Spotlight Hitters KBO DFS Picks on DraftKings + FanDuel | Thursday June 18

That was a fun slate of KBO DFS and some quality baseball to go with it! With two teams putting up 7 runs and another three scoring 6 runs there were plenty of ways for KBO DFS lineups to go, and some different looking builds go to the top of GPP standings last night.

KBO DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Hitters

Diving right in, we have a few weather concerns on the board tonight, one that might scratch the best actual baseball game on the slate, which would be a shame for those of us looking forward to the Koo-Gagnon matchup between KBO strikeout leaders. With some sneaky good-looking quality spots, the slate has a lot to offer even if the NC game rains out.

Totals tonight are basically static to what we saw last night, but odds have shifted in a big way in a few games, pushing implied totals around and creating a bit of opportunity for us to dig into. A few key injuries in one of the big KBO lineups has them pushed down the stack tool tonight, there’s a lot for us to dig through today.


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 content, Awesemo’s projections, rankings, and ownership on the site for all your KBO DFS needs.

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 (5:30am), official lineups have not been released, so be sure to double-check status before you plug players into your lineup.

KT Wiz @ SK Wyverns – 9.5 run total (5.29/4.43) – Suggested Stack: Wiz 1-5

The Wiz came through for KBO DFS owners last night, taking a 6-4 win after playing into the 10th inning for the second straight day. Both starters were out after just five and change innings, so some late scoring came against these terrible bullpens again. The total tonight comes down with Odrisamer Despaigne on the hill for the Wiz and the capable Jong-hoon Park going for SK. It’s tough to love the low-run total overall, but the Wiz look good in top stacks and Awesemo’s projections, so there could be more here than meets the eye. I think I owe Optimus Prime a quarter for using that phrase.

The Wiz are the more favorable side here, but Park is no slouch. The 28-year-old starter has KBO-strong numbers over his career and is currently fourth among qualified starters in strikeout percentage at 25.4%. The Wiz bats rank second in the stack tool and are looking a bit under-owned on both sites. This is probably due to the match-up, so it could be a slightly sneaky spot for KBO DFS owners. Baek-ho Kang ($16/$5,900) should be back in the three spots in this lineup tonight and is always one of the top options. If his price suppresses ownership, I’d be all over it. Jeong-dae Bae ($9/$2,900) hit lead-off last night and I like that trend to possibly continue here. If he’s up top he’s a bat I like as part of a Wiz stack. Yong-ho Jo ($8/$2,800) appears to be drawing too little ownership for the price and lineup spot here as well.

The Wyverns get a dramatically different pitching match-up tonight with Despaigne on the mound. Despaigne’s 3.49 FIP is significantly better than his 4.60 earned run average, telling us he’s been a bit unlucky. His 19.3% strikeout rate is good but maybe a tick lower than we’d expect? He more than makes up for it by limiting hitters to a 4.5% walk rate, sixth among qualified starters. The Wyverns are just not a strong option in this match-up. The team ranks in the bottom half of stacks and there isn’t an ownership edge. Despaigne isn’t even drawing enough ownership to make it good leverage against a popular pitcher. The heart of the order is where you want to be, but the three key hitters will be the highest owned. If I’m taking the plunge with the Wyverns, I might go ahead and stretch out to a full stack and hope for the best. Adding Kang-min Kim ($7/$3,100), Eui-yoon Jeong ($7/$2,400) or Ji-hoon Choi ($5/$2,500) to your Ko, Choi, Romak three man can help you get to unique constructions.

LG Twins @ Hanwha Eagles – 10.0 run total (6.52/3.77) – Suggested Stack: Twins pick ‘em (weather warning)

The Twins rolled the sad Eagles again last night, racking up an impressive 13 hits in a 7-1 victory. Most of the damage came off Eagles starter Chad Bell who gave up seven runs, with five earned, in his six innings. And the match-up gets much juicier for the Twins tonight. Unfortunately the sky might look a bit juicy as well, watch the weather here.

