MLB DFS is right around the corner, but you don't have to wait until then to get your daily fantasy baseball fix! The KBO rolls on with daily contests 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sung-young Choi (NC) | $29 | L | @KIW | 7.20 | 5.16 | 1.42 | 10.2% | 9.4% | 5.67 | 18.5% | 979 |
| Eric Jokisch (Kiwoom) | $28 | L | NC | 2.99 | 1.41 | 0.89 | 18.5% | 3.4% | 6.40 | 16.9% | 979 |
| Junh-hyun Baek (Samsung) | $26 | L | KIA | 5.60 | 5.44 | 1.44 | 18.2% | 6.7% | 5.11 | 16.8% | 1093 |
| Tyler Wilson (LG) | $25 | R | @LOT | 4.23 | 4.48 | 1.38 | 16.1% | 7.2% | 4.82 | 15.8% | 1022 |
| Drew Gagnon (Kia) | $25 | R | @SAM | 3.00 | 3.94 | 1.30 | 22.9% | 7.5% | 5.25 | 17.8% | 1093 |
| Min-soo Kim (KT) | $24 | R | HAN | 4.95 | 5.73 | 1.83 | 11.4% | 6.9% | 3.53 | 19.2% | 973 |
| Ricardo Pinto (SK) | $24 | R | @DOO | 4.62 | 4.14 | 1.68 | 12.7% | 11.1% | 6.24 | 14.7% | 959 |
| Bum-soo Kim (Hanwha) | $23 | L | @KT | 5.86 | 3.95 | 1.51 | 19.7% | 14.8% | 5.98 | 18.7% | 973 |
| Adrian Sampson (Lotte) | $23 | R | LG | 4.49 | 5.44 | 1.65 | 14.3% | 5.8% | 5.29 | 16.4% | 1022 |
| Raul Alcantara (Doosan) | $20 | R | SK | 3.65 | 3.14 | 1.10 | 21.9% | 3.8% | 3.85 | 19.0% | 959 |
Let's check out which pitchers and stacks stand out on tonight's slate
Pitchers
Raul Alcantara ($20; Doosan Starting P) may be the cheapest hurler on the board, but he's also one of the most talented, and a matchup against the SK Wyverns puts at the top of our short list. Alcantara boasts an excellent strikeout-minus-walk rate -- third-best among qualified pitchers -- and a run-suppressing ballpark paired with a shoddy opponent is icing on the cake. He'll be hard to pass up at this salary.
Drew Gagnon ($25; Kia Starting P) has the night's highest strikeout rate, so if you're looking for an alternative to Alcantara, he's your man against the Samsung Lions. Gagnon is five bucks more expensive and must contend with a hitter-friendly venue, but the Samsung Lions are just a league-average offense. Should Alcantara falter, Gagnon the next most likely guy to come through.
Eric Jokisch ($28; Kiwoom Starting P) has a rough test against the NC Dinos, but outside of having a slightly lower strikeout rate, he actually bests Alcantara in all other categories above. It's tough to see Jokisch having a ceiling game, and the salary is tough to stomach, but he's at least worth considering as a contrarian tournament play.
Stacks
In an unusual twist, it's actually the slate's most expensive pitcher who we want to attack tonight. It's hard to find anything positive in Sung-young Choi's numbers, with a lousy 7.20 FIP paired with a 10.2% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He's allowed 2.12 home runs per 9 innings over 5 starts (6 appearances), which would rank as the league's worst if he qualified. Just note that Choi is a southpaw, so give a bump up to the Kiwoom Heroes' righty sticks. You might not need the savings if you start Alcantara at pitcher, but Ji-Young Lee ($6) was back in the lineup on Tuesday and batting sixth.
Ricardo Pinto continues to somehow skate by with a 12.7% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate, even holding the Dinos to 2 runs over 6.0 innings in his last start. But an elevated FIP and WHIP continue to suggest a correction is coming, and the Doosan Bears are the right candidate to capitalize. You'll only be able to stack three Doosan bats with Alcantara, but it's worth the trade-off in a lineup where all the top bats are priced up.
The KT Wiz are yet another top offense in a good matchup, taking on an erratic Bum-soo Kim. The lefty may be getting punchouts, but a 14.8% walk rate means he's been playing with fire, and a sizable gap between his ERA and FIP -- along with a .259 BABIP -- suggests he's been lucky to avoid more damage. A career 5.98 ERA and 1.76 WHIP doesn't inspire much confidence, either. Jae-Gyun Hwang ($11) and Jeong-Dae Bae ($10) are affordable for their power/speed upside, and both bat right-handed. Kyung-Soo Park ($8) is a nice source of cheap pop (eight homers) despite batting near the bottom.
The Kia Tigers and LG Twins are middle-of-the-road in runs per game, but they also get intriguing matchups. Junh-hyun Baek is struggling to keep the ball in the park (1.88 dingers per 9 innings), and the Tigers actually rank fourth in home runs as a team this year. The Twins' lineup benefits from a park factor boost and faces a low-strikeout pitcher in Adrian Sampson.