I’m all for subtlety, but sometimes a job calls for a blunt instrument. Wednesday’s MLB DFS slate is one of those times. You can mess around with stacking the Phillies or Rangers if you want to, but I think you will be hard-pressed to compete with some of the best offenses in baseball in some really great situations. If you are going to stack, you may as well spend some money, even if it means missing out on an expensive starting pitcher. Go big or go home, as I always say (I never say that).
Here are my stacks for Wednesday, July 19, listed in order of preference:
Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago White Sox (Carlos Rodon, L)
Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger, Kiké Hernández, Corey Seager, Austin Barnes, Logan Forsythe
The Dodgers rank third with an .818 OPS against lefties this season, thanks in part to Justin Turner’s league-leading 1.365 OPS against lefties. Remember when he used to be the oddball who was much better against righties than lefties? I guess that was just small-sample noise.
Arizona Diamondbacks @ Cincinnati Reds (Tim Adleman, R)
Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb, J.D. Martinez, Brandon Drury, David Peralta, Chris Herrmann, A.J. Pollock
Like most of these stacks, the Diamondbacks have a lot of firepower at the top of the lineup, but I especially like that you can get some values like Drury, Peralta and Hermann on FanDuel. The Diamondbacks are fourth in OPS against righties this season, and Tim Adleman has allowed at least three earned runs in five consecutive starts.
Washington Nationals @ Los Angeles Angels (Alex Meyer, R)
Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, Wilmer Difo, Brian Goodwin, Ryan Zimmerman
Nationals hitters have 16 home runs versus RHP over the past 7 days. Anthony Rendon is slugging 1.533 versus RHP over the past 7 days. You can stack the heart of the Nationals order pretty easily, though I would probably include Wilmer Difo in any stack just to save some money.
Colorado Rockies vs. San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, L)
Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds, Gerardo Parra, Ian Desmond, DJ LeMahieu
Clayton Richard has allowed an .880 slugging percentage on non-fastballs over the last 30 days. If he can’t get the Rockies out with his offspeed pitches, how is he going to get them out at all? Nobody has been able to get Gerardo Parra out lately. He is 7-for-11 over his last three games and he is batting .516 over the last 30 days. The Rockies have a .796 OPS against lefties and a league-leading .842 OPS at home.
Others Receiving Votes:
Texas Rangers @ Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Gausman, R)
Elvis Andrus, Shin-Soo Choo, Nomar Mazara, Adrian Beltre, Rougned Odor
Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees (Jordan Montgomery, L)
Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar, Brian Dozier, Robbie Grossman, Chris Gimenez
Player News
Daniel Schneemann is starting in left field and batting second for the Guardians on Wednesday against the Nationals.
Schneemann has emerged into a near full-time role for the Guardians of late, playing second base, center field, and now left field. He’s hitting .344 over his last 15 games with three home runs and eight RBI, which makes him worth scooping in deeper formats while he’s playing this regularly. Steven Kwan will DH on Wednesday with Kyle Manzardo getting the day off.
Alec Burleson is starting at DH and batting sixth for the Cardinals on Wednesday against the Pirates.
Burleson had moved into a part-time role earlier in the season with the Cardinals opting to play Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, and Brendan Donovan almost every day, especially against right-handed pitching. Over the last week, Gorman and Walker have both started to see a few more games on the bench with Burleson shifting back into an everyday role against right-handed pitching. The 26-year-old has gone 9-for-33 (.273) with two home runs and five RBI over his last nine games.
Nationals activated RHP Michael Soroka (biceps) from the 15-day injured list.
Soroka will rejoin the team in time to start Wednesday’s game against the Guardians. He’s worth a flyer in deeper formats, even as a bench stash, given how well he pitched in spring training.
Nationals optioned RHP Eduardo Salazar to Triple-A Rochester.
Salazar has allowed 17 runs on 28 hits in 15 2/3 innings for the Nationals out of the bullpen this season. He will head to the minors to make room for Michael Soroka on the active roster.
Eloy Jiménez went 3-for-5 with two RBI for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday.
After a slow start to the season, Jiménez has heated up of late, going 12-for-38 (.316) over his last 10 games with four extra base hits, one home run, and 12 RBI. That has also come with six strikeouts and three walks. There doesn’t appear to be any room for him in Tampa Bay, unless they want to play him in the outfield, but if he continues to hit like this, the Rays or some other MLB team will want to see if they can get him to produce at the big league level again.
Thairo Estrada (fractured wrist) has resumed swinging a bat with both hands.
Estrada, who fractured his wrist on March 21st when he was hit by a pitch, had been swinging a bat with one hand but progressed to full swings earlier this week. He will now continue to increase the velocity he’s facing and work himself back into game shape before beginning a rehab assignment. We could see him in the Rockies’ lineup by the middle of June.