Thursday's KBO slate featured a trio of offensive explosions, with the Eagles, Heroes and Bears all reaching double digits. The last-place Eagles led the way, scoring 13 runs in their victory over the Tigers, with Jae Hoon Choi, Kwang Min Song and Soo Kwang Noh all reaching base four times. The Heroes managed nine runs in 1.2 innings off Mike Wright in their win over the Dinos, with Jung Hoo Lee's 3-for-5 day leading the way. Elsewhere, the Bears demolished the Wyverns 10-0, with Jae Il Oh grabbing four hits and Jose Fernandez going 3-for-4 with a homer. Raul Alcantara had the day's best pitching performance in that one as well, striking out 11 over seven scoreless innings. Chae Heung Choi and Chan Heon Jung also had scoreless appearances, throwing five and six innings, respectively, with Jung's Twins eventually defeating Choi's Lions 1-0 on Min Jae Shin's walkoff single.
Friday's slate, which takes place at 4 a.m. ET, contains a few strong pitchers facing strong lineups alongside several shaky arms with much easier matchups.
Pitchers
The three most expensive pitchers on this slate are facing the three highest-scoring lineups in the league. Chris Flexen ($9,800) faces the weakest of those lineups in the Wiz and could be the best option on the day. His 3.80 ERA on the year is more good than great, though his 24.8 percent strikeout rate and 7.1 percent groundball rate suggest he's perhaps deserved better. He missed nearly two months with a
Thursday's KBO slate featured a trio of offensive explosions, with the Eagles, Heroes and Bears all reaching double digits. The last-place Eagles led the way, scoring 13 runs in their victory over the Tigers, with Jae Hoon Choi, Kwang Min Song and Soo Kwang Noh all reaching base four times. The Heroes managed nine runs in 1.2 innings off Mike Wright in their win over the Dinos, with Jung Hoo Lee's 3-for-5 day leading the way. Elsewhere, the Bears demolished the Wyverns 10-0, with Jae Il Oh grabbing four hits and Jose Fernandez going 3-for-4 with a homer. Raul Alcantara had the day's best pitching performance in that one as well, striking out 11 over seven scoreless innings. Chae Heung Choi and Chan Heon Jung also had scoreless appearances, throwing five and six innings, respectively, with Jung's Twins eventually defeating Choi's Lions 1-0 on Min Jae Shin's walkoff single.
Friday's slate, which takes place at 4 a.m. ET, contains a few strong pitchers facing strong lineups alongside several shaky arms with much easier matchups.
Pitchers
The three most expensive pitchers on this slate are facing the three highest-scoring lineups in the league. Chris Flexen ($9,800) faces the weakest of those lineups in the Wiz and could be the best option on the day. His 3.80 ERA on the year is more good than great, though his 24.8 percent strikeout rate and 7.1 percent groundball rate suggest he's perhaps deserved better. He missed nearly two months with a broken foot but has looked just fine since his return, posting a 3.81 ERA over five starts. That's no better than his mark from before the injury, though his 35:6 K:BB in 26 innings over that stretch is quite strong and should indicate good things for the future.
I like Casey Kelly ($10,000) slightly less than Flexen on Friday, and he costs slightly more, but he's still one of the top options on the slate despite facing the league's best lineup in the Dinos. He's been good enough to get the job done against any offense lately, as he's thrown quality starts in 10 of his last 11 outings, including one against the Bears and two against the Wiz. He's earned eight wins over that stretch while posting a 2.28 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Anyone facing the Dinos comes with a fair amount of risk, and Kelly's 6.6 K/9 over that strong stretch is nothing special, but he's still worth a look given the generally unconvincing alternatives.
The budget options on this slate are on the whole quite uninspiring, but Adrian Sampson ($5,700) is both one of the best and one of the cheapest among that group. His season-long 5.68 ERA and 1.58 WHIP are both poor, but they don't necessarily reflect how he's pitched of late. In his last seven starts, he owns a 4.02 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP, which are much stronger numbers if still far from elite. His 6.0 K/9 over that stretch isn't exciting, though he does own an excellent 13:0 K:BB in 11 innings over his last two starts. It's far from a perfect profile, but it's enough to make him interesting at his cheap price against the eighth-ranked Lions offense, even in the league's most hitter-friendly park.
Top Targets
Ha Seong Kim ($5,600) was in the news Thursday after reports surfaced that he will indeed be posted for MLB teams to sign this offseason, something that was rumored prior to the start of the campaign. He's certainly been hitting as if he's ready for a new challenge lately, posting a .436/.483/.745 line with four homers over his last 14 games. On the season as a whole, he's been excellent, hitting .310/.402/.531 with 28 homers and 21 steals. It's hard to envision him slowing down Friday against Shi Hwan Jang, who owns a 6.75 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP over his last four starts.
The Giants were one of several teams who just missed out on a stack recommendation in this column, as they'll face Tae In Won, who owns an 8.59 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP over his last seven starts, at the league's most hitter-friendly park. Ah Seop Son ($4,300) will get the platoon advantage against the righty and is the best Giant to grab if you select just one. He's been on a tear over his last 12 games, posting a .449/.518/.714 slash line while scoring 13 runs. He's homered just a modest nine times on the year, but it's hard to complain about a player who's leading the league in batting average, hitting .358.
