KBO DFS: Spotlight Hitters for DraftKings + FanDuel | May 31

Some days it’s easier to prioritize Korean baseball and KBO DFS picks than others. Stay safe out there.

Last night’s KBO DFS slate saw a few monster scores thrown up from a few unexpected sources, and the pitching coming in a little wonky it took some creative angles to get to the top of GPP standings. Kia starter Min-woo Lee had a monster game shutting down LG, while Samsung had another big outburst for their fourth straight win, with Min-ho Kang smashing two home runs.

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

With suppressed run totals across the board it looks like we’re headed for a tricky night tonight. Just looking at the surface of things, it’s probably a good night to really try to ride ownership, there’s a lot of similarity between options, and a lot of high-end pitchers facing quality lineups. Don’t be afraid to leave salary on the table. People ask about this all the time. In baseball more than any other DFS sport, it’s acceptable, even advisable, to leave salary unspent. I don’t mean $200 either. I’m fine with leaving any amount of surplus salary, provided I have a construction with two properly built stacks, maximizing lineup correlation, and two quality pitching options. With KBO DFS salaries the way they are on both sites you can frequently get to high-end builds that leave a lot of salary remaining.


The bulk of this analysis comes directly from reviewing Awesemo’s KBO DFS projections and the top stacks tool. Check out the rest of our KBO DFS picks content, Awesemo’s projections, rankings, and ownership on the site.

As usual, I’m going to look game by game, calling out a hitter or two from each team, and giving some top stacking options as we go. Pricing and popularity will be considered, more so as KBO DFS trends begin to emerge over the coming weeks. The numbers included with Suggested Stack are the projected lineup positions I would target for stacking that team, but do not restrict yourself exclusively to those spots. For example, if it says Wyverns 3-6 it means 3,4,5,6 in the projected lineup. If it says 1-2-3-5 it means those guys. If it means a two-man it will say so. I’m also going to start trying to include positions more, hopefully it helps speed up the process of finding guys as you build lineups.

With lock still hours away (1:00am), official lineups have not been released, so be sure to double-check status before you plug players into your lineup.

Hanwha Eagles @ SK Wyverns – 9.0 run total (4.43/4.77) – Suggested Stack: Eagles 9-1-3-4-5

The Eagles got all of their offense in one swing last night, with Sung-yeol Lee ($9/$3.6k) cracking a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Otherwise the Eagles squandered opportunity after opportunity, with only one hit other than the home run, but seven wasted free passes. Tonight, they’re facing capable righty Jong-hoon Park and land in the middle of the top stacks tool. Lee makes for a great option in the middle of the lineup again tonight. Looking for some points of differentiation, we might want to build some wrap-around constructions with the Eagles. If Kwang-min Song ($9/$4.6k) is hitting ninth he makes for an appealing option again in that regard. Song has a bit of pop in his bat and is projected for very low ownership on both sites. Building him in with options from the top of the lineup, Yong-kyu Lee ($8/$4.2k) through Sung-yeol Lee hitting fifth makes a lot of sense if you’re looking at the Eagles for your KBO DFS picks tonight.

The Wyverns put nine runs on the board last night, but five of them came late in the game from pinch hitters or late in the lineup. Only Jeong Choi ($14/$4.4k) delivered from among the starters in the heart of the order. As usual, he’s a strong option, but the Wyverns look to be too popular tonight. Their pricing is low given their performance to this point, so a lot of people are going in that direction on a flat night. This looks like bad chalk to me. Chad Bell is making his second start of the season for the Eagles and is probably going to be on limited pitches gain tonight, but he should open the game with a lot of quality through the first four or even five innings, which might be enough to completely de-fang the Wyverns. If you want to get some of their less popular bats in, young second baseman Ji-hoon Choi ($5/$2.7k) is looking a bit lonely hitting second in the projected order. Be aware that the projection number is limited, but the spot and popularity can more than justify the play.

