A split slate this Saturday, but only three games this afternoon which keeps the main slate at a larger 12 games. Weather does not look to play a large factor today with the Brewers/Pirates checking in as the only real rain concern as of now, but a few other games have the possibility of rain.
The game at Coors is by far the most attractive game of the slate. Two poor lefty starters vs Goldschmidt and Arenado, and the teams check in with the two highest implied run totals of the night, with the Rockies at the top with 6.01. Baltimore is the only other team outside of Coors that currently has an over five implied run total with 5.44. Out of the two teams, the Rockies bats are slightly more affordable, but neither have prices that really allows you to stack without fully punting everywhere else.
As always, things can change based on lineups and weather, so do stay up to date using the Playbook Pro tools. Below are my favorite stack options for the day. Good luck!
Early Slate Option:
Boston and Kansas City
The Red Sox and Twins game will be the more popular game to fully stack, and suggest having exposure to it if playing the early slate. My early slate stacking strategy if only playing one lineup would be to focus on the Red Sox, and then target a mid-tier option with the Royals. The Indians and Twins are both in nice spots, and the Jays/ Rays have shown the ability to score runs as well lately. Also, with no ace pitcher on the mound outside of Porcello’s price, you can fit in some top priced bats, meaning leaving salary on the table for a small slate is needed to separate yourself in a large gpp.
Nick Tepesch takes the mound for the Twins tonight, and will be making his first appearance in the majors since June of 2016. He also hasn’t pitched at all this season since April 20. He has a career era of 4.68 with a 9-18 record. Boston has only scored 17 runs in their five games this week with some solid matchups, and hopefully their offense busts out for more than a solo hr, and a rbi single or two today.
The Royals are slight underdogs at home today vs the 2-3 Josh Tomlin. Forgetting his record, Tomlin has an 8.87 era through five starts, allowing at least 7 hits in every start as well. Perez is a ridiculous 16-29 with a hr lifetime vs him, while Hosmer and Moustakas have each gone deep twice vs Tomlin. Although the left handed bats for the Royals are in play, Tomlin has allowed a BABIP of .450 vs right-handed batters this season ( League Avg: .293).
Top Stack Suggestions:
KC 2-5 projected batters: Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer Salvador Perez
Boston 1-3 and 5 projected batters: Dustin Pedroia, Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts
Main Slate
The top stacking options for the main slate in my opinion are the earlier mentioned Coors game, Baltimore, and the right handed bats in the Yankees/Cubs game. If entering multiple lineups, try to have some exposure to all five of those teams. If looking to roster Kershaw over Lance or others though, at pitcher you’ll need some lower priced players.
Oakland
Jordan Zimmerman has allowed 13 runs off 28 hits over his last three starts and went 2-0. Zimmermann has allowed an OBP of .444 vs right-handed batters this season (Rank: 151st of 154 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .316), and an overall ground ball rate of just 27.1%.
The interesting matchup to watch play out is the Athletics hitters have missed 28.5% of swung-on pitches with two strikes this season (Rank: 29th of 30 in MLB), while opposing hitters have a miss rate of just 9.1% against Zimmermann when he's behind in the count this season (Rank: Tied for 141st of 145 qualified SPs in MLB).
Outside of Kris Davis, the Oakland bats are all fairly cheap. Suggest still playing Davis if stacking the A’s, but the rest of the stack comes down to personal preference. I’ll try to focus on a top of the order OF player like Davis or Jorcy, then look for open spots left to fit in Lowrie, Healy, or Vogt.
Texas @ Seattle
Ten combined pitchers between these teams used out of the bullpen last night in a 13 inning game, and we get two pitchers tonight that make for a great late night hammer Texas/Seattle stack.
Perez has walked at least three batters in five of his six starts, totally 19 walks to 20 K’s for the year. Cruz is 6-12 with 3 HR’s lifetime vs Perez, with Seager right up there with a 14-32 with 4 HR’s. The lefty/lefty matchup my keep people away from him and Cano, but Perez is just not a good pitcher. Valencia, who has also homered vs Perez, would make for a nice option over Napoli even though he costs more on FD.
I like the Texas bats more than Seattle, but this is due more to Chase De Jong taking the mound tonight. His first start did not go well, allowing six runs in 2 ? innings vs Cleveland. Texas has been aggressive at plate early this season, slugging .886 on the first pitch of at-bats this season (Rank: 1st of 30 in MLB; League Avg: .589). They also have homered every 19.3 at bats when facing right-handed pitchers this season (Rank: 1st of 30 in MLB).
Top Stack Suggestions:
Seattle: 3-6 projected batters: Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager, Danny Valencia
Texas: The Rangers have been playing around a lot with their lineups, but feel like the entire team is in play. To complete the full game stack though, suggest: Elvis Andrus, Nomar Mazara, Shin-Soo Choo, Jonathan Lucroy.
Pivot: Gallo and Segura in for Seager and Andrus.