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 Tuesday 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.
Below is an overview of tonight's starting pitchers sorted by FanDuel salary with their 2020 numbers. 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) | $28 | R | @HAN | 3.88 | 3.52 | 1.22 | 27.2% | 6.5% | 3.25 | 19.4% | 978 |
| Drew Rucinski (NC) | $27 | R | @KIA | 3.71 | 2.23 | 1.13 | 22.8% | 6.1% | 4.92 | 16.2% | 1003 |
| Raul Alcantara (Doosan) | $26 | R | SAM | 4.31 | 4.07 | 1.38 | 19.1% | 4.9% | 5.00 | 18.7% | 959 |
| Eric Jokisch (Kiwoom) | $25 | L | LOT | 2.81 | 1.49 | 0.97 | 20.1% | 4.3% | 4.60 | 17.2% | 979 |
| Min-soo Kim (KT) | $24 | R | @SK | 5.27 | 9.98 | 2.35 | 17.7% | 6.3% | 3.91 | 18.6% | 1038 |
| Kyung-eun Noh (Lotte) | $24 | R | @KIW | 4.66 | 5.45 | 1.36 | 14.0% | 5.6% | 5.86 | 18.6% | 979 |
| Aaron Brooks (Kia) | $23 | R | NC | 3.15 | 2.76 | 1.18 | 20.2% | 4.2% | 6.94 | 17.3% | 1003 |
| Ricardo Pinto (SK) | $23 | R | KT | 4.28 | 3.76 | 1.65 | 13.3% | 10.1% | 5.74 | 18.4% | 1038 |
| Jung-hyun Baek (Samsung) | $22 | L | @DOO | 6.47 | 7.20 | 1.70 | 17.0% | 4.3% | 6.09 | 15.2% | 959 |
| Min-jae Jang (Hanwha) | $21 | R | LG | 4.65 | 7.59 | 1.83 | 13.6% | 2.9% | 5.80 | 16.4% | 978 |
Let's check out which pitchers and stacks stand out on tonight's slate
Pitchers
The Hanwha Eagles finally got back in the win column after losing 18 straight, shockingly sweeping the Doosan Bears of all teams in a doubleheader. Progress!
While that's probably a nice boost for team morale, the Eagles are still the dream matchup in the KBO, and that means Chan-heon Jung (LG Starting P; $28) is an easy choice tonight. After spending most of his career as a reliever, the 30-year-old has produced a fantastic 27.2% strikeout rate through four starts, including an 11-punchout performance most recently versus the Samsung Lions. Despite the small sample, it's hard to not be confident in such a fantastic spot.
Following Jung, you can make an argument for rostering either Drew Rucinski (NC Starting P; $27) or Raul Alcantara (Doosan Starting P; $26), but I give the slight edge over them to Eric Jokisch (Kiwoom Starting P; $25). Jokisch owns the best FIP, ERA, and WHIP on the board, and we can feel pretty confident in that 20.1% strikeout rate, as he posted an 18.9% rate over 30 starts last season. The Lotte Giants aren't a plus matchup for extra punchouts, but they're still one of the league's lower-scoring offenses. Kiwoom's pitcher-friendly ballpark doesn't hurt, either.
Stacks
The Kiwoom Heroes draw a plus matchup against Kyung-eun Noh, who's only managed a 4.66 FIP and 14.0% strikeout rate through six starts. The 36-year-old has been the epitome of mediocrity over his KBO career, owning a 5.16 ERA and 1.53 WHIP across 987.1 innings.
Byung-Ho Park ($13) is slashing just .202/.342/.387, but he homered a couple games ago, so don't lose faith in the KBO star. Keon-Chang Seo ($11) and Dong-Won Park ($10) continue to be affordable ways to gain exposure to the Heroes, and Hye-Sung Kim ($9) is off to an encouraging start, with a .375 wOBA and .204 ISO in addition to his usual stolen base upside.
The LG Twins also face a veteran hurler with a sorry track record, as Min-jae Jang is the owner of a career 5.73 ERA and 1.67 WHIP and hasn't finished with an ERA better than 4.68 in any of the past four campaigns. Jang's 2020 numbers don't exactly inspire any confidence, and he's been pulled before five innings in three straight starts.
Unfortunately, Roberto Ramos is on the injured list, but Hyun-Soo Kim ($14) and Eun-Sung Chae ($11) remain their other top options. Chun-Woong Lee ($9) is a solid value as a leadoff man, and Kang-Nam Yoo ($8) has some pop (.165 ISO) despite typically batting low in the order. Ji-Hwan Oh ($9) is also viable as a power-speed combo with three dingers and seven swiped bags. Yong-Taik Park ($10) has hit third in his last two starts.
Ricardo Pinto has been trending in the right direction lately, but a 13.3% strikeout rate paired with a 10.1% walk rate suggests he's still someone to attack with the KT Wiz. That's especially the case in the SK Wyverns' hitter-friendly venue.
Yong-Ho Jo ($8) and Jeong-Dae Bae ($10) don't have much in the way of power but have formed an affordable one-two punch atop the order lately (Woo Joon Sim $10 has dropped to ninth the past four games). Kyung-Soo Park ($8) has slugged four home runs this year and is another guy who can help you fit in KT's high-priced sluggers.
The Doosan Bears are up against a southpaw, which is never ideal for this lefty-heavy lineup, but we shouldn't let that deter us when the lefty is Jung-hyun Baek. The SK Wyverns are tough to trust as a stack these days, but you could do worse than roster some one-offs against Min-soo Kim, too.