 win over the Giants. In the final game of the slate, Ben Lively allowed just one run in seven innings, but seven Wiz relievers combined to hold the Lions to just three runs, allowing the Wiz to score four more off the Lions' bullpen to win 5-3.
Thursday's slate, which remains at the earlier time of 1 a.m. ET, looks to be rather light on trustworthy pitching.
Pitchers
Odrisamer Despaigne ($10,500) isn't necessarily as reliable as you'd like for a pitcher of his price, and pitching in the league's most hitter-friendly park does add risk, but that's largely cancelled out by the fact that he gets to face the eighth-ranked Lions lineup. The Cuban has had his fair share of poor starts this season, as his fine but not dominant 3.95 ERA would suggest, though he's generally been good lately. He's given up two or fewer runs in four of his five September starts, posting a 2.94 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over the course of the month even with a poor outing against these same Lions mixed in. His 16:11 K:BB in 33.2 innings over that stretch is a potentially worrying sign and could keep me off him alongside a different group of pitchers, but given the other alternatives available and his solid season overall, I'm happy enough to go with him here.
The 5.02 ERA Won Tae Choi ($8,900) owns certainly isn't a very appealing number, but there's reason to believe that doesn't accurately reflect his talent. The 23-year-old cruised to a 3.37 ERA last season and looked to be heading down a similar path early this year, as he owned a 3.68 ERA through his first 10 starts. He suddenly fell off a cliff when the calendar flipped to July, though, posting an 8.04 ERA over his next seven outings. He can likely blame those struggles at least in part on the shoulder inflammation that kept him out for over a month from mid-August to late September, however. He looked quite healthy in his first start back, allowing just one run on three hits in five innings against the Wyverns. Choi should get the chance to stay hot against the seventh-ranked Tigers lineup Thursday.
Like the names mentioned above, Myung Gi Song ($7,300) isn't particularly trustworthy, but there's enough about him to make him an interesting option against a Wyverns lineup that has been held to two or fewer runs in seven of their last 10 games. The 20-year-old second-year pitcher has made seven starts and 24 relief appearances this season, posting a solid but unspectacular 4.09 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. His WHIP has risen to 1.59 as a starter, but his ERA has remained more or less the same at 4.11. He's coming off his best start of the year, holding a strong Twins lineup to one run on three hits over six innings, and his easy matchup here gives him a great chance to keep that momentum going.
Top Targets
If the Bears weren't slumping across the board, I would have certainly recommended stacking them against Eagles righty Ee Whan Kim, whose 6.80 ERA comes with a 2.01 WHIP and a 29:36 K:BB. Jae Hwan Kim ($5,000) remains the Bear I'd group if I were to include only one. He's reached base safely in all but one of his last 12 games, hitting .238/.353/.643 with four homers and 12 RBI over that stretch. The fact that he can maintain an OPS of nearly 1.000 despite such a low batting average indicates the sort of performances he can provide when more of his hits start finding gaps in the defense.
Any of the Twins' top bats should be worth playing against Giants righty Kyeung Eun Noh, who owns a 4.85 ERA on the season, but I'll highlight Hyun Soo Kim ($5,300) here rather than his more expensive teammate Roberto Ramos, who has a single hit in his last four games. While Ramos has been both very hot and very cold at various times this season, Kim has generally been a steady presence. On the season as a whole, he's been excellent, hitting .353/.420/.568 with 22 homers, already doubling his total from last season. In his last 13 games, he's been even better, hitting .438/.473/.646 with an incredible 23 RBI.
Bargain Bats
Bears lefty Hui Kwan Yu owns a 5.29 ERA on the year and a 9.00 ERA over his last four starts, so if you're bold enough to stack the last-place Eagles lineup, this could be the time to do it. Including just one Eagle may be the safer path, and Si Hwan Noh ($3,600) could be the one to grab. The 19-year-old's .219/.284/.387 slash line on the season is quite poor, but he's swung a far hotter bat lately. In his last nine games, he's hitting .333/.436/.606 with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five).
I've elected not to recommend any of the Dinos' most expensive bats in this one, as Wyverns starter Ricardo Pinto has emerged from an extended and incredibly deep slump to suddenly allow a total of just two runs over his last three starts. While betting on him falling back to previous form certainly isn't a bad idea, Hee Dong Kwon ($2,500) represents a far cheaper way of doing that than selecting one of the league leaders' more heralded bats. Kwon went on an extended slump of his own after a surprisingly hot start, but he's moved back into the second spot in the Dinos' order in recent games after hitting .289/.429/.395 in his last 13 contests. His lineup position has helped him score nine runs in his last seven games and makes him quite a strong option at his very low price.
