South Korea's KBO League is bringing live baseball back in our lives, and that means the return of daily fantasy baseball with real cash prizes on FanDuel!
First pitch on Wednesday is at 5:30 am ET, and official lineups typically come out an hour before game time at the earliest.
Scoring is identical to what we see in MLB DFS, but FanDuel is condensing the number of starting spots to seven. You start one pitcher as usual, and then only need to roster two infielders, two outfielders, and two utility players to fill out the rest. Your total team salary is also $100 instead of $35,000.
Some websites that can help you get started include MyKBO Stats, FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.
We don't have 2019 KBO stats for foreign players making the jump to this league, but foreigners generally perform well overall. Last season, foreign pitchers performed nearly 22% above league average, and hitters performed about 16% better, per MyKBO Stats.
Below is an overview of tonight's starting pitchers and their relevant stats sorted by FanDuel salary. With most pitchers having at least three starts under their belt, we're switching over to their 2020 numbers moving forward, and opposing team stats are also from this season. Multi-year park factors from the Korean website, Statiz.
Note that on FanDuel these hurlers are listed by their team names (ex: "SK Starting P"), so those are also included.
| Pitcher | Salary | L/R | Opp. | FIP | ERA | WHIP | K% | BB% | Opp. R/G | Opp. K% | Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chan-heon Jung (LG) | $27 | R | @HAN | 4.29 | 5.40 | 1.70 | 18.2% | 6.8% | 3.63 | 19.2% | 978 |
| Jae-hak Lee (NC) | $25 | R | KIW | 4.42 | 4.96 | 1.35 | 15.5% | 8.5% | 5.26 | 20.1% | 1012 |
| Hui-kwan Yu (Doosan) | $24 | L | SK | 5.01 | 4.20 | 2.00 | 6.9% | 8.2% | 3.61 | 20.3% | 959 |
| Hyun-hee Han (Kiwoom) | $24 | R | @NC | 4.92 | 5.63 | 1.69 | 17.8% | 6.9% | 6.11 | 19.6% | 1012 |
| Ki-young Im (Kia) | $24 | R | @KT | 2.80 | 3.38 | 1.06 | 21.5% | 3.1% | 6.67 | 15.6% | 973 |
| Odrisamer Despaigne (KT) | $23 | R | KIA | 2.31 | 2.25 | 0.96 | 22.1% | 2.1% | 4.84 | 17.8% | 973 |
| Seung-won Moon (SK) | $23 | R | @DOO | 3.74 | 5.63 | 1.69 | 24.3% | 4.0% | 6.78 | 14.9% | 959 |
| Min-jae Jang (Hanwha) | $22 | R | LG | 3.92 | 5.63 | 1.69 | 13.2% | 4.0% | 5.50 | 16.9% | 978 |
| Tae-in Won (Samsung) | $22 | R | @LOT | 6.19 | 4.50 | 1.56 | 15.0% | 10.0% | 4.72 | 17.3% | 1022 |
| Se-woong Park (Lotte) | $20 | R | SAM | 3.91 | 5.93 | 1.76 | 14.1% | 10.9% | 4.68 | 17.8% | 1022 |
Let's check out which pitchers and stacks stand out on tonight's slate
Pitchers
Odrisamer Despaigne (KT Starting P; $23) continues to impress in the KBO, and while his strikeouts have steadily dropped since punching out eight in his debut, he's still rocking the second-best strikeout rate on the board. Add in the night's top FIP, ERA, WHIP, and walk rate, along with an affordable price tag, and Despaigne is a strong choice against the Kia Tigers. Despaigne will benefit from a home venue that leans towards pitching, and the Tigers have been a middle of the road matchup at best this year.
Chan-heon Jung (LG Starting P; $27) is the most expensive arm, but he gets one of the evening's top matchups against the Hanwha Eagles. After pitching out of the bullpen his entire career, this is Jung's first season as a starter, making him a real wild card -- particularly after only throwing 11 innings in 2019. Still, the 18.2% strikeout rate is promising through two starts (including one against the Doosan Bears), and he's perhaps been unlucky with a .406 BABIP.
It's also encouraging that the LG Twins are respectable favorites (-148) on FanDuel Sportsbook. The Eagles have scored the second-fewest runs per game and are one of just four teams with a strikeout rate above 19%. Jung's high salary should keep his ownership down, and with few other appealing hurlers tonight, he's worth considering in tournaments.
Stacks
As the league's top offense thus far, the Doosan Bears are on the table just about every slate, and tonight is no exception against Seung-won Moon.
Although Moon has put up a stellar 24.3% strikeout rate through three starts, it's tough to totally buy into it after he posted a mere 16.9% rate in 2019. And despite last year's 3.88 ERA, it came with a less convincing 4.82 FIP that's nearly identical to his career 4.92 ERA. Moon has also struggled with home runs over the years, giving up 23 or more home runs in each of the last three seasons at a rate of roughly 1.4 per 9 innings.
Were this a better matchup, we might give Moon the benefit of the doubt, but not against this offensive juggernaut. The usual stars are in play between Jose Miguel Fernandez ($18) and Jae-Hwan Kim (note that Jae-il Oh is injured), but they're starting to get more and more priced up. Leadoff man Kun-Woo Park ($12) is a good value, though, and Joo-Hwan Choi ($11) has been batting third. Jae-Won Oh ($7) has played well as the number-five hitter with Jae-il Oh out and can help you squeeze some pricey bats in.
The Lotte Giants have a favorable matchup against Tae-in Won, who has an egregious 6.19 FIP through three starts (four appearances) and wasn't so hot last year, either. In 2019 -- his rookie season -- Won posted a 4.72 FIP, 13.8% strikeout rate, and 7.9% walk rate over 112.0 innings, including 20 starts.
The Giants' offense has been more up and down lately, but they're still performing at a much higher level than 2019. Jun-Woo Jean ($14), Ah-Seop Son ($12), and Dae-Ho Lee ($11) are the top options, along with leadoff hitter Byung-Hun Min ($11). Chi-Hong An ($10) is in the mix, too, as the number-five hitter. Dixon Machado ($13) has curiously been hitting at the bottom of the order recently, but his upside is clear after slugging four home runs and stealing two bases in the early going.
It's hard to have any faith in the SK Wyverns, who have statistically been the KBO's worst offense and sit in last place with three wins. But if you can stomach it, they're facing left-hander Hui-kwan Yu, who has a pitiful 6.9% strikeout rate and only managed a 9.3% rate in 2019. Yu somehow got away with this last season (3.25 ERA), but that wasn't the case in 2018 (6.70 ERA), and he owns a mediocre career 4.37 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.
This sure looks like a pitcher the Wyverns should be able to make contact against, and it just so happens their big bats are right-handed in Jeong Choi ($14) and Jamie Romak ($12). Kang-Min Kim ($8) and Eui-Yoon Jeong ($7) will likely bat one-two as value options against the southpaw. If nothing else, you can sprinkle Choi or Romak into lineups as one-offs.