KBO DFS: DraftKings slate preview for July 10

If you haven’t been grinding KBO in the early hours with me every morning, I will be posting some articles over the next couple weeks exclusively on FTN to catch you up to speed. These will include top hitters on each team, the mess that is every team’s bullpen, and some GPP lineup reviews. For now, a few things to know about my preferences in KBO DFS:

• I have a huge man crush on Chang Moo Ko (NCD pitcher) and Jin Sung Kang (NCD 1B/OF), so get used to it.
• I usually hate playing chalk in tournaments, but there has been some success in locking in chalk pitchers in GPPs and then targeting lower owned stacks as the bullpens have been horrendous this year.
• I am still convinced the biggest edge is waking up 30 minutes before lock and checking weather and starting lineups. Starting lineups don’t come out until about 5 a.m. ET (on a regular slate) only 30 minutes before lock. Having a plan for quick pivot options and glancing at weather updates is key. (You will be amazed at the amount of entries that have non-starters rostered night in and night out.)
• Please make sure to check my twitter (@DFSchaser) for more thoughts and any updates as the day progresses. Starting pitchers are only projected and could change from the time this article is written to when teams make announcements.

Projected starting pitchers

Drew Rucinski — Consistent. That is the word I would use to describe Rucinski this season. He has four consecutive starts of 18 DK points or higher and has scored that many or more in seven of his last eight starts. Even though the Twins strikeout below league-average, Rucinski should be able to handle the bottom of this order easily and pick up 4-5 strikeouts (he is averaging 6.5 per start). The Dinos are heavy favorites here (-230) so my projections are assuming some run support and the bonus points for the win. (We do know that the Dinos have one of, if not the worst, bullpen in the league, which is always worrisome when rostering their starting pitcher). Look for Rucinski to go 7 maybe even 8 innings here so the bullpen can’t blow it. He is my clear SP1 on this slate even though he will carry high ownership in both cash and GPPs. Sometimes you gotta eat the chalk.

Chris Flexen — If Rucinski has been Mr. Consistent, Flexen has been the exact opposite. Last time out he gave up 6 runs and 2 walks in just 4 innings of work against the league’s worst-hitting team (Hanwha) to finish with -7.6 DK points. However, in two starts against the Dinos (one of the league’s best-hitting teams) he has 17 total strikeouts and averaged 23 DK points. He sports a 21.30 K% and a slate low 3.55 FIP (eighth in KBO). In 2019 in the MLB, Flexen’s chang-up was by far his best pitch with a 37.1% called strike and whiff percentage. He has continued to throw it this year in the KBO for his out pitch (check out this clip from Rob Friedman’s Pitching Ninja). When Flexen is on, he is one of the top pitchers in the KBO. I like the matchup and run support here and will have in as my SP2 is most of my GPP lineups and maybe my cash lineup.

Chan Gyu Lim — He grades out well on paper coming in as my third projected pitcher; however, let's go through the teams he has faced this year:

• SK Wvyerns: 3 times (DK Points: 33.4, 13.3, 26.5)
• Hanwha Eagles: once (25.5)
• Samsung Lions: 2 times (16.7)
• Kiwoom Heroes, KIA Tigers, KT Wiz: once each (7.5, 2.6, 17.3)

When facing teams in the bottom half of the league in team batting (SK, HAN, SAM), he has pitched well. When he has pitched against teams in the top half of the league in batting (KIW, KIA, KTW), he has had some struggles. In this slate, he faces the league’s top offense (with a team OPS of .841 and .296 BA) in the NC Dinos. I was not expecting him to grade out as well as he did, but the Dinos have been in a little bit of a slump. He can change speeds and has a decent breaking ball, but when he falls behind in the count he likes to rely on his 86 mph (yes, 86) fastball … Lim is a hard fade for me tonight. If he shuts down the Dinos — great, he proved me wrong, but I will pay the extra $300 for Flexen’s upside.

Other SP2 cash option: Min Woo Kim (strong K upside)

Fade: Chan Gyu Lim, Yoon Dong Heo

Hitting stacks to target

• KTW — Loading up on the Wiz, especially Mel Rojas Jr. and Baek Ho Kang (currently Nos. 1 and 3 in my overall hitter projections)
• Doosan Bears — I realize this is their third straight night on my stacks to target, but here they are away (and a much better hitting team on the road) and have an intriguing matchup against a 19-year-old who has pretty good stuff, but tends to get himself into a lot of jams. I like the Bears, who strike out the least in the KBO, to find ways to get on base, push a few runs across early, and rattle the young prospect.
• Hanwha Eagles — Stack against anyone with a 6.27 FIP and a 1.87 WHIP, even if it is the Hanwha Eagles.

Underowned: NC Dinos — I think the Dinos are my favorite underowned stack on this slate. It sounds crazy as they have basically been the chalk each night through the first half of the season, but many of their top hitters are working their way out of a slump and they face the aforementioned Chan Gyu Lim who I think performs far below projections today. The Dinos, more than any other team in the KBO, love the fastball… especially 86 mph fastballs.