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.
