For a 9-game slate, we have a fairly ugly situation for hitters outside of a couple of spots. But even Coors is kind of meh for me with Madison Bumgarner and the Giants coming to Denver.
However, your choice of pitching is pretty solid and there are some clear-cut choices to roster. I probably won’t roster Max because Kluber is my No, 1 pitcher on this slate. I also like Robbie Ray and Alex Wood.
Value pitchers that I like are Luis Castillo and Brent Suter, just so you know.
But now on to the stacks! Again, Coors is not here, but I love some of the Giants bats for some value today.
MIAMI MARLINS – VALUE STACK OF THE DAY
1. Justin Bour
2. Derek Dietrich
3. J.T. Riddle
Analysis: If I play cash today, I am going Kluber and Alex Wood, or in single-entry tournaments. With the prices for those two, we need some value. The Marlins will provide that and also leverage the field a bit in tournaments. Nathan Eovaldi is way too overpriced to me and the Marlins make pitchers’ lives hell. Eovaldi might draw some ownership today and I feel that is unwarranted at that price tag. For some value bats, I like this 3-man Marlins stack. Bour and Riddel are under $4K and Dietrich, hitting leadoff, is slightly over the $4K tag, which is still cheap considering the pricing for bats these days. Eovaldi has historically been bad against lefties and so far he has a .233 BABIP and 4.53 xFIP against them this season. Regression is coming for him eventually.
NEW YORK YANKEES
1. Aaron Judge
2. Didi Gregorius
3. Gleyber Torres
Analysis: Anibal. Sanchez. That’s about all you need to know for this stack. I won’t be chasing the Aaron Hicks 3-home run game, but i will be targeting Aaron Judge as my No. 1 overall bat on DK and DRAFT. Judge is a reverse-splits hitter taking on a historically reverse-splits pitcher. Two pairings I love for playing bats. Judge is only $5,300 and hitting at home where he has a .357 average compared to a sub-.200 average on the road (who knew?). Gregorius and Torres are the other guys I like in this middle-of-the order stack. Torres has been smashing the baseball this season and has moved up in the lineup. Gregoius is still in the heart of the order despite Torres’ success. Not having Gary Sanchez around helps him keep his spot in the order. As for Anibal he has a 4.44 xFIP compared to 1.95 ERA against RH bats. Judge owns insane numbers against RH pitching in 2018 – .423 wOBA, .310 ISO and 50% hard contact rate. Torres owns a .354 wOBA, .242 ISO and 37% hard hit rate while Gregorius has a .355 wOBA, .260 ISO and 40% hard hit rate. I think you can stack all three in cash today, too.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
1. Francisco Lindor
2. Jose Ramirez
3. Michael Brantley
4. Yonder Alonso
Analysis: Coming off a big game against the A’s Sunday, I expect the Indians to draw quite a bit of ownership even though they are in Kansas City and traveling east to west. The Indians continue to cruise through teams and I look for them to continue that momentum against Jacob Junis. Against lefties this season, which this 4-man features, Junis owns a .330 wOBA, 39% hard hit rate allowed, 1.50 HR/9 and a 5.15 xFIP. This stack is 4 of the top 5 hitters for the Indians this season. None have a wOBA under .355 against righties, none are under a .193 ISO and all have hard hit rates of 38% or higher. They are expensive, so I don’t know if I will have anyone outside of Ramirez in cash, but they are worth adversaries in tournaments today.
CINCINNATI REDS – LOW-OWNED STACK OF THE DAY
1. Joey Votto
2. Scooter Gennett
3. Scott Schebler
4. Jesse Winker
5. Eugenio Suarez
Analysis: To target James Shields or to not target James Shields, that is the question today. Why is it a question? Because the Reds are a scrappy, solid RH-hitting offense (9th overall in wOBA) and Shields is due for some regression this season. The Reds are at home, playing in some heat, but their prices are through the roof compared to Indians, Yankees and Coors. That’s why I think they go overlooked and are a nice sneaky-stack of the day. Votto is cheaper than Scooter at $4.8K, but he’s my second-favorite cash first baseman. Schebler and Winker will hit in one of the top-6 spots in the order. Suarez is the alpha righty on this team. He crushes RH pitching and will go overlooked today because of price and with Arenado vs. lefty, Jose Ramirez and Jake Lamb vs. Carlos Martinez on the schedule. They are expensive, but go vault you to the top of the leaderboards if I am right about my hunch. They scare me, so that’s a good thing usually. Play scared isn’t always a bad way to go because those guys are the ones that usually pan out.
