Entries by Stephen Monahan

MLB – The Stack – Tuesday, May 2 (All Day)

Two Robby Cano longballs turned into flyouts last night really dumped on my late night sweat.

But as always in DFS, we get over the hump and move along. Luckily for us, we have two slates to scratch the itch for today.

As usual on split slates, the early slate will be available to all while you will need to be a premium member to access the evening slate.

I am taking two different approaches for each slate today.

In the early slate, I am focusing on two games with another team mixed in whereas I like lots of one offs and mini stacks in the evening slate.

Without further adieu, let’s get after it. May the Force be with you!

EARLY SLATE – I look for the Red Sox to be popular, especially if Mooke is back in the fray. Danny Duffy has been pretty terrible, BUT the Red Sox are dead last in wOBA against left-handed pitching this season, so caveat emptor!

GAME STACK – COLORADO ROCKIES @ CHICAGO CUBS

1. Anthony Rizzo – $4,000
2. Kris Bryant – $5,200
3. Willson Contreras – $3,900
4. Albert Almora, Jr. – $3,400
5. Javier Baez – $4,400
6. Charlie Blackmon – $5,100
7. David Dahl – $4,000
8. Carlos Gonzalez – $3,700

Justification – I love Contreras and Buster Posey at the C position today. Posey is No. 1 on my board, but playing a day game after a night game, I could see him sitting, meaning Contreras, who didn’t play last night, is the No. 1 catcher on the slate. The wind is SUPPOSED to be howling once again, and while I am still weary of this whole “Wind in Wrigley = DFS success” idea, I will attack this game for the third day in a row. It’s been a bust two days in a row, but perhaps (insert third charm cliche). The Cubs get lefty softy Tyler Anderson while the Rox get the tougher pitching matchup in long-ball prone Yu Darvish. The Cubs’ RH bats are all in play plus Anthony Rizzo, who busts the cover off the ball against lefties and finally hit a home run yesterday. Bryant is still trying to get on track after getting beaned in the head, but he is a lefty smasher of course. Contreras and Baez round out the Cubs’ stack for me. As for the Rockies, it’s a little difficult to tell what the lineup will look like. You can certainly play Arenado, but I like a lot of 3B over him (see next game, too). I love Blackmon, Dahl and CarGo here, but I can see one of them not cracking the lineup, so keep that in mind with all of the OFs the Rockies have on their team right now. Lefties are where Yu struggles and he gives up lots of long balls (trust me, as a Rangers fan it’s infuriating). Right now he’s giving up 2.25 HR/9 to lefties and owns a .360 wOBA, too.

GAME STACK – SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS @ SAN DIEGO PADRES

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

1. Buster Posey – $3,800
2. Evan Longoria – $3,700
3. Andrew McCutchen – $3,700
4. Christian Villanueva – $4,400
5. Jose Pirela – $3,100
6. Franchy Cordero – $4,000
7. Eric Hosmer – $3,600 

Justification – Welcome to another great game stack as the Giants host the Padres. The Giants get to use their lefty bashers against Clayton Richard while the Padres will see one of my most hated pitchers, Derek Holland. Like I said earlier, it’s possible Buster Posey sits, but I certainly hope not as he is 12-for-32 with 2 doubles and 2 HRs, 9 RBIs and 4 walks against Richard. McCutchen and Longoria round out my Giants’ stack as both are heating up (along with Posey) and both historically wreck lefties. By the way, I can’t wait for this team to play in some AL stadiums or Coors against lefties. It’s going to be awesome. As for the Padres, they have a lot of interesting options. First and foremost, if you aren’t playing Christian Villanueva against a lefty, you are doing it wrong. He hit another bomb off a very good lefty last night and now he gets Holland, who he has a homer against in just 3 ABs. Pirela has been batting in the four hole for the Padres and eats up southpaws while Hosmer might be my favorite sneaky play of the entire slate. He hits in the 2-hole, can hit lefties, is starting to find his stroke, hit a triple off a southpaw Tuesday night and is 7-for-16 with a home run off of Holland in his career. Holland also serves up BP to lefties and has yet to give up a hit to one this season.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