Our favorite KBO punching bag pitcher is back! After a brief stint in the minors, Eagles’ starter, and the opposite of a control specialist, Shi-hwan Jang is back to take the start tonight. When he’s not throwing wild pitches and hitting batters, he’s a capable strikeout pitcher, but he puts an entirely untenable number of runners on base and gives the other team too much opportunity to score. A lineup like the Twins will feast on a guy like this. Odds-makers are all over them, I think they’re the biggest favorite KBO DFS players have seen in the league this year. Did I mention they’re getting big bopper Bob Ramos ($17/$5,300) back tonight? Despite some finally respectable pricing the public is taking the top off ownership on Ramos tonight, cracking the 60% mark on both sites. That’s an absurd amount of anyone in baseball DFS, regardless of the spot. That said, Ramos is a critical part of this stack hitting cleanup. Ji-hwan Oh ($9/$3,100) and Y.T. Park ($8/$2,300) could provide some ownership relief in your constructions, but it’s not like they’re wildly unpopular. This is the best stack with a bullet tonight, but it will be tough to be unique with them without taking a whopper of a chance elsewhere.

I was wrong about Hoying moving back up in the lineup, the Eagles kept the slugger hitting sixth which cuts into his projection slightly for me and makes him more challenging to get to as part of a stack here. If we’re looking for other bats in the Eagles lineup, I could see playing Tae-Kyun Kim ($7/$3,200) who is probably their second-best power bat now. Maybe build up to the top of the lineup in a three-man approach if you feel frisky here. These guys rank dead last in stacks for a reason. And that reason is that they suck and they’re facing Tyler Wilson.

Lotte Giants @ Kiwoom Heroes – 9.0 run total (3.96/5.25) – Suggested Stack: Giants 1-5

This game ended up being a comparatively tame affair last night, ending in a 4-3 Heroes victory. The game total is low in this one and I think it’s a similar type of score in the end. We also have a few key injuries to deal with in one of these lineups that further diminishes things.

The spot for the Giants bats wouldn’t be terrible if they weren’t looking as popular as they are. With higher ownership than probability of success on both sites KBO DFS owners might be going a bit overboard here, so I’m likely going to look in other directions. There are playable bats if you don’t mind climbing that ownership beanstalk for some Giants though. Dixon Machado ($10/$4,300) seems to have officially moved up to the fifth spot in the lineup, making the glove-man a relevant bat in this stack. Leadoff hitter Hoon Jung ($9/$3,900) is a quality veteran bat just back from injury who might go overlooked among the more popular bats atop the Giants lineup.

The Heroes are on shaky ground here tonight despite their implied total over five. With both of the power hitting Parks out of the lineup again tonight – Dong-wan will be back tomorrow, Byung-ho was put on the 10-day injured list today – Hye-sung Kim ($9/$2,400) along with Keong-chang Seo ($11/$13), Jung-hoo Lee ($14/$5,100) are going to have to pick up the slack for the power bats again. Ha-seong Kim ($15/$5,800) makes sense working into some of your stacks but I would maybe stick mixing and matching three-mans here. The Heroes don’t rank well in the top stacks tool, and with them taking on Dan Straily with a short lineup it’s just not the spot for me.


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NC Dinos @ Kia Tigers – 9.0 run total (5.08/4.12) – Suggested Stack: Dinos 3-4-5-6-7 (rain out warning)

Bad news, KBO DFS fans, this one is looking like a near-certain rain out tonight. After these two teams went to war in a 7-6 shootout last night, weather reports are pouring in from all sides looking grim. Precipitation at game-time is in the 80% range and this one is looking more like an uncheck in optimizers than it is a decision. A rain out is about the only thing that can stop Dinos starter Chang-mo Koo. If it doesn’t play hopefully these teams give us the same pitching match-up tomorrow, Koo against Drew Gagnon, the KBO’s top two in strikeout rate, would have been a good duel.

