I had some internet issues Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, thus why if you were waiting for a Stacks article, it didn’t happen.
But it appears our outage is over and we are back at it for today’s 9-game evening slate of baseball.
Before we get into things, just know we will be ramping up our football content soon now that preseason begins officially tonight (Thank goodness!).
Today feels pretty clear cut to me in DRAFT as there are some guys I will lock and load with moving forward and pitching is deep today, so pick your bats, and grab whatever pitcher is left in my rankings below. Felix Hernandez also an option tonight.
With all of that said, let’s get after it – top-15 infielder, outfielder and pitcher rankings and then some recommended strategies for contests through 6-mans.
TOP-15 INFIELDER RANKINGS
1. Giancarlo Stanton – Facing a lefty in Fenway, lock and load
2. J.D. Martinez – See above
3. Javier Baez
4. Gleyber Torres
5. Rougned Odor
6. Daniel Murphy
7. Ozzie Albies
8. Miguel Andujar
9. Didi Gregorius
10. Paul Goldschmidt
11. Freddie Freeman
12. Matt Adams
13. Nelson Cruz
14. Manny Machado
15. Willson Contreras
TOP-15 OUTFIELDER RANKINGS
1. Mookie Betts
2. Bryce Harper
3. Ronald Acuna
4. Shin-Soo Choo
5. Rhys Hoskins
6. Aaron Hicks
7. Juan Soto
8. Hunter Renfroe
9. Cody Bellinger
10. Steve Pearce
11. Andrew Benintendi
12. Joc Pederson
13. Wil Myers
14. Joey Gallo
15. A.J. Pollock
DARK HORSE BAT OF THE DAY
Christian Villanueva – If you are in a 6 to 10-man contest, Villanueva clocks in as a fantastic late-to-last-round pick in bigger formats. He’s facing Mike Montgomery and he’s a guy I will always take against a lefty, especially bad ones.
TOP-6 PITCHER RANKINGS
1. Max Scherzer – No Brainer
2. Zack Greinke – Softer matchup than Kershaw
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Mike Foltynewicz
5. Madison Bumgarner
6. Nick Pivetta
3, 4 and 5-Man Contests
The Strat – Mookie Betts is No. 1 overall here. You can likely get Giancarlo with the 3rd, 4th and if you are lucky, 5th pick. In all of my drafts today, Mookie, J.D. and Max have been the top picks. Giancarlo is my No. 1 overall if I don’t get Mookie, so I have him in every lineup today. Bryce Harper has been an early pick as well, so if you are getting one of the top picks you will miss out on him. Where my rankings differ than projections are with Torres and Acuna, two fantastic rookies that will be hitting on the road and have premium lineup spots against dreadful southpaw starting pitching. I am reaching for them, forgoing most Rangers except Choo and Odor.
6-Man Contests
The Strat – If the draft falls where I can stack, then I am pairing Stanton and Torres together and Mookie and J.D. along with Steve Pearce. Choo and Rougned can be a solid stack in the 2nd to 3rd rounds if you have the back-to-back turn picks. I still love Acuna and Torres, and you can get them cheap. You might have to draft a pitcher earlier here if you want one of the top arms, but I am OK with Hernandez or Pivetta late if I can snag two of the following players – Stanton, Betts, Martinez, Torres, Acuna and Harper. A stack that will go overlooked is Villanueva, Renfroe and Wil Myers. Baez has been going high in 3-man contests, so good luck snagging him past the second round. The Nationsl are a great stack today against Tyler Mahle, who is completely devoid of talent against lefty bats, so you can snag Harper early and easily stack with Murph, Adams and Soto late.