1. Tommy Pham – $5,000
2. Matt Carpenter – $3,800
3. Marcell Ozuna – $4,000

Total Cost – $12,800
Percentage of Salary Cap – 25%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 8
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. L (Career) – 1.70
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. R (Career) – 1.61

Justification – The Cardinals won’t be a sneaky stack, but I bet they are lower owned than the Rockies and Cubs. Matt Carpenter and Marcell Ozuna are guys struggling out of the gate. Against RH pitching, they have sub-par batting averages, but their hard contact rates against RH pitching are well above 40% and their BABIPs are low. They have some positive regression headed their way and we might have seen the beginning of that from Carpenter last night with his HR. The Cards take on Lucas Giolito today, and as you can see, he gives up the long ball to both sides of the plate. Pham can do it all and is an excellent play despite his price. He can hit for power, walk (15% BB rate) and steal bases. Big floor here with big upside.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
May 2 by

MLB – The Stack – Monday, April 30

Happy Monday everyone!

The Stack is back and ready to tackle this 10-game slate that should provide us with a lot of tough decisions to make. There are some premium games to watch as a baseball fan, like the Yankees at the Astros. But there are also plenty of others that might be interesting for the sole purpose of DFS.

As for DFS today, all eyes will be in Wrigley as the Rockies take on the Cubs. What makes this interesting is the wind blowing out. Per DFS Weather God Kevin Roth, we should see 15 MPH sustained winds with gusts around 25 MPH. This is premium hitting weather for Wrigley, which becomes Coors Light (see what I did there?) when the winds come into play.

With that said, let’s get down to business. May the force be with you!

GAME STACK – COLORADO ROCKIES @ CHICAGO CUBS

1. Nolan Arenado
2. Trevor Story
3. Ian Desmond
4. Charlie Blackmon
5. Kris Bryant
6. Albert Almora, Jr.
7. Willson Contreras
8. Anthony Rizzo
9. Javier Baez

Justification – Keep an eye on this game as the day continues. There’s word that Rockies’ starter Kyle Freeland may not start this game and instead Jon Gray could take his place. If that happens, I won’t be as high on the Cubs’ bats, so much, that I wouldn’t write them up as a stack. But I am writing this the night before, so as of this writing, it’s Freeland. The Cubs’ bats listed are very much in place against Freeland, who owns a .336 wOBA, 1.74 HR/9 and a 4.82 xFIP to RH bats. All righties that crack the lineup in this case, are in play as is Rizzo, who is a solid 1B power option that hits lefties. Now for the Rockies, who get the Steal Master Jon Lester. Against RH bats this season, Lester is allowing a .334 wOBA, 1.74 HR/9 and owns a 4.09 xFIP. Arenado is the main power cog in this stack whereas Story and Desmond can provide you even more upside with their power, but their ability to steal bases. If you don’t know by now, Lester can’t hold runners on well, and he is so bad at it that he has the yips throwing to first base. Charlie Blackmon, who mashes lefties (people don’t realize it), Desmond and Story all have a combined 4 steals against Lester in 20 plate appearances.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 30 by

MLB – The Stack – April 27

Hello everyone! I am writing this very early this morning, so I have to keep things simple for this edition of The Stack due to time constraints.

Tonight we have 14 games on the slate, so below are some of my favorite stacks of the night outside of Boston and New York as I presume they will be the most popular options.

Giancarlo Stanton versus a lefty tonight…don’t forget! May the Force be with you all…

NEW YORK METS

1. Yoenis Cespedes – $4,100
2. Todd Frazier – $3,900
3. Asdrubal Cabrera – $4,000
4. Wilmer Flores – $3,300
5. Amed Rosario – $3,000

Justification: Not only do these four guys have BvP against Clayton Richard, this will be a very low owned stack as the Mets are 29th in batting against lefties so far this year. It is only that way because Yoenis has been awful against southpaws, Frazier has been below average and Flores has been way below average against lefties. Cespedes and Flores are career lefty mashers, so they will come around eventually. Their BABIPs suggest so. Rosario has been a lone bright spot against LH pitching this season with a .384 wOBA and .286 ISO. Flores will be unowned because he’s first base eligible only. Cabrera has been solid against lefties this season also, sporting a .354 wOBA and .190 ISO. In his career against Richard, Cabrera is 7-for-13 with 4 doubles, and he has been outstanding to start the season with an OPS of .918 and four home runs. Flores has 2 HRs off Richard in just 5 ABs. Yes, this is in San Diego, but that doesn’t worry me a bit.