If they go, the Dinos are drawing a tough starter in Gagnon. Gagnon ranks second only to Koo in K% at 27.4% with an absurd 21.9% strikeout-to-walk percentage. The pitcher’s quality is pushing even the powerful Dinos bats down a bit here, but the match-up is also greatly suppressing ownership, and you know how I feel about these guys when we can get some edge with them. Aaron Altherr ($16/$4,800) has been raking and moved up in the lineup last night with Eui-ji Yang ($14/$6,100) resting. I like Altherr to jump up to sixth here hitting between Jin-sung Kang ($15/$4,400) and Suk-min Park ($10/$4,900) based on some recent success. In any order their threesome makes for a quality attachment to Yang and Na, or some of the other bats in this lineup. Keep an eye on the weather, if it clears throw in some Dinos and ride the edge.

I do not like the Tigers bats against Koo here. The starter is in a class of his own among his countrymen, with only the import starters coming close to rivaling him, and he’s been nothing short of the KBO’s best pitcher in 2020. Awesemo’s projections and the top stack tool look like they agree with me on the Tigers’ chances here. They won’t be very popular, but it’s not the kind of spot to jump on for that reason. If you’re feeling like posting a few zero to five type fantasy scores with hitters you could jam in some Joo-chan Kim ($3,700), Hyung-woo Choi ($10/$5,000), and Ho-ryung Kim ($10/$3,600) along with the two popular guys you were expecting me to name.

Samsung Lions @ Doosan Bears – 10.0 run total (4.22/6.02) – Suggested Stack: Doosan 1-2-4-5-6

The Lions rode a Tyler Saladino home run and a two-RBI night from Won-seok Lee to victory last night, taking out Bears import starter Chris Flexen in his return from the injured list. Flexen only lasted four innings, yielding three of the Samsung runs in a 6-3 loss. Tonight, the total goes up slightly, with most of the implied runs landing on the Bears side as they look to take one on getaway day after dropping the first two of this series.

There might be some additional opportunity for the Lions here if they can get the hit tool fired up tonight. Bears’ starter Hui-kwan Yu isn’t bad, bad he doesn’t impress with strikeouts or keeping runners off base, relying on his defense and some luck. Yu ranks 37th of 38 qualified starters in strikeout rate at a pathetic 8.5% and walks nearly as many. This is a time-bomb of a pitcher who will blow up for one of these offenses, it’s a good spot to be when he does. The pricing on Lions bats adds to their appeal here, and for once I might be on board with getting to them. Within reason. Tyler Saladino ($9/$4,600) makes a quality play if no one is going to be on him. Won-seok Lee ($8/$4,300) will be more popular but putting those two together with guys like Ja-wook Koo ($9/$4,900) and Sung-gyu Lee ($9/$3,200) can help with filling out the build and getting to unique constructions.

The Bears get 18-year-old lefty Yoon-dong Heo here. Heo has comported himself well so far over two starts, but only lasted five innings in each, and the kid’s 6.45 FIP to go with a 2.1% strikeout rate and a 10.6% walk rate should probably concern him and intrigue KBO DFS players. This is a smash spot again for the Bears, but they’ll be popular. Crushingly disappointing non-homer-hitting Jae-hwan Kim ($17/$5,700) is a fine option to get back to, he owes us one as far as I’m concerned. The Bears get Jae-won Oh ($7/$2,400) back from injury at second base and likely leading off here, but they’ll be down a Kun-woo Park again, after he tweaked his injury late last night. The top of this lineup still sings though, with Joo-jwan Choi ($11/$2,400) providing some salary and positional flexibility despite his popularity. This is a great spot and you can go a lot of different ways with the Bears, making them a terrific building block again tonight.


Favorite KBO DFS Stack: KT Wiz

HR Call: Hyun-soo Kim (LG Twins)


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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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