KT Wiz @ Kiwoom Heroes – 10.0 run total (5.03/5.18) – Suggested Stack: Heroes 3-7

The Heroes absolutely smashed the Wiz last night, taking a 14-3 victory, with a ton of production coming from relevant bats for KBO DFS players. Vegas left the total on this one where it was and the spread is tight once again. With the only 10-run total on tonight’s slate both teams are pumped up toward the top of the stacks tool. The Wiz are currently ranked second on DraftKings and third on FanDuel and are tracking toward appropriate ownership. Getting to some of the big bats in this lineup against a young lefty who has taken some lumps so far this season makes sense. Leadoff hitting shortstop Woo-jun Sim ($10/$3.3k) isn’t crushingly popular and is the table-setter for this lineup. His pricing helps get to some of the bigger bats like Mel Rojas Jr. ($15/$6.1k). Rojas is currently carrying a WRC+ 84% above league average. He’s going to be chalky and isn’t a surprise, but there are enough low-ownership options here that you can get to unique constructions. Second baseman Kyung-soo Park ($9/$3.7k), for example, is tracking under 10% ownership on both sites despite hitting sixth in what should be a good spot.

Similarly, the Heroes are going to be a good option for us here again. So much so that they just flip places with the Wiz on each site in the top stacks tool. A game-stack might not be the craziest approach if you can find the right build, but it’s rarely my preferred construction. Byung-ho Park ($12/$4.9k) is probably too inexpensive on both sites, but only drawing extreme popularity on FanDuel. On DraftKings he’s far more playable. I like the idea of getting to Park and anyone through seven-hitter Hye-sung Kim ($6/$2.2k) who had himself a game last night. Kim went 4-5, hit for the cycle, scored three, and drove in four making him almost mandatory to access the top of GPP standings. Projected sixth hitter Gyu-min Kim ($5/$2.3k) isn’t blowing the doors off the projections, but opportunity should be there, and the price and popularity are extremely cooperative.

LG Twins @ Kia Tigers – 8.5 run total (4.34/4.34) – Suggested Stack:  Twins 2-5

The early one didn’t disappoint last night, with an early pitching duel giving way to a late inning war ending in a 10-6 Tigers victory. Tonight, the total comes down and odds-makers have it at a dead heat with two import starters taking the hill. If things go to plan both offenses will be suppressed. The Twins have been one of my favorite options for KBO DFS picks, but they’re in a tough spot against Drew Gagnon. They rank toward the middle of tonight’s top stacks tool and have a great value rating on DraftKings. At this point I should just copy/paste the fact that Ramos and Chae are too cheap here instead of trying new ways to write it every day. Massive “however” for me on Ramos though, he’s pulling down a 50% ownership projection on both sites. This is baseball, I don’t care how good or how cheap he is, that’s just absurd. If half of all lineups are going to any individual hitter, I just want to be somewhere else. Eun-sung Chae ($11/$2.8k) on the other hand looks like he’ll be under 10% owned on both sites. The same is true for Hyun-soo Kim ($14/$5.2k) who isn’t cheap but is a great option hitting second if you’re looking to the Twins here. Both hitters can drive the ball on their own and support one another’s production in the lineup, each finishing with a WRC+ in excess of 19% higher than league average each of the last two years.

A few of the Tigers popular players popped last night on the way to their win, but they’re near the bottom of the top stack rankings again tonight. Tyler Wilson is on the mound for the Twins. Wilson has looked strong since his ugly first start, his ERA down to 4.24 with a slightly better FIP at 4.04, and a crisp WHIP of 1.03, it’s going to be asking a lot of the Tigers to get to him tonight. If you’re looking this way it’s going to be contrarian on both sites, so feel free to get to the obvious bats again here. Awesemo’s projections support the idea that this offense is going to be flat tonight, and those big bats in the middle of the order are still pricey. Ji-wan Na ($9/3.3k) continues to mash and hasn’t seen his price jump. Leadoff hitter Chan-ho Park ($9/$4.5k) is always an option with this lineup based on his speed, and he demonstrated a little pop with a home run last night. Not many people are on any of these guys, feel free to mix and match if it’s where you want to make your KBO DFS stand tonight.