CINCINNATI REDS

1. Scooter Gennett – $3,400
2. Joey Votto – $4,100
3. Jesse Winker – $3,300
4. Jose Peraza – $3,400
5. Adam Duvall – $3,500

Justification – I didn’t include Scott Schebler in the 5-man portion of this stack because I don’t know if he will crack the lineup. But this team is facing Phil Hughes in Minnesota. If Hughes is on a slate, you stack against him, always. That’s the rule you need to remember. Hughes’ numbers against both sides of the plate are all you need to know for this stack. Against lefties since 2016, Hughes has allowed a .432 wOBA, 40% hard contact rate, 2.11 HR/9, and has a 5.52 xFIP. Against RH bats in that same time frame, Hughes has allowed a .335 wOBA, 40% hard contact rate, 1.74 HR/9, and 5.11 xFIP. Winker, Gennett and Votto are great as a 3-man. But I included Peraza and Duvall because they are both cheap at their positions and round out the five man onslaught. Peraza has been hitting in the two hole and provides speed on the basepaths. Duvall is a play to try and get on the right side of BABIP against a weak pitcher and he’s been walking a lot lately, something I like to see from a hitter.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 27 by

MLB – The Stack – April 25 (Main Slate)

Welcome into another edition of The Stack, where we look at the top options, in bulk, for the day’s DFS MLB slate. Today we will focus on the main DraftKings slate, which features 8 games, and for the love of all that is holy, NO COORS. You can play today’s early slate to get your exposure.

Tonight’s slate is all about whether or not you want to pay $14,000 for Clayton Kershaw.

Yes, 14 grand, 14K, 14 thousand dollars….

That’s a pretty tall order to fill when he’s facing a team that, so far, is only striking out 17% of the time against left-handed pitching. Good luck making that decision. There’s definitely safety built into the price, but it might be tough to get the Ks you want from him to pay off the tag.

The intro is quick as usual, so let’s get after it. May the Force be with you!

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

1. Tommy Pham – $4,700
2. Paul DeJong – $4,100
3. Jose Martinez – $3,800

Total Cost – $12,600
Percentage of Salary Cap – 25%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 13
SP HR/9 vs. L (2018) – 0
SP HR/9 vs. R (2018) – 2.87

Justification – We will see how the myth of BvP will hold up in this matchup versus Mets’ lefty Steven Matz. Pham and deJong are a perfect 7-for-7 against Matz with 3 home runs, 4 RBIs and 2 walks combined. Jose Martinez is 0-for-2 against Matz, but he’s in the mix because he is one of the Cardinals’ top lefty mashers, holding a .425 wOBA and a .200 ISO so far this season against southpaws (his career numbers against them also are solid). Matz has been letting the ball leave the yard at an enormous clip (2.87 HR/9 vs.L).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

1. Cody Bellinger – $4,500
2. Corey Seager – $4,400
3. Yasmani Grandal – $3,800

Total Cost – $12,300
Percentage of Salary Cap – 25%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 7
SP HR/9 vs. L (2018) – 0.84
SP HR/9 vs. R (2018) – 2.16

Justification – Welcome to my favorite stack of the night. Puig would make this a 4-man effort, but he’s been so bad (this means you play him because I am talking smack about him). As for the rest, these three get to take on rookie Trevor Richards, who owns a .355 wOBA and 39% hard contact allowed to lefties this season. Grandal is the top catcher option on my board tonight. His numbers against RH pitching this season – .418 wOBA, .244 ISO, 37% hard contact rate. Bellinger is close behind him with the following stats for this year so far vs. righties – .393 wOBA, .192 ISO, 39% hard contact. Seager is the one who has been struggling this season, but his .333 wOBA and 36% hard contact vs. righties suggests he is good to go moving forward.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 25 by

MLB – The Stack – April 23

It’s hard to believe that we’ve nearly hit the one month mark of the MLB season.

We still have 5 months to go in the regular season, but it’s starting to fly by.

It’s also starting to become that time where we can begin incorporating 2018 stats into our research. There’s still a lot of noise out there in the stats, but we will start to see clarity in the numbers soon.

