Oakland Athletics vs. Martín Pérez

I’m fairly certain that if you’re playing the four-game main slate tonight, stacking the Oakland Athletics is your path to victory. They will lace up the cleats against Martín Pérez tonight who has made seven starts this season and has an ERA of 8.05. Yeah, not great. Right-handed hitters have absolutely destroyed Perez this season. He’s allowing them a slash of .388/.460/.653 to go along with a .467 wOBA. Not to mention, he’s pitching at home in scorching hot Texas weather, so the ball will be flying.

Give me all of the A’s right-handed hitters here and it doesn’t really matter who. This stack should likely lead off with Khris Davis , who homered for a third straight game on Tuesday and has hit four over those same three games. He’s a robust 8-for-18 off of Perez including two homers already. Mark Canha could potentially be the top value option of the day knowing we get to use him against a southpaw. He’s hit 13 homers on the year and 11 have come against lefties, including one on Tuesday. I won’t leave out the fact he has a .444 wOBA against LHP on the year either.

The trio of Matt Chapman , Jed Lowrie and Stephen Piscotty are all elite plays on this slate as well. Piscotty has been on fire this month, belting seven home runs tying him for the American League lead. He too, lIke Davis and Canha before him, homered on Tuesday making that two straight games with one. Lowrie is 11-for-29 off of the Rangers lefty and like basically every other Athletic hit a home run on Tuesday. Chapman didn’t homer on Tuesday -- shocker I know -- but he is hitting .316 over his last 10 games and has posted a very solid .351 wOBA versus lefties this year.

Chad Pinder and Jonathan Lucroy are the last two options I’m considering here. Marcus Siemen is a too expensive for my taste, but if you’re interested I won’t say don’t play him against the gas can that is Martín Pérez . Pinder has had a lot of success against southpaws this season notching a .290 AVG with a .379 wOBA. The one thing to note about Pinder is if he does in fact start, there have been a few occasions where he’s been lifted late in games for defense or when a right-handed pitcher takes the mound. Keep that in mind. Lucroy hasn’t been great of late, but just in the first two games of this series he has reached base five times, scored three runs, hit a homer and driven in four. He’s a secondary option as well, especially when you note how cheap he is.

Primary Option(s): Khris Davis , Matt Chapman , Mark Canha , Stephen Piscotty , Jed Lowrie

Secondary Option(s): Chad Pinder , Jonathan Lucroy

 

Boston Red Sox vs. Dylan Bundy

Bundy has faced off against the Red Sox twice this year and has gone 0-2. He’s actually pitched halfway decent, but I don’t suspect that luck will continue here. Bundy has allowed 23 home runs on the year which ties him for second in the entire league. Only the Yankees have hit more homers than the Red Sox this year. See the issue? Bundy’s 46.9-percent flyball rate won’t fly against the Red Sox who have the league-leader in homers and the potential American League MVP as well.

Speaking of both J.D. Martínez and Mookie Betts , it’s going to be really hard choosing between the two. Martinez hit two homers on Tuesday giving him a league-leading 31 homers and 84 RBI. Betts hit his 24th and has now reached base in 24 straight games. They’re probably the top two plays on this main slate so you really can’t go wrong with either.

Andrew Benintendi could end up having the best game of the three and is the cheaper option. He’s gone 8-for-23 with a homer off of Bundy in the past and has the lefty-righty matchup on his side. Bundy has allowed lefties to hit .301 with a .500 SLG and .370 wOBA. Benintendi has done all his work against righties in the meantime, notching a .325 AVG and .418 wOBA. With Mitch Moreland struggling mightily of late, Steve Pearce could draw a start against his old team here. Pearce is hitting .416 over his last 10 games and is a big time run producing threat hitting behind the likes of Martinez, Betts and Benintendi.

Xander Bogaerts is too expensive for me, but he’s notched north of a .900 OPS over his last 10 games and is definitely in play here, but as more of a secondary option. Rafael Devers has a hit in three of the first four games he’s played in since being activated off of disabled list and is 3-for-10 with a homer off Dylan Bundy in his career. One more name to keep in mind is Blake Swihart . Swihart is very cheap and that’s something we’re going to need if we want to afford any of Boston’s big boppers. He’s not only cheap, but he’s riding a seven-game hit streak and has hit .429 over his last 10 games. He also homered on Tuesday, so the power could be an added bonus here.

Primary Option(s): J.D. Martínez , Mookie Betts , Andrew Benintendi , Steve Pearce

Secondary Option(s): Rafael Devers , Mitch Moreland , Xander Bogaerts , Blake Swihart