Pitching Coach
Spend Up
Hee Kwan Yoo, DOO → $8,500
Yoo had a strong 2019 campaign notching a 3.25 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. He opens the series against the KT Wiz who’s 0-3 thus far this season. Last year’s champions are coming off back-to-back wins scoring a bunch of runs, so he’ll likely have plenty of run support here. Yoo is my top spend up, although he doesn’t have tremendous strikeout upside.
Seong Won Moon, SK → $8,200
Moon has improved each of the last four years posting a career-best 3.88 ERA and 1.13 WHIP to boot. He had 12 quality starts out of 23 this season, the problem is he yields a ton of home runs, which is scary. If Moon can keep the ball in the yard, we’re in business.
Seung Ho Lee, KIW → $8,000
When we look at Lee’s entire body of work from last season it doesn’t tell the full story. Lee ended his 2019 on a roll allowing only one run his final three starts -- a span of 18 innings and didn’t allow more than three in his final six and nine-of-10 games. He’s a big -162 favorite and likely goes completely overlooked by most people who didn’t break his 2019 into halves.
Value
Tyler Wilson, LG → $7,800
During his two years with the KBO, Wilson has been one of the league’s best pitchers, but we’re not sure where his arm is at after having to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in South Korea. Wilson pitched to a robust 2.92 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP in 2019 after a 3.07 ERA 1.13 season in ‘18. If Wilson is limited at all, he could be the best value of all.
Drew Gagnon, KIA → $7,000
Gagnon will be making his KBO debut on Friday morning and is sitting at a very nice 7K price tag. He had a really strong year at Triple-A last year pitching to a 2.33 ERA across 15 starts, notching an elite 1.07 WHIP to boot. Gagnon is a -156 favorite in this spot and is too cheap for the upside.
Hitters
Spend Up
Jose Fernandez , 1B/2B DOO → $5,900
Fernandez has had a great start to his campaign with two or more hits in three straight games, including a four-piece on Thursday. Doosan squares off against a 19-year old rookie and is going to be everyone’s favorite stack of the day, for good reason. Fernandez is probably the top spend up of the slate in this match-up.
Hyung Woo Choi, 1B/OF KIA → $5,700
It doesn’t matter who is on the hill, righty or lefty, Choi just rakes. Since 2013, he’s posted an OPS of .900 or better and has been more of the most prolific hitters the league has ever seen. Kia is going to be VERY popular today with Choi leading the charge. His 4.81 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 2019 left something to be desired.
Byoungho Park, 1B KIW → $5,400
Let's go back to the well with Park. He’s a powerhouse -- in terms of power -- and could go yard anytime he steps up to the dish. His match-up is ideal considering his opponent has a career 5.64 ERA and 1.66 WHIP. He’s also allowed double-digit home runs in three-of-four seasons and that’s as a part time starter. He’s in trouble here. Park is going DEEP.
Jeong Choi, 3B/SS SK → $5,400
We’re talking about a guy with a career .290/.393/.524 slash line and that’s dating back 15 seasons! He reached base four times on Thursday and that could really get him going. His opponent has a career 1.5 WHIP and has allowed 13-plus bombs in four of his last six seasons, which plays into Choi’s cards considering the four straight 29-plus HR seasons he’s put forth.
Kun Woo Park, OF DOO → $5,100
The Doosan lead off man went yard on Thursday and has another good spot against a rookie on Friday. Park is a dual threat player that has put forth an .848 OPS for five straight campaigns. Park has a 20-20 season in his back pocket, which relates to the dual threat comment I made.
Dong Won Park, C KIW → $4,200
It’s a platoon situation for Kiwoom behind the plate, but both guys are quite good at the dish. Park drove in two runs on Thursday and Ji Young Lee did the same exact thing in the one game he played. Lee is 4K and is firmly in play himself if he suits up as well.
Honorable Mention(s):
Jamie Romak, 1B/OF SK → $6,000
Jae Hwan Kim, 1B/OF DOO → $5,300
Dixon Machado , 2B/SS LOT → $4,900
Jae Il Oh, 1B DOO → $4,500
Value
Dong Min Han, OF SK → $3,900
I’m going to continue to slot Han into this part of the article until further notice. He went 4-4 on Thursday after homering twice on Wednesday. His price is still under 4K and has another juicy match-up, one of the best on the slab. He has the split against the righty too, so lock and load Han once again.
Kwang Min Song, 2B/3B HAN → $3,500
Your league leader in batting average through three games, ladies and gents. He has three multi-hit games, three runs scored, three extra-base hits and three runs batted in. The theme is three. Three more hits tonight? Three homers? Whatever the case may be, it’s hard to ignore this sort of a value for a guy leading the league in hitting.
Sun Bin Kim, SS KIA → $3,200
It’s hard to ignore a player sitting at 3.2K when he bats third and is in the spot he is. Kim had three hits, three runs and reached base five times on Thursday and has at least one hit in all three games this year. Kim squares off with a lefty coming off a 4.81 ERA last season.
Keon Chang Seo, 1B/2B KIW → $3,100
Kiwoom’s leadoff hitter is not off to the best start, but he’s already shown flashes of the type of speed he possesses hitting a triple, double and stealing a bag in the first three games of the year. The last five seasons he’s played 100-plus games, he’s swiped double-digit bags. Have to love multi-position eligibility as well.
Orion’s Belt
This section, named after my three-month old son, will be out go-to stacks! Enjoy!
1) Doosan Bears → It’s hard to dispute Doosan being here essentially every night, especially versus rookie pitchers making their first career start. Doosan are massive -210 favorites and it wouldn’t shock me to see them go over 8.5, like the line is set at.
Members of stack: Jose Fernandez , Jae Hwan Kim, Kun Woo Park, Jae Il Oh, Jae Ho Kim
2) Kiwoom Heroes → They have the ideal match-up against a pitcher who hasn’t sniffed any real success in the KBO as a starter or a reliever. Min Jae Jang posted a 5.43 ERA last year which is an improvement on his career 5.64 mark. He allows a lot of homers (15 in 119.1 IP), which benefits Kiwoom tremendously here.
Members of stack: ByungHo Park, Ha Seong Kim, Dong Won Park (if starting), Ji Young Lee (if starting), Keon Chang Seo, Taek Keun Lee
3) SK Wyverns → After being shut out the first game of the year, SK put up five and four runs in their following two games and opened up a series against the 3-0 Lotte Giants. That said, they have a fairly good match-up against a pitcher who did have a good year last season, but allowed a bunch of home runs. SK has some premiere power hitters in their lineup that could do some damage here. They’re probably going to go underowned on this slate.
Members of stack: Jamie Romak, Dong Min Han, Jeong Choi, Jong Wook Ko, Hyun Seok Lee