Tonight we have 8 games to digest, which is more of a palatable slate for me. This edition of the Stack is going to stray from the usual rules, but only just a little bit.

We have Coors on the slate, which I have said, will not be in my articles because they are USUALLY the obvious plays.

However, there are a couple of guys from the Padres that are the apple of my eye, and I don’t think their ownership will be very high, especially with the Yankees and Astros on the slate.

The Rockies are the No. 1 stack on the board for me, so just know that going in.

Let’s get down to business. May the force be with you!

NEW YORK YANKEES

1. Aaron Judge – $5,400
2. Miguel Andujar – $2,800

Total Cost – $8,200
Percentage of Salary Cap – 16%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 8
SP HR/9 vs. Left (2018) – 4
SP HR/9 vs. Right (2018) – 0

Justification – Add in Gary Sanchez and Stanton if you want, even Didi, Torres, etc. I get it.. But I want to two guys who have been the best against RH pitching this season. Part of this play is hoping to get on the right side of the stats. Odorizzi is a career-splits pitcher, but right now he’s getting smoked by left-handed bats, mowing down RH bats and has yet to give up a HR to a RH bat. But this is Yankee Stadium, this is the Yankees and Odorizzi isn’t some next-level pitcher all of a sudden. This is variance. Judge owns a .438 wOBA, a .349 ISO and a 44% hard contact rate against righties. Andujar is just red hot with 13 hits in his last 6 games, where all but one are multi-hit efforts. Against RH pitching, Andujar owns a .418 wOBA, .368 ISO and a 48.5% hard contact rate.  

TEXAS RANGERS

1. Adrian Beltre – $3,400
2. Joey Gallo – $3,800
3. Shin-Soo Choo – $3,600
4. Nomar Mazara – $3,400

Total Cost – $14,200
Percentage of Salary Cap – 28%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 16
SP HR/9 vs. Left (2018) – 0
SP HR/9 vs. Right (2018) – 0

Justification – This stack is a tough one for me. I really like the upside Trevor Cahill presents with his ability to rack up strikeouts and the Rangers ability to strike out – 26% against RH pitching. But as you can see from their home run numbers, this stack has some pop. Cahill can be a little generous in the extra-base hit department and all four of these Rangers provide salary relief and upside. In his lone start, Cahill gave up 50% hard contact to both sides of the plate. Since 2016, Cahill owns a .336 wOBA against RH bats and has allowed 32% hard contact to lefties. He’s allowed more than one HR/9 to both sides of the plate in that span, too. Gallo has the most pop in this group and is ridiculously underpriced, in my opinion. Choo is 5-for-10 off Cahill while Beltre is batting .367 with 6 extra-base hits in his career. Mazara is on a hot steak with 12 hits in his last 10 games.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 23 by

MLB – The Stack – April 18 (All Day)

FRANCISCO LINDOR PUERTO RICO NARRATIVE DAY!!!

Ugh, I completely forgot about this when making lineups on Monday. Tilted.

Hopefully you made money off of it in some way. He was popular at shortstop on Tuesday.

As for Wednesday, we have two slates, as usual. So what we do for days like this, The Stack will provide all access to readers for the “brunch” slate and then go premium for the evening games.

Here are today’s recommendations. Stay strong and may the force be with you.

Early Slate

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

1. Tommy Pham – $4,700
2. Jose Martinez – $3,600
3. Jedd Gyorko – $2,900
4. Paul DeJong – $4,200
5. Marcell Ozuna – $4,100

Total Cost – $19,500
Percentage of Salary Cap – 39%
2018 Combined Home Runs – 12
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. L (2016-18) – 0.65
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. R (2016-18) – 1.22

Justification – I think it’s pretty clear the right-handed heavy Cardinals are the top stack of the early slate. Literally, there are 7 guys on this team that could crack the lineup that I would want to stack up and down in whatever ways possible. But these are the five of the seven that I would start with. Pham is at the top of the list considering Lester’s struggles with stolen bases in his career. Pham has 12 steals since 2016 against left-handed pitching, and he has two against Lester in his career. Pham also is a lefty-masher on this team, sporting a .384 wOBA and .244 ISO. Jose Martinez leads this squad in hitting against lefties as he owns a .512 wOBA and .364 ISO against southpaws in his career. Martinez also has a .364 average with 3 HRs already this season. As for Gyorko, DeJong and Ozuna, here are their numbers against lefties since 2016: Gyorko – .352 wOBA, .211 ISO; DeJong – .379 wOBA, .311 ISO; Ozuna – .357 wOBA, .203 wOBA. If the wind is blowing out in Wrigley, that’s a huge boost to an already ridiculous lineup. I certainly wouldn’t talk you off of Yadier Molina or Dexter Fowler here either.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