Stacks to Consider
Heroes vs. Hyun Soo Kim: Jung Hoo Lee ($5,700), Ha Seong Kim ($5,900), Keon Chang Seo ($4,700)
There are a pair of Hyun Soo Kims in the KBO, but the Twins have the far better one. The Tigers' Kim, a 20-year-old righty in his second KBO season, has been a reliever in all 10 of his appearances thus far, but he lasted five innings in his latest appearance, so this could be a true start and not a bullpen game. If that's the case, that's good news for the Twins. His 9.77 ERA and 2.55 WHIP tell the story of his struggles well enough on their own, but a deeper look doesn't paint him in much better light. His strikeout rate stands at a pitiful 4.6 percent, while his walk rate comes in at 17.2 percent. He simply allows far too much contact to have any faith in him shutting down the Heroes' top bats here.
Lee kicks off this stack with an unreliable righty on the mound. The 22-year-old is breaking out in his fourth KBO campaign, hitting .348/.414/.555. The high average is nothing new, as he posted an average of .324 or better in each of his first three seasons, but he'd never slugged higher than .477. He'd also never hit more than six homers, but he already has 15 this year. He hasn't borrowed from his doubles tally to get there, either, as his career-best mark of 45 in that category leads the league by eight. He's currently riding an 11-game hitting streak, hitting .489 with a 1.164 OPS over that stretch.
Ha Seong Kim won't get the platoon advantage here, but he's good enough to make that not matter much. On the season overall, he's hitting .304/.396/.522, strong numbers for any position, let alone a shortstop. He's also added 27 homers and 21 steals, good for fifth in the league in both categories. He's been quite hot lately, posting a 1.215 OPS over his last eight games. He did leave Wednesday's game early with what appears to be a minor hamstring issue, however, so you'll want to be sure he's in the lineup before selecting him. Consider teammate Hye Sung Kim ($5,100) as a cheaper alternative should he be unable to play.
Seo has made his last 10 starts as a number three hitter despite his prototypical leadoff skill set, though he's a strong enough hitter to be useful regardless of where he bats. Seo has just five homers on the year, but his .288 average and 15.1 percent walk rate (a number he pairs with a 9.3 percent strikeout rate) give him a strong .394 on-base percentage. He's also stolen 23 bases, just one shy of the league lead. He's been swinging quite well recently, hitting .375/.427/.469 over his last 17 games.
Wiz vs. Yoon Dong Heo: Mel Rojas Jr. ($6,300), Jae Gyun Hwang ($5,600), Jeong Dae Bae ($4,000)
The Wiz would be a tempting stack against quite a few pitchers at hitter-friendly Daegu Samsung Lions Park. That's certainly true against Heo here. The 19-year-old lefty owns a 5.52 ERA through the first eight starts of his rookie season, but things certainly could be far worse. He's had to pitch out of jams all season, as his 1.87 WHIP indicates. He's struggled to put hitters away, posting a 9.2 percent strikeout rate, so he's been forced to nibble at the plate, leading to a 15.6 percent walk rate. In his last two starts, he's allowed six runs in just 3.1 innings while walking five and striking out zero. There's little reason to believe that will change here.
Selecting MVP favorite Rojas against this kind of pitcher in this kind of park is an easy choice, even if he's been a bit cold lately. "Cold" is of course relative, as his .250/.400/.361 slash line over his last 12 games is still good for a solid .761 OPS. He's homered just once over that stretch, allowing Roberto Ramos to charge into a share of the league lead, but his overall .342/.408/.660 slash line remains excellent. It's hard to pass up those numbers in this situation.
Hwang has actually been the hottest hitter for the Wiz of late. The third baseman's four-hit night Wednesday was his second in his last five games. His hot streak has really stretched back over a full month, as he's hitting .378/.440/.613 over his last 18 games. He's deservedly the most expensive third baseman on the slate, as he's scored more than a point per game more than anyone else at the position despite the fact that he struggled to a .674 OPS over his first 35 games.
With a southpaw on the mound for the Lions, I'll stay away from lefty Baek Ho Kang here in favor of the right-handed Bae. The leadoff man's .300/.378/.455 season slash line does come with a presumably unsustainable .378 BABIP, though his 20 steals (which rank sixth in the league) suggest he has the speed to leg out a few extra hits. He's been slightly colder lately, though he owns a perfectly respectable .288/.328/.407 slash line over his last 13 games, scoring 12 runs and stealing three bases over that stretch.