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Lotte Giants @ Doosan Bears – 8.5 run total (3.78/4.92) – Suggested Stack: Bears 2-6

It wasn’t a huge game, with only four runs going up on the board, but the Giants did enough last night to have a few difference making plays that landed in some of the entries atop GPP leaderboards last night. They stacked well with the relevant plays from Kiwoom, and that construction paid off people who got there in their KBO DFS picks. This game also has a decreased total and two import starters on the mound. Dan Straily and Chris Flexen are both off to strong starts to their seasons and should pitch well again tonight. Flexen looks to be drawing a good amount of ownership on both sites but facing the Bears offense is keeping everyone off Straily. That might be worth looking at as you make your SP2 selections on DraftKings. This is a hitting column though; the Giants bats could support Straily in his efforts. They rank toward the bottom of the top stack tool, but Awesemo’s projections for the top half of this lineup are all playable, and every choice is affordable. I like the ownership better on FanDuel, but options like Chi-hong An ($9/$2.7k) and Dae-ho Lee ($10/$4.2k) look good on both sites. I might get to some Giants stacks here again, but it’s a buyer beware type of play in a tough spot.

And now we get to the most interesting spot on the slate. The Bears have been one of the top two options for stacks almost every night this season. They’re ranking fourth tonight at around 11% probability of being the best choice. The ownership on FanDuel is around half that. This is a talented lineup that can get to Straily any given start, and it looks like a great play to me. The popularity isn’t extreme on DraftKings, but it is more in the neighborhood of where it should be. The entire top half of the Bears lineup is in play for you if you take this angle. My home run model didn’t project them for as much power as I normally see, but quality options like Jae-il Oh ($16/$3.4k) and Jae-hwan Kim ($17/$5.4k) both lead the way there and in Awesemo’s projections.

NC Dinos @ Samsung Lions – 9.0 run total (5.47/3.76) – Suggested Stack: Dinos – 2-6

None of us were betting on the Lions to sweep the Dinos across three games, but they’re on the verge of doing that very thing tonight. After putting an nine run shellacking on the Dinos last night, with six of those runs coming against the bullpen. The Dinos power pretty much went out, with a lone RBI coming from Aaron Altherr at the bottom of the lineup in a lame performance. The match-up tonight might be similar to what we saw the other day with the Twins, where the on-paper performance this year was better than the underlying numbers for that night’s starter. The Dinos have a lot of talent to throw at a kid who has bounced between the rotation and bullpen the first two years of his career, with mixed results in both. Don’t overrate the good start to 2020. The Dinos rank at the top of Awesemo’s top stacks on both sites, and the ownership is playable at worst, and advantageous on FanDuel. Any time KBO DFS players can get to Sung-bum Na ($16/$4.8k) at under 20% ownership on DraftKings and under 10% on FanDuel, I’m on board with the play. Na is a guy with an MLB-ready bat who has hit seven home runs already this year and has five years of more than 20 in his KBO career. Jin-hyuk No ($9/$3.0k) plays both middle infield spots on DraftKings and is drawing very low ownership for the spot he’s hitting from in this batting order. The opportunities will be there when this offense is rolling, as evidenced by his WRC+ 23% above league average so far in 2020.

It’s going to be tough for the Lions to repeat last night’s performance. Chang-mo Koo looks different than a lot of the other pitchers in the KBO. This is a kid who could have MLB pedigree, so he’ll be a tough matchup most nights. He’s also going to be extremely popular, so this is another leverage spot if you believe the Lions can get to him. I don’t really want to go in that direction and the projections don’t support it at all. Ranking dead last on both sites in the top stacks tool and carrying all red and yellow in conditional formatting on the projection column, this is just a mistake I’m wiling to let others make. The few times they get to Koo I’m still not sure they do it to the degree where they’ll be mandatory for accessing the highest scores in GPPs. If you want to go this way stay in the top half. Dong-yeop Kim ($9/$3.1k) and Hak-ju Lee ($6/$3.5k) are in run-producing spots in the lineup, which is the most enthusiastic endorsement I can give them here.


Favorite Stack: Doosan Bears

HR Call: Jun-woo Jeon (Lotte Giants)


Looking for more KBO DFS picks content? We’ve got loads of articles, data, cheat-sheets and more on the Awesemo KBO home page, just click HERE

Author
Terry used to do other things, now he writes words on the internet. He hopes his more than 20 years’ experience in season-long and daily fantasy sports and his custom models for MLB, NBA, and NFL don't steer you too wrong when he writes columns and makes picks on Awesemo.com. A lifetime of experience keeping odd hours make Terry ideal to cover KBO baseball overnight until the world returns to normal. Most of those late night hours have been spent on the couch watching sports, T.V., and movies; just try to shut him up about any of the above. You can find his pop-culture ramblings and more on Sideaction.

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