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, but they are not on the DK main slate. I bet you can find somewhere else to play that will include the first Coors game of the season.
Two things stick out like sore thumbs for tonight’s slate – Lance McCullers vs. San Diego (and I don’t care about his elevated price) and Kendrys Morales’ price – $2,900, but more on that later.
If you are new to The Stack, we take a look at the best stacking options on a slate and compare it to pitcher pricing and find a way that works for our roster construction.
Tonight we have very few pitching options that feel comfortable, so making things work with your value plays at pitcher (assuming you roster McCullers like I plan to).
The top stack of the night are the Astros vs. Luis Perdomo. I literally think you can use any of the guys that crack the lineup for Houston tonight, thus why they are in this disclaimer and not listed as an “official” stack.
Let’s get to it and may the force be with you.
NEW YORK YANKEES
1. Aaron Judge – $5,300
2. Giancarlo Stanton – $5,600
3. Gary Sanchez – $4,900
Total Cost – $15,800
Percentage Salary Cap – 31%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 6
Justification – I am not surprised that the bane of my baseball existence, Andrew Cashner, basically dominated the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium Thursday night. Although you likely didn’t get to play the Yankees on a slate, tonight is the night to continue to ride The Stack. We hit Wednesday with these same three guys and we have another perfect scenario lining up with opposing starter Kevin Gausman. We have a situation where we have a reverse-splits pitcher facing a reverse-splits stud and two of his teammates that also swing the stick well against RH pitching. First, we have The Judge, who sports a ridiculous .421 wOBA, a .341 ISO and a 45% hard contact rate. Gausman’s numbers against RH bats since 2016 – .346 wOBA, 32% hard contact rate, 1.5 HR/9. Judge also has the BvP to boot – 6-for-12, 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BBs. Sanchez and Stanton also have ridiculous numbers against RH pitching. Sanchez also is without a home run this season, too, so he’s well overdue for one already. Against Gausman, Sanchez is 4-for-13 with a HR. Stanton hasn’t faced Gaus, but his numbers against RH pitching are elite – .367 wOBA and a .289 ISO.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
1. Josh Donaldson – $4,800
2. Kendrys Morales – $2,900
Total Cost – $7,700
Percentage of Salary Cap – 15%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 2
Justification – Morales’ pricing is ridiculous. Why is he not $3K tonight???? Morales dominates lefty pitching – .404 wOBA, .233 ISO, 39% hard contact rate. Donaldson is Stanton level good against lefty bats, too – .408 wOBA, .304 ISO and a 39.8% hard contact rate. The weather will be warm in Arlington for the start of this game, but then a nasty cold front is supposed to come through at some point. It doesn’t scare me off of the Blue Jays, but against Matt Moore in that environment, I like the Blue Jays to be fairly popular on this slate.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
1. Chris Taylor – $4,000
2. Kike Hernandez – $3,500
Total Cost – $7,500
Percentage of Salary Cap – 15%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 0
Justification – To fit in McCullers and still get high upside, might you look to this Dodger duo to take on poor, pathetic lefty Derek Holland, who sports a .381 wOBA, a 38% hard contact allowed and a 1.88 HR/9 rate. You can throw in Puig, Forsythe and especially Austin Barnes if he gets the start. Taylor has a .342 wOBA and a .183 ISO against left-handed pitching since 2016. Kike has a .347 wOBA and a .248 ISO against southpaws. He should move up in the order and bat in the 2-hole behind Taylor.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
1. Zack Cozart – $4,300
2. Mike Trout – $5,500
3. Justin Upton – $4,300
Total Cost – $14,100
Percentage of Salary Cap – 28%
Combined 2018 Home Runs – 5
Justification – The Angels take on Daniel Gossett, who might be the worst pitcher on this slate. Gossett doesn’t rack up strikeouts and he’s about as bad against right handed bats as he is against lefted handed bats. If you are looking for a stack that might see less ownership, might I direct you to this 3-man Angels stack? You can add in a Valbuena, Pujols or Calhoun and I wouldn’t argue with you. But for Cozart, Trout and Upton, they are the three best bats against RH pitching on their team. Cozart has a .346 wOBA, Upton a .342 wOBA and Trout a .432. Against RH bats, Gosett owns a .383 wOBA, a 36% hard contact rate allowed and allows 2.53 HR/game. Trout is one of the top plays on the board.
