To give you an idea of tonight’s pitching options, here’s what is available.
A 44-year-old hefty Colon…
A 38-year-old journeyman getting his second start of the season…
A 38-year-old veteran, whose lost some zip on his pitches, coming off of the DL…
And Edwin Jackson…
Somehow Edwin Jackson is still a thing. Of course the same could be said about Bartolo Colon, but he’s 44 and just now finding out retirement is upon him.
But Edwin Jackson…I thought he was long gone.
Oh and also twirling tonight is Clayton Kershaw…then there’s the rest of the field.
Roster construction will be interesting tonight as we have Coors and other priced-up players in fantastic matchups, but pitching is week and Kershaw looks to be the chalk.
Yesterday I tried a different format, ranking my top-5 favorite plays at each hitting position (I guess I can toy with pitching in the future) and then gave you my 5 favorite stacks. I like having a format going into each write-up, so I think I will stick with it from here on out on full slates.
By the way, the rankings are based on players and matchup, not price. For example, I think Gary Sanchez is the top catching option on the board, but I like Brian McCann (my official pick) because of his price. Thus, i can see coming off of Sanchez because he’s the top-priced catcher. Maybe that only makes sense to me, but just go with it! 🙂
So for today, here are my positional rankings and favorite stacks. Following them, are my official picks. Good luck!
Catcher
- Gary Sanchez – New York Yankees
- Brian McCann – Houston Astros
- Willson Contreras – Chicago Cubs
- Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
- Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
First Base
- Freddie Freeman
- Logan Morrison
- Miguel Cabrera
- Matt Adams
- Chris Davis
Second Base
- Starlin Castro – New York Yankees
- Ian Kinsler – Detroit Tigers
- Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
- Whitt Merrifield – Kansas City Royals
- Cody Asuaje – San Diegy Padres
Third Base
- Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
- Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
- Jake Lamb – Arizona Diamondbacks
- Travis Shaw – Milwaukee Brewers
- Nick Castellanos – Detroit Tigers
Shortstop
- Didi Gregorius – New York Yankees
- Corey Seager – Los Angeles Dodgers
- Zack Cozart – Cincinnati Reds
- Marcus Semien – Oakland Athletics
- Javier Baez – Chicago Cubs
Outfielders
- Mike Trout
- Charlie Blackmon
- Aaron Judge
- J.D. Martinez
- Adam Duvall
Stacks
- New York Yankees
- Colorado Rockies
- Detroit Tigers
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Houston Astros
Didi Gregorius – SS – New York Yankees – $3,800
Analysis: As you might have noticed, the Yankees flare up a lot in my rankings above and in my player picks below. Starting with Didi Gregorius, the Yankees have an awesome matchup against the flailing Bartolo Colon. I know the Yankees played a long game on Saturday, a doubleheader Sunday and traveled to play a game on Monday. That Monday game probably got the jet lag out of them and with a good night’s rest, I like the Yankees to bounce back against the 44-year-old veteran. Against lefties this season, Colon has allowed a .371 wOBA, a 1.44 HR/9 and a 35% hard contact rate. The Twins’ ballpark has been one of the tops in the league for runs scored and homeruns allowed. Keep that in mind today when you are making your lineups.
Blake Snell – SP – Tampa Bay Rays – $6,600
Analysis: I really wanted to recommend Junior Guerra, but coming off the DL and the fact he’s not that good, I just couldn’t. You can make the same argument against Snell. Maybe he’s not that good. But his opponent is just awful against lefties. The A’s are THE worst team in wOBA against lefties this season and they strike out at a 26% clip. If Snell can keep the control issues at bay, he can utilize that big ballpark to his advantage and have himself a day.
