This article is part of our DraftKings KBO series.
The last few weeks of the KBO regular season consist purely of makeup games for previous rainouts, leading to a handful of smaller slates. Wednesday's is one of those, with just six teams taking the field. I decided to try out a new format for these small slates, as my usual format doesn't work quite as well with so few options to choose from. What I'll do here instead is break down all three games with a focus on the night's starting pitchers, noting which ones I'd be comfortable selecting and how heavily I'd stack against them. I'll also offer a pick based on the moneyline and over/under found on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Wiz at Tigers
Hyeong Jun So, Wiz ($8,400): The 2020 Rookie of the Year has had mixed results this season, posting a 4.37 ERA and 1.50 WHIP after finishing last year with a 3.86 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. By some measures, he's been a bit better lately, as he's only allowed four earned runs across his last three starts, but that ignores his 7:7 K:BB over that same stretch. Those three outings follow another three-start stretch in which he had a much better 9:1 K:BB but also an 8.74 ERA. It's been a while since he's looked particularly reliable, but a matchup against the last-ranked Tigers lineup at least makes him far more appealing than he otherwise would be.
Tigers hitters: So has some talent but isn't a pitcher to be scared of, so the Tigers are definitely worth a look here if you can find any you aren't embarrassed to roster. Won Joon Choi ($4,500) will get the platoon advantage and has five multi-hit efforts in his last nine games. Selecting him alone or stacking him with Sun Bin Kim ($4,900) and Hyoung Woo Choi ($3,800) seems justifiable.
Daniel Mengden, Tigers ($7,800): Mengden hasn't been as dominant as the Tigers perhaps would have liked from one of their foreign starters, but he's certainly been adequate. Through 19 starts, he owns a 3.97 ERA and 1.28, backing those numbers up with a solid combination of a 20.6 percent strikeout rate and a 7.5 percent walk rate. He's been particularly good over his last two starts, allowing just two runs on six hits in 13 innings of work, and he's been strong overall since the beginning of September, posting a 3.60 ERA and 1.13 WHIP across eight starts. He's one of the better picks on the night, even against the third-ranked Wiz lineup.
Wiz hitters: Mengden is good enough that I'd lean away from the Wiz if possible Wednesday, but he's not so dominant that you absolutely have to avoid them. Han Joon Yoo ($2,600) is a great value play as a cleanup man with a .799 OPS on the season and a .966 OPS in the month of October.
Picks: Wiz (-130) and Over 8.5 runs (-110), but not with a ton of confidence on either front. Mengden does give the Tigers a shot at an upset, but their lineup is so anemic that I don't love picking the league's second-worst team over its best at just +110. I think the Wiz win a tight one here, likely after scoring a few runs off the Tigers' bullpen.
Heroes at Twins
Won Tae Choi, Heroes ($6,800): Choi is cheap and gets to face the KBO's third-worst lineup in the league's most pitcher-friendly park. It doesn't take a lot to make a pitcher at least worth considering under those circumstances, and Choi at least clears that very low bar. His 4.53 ERA and 1.53 WHIP are both unimpressive, and he's been held back by a low 14.1 percent strikeout rate. His second-half game log is unusual in that he's either been quite good or absolutely terrible. In 11 starts since the break, he's allowed two or fewer earned runs nine times and nine or more runs twice. Given the matchup and his price tag, there's a case to be made for selecting him and hoping he doesn't have one of his semi-regular implosions, though his lack of whiffs caps his ceiling.
Twins hitters: Choi allows enough contact that even an uninspiring group like the Twins is potentially worth stacking if you don't go with him as a budget option. Leadoff man Chang Ki Hong ($4,500) and number five hitter Ji Hwan Oh ($4,300) been the team's hottest bats of late, so pairing them with one or two of the hitters who bat between them looks like a logical choice.