1. Manny Machado – $5,000
2. Danny Valencia – $2,800
3. Trey Mancini – $3,700

Total Cost – $11,500
Percentage of Salary Cap – 23%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 5
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. L (2016-18) – 0.49
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. R (2016-18) – 1.52

Justification – Outside of the Cardinals and Brewers, the Orioles should be one of the more popular stacks of the early slate. The Orioles facing Matt Boyd is arguably the best matchup of the day. Machado owns a .374 wOBA, a 41% hard contact rate and a .241 ISO against lefties. He’s also 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Valencia and Mancini, who is raking right now and leading off, can round out a small 3-man stack. You could add Adam Jones and/or Tim Beckham here, but Beckham is 3B eligible only. Valencia has been a valuable DFS platoonman against lefties in his career. He and Gyorko are both cheap, value 3B, but you can’t roster both. Boyd throws BP and it’s mind-numbing that he’s still a starter. He allows a .346 wOBA and a 34% hard contact rate to RH bats.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

1. Eric Thames – 4,400
2. Travis Shaw – $3,600
3. Christian Yelich – $4,200

Total Cost – $12,200
Percentage of Salary Cap – 24%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 9
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. L (2016-18) – 2.13
Starting Pitcher HR/9 vs. R (2016-18) – 0.39

Justification – The Brewers are my third-favorite stack of the early slate. Taking on rookie Tyler Mahle and taking on the Reds in Miller Park, the Brewers’ lefties are my targets of choice. Milwaukee gets a boost with Christian Yelich coming off the DL. Prior to his injury, Yelich was hitting an astounding .385 to start the season. Mahle has been getting crushed against lefties early in his career, allowing a .412 wOBA, 41% hard contact and he owns a 6.25 xFIP. Shaw, Yelich and Thames all have .350+ wOBAs and ISOs of .192 or higher. Thames has a 43% hard contact rate, Yelich has a 39.8% rate and Shaw has a 37.5% hard contact rate against RH pitching since 2016. Park factor, rookie pitcher and a struggle against opposite hands could mean a big day for your DFS lineups if this stack goes nutso.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 18 by

MLB – The Stack – April 17

Rain, snow, frigid temps and ice through a roof…

These are the reasons for all of the postponements we’ve seen in MLB over the past few days.

Seems like this has been one of the craziest openings to a baseball season due to weather that I can remember, especially since I started playing DFS in 2014.

Luckily for today’s 12-game main slate, it doesn’t appear we have a ton of weather to worry about. What we might have to worry about is previous snowfall and its fallout affecting mobility of people to get to stadiums and some cold weather.

Keep an eye out, but things seem to be normalizing in the weather department for today.

Stacking looks a little difficult for today. On the surface, there are very few teams I could narrow down and feel comfortable with. I found a lot of one-offs I like for today (Adrian Beltre, Starling Marte, Bryce Harper, George Springer, C.J. Cron, to name a few), but figuring out stacks was a little more difficult. But here we are!

Good luck and may the force be with you…

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

1. Travis Shaw – $4,100
2. Eric Thames – $4,600
3. Ryan Braun – $4,600
4. Lorenzo Cain – $3,800
5. Domingo Santana – $3,000

Total Cost – $20,100
Percentage of Salary Cap – 40%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 11
Starting Pitcher HR/9 (2016-18) vs. L – 0.96
Starting Pitcher HR/9 (2016-18) vs. R – 1.13

Justification – Beware of this stack as Braun and Thames could sit. Either way, I like all 5, so no matter who isn’t in the lineup, any of these five guys against Sal Romano will be on my board tonight. It’s an expensive stack, but you can fit Corey Kluber and a cheap pitcher Romano has allowed a .336 wOBA to lefties and a .343 wOBA to righties in his career while allowing at least 30% hard contact to both sides of the plate. The ballpark is a big boost and the Brewers get to tee off at home against a young, inexperienced below average pitcher. Shaw, Braun, Thames and Santana all have at least a .196 ISO versus RH pitching since 2017. Cain’s ISO is low, but his wOBA of .342 still shows he can pound RH pitching. Word to wise, Santana has 8 hits in his past 6 games, but is still homerless for the season. I am putting in my call that he ends that drought today.

