MLB

KBO Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 7/7/20

Dae-Ho Lee and the Lotte Giants provide salary relief on a slate where we want to splurge for Chang-mo Koo. Who else can lend us a hand for KBO DFS?

It is Chang-mo Koo's world, everybody. We're just living in it.

Koo (NC Starting P; $29) is the scheduled start for the NC Dinos, which is a blessing to eyeballs all across the world. He's going to be the top starter on Tuesday's slate, and there's no point in even issuing a spoiler warning there. It's just an accepted fact.

Here's a look at why. These are the starting pitchers on the KBO DFS slate sorted by the salary of their team's starting pitcher slot on FanDuel. Opposing runs per game totals can be found at My KBO Stats, and the strikeout rates are at Baseball Reference. Park factor numbers are a multi-year run factor via STATIZ with 1000 being neutral and a higher number favoring pitchers.

PitcherSalaryL/ROpp.ERAWHIPK%BB%HR%Opp. R/GOpp. K%Park Factor
Chang-mo Koo
(NC)
$29L@SK1.500.7631.1%4.9%1.2%3.7419.2%1038
Ki-young Im
(Kia)
$27RKT2.961.2120.1%4.5%1.0%5.8318.7%1003
Young-ha Lee
(Doosan)
$26RLG5.761.8714.2%11.2%0.7%5.4716.0%959
Won-sam Jang
(Lotte)
$26L@HAN----------3.4919.5%978
Jae-woong Kim
(Kiwoom)
$25LSAM----------5.1718.3%979
Woo-chan Cha
(LG)
$23L@DOO5.541.5221.0%9.9%3.4%6.1714.9%959
David Buchanan
(Samsung)
$23R@KIW4.041.2116.4%4.6%3.3%5.8118.7%979
Je-seong Bae
(KT)
$22R@KIA3.661.4413.2%10.1%2.3%4.9016.9%1003
Shi-hwan Jang
(Hanwha)
$22RLOT5.441.8624.5%11.6%2.3%4.7616.0%978
Seung-won Moon
(SK)
$20RNC3.261.1723.2%6.2%1.7%6.5217.0%1038


This will be just the third start of the year for Won-sam Jang, and it's Jae-woong Kim's first, which is why their numbers are blank. Let's dive into the slate and outline who else stands out beyond just Koo.

Pitchers

Koo's almost always going to be the top option for a KBO DFS slate, but tonight, we get him in a plus matchup to boot. Let's run through why he needs to be a priority.

Koo has been the best pitcher in the KBO this season by a wide margin. His 31.1% strikeout rate is 4.9 percentage points higher than any other pitcher, and he's one of only two qualified pitchers with an ERA under 2.30. He's clear of that by 0.80 runs.

You're putting that up against the SK Wyverns, who rank ninth in the league in both runs per game and strikeout rate. Even at $29 and in a hitter-friendly park, Koo is a no-brainer for the top of our list.

The debate is about who should be second. The answer there is a lot less definitive.

Because Koo is the play in cash games, we can afford to have this discussion from strictly a tournament perspective. That puts Ki-young Im (Kia Starting P; $27) in play despite facing a quality KT Wiz offense.

Im is second on the slate with a 2.96 ERA, and his 20.1% strikeout rate is respectable, even if it is 11 percentage points lower than Koo's. Although KT's offense can put up runs in bunches, they also strike out at an 18.7% clip. If you're looking for a pitcher who could capitalize and be the highest scorer should Koo stumble, Im has that upside.

Outside of Im, if you want to be different when not using Koo, you will want to go with a different roster construction entirely. That could lead you to using Seung-won Moon (SK Starting P; $20) even though he's facing Koo and the terrifying NC lineup.

The big appeal in Moon is that his individual numbers are top-notch. He has a 3.26 ERA that he legitimizes with his 23.2% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate. He -- as a talent -- should have a salary much higher than $20.

The problem is that he's facing the league's highest-scoring offense and in the most hitter-friendly park on the slate. That's why it's hard to prioritize Moon over Im as the top Koo alternative. But using Moon will give you much different rosters from the Koo lineups, and he does have a path to a big game. Koo is easily still the top arm on the slate, but if you decide to go elsewhere, Im and Moon are the best alternatives.

Stacks

With Koo being so definitively the pitcher we want, we will be scrambling for value at hitter. The Lotte Giants can provide a helping hand.

Lotte is facing Shi-hwan Jang, who has had a really impressive string of starts with 16 strikeouts in his past two outings. However, things get ugly when Jang doesn't get the strikeout as he holds an 11.6% walk rate and a 5.44 ERA. Lotte's strikeout rate is tied for second-lowest in the league, meaning they should be able to exploit his big weaknesses and put some runs on the board.

Some of that value comes from the top of the order in Hoon Jung ($9). Jung missed time earlier in the year with an abdominal injury, but he has been solid since his return and ranks third on the team in isolated slugging percentage. Jung paired with Dae-Ho Lee ($10) will set you off on the right foot toward affording Koo.

The LG Twins can help a bit, too, as long as you're okay missing out on some of the studs. They're facing Young-ha Lee. Lee has done a good job of dinger suppression, but his issues with plate discipline have pushed his ERA up to 5.76. LG's another team that tends to avoid strikeouts, meaning there figures to be plenty of balls in play for this one.

The two lower-salaried options here are Kang-Nam Yoo ($10) and Ji-Hwan Oh ($9). They don't have the same pop as LG's big three, but their isolated slugging percentages are .135 and .147, respectively, so they're at least providing something in that department. The idea here would be to lock in Yoo and Oh with value plays elsewhere -- potentially Jung and Lee -- in order to afford whichever of Roberto Ramos ($17), Hyun Soo Kim ($15), and Eun-Sung Chae ($13) that you can.

In the event you decide to spend down for Moon -- or just have extra salary to burn -- the Doosan Bears are worth your attention. They will go up against Woo-chan Cha, who has allowed a dinger to 3.4% of the opponents he has faced this season, the highest of any pitcher on the slate. With his 9.9% walk rate, a lot of those homers aren't solo shots. That gives Doosan's scary offense plenty of juice.

Even Doosan does provide at least some salary relief in Kyoung-Min Hur ($8). Hur has struck out just 6.7% of the time this year, boasts a decent .145 isolated slugging percentage, and will add the platoon advantage against the lefty. If you can't stack Doosan, Hur is a way to at least get access to this offense without breaking the bank.