Casey Kelly, Twins ($9,100): Kelly is the clear outlier on a slate that's full of pitchers who are moderately interesting but nothing more. His 2.86 ERA and 1.21 WHIP both rank fifth among qualified starters. He isn't an overpowering strikeout arm, but his 19.4 percent strikeout rate has been more than enough when paired with his 8.2 percent walk rate. The veteran righty is only getting better down the stretch, as he's allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of his last nine starts, a stretch in which he owns a 2.14 ERA. Even without the help of pitcher-friendly Jamsil Baseball Stadium, he'd be a strong choice here.
Heroes hitters: There's little point in selecting hitters against the lone dominant starter on the slate. If you're determined to separate yourself from the crowd, Jung Hoo Lee ($4,300) is far too talented for his price tag, but I'd rather look elsewhere given the matchup.
Picks: Twins (-210) and Under 7.5 runs (-115), though both lines are set in a tough place. Both picks are mostly due to faith in Kelly, but it's hard not to trust him these days. He correctly makes the Twins clear favorites here, but you're not getting a great deal, and Choi could easily make this game hit the over all by himself if he has one of his semi-regular off nights.
Dinos at Landers
Min Hyeok Shin, Dinos ($7,200): For most of the year, Shin was quite poor. As recently as September 21, he owned a 5.38 ERA and 1.53 WHIP, numbers that weren't much better than his 5.79 ERA and 1.67 WHIP from his rookie campaign last year. Suddenly, however, he's experienced a dramatic turnaround, as he now owns a 1.00 ERA and 0.81 WHIP over his last four outings, a run that includes two away games against the Lions, who play in the league's most hitter-friendly park. It's an encouraging enough stretch that he's worth consideration as a cheaper option, but his modest 6.7 K/9 over that run isn't anything special, suggesting that he could blow up any time now if the hits start falling again. That has a good chance of happening against the Landers, who now lead the league in scoring.
Landers hitters: Shin is worth considering, but he's nowhere near intimidating enough to scare me off the Landers' best bats if I don't select him myself. An expensive stack of Shin Soo Choo ($5,500), Jeong Choi ($5,400) and Yoo Seom Han ($4,600) is tempting to try to make room for, but Han is the guy to get if you only grab one, as he'll get the platoon advantage and owns a .353/.465/.676 line over his last 11 games.
Won Seok Oh, Landers ($6,000): Oh is cheap enough that you can't rule him out completely, and the matchup against this depleted version of the Dinos lineup that's without four starters due to suspensions for health-protocol violations is a tempting one. That said, he's cheap for a reason. The 20-year-old lefty was an early pick in the 2020 draft, but he's yet to put things together at the KBO level. His 18.2 percent strikeout rate is perfectly adequate, but it's led to a 5.65 ERA and 1.75 WHIP when combined with his poor 13.5 percent walk rate. He's been particularly bad in the second half, struggling to an 8.42 ERA and 2.16 WHIP in 31 innings, though he did strike out eight while allowing just two runs on four hits in six innings against the Twins in his previous start. There's some upside here for larger tournaments, but it's hard to have any confidence in him in cash games.
Dinos hitters: While the Dinos' lineup is completely devoid of depth, the remaining group still features some excellent bats. Eui Ji Yang ($5,200) is the best use of your catcher spot here, as always, as his 1.016 OPS over his last 12 games doesn't even count as a hot streak in a season in which he owns an overall 1.005 mark. Pairing him with Aaron Altherr ($5,100) and Jin Sung Kang ($3,700) could make for a nice right-handed stack, though neither Altherr nor Kang has been particularly hot lately.
Picks: Landers (+100) and Over 10.5 runs (-105). The over may be a high one, but it's the pick I'm most confident about on this slate. With two pitchers who are unreliable at best and one elite lineup in the Landers, I'd expect to see plenty of runs cross the plate. I'll lean Landers for the slightly better odds as I don't fully buy into Shin's recent stretch of stronger starts, though a Dinos pick is defensible.