CHICAGO CUBS

1. Anthony Rizzo – $4,300
2. Kyle Schwarber – $4,400
3. Ian Happ – $3,900 

Total Cost – $12,600
Percentage of Salary Cap – 25%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 6
Starting Pitcher HR/9 (2016-18) vs. L – 1.27
Starting Pitcher HR/9 (2016-18) vs. R – 0.83

Justification – I lied, there is a game where we have to worry about weather. It’s the Cardinals and Cubs. But it’s not the weather you have been used to the past few days. This time around, it’s the wind, which is supposed to be blowing double-digits out to right center field. It will be really cold, so that could stump some long balls, but the wind has to be weighed as a factor today, especially for lefty bats (see more later). Rizzo is coming off the DL and his price is ridiculously low while Schwarber and Happ will help anchor this lineup. I don’t think anyone should be scared of the downside of Adam Wainwright’s career. He’s not the pitcher he once was. Against lefties since 2016, Wainwright has allowed .357 wOBA, 32% hard contact and a 1.07 HR/9.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 17 by

MLB – The Stack – Friday the 13th

Hello Jason Voorhies Day!

I am not really superstitious but we are here to talk about a DFS sport that surrounds itself with superstitions – unwashed jock straps and socks, late-inning rally caps, rally monkeys, hopping over chalk lines to and from the field, etc.

As a DFS player, I don’t have any superstitions for lineup construction per se, but the only thing that might come close to that is tinkering with lineups for far too long and changing things in and out frequently, rarely leads to profit for this guy.

Set it and forget it…unless you get some late-breaking news.

Perhaps today is one surrounded by good luck rather than bad luck and superstitions. To hopefully help you rid of any bad juju you may be experiencing in DFS right now, let’s take a long at today’s biggest slate of the year.

We have 13 games on the Friday slate….that’s the perfect number of games for today. Well played, MLB?

Anyway, there are a few stacks that I think appear pretty obvious where ownership is going to be directed. One of those will be the red-hot Boston Red Sox against Patheticville Chris Tillman. I think this will be the top stack of the slate, so we will leave them off the board as part of tonight’s recommendations.

I hope you are enjoying this facet of DailyOverlay and I hope you have found it helpful. As we get more solid data for the 2018 season, I hope to be able to provide more stats and trends to help solidify these recommendations. As I said Wednesday, I hope you will utilize the Expert Consensus as a tool for lineup construction in both cash games and gpps.

Good luck, and may the force be with you!

MIAMI MARLINS

1. Justin Bour – $2,900
2. Derek Dietrich – $3,000

Total Cost – $5,900
Percentage of Salary Cap – 12%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 3
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. L – 1.18
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. R – 0.75

Justification – Here’s a rule of DFS that you need to write down if you are not aware of it – lefties vs. Chad Kuhl. While solid and efficient against RH pitching (.304 wOBA against), he is stone cold awful against left-handed bats, evidenced by his .372 wOBA and 38% hard contact rate against. Justin Bour has yet to really get it going, but .239 ISO and .366 wOBA  shows he’s stout against RH pitching. At $2,900 and in a dream matchup, Bour is one of the better values on the board. Derek Dietrich is starting strong out of the gate. As the team’s leadoff man, he has some pop as well with a .171 ISO and a .342 wOBA against RH pitching since the start of the 2016 season. For the record, I like Kuhl as a value play on this slate.