Bargain Bats
Brandon Barnes ($3,800) featured here quite frequently at the start of his KBO career, as his price tag was far too low for a former MLB hitter who had yet to prove that he didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt overseas. At this point, his sub-.700 OPS over 58 games could well count as proof, but he's interesting nonetheless given that his performances have picked up lately. He's had five multi-hit games over his last nine, going hitless just once and hitting .350 overall in that stretch. He'll get the platoon advantage against Heroes lefty Jung Hyun Yoon, who owns an 8.53 ERA and a 2.2 WHIP in 25.1 innings.
Tae Gon Oh ($3,300) owned a very poor .220/.291/.280 line through 40 games when he was shipped from the Wiz to the Wyverns in mid-August. Since the move, he's been an entirely different player, hitting a quite respectable .315/.352/.469 in 39 contests while adding four homers and 11 steals. He has five multi-hit games in his last 10, a stretch in which he's hitting .353/.405/.471. He gets a good matchup against Ki Young Im, who owns a 13.06 ERA and a 2.42 WHIP over his last three starts.
Stacks to Consider
Twins vs. Sung Young Choi: Hyun Soo Kim ($5,200), Hyung Jong Lee ($4,100), Eun Sung Chae ($3,600)
The Twins have scored three or fewer runs in six of their last eight games and will be without Roberto Ramos, who returned from the injured list for just a single game Tuesday before his ankle issues flared up again. Still, they have a talented group of bats, scoring the fourth-most runs per game this season, and a game against Choi could be what they need to wake up. The 23-year-old lefty's 5.97 ERA and 1.69 WHIP on the season tell the story well enough on their own, but digging deeper only makes him look worse. He's struck out just 10.3 percent of opposing batters this season to go along with a 13.0 percent walk rate. In his last two starts, he's allowed nine runs in a total of 4.1 innings.
While Choi does throw left-handed, I'm still happy to select Kim here given his considerable talent and Choi's struggles, especially as the southpaw could well be out of the game quite early. Kim hasn't been at his best lately, though he's riding a five-game hitting streak. It says quite a lot about his ability to make consistent contact that his cold stretch over his last 13 games involves him hitting a perfectly respectable .265. On the season as a whole, he's been outstanding, hitting .345/.411/.547 with 22 homers, already doubling his total of 11 home runs from last season.
Lee is perhaps the real reason to be interested in this stack. He's been limited to just 66 games this season after missing the early part of the year due to a fractured hand, but he's been quite good when available. His .314/.395/.597 season slash line is good for a .993 OPS, nearly 150 points better than his previous career high of .844. He's also set a career high with 15 homers despite playing less than half of a full season. He's been particularly hot over his last 11 games, hitting .381/.458/.810 with five homers and 14 RBI.
Chae hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but his .286/.348/.425 season slash line is perfectly adequate for a mid-priced option who will get the platoon advantage against a shaky southpaw. He owned a .707 OPS when he was demoted briefly in mid-July, but he's been much better since his return, posting an .848 OPS in 41 games. He's currently riding a seven-game hitting streak, a stretch in which he owns a .360/.429/.440 slash line.
Tigers vs. Jong Hoon Park: Preston Tucker ($5,100), Hyung Woo Choi ($4,800), Won Joon Choi ($3,500)
Park may have allowed just one run in each of his last two starts, but he hardly did so in a sustainable way. In both outings, he walked more batters that he struck out. He hasn't struck out more batters than he's walked in any of his last four outings, a stretch in which he owns a 5.31 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. On the season as a whole, his 19.9 percent strikeout rate is strong, but it's generally been offset by an 11.6 percent walk rate, leading to a 5.09 ERA.
Tucker is something of a risky inclusion, as he's been in a bit of a slump lately, grabbing just four hits in his last seven games while posting a .452 OPS. He should have a great opportunity to cut that slump short here with the platoon advantage against Park, however. When Tucker is on, he's among the best hitters in the KBO, as his season-long stats indicate. He's tied for fourth in homers (29) and tied for fifth in OPS (.960).
Tucker's slump and Hyung Woo Choi's extended hot streak mean that the veteran designated hitter is actually the best hitter on the team, at least according to OPS, where his .992 mark places him third among qualified hitters. That number is nothing new for the 36-year-old, who's cracked quadruple digits in the category four times. He's raised his OPS by more than 100 points over his last 45 games, a stretch in which he's hit .392/.452/.665 with 10 homers and 39 RBI.
The Tigers' lineup drops off quite a bit after that pair of sluggers, though leadoff man Won Joon Choi has been quite productive lately. "Lately" in this case stretches back nearly two months, a stretch in which he's hitting .356/.423/.454 over 45 games while scoring 39 runs. The young center fielder has homered just once this seasons and just 10 times in his five-year career, but he's been a strong contact hitter throughout the season, posting a .314 batting average, which should give him multiple chances to get driven in by the heart of the Tigers' order.
