KBO week 3 kicks off tomorrow and I cannot wait to dive in. Even just one day without baseball each week is one day too many. DraftKings is running some big $$ KBO contests so be sure to reserve spots early if you plan to play!
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Pitchers and Picks for 5/19
Here are some of my favorite plays for the slate. I like to include high upside plays even if it means taking some risks so don’t forget to look at the “format” suggested under each pitcher. This slate definitely seems to have more of a GPP slant to it on the pitching side. Names are sorted by DraftKings price. DK seems to be slowly figuring out pricing for pitchers so fitting two studs in gets harder and harder. However, there are some solid GPP options for tomorrow that might help you save some salary.
Choi Won-tae
Team: KIW v SK
Price: $9,500 | $25
Matchup: BA (9th) | OPS (9th) | SO (8th) | BB (10th)
Notes: Choi has been consistently solid since becoming a full-time starter in 2017. He is one of the stingiest in the league when it comes to give up walks or home runs and finished with a WHIP of only 1.28 last season. Those trends have all continued during his first two starts of this season – 2.92 ERA (and only 2.36 FIP)/1.22 WHIP and only 2BB in 12.1 innings pitched. It only gets more promising when you look at his matchup against SK. They rank toward the bottom of the league in just about every major offensive category, including 2nd to last in batting average and dead last at drawing walks. With the control and consistency of Choi, it should be a long day for the SK offense. It’s also worth mentioning the FanGraph’s ZiPS 2020 model is projecting Choi to finish 5th overall in ERA this season (3.58). He is expensive and leaves a little to be desired with strikeouts but this is as solid as a matchup gets.
Format: ALL
Mike Wright
Team: NC v DOO
Price: $9,000 | $27
Matchup: BA (1st) | OPS (1st) | SO (1st) | BB (8th)
Notes: Mike Wright is in his first KBO season after spending time in the MLB and MiLB. Although he did not fare well in America, his KBO season is off to an excellent start – 2.55 ERA/1.09 WHIP/11K/3BB in 11 total innings pitched. His FIP is up around 5 and he has gotten into some trouble but always seems to find a way out of the jam. The matchup is extremely tough and I think he will be very low owned because of it, but ownership leverage is not the lone reason he made my list. ZiPS is projecting Wright to finish 4th overall in K/9 this season and he’s been a proven strikeout pitcher even throughout his MLB/MiLB career. The Doosan offense has been spectacular but I think Wright has the stuff to pitch and score well. This is a *very risky GPP play but one that has potential to pay off (high strikeout upside, low owned and potentially high-owned DOO hitters).
Format: GPP
Lim Chan-gyu
Team: LG v SAM
Price: $6,900 | $25
Matchup: BA (10th) | OPS (10th) | SO (7th) | BB (5th)
Notes: Lim began 2019 as a reliever and finished as a starter. His numbers remained relatively consistent throughout and were decent – 4.97 ERA/1.47 WHIP/72K and a low batting average against of .248 in 88.2 innings pitched. He was exceptionally good in his final 2 starts of 2019 (11 IP/1ER/10K) and started off 2020 in similar fashion (6 IP/1ER/7K/0BB). ZiPS projects Lim to finish 6th overall in K/9 (7.8) and he draws a very favorable matchup against a struggling Samsung squad. His is priced too low on DraftKings and makes for a solid play with strong upside.
Format: ALL (especially on DK)
Jang Shi-hwan
Team: HAN v KT
Price: $6,700 | $23
Matchup: BA (2nd) | OPS (2nd) | SO (2nd) | BB (7th)
Notes: This play is another that I would recommend for tournaments because Jang is volatile. He started every game in 2019 after being a reliever in all but 7 of 211 previous appearances. Jang is cheap and has plenty of strikeout upside (9.75 K/9 to start 2020 and just under 8 K/9 last season). His FIP has been lower than ERA the last 2 seasons and BABIP has been high (suggesting he’s been somewhat unlucky). Unfortunately he has proven to have some control issues and has not been the most consistent pitcher since joining the league back in 2007. Overall, Jang’s combination of price, upside and volatility make him a great GPP candidate for tomorrow.
Format: GPP
Honorable KBO Pitching Mentions
Lee Young-ha ($8,300 | $21) – Lee is a pitcher I would primarily look target on FanDuel (if anywhere) as he is the cheapest on the slate. He’s projected by ZiPS to finish top 15 in ERA this season, had an opponent batting average of only .238 in 2019 (in 27 starts) but does draw one of the toughest matchups on the slate.
William Cuevas ($7,500 | $24) – Cuevas had a solid 2019 and is projected by ZiPS to finish top 15 in both ERA and K/9 in 2020. That being said, he’s given up 7ER and hit 3 batters in 11 total innings pitched to start the year. Home runs and control issues have plagued him throughout his career but he does find himself in a favorable matchup against HAN who is 8th worst in team OPS. I like his upside tonight.
Glossary
OPS (On-base plus Slugging)
SO (Strikeout)
K/9 (Strikeouts per 9 innings)
BB (Walk)
ERA (Earned Run Average)
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched)
QS (Quality Start)
IP (Inning Pitched)
ER (Earned Run)
R (Run)
DK (DraftKings)
FD (FanDuel)
KBO (Korean Baseball Organization)
LHP (Left Handed Pitcher)
BABIP (Batting Average Balls in Play)
Chalky – High Ownership