HOUSTON ASTROS

1. George Springer – $4,900
2. Jose Altuve – $5,200
3. Carlos Correa – $5,100
4. Alex Bregman – $4,300

Total Cost – $19,400
Percentage of Salary Cap – 39%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 5
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. L – 0.71
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. R – 1.28

Justification – Well, I hate Cole Hamels. I have since the Rangers traded for him. Overrated, in my opinion. Now his velocity is about as good as a BP fast ball (see DraftKings news and notes on it). And a date with the Astros seems like a deadly combination that I think will go way underowned with the Red Sox and Yankees on the board. As you know or can tell, the Astros are struggling out of the gate offensively. Altuve is without a homer and the other three have combined for 5 home runs total. That’s all going to change sooner than later. I’ve been chasing that first Altuve homer, so I am going to be heavy on him against tonight. The numbers for these four guys against lefties is a bit ridiculous. Now, you have to spend almost 40% of your salary to stack them, but there’s value on this slate (see Boud, Justin and Kuhl, Chad). Here are the wOBA’s for Springer, Altuve, Bregman and Correa against lefties since 2016, respectively – .401, .392, .376 and .372.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 13 by

The Stack – Wednesday, April 11 (Evening Only)

If you are reading the intro instead of scrolling down and reading today’s recommendations, then I want to encourage you to do AT LEAST this one thing every day you play MLB DFS during the week.

</P>

Review and consider the results of the Expert Consensus.

</P>

And I certainly recommend this if you are a big cash game player. It’s pretty damn accurate in regards to who will be chalk each night, who people will use in their double-ups and H2Hs. If anything, it can be a reference, but it also might give you some insight into what you will be up against in those type of contests.

</P>

I wanted to give us a plug here today because the Consensus is on point each night and can be valuable to you as part of your routine.

</P>

Now that I have got that out of the way, let’s get to tonight’s 7-game slate.

</P>

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

1. Mike Trout – $5,700
2. Justin Upton – $4,700
3. Zack Cozart – $4,600

</P>

Total Cost – $15,000
Percentage of Salary Cap – 30%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 9
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. L – 1.42
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. R – 1.21

</P>

Justification – When you don’t lock in Mike Trout versus a lefty in cash games, you are doing it wrong. I did it wrong on Tuesday. Today I will not turn him down anywhere. Nor will I turn down some Angels correlation. Taking on lefty Matt Moore in an increasingly warming North Texas environment sounds like we can just print money tonight. Each guy of this 3-man stack has an ISO of 200+. Trout’s wOBA is over .400, Upton is a close second at .386 and Cozart’s is at .371.

</P>

NEW YORK YANKEES

1. Gary Sanchez – $3,900
2. Giancarlo Stanton – $4,500
3. Aaron Judge – $4,300
4. Didi Gregorius – $4,300

</P>

Total Cost – $17,000
Percentage of Salary Cap – 34%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 9
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. L – 0.84
Opposing SP HR/9 vs. R – 1.14

</P>

Justification –  I don’t know what the DraftKings algorithm is smoking, but I am glad it came out chill because these are about as good as the Yankee prices are going to get all year, and they aren’t facing a Kershaw, Sale, Kluber or Scherzer. Instead, it’s David Price, the most expensive pitcher on the slate. I understand Price might be seeing a bit of resurgence, but would you rather play priced down power bats against a semi-overrated pitcher? Oooooor, would you play a priced of Price who had success against the Rays twice? Hence, you are paying for those past performances. I’ll take the stack in Fenway any day, especially RH bats. Ok, Stanton against a lefty not named Sale or Kershaw? You know me, hopefully. Judge is in the midst of an 8-game hitting streak, so he’s locked in it appears. Gary Sanchez has 4 home runs off of Price in his VERY short career while Gregorius hits cleanup in this order. And even though he’s a lefty, Gregorius has shown he can hit lefties and has hit Price often – 6-for-14, 2 2Bs, 5 RBIs.

</P>

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
April 11 by

MLB – The Stack – April 9

Happy Bryce Harper vs. Julio Teheran day!!! Happy Coors Field Day! Happy Monday! Happy…..ok, enough happy talk. Today we have a large 10-game MLB slate to tackle, including a game at Coors Field. As I have said previously, Coors Field will never be part of The Stack because that game, no matter who is playing, […]

April 9 by

MLB – The Stack – Friday, April 6

Happy Friday everyone! Today is one of the last days The Index will be completely accessible without a subscription. I might go through Monday, but we will see. Before we get to Monday, we have a modest 7-game slate on a Friday evening. There are a couple of other games starting in the late afternoon, […]

April 6 by