Top Stack
Los Angeles Angels vs Marco Gonzales .jpg)
Gonzalez has really pitched well for the Mariners this season but the Angels were able to get to him for four runs over six innings a few weeks back. Mike Trout has hit two home runs in each of the last two games as he takes over the major league lead in the category. Trout is also 3-for-6 with a double and a home run off Gonzalez in his career. Zack Cozart for all his struggles this season also has a home run off Gonzalez and doubled off him in their meeting back in early May. The Angels are tied for 11th in baseball with 22 home runs off southpaws this season. Today’s stacks should start with Trout and Ian Kinsler with varying combinations of Justin Upton , Albert Pujols , Zack Cozart and Chris Young .
Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Bullpen
The Rays have been very frustrating to stack against when they take this approach. Based off last week when Wilmer Font got the start he was followed by Matt Andreise and Vidal Nuño . Neither Andreise or Nuno has pitched since so it is my assumption that the order here could very well be the same. Font should be good for two innings given how he has been used this season. Over the last week Toronto ranks fourth in team batting average, fifth in home runs and fifth in OPS. Leading that charge over the last week has been Curtis Granderson who is hitting .412 with two doubles and two home runs during that stretch. Randal Grichuk is also on fire right now, hitting .417 with two doubles and two home runs over the last seven days. I would include both of those two in any Blue Jays stack today. Completing the stack for me today would be Kevin Pillar who has also homered twice over the last week and against Baltimore had three consecutive two hit games. I look for the Blue Jays to jump out to an early lead as Font has allowed 27 earned runs and 11 home runs over 25.1 innings.
Contrarian Stack
Pittsburg Pirates vs Zack Greinke
The series between the Pirates and Diamondbacks has been very high scoring with the Pirates averaging 6.5 runs per game and the Diamondbacks averaging 11 runs per game. I figure the DBacks to be a bit more popular facing Taillon so I am rolling with the Pirates as being more of a lower owned play today against Greinke. Greinke has struggled a bit of late, posting a 3.70 ERA and allowing six home runs over his last four starts. The Pirates outfield is all in play for me today assuming it is Austin Meadows , Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson . Meadows has been the team’s best offensive player since being called up. Marte has collected two hits in each of the last two games and homered last night. Dickerson is hitting .326 over the last 10 games. I am off the Grégory Polanco train so if he is playing today I will be looking elsewhere to complete my stacks. Josh Harrison is also another solid option today as he is on fire right now, hitting .351 over the last 10 games.
Player News
Gabriel Arias went 4-for-5 with a double in the Guardians’ 8-6 defeat of the Nationals on Wednesday.
Arias’s double was the hardest-hit ball of the game at 109.5 mph. He has a fine .287/.339/.452 line in 127 plate appearances, even though he’s sporting the worst contact rate (60%) and fourth-highest groundball rate (58%) among 161 qualified major league hitters. It’s certainly reason for some skepticism going forward.
Logan Allen yielded three runs in four innings Wednesday in a no-decision against the Nationals.
Allen gave up seven hits and walked four, so allowing only three runs was quite an accomplishment. Scoring all of their runs in the sixth, the Guardians ended up winning the game 8-6 even though the Nationals had more hits (13-10), more extra-base hits (4-2) and more walks (7-5). Allen remains 1-2 with a 4.33 ERA through seven starts. He’ll face the Brewers next.
Emmanuel Clase notched his eighth save with a scoreless ninth against the Nationals on Wednesday.
All three balls in play against Clase were hit hard, with one falling for a single. The right-hander struck out the other batter he faced. Clase has allowed two runs — one earned — over six innings in six appearances since his Apr. 20 blown save and subsequent shoulder scare.
Michael Soroka was charged with four runs in five-plus innings Wednesday in a loss to the Guardians.
Making his return from the IL, Soroka struck out eight through five scoreless innings. That’s how this blurb could have begun if Soroka hadn’t been allowed to start the sixth today. Still, there’s not really any blaming Dave Martinez here; Soroka’s pitch count was great, the Nationals bullpen is terrible and all but one of the team’s relievers worked in Tuesday’s doubleheader. Soroka faced four batters in the sixth, giving up two singles, hitting a batter and then surrendering a three-run double. It was still an encouraging day for him — he had a 38% CSW and he allowed just one hard-hit ball through five — but he’s probably not currently a mixed-league guy while pitching for a bad team. He’ll face his old friends in Atlanta next time out.
Jorge López was charged with three runs without retiring a batter in the sixth inning Wednesday against the Guardians.
He gave up two singles and a walk before being pulled after just eight pitches. López is actually 5-0 this season, but with his ERA up to 7.41, his roster spot might be in danger. He’s struck out only 10 and given up 14 runs in 17 innings.
Amed Rosario went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a walk against the Guardians on Wednesday.
CJ Abrams, Rosario and James Wood all had three hits from the top three spots in the Nationals order today, but the rest of the lineup combined to go 4-for-21. For Rosario, it was a third three-hit game in 14 starts this season, and he has six RBI in his last three starts. Alas, the Nationals are set to face righties for at least seven games in a row now, so Rosario will probably spend a lot of time on the bench.