For the Stack the Deck article today, we’re going to focus on “Volume and Opportunity” (V&O) with our stack. Since there aren’t any of the hitter-friendly beer stadiums in play today (Coors and Miller), we’ll focus more on a different type of stack. We aren’t stacking one or more teams. Instead, we’ll focus on getting as many AB’s in there from our hitters and fill in with the pitchers after the fact. So, we’re targeting hitters in the top two in the lineup and also those who put the ball in play at an 80% clip or higher. Everything else is out the window (except the PPD Tigers/Indians players of course. We’ll also stay away from the Pittsburgh/Cincinnati tilt that appears very threatened by rain).
So, we’ll go position-by-position and do our best to identify hitters towards the top of the order who are putting the ball in play. We’ll get the volume by getting the extra plate appearances and then the opportunity by these guys doing the first step in the process, which is putting the ball in play.
Catcher -- this is the toughest one to fill since there aren’t many backstops that hit at the top of the order. So, since we will be having many more speedy guys on this squad, maybe we’ll focus on a power potential guy to help balance out our lineup. For this, let’s go with the Rangers’ Jonathan Lucroy His 93% contact rate is a thing of beauty. He even moved up to 5th in the Rangers order. The only cause for concern with him is that he’s caught three games in a row and may be due for a day off. In that case, be ready to pivot. Another option here is another part-timer in the Brewers Manny Pina and his 90% contact rate. Update: Lucroy is not in the Rangers lineup as feared. We'll go with Pina and if Jeff Bandy is in the Brewers lineup later, well, we'll figure it out!
First Base -- like catcher, there aren’t many first sackers hitting at the top of their respective batting orders. So, we’ll go with another contact-first guy here and that’s the definition of the Twins Joe Mauer. He’s putting it in play 93% of the time. The backup option here is Anthony Rizzo for the Cubs, hitting 3rd and with his 86% ct%. Too bad that Indians game was cancelled or else we could get leadoff man Carlos Santana in here.
Second Base -- we have some solid options here:
Whit Merrifield (KC) - leading off and an 89% contact rate
DJ LeMahieu (COL) - hitting second recently and an 86% contact rate
Dee Gordon (MIA) - hitting first and putting it in play 83% of the time.
Third Base - another challenge position to find somebody that fits in here:
Martin Prado (MIA) - hitting second recently and has an 87% ct%
Adonis Garcia (ATL) - 2nd / 87% ct%
Mike Moustakas (KC) - 2nd / 80%
Shortstop -- plenty of options here:
Aledmys Diaz (STL) - 2nd / 89%
Xander Bogaerts (BOS) - 1st / 88%
Erick Aybar (SD) - 2nd / 84%
Outfield -- plenty of great options here as well. We’ll come up with the top six:
Andrew Benintendi (BOS) - 2nd / 84%
Ender Inciarte (ATL) - 1st / 83%
Josh Reddick (HOU) - 2nd / 83%
Seth Smith (BAL) - 1st / 82%
Adam Jones (BAL) - 2nd / 81%
Charlie Blackmon (COL) 1st / 80%
Keep in mind, these are the projected places in the batting order for these players. Stay turned to the lineups as they come out today and adjust as needed. I will come up with some lineups and post them here shortly to give you something to go on...stay tuned. Let’s have a good / fun stacking Thursday.
DraftKings Lineup
C - Jonathan Lucroy - $3,600
1B - Joe Mauer - $3,600
2B - Dee Gordon - $4,500
3B - Martin Prado - $3,500
SS - Aledmys Diaz - $4,100
OF - Andrew Benintendi - $4,600
OF - Ender Inciarte - $4,200
OF - Charlie Blackmon - $4,600
P - Ian Kennedy - $8,500
P - Ivan Nova - $8,700
FanDuel Lineup
C - Manny Pina - $2,700
1B - Anthony Rizzo - $4,200
2B - Whit Merrifield - $2,700
3B - Adonis Garcia - $2,700
SS - Xander Bogaerts - $3,400
OF - Andrew Benintendi - $4,100
OF - Ender Inciarte - $3,800
OF - Seth Smith - $2,800
P - Ivan Nova - $8,600
Yahoo! DFS Lineup
C - Jonathan Lucroy - $7
1B - Anthony Rizzo - $22
2B - DJ LeMahieu - $15
3B - Mike Moustakas - $15
SS - Erick Aybar - $7
OF - Andrew Benintendi - $19
OF - Josh Reddick - $10
OF - Seth Smith - $16
P - John Lackey - $40
P - Ivan Nova - $45