Top MLB Plays 8/25 | Stacks on Stacks Saturday

August 25, 2018

Thanks to @ZeroInDenver for filling in this week! We will resume freeroll contests when @GP_Landry is back from his well deserved vacation.

Happy Saturday everyone. I'm focusing on the main slate for tonight, which I think is pretty good for a 9-game slate. There are some top pitching options and value priced arms worth playing and several teams with boom or bust matchups, so let's dive into it.

Pitching: Spending Up

Clayton Kershaw, LAD (vs SD) (DK:$11.8K, FD: $11.6K)

Very little interest in Kluber today. On DK, I prefer Kershaw for the $1100 savings, but I'll probably go heavier on Verlander on FD where he's $600 cheaper.

Pitching: Value

Anibal Sanchez, ATL (@ MIA) (DK: $8.2K, FD: $8.6K)

Sanchez gets a great matchup in a pitcher's park. He's also got solid Statcast numbers and strikeout upside. I don't have a lot of interest in stacking Miami either tonight.

Pitching: Punt

Sonny Gray, NYY (@BAL) (DK: $7.5K, FD: $7K)

I know what you're thinking, Gray has pitched terribly. However, I did some homework and he's a much better pitcher on the road, so I'll be playing some BIG AWAY GAME SONNY GRAY tonight.

#HomeRunWatchList 💥

If you’re new to the article, this is @glandry's section where he picks an outfielder, corner infielder, and middle infielder or catcher to hit a long ball today. Happy to play along on this. Make sure you are utilizing the LineStar Daily Matchup Tool when looking for hitters with a lot of home run potential. That will give you a good idea of batters with good history or splits. I take it a little further and look for players that meet all (or almost all) of the following criteria:

  • wOBA + ISO of .600 or higher

  • Hard Contact rate above 40%

  • Exit velocity over 94 MPH

  • Average distance of 250 ft or greater

Giancarlo Stanton, NYY: OF (DK: $5.3K, FD: $5.1K)

I'll even throw it out there. Two homeruns from Stanton tonight. 🔮

Cody Bellinger, LAD: 1B/OF (DK: $4.7K, FD: $4.3K)

Brett Kennedy has given up 5 HR in the last 14 innings pitched. Bellinger is my dude.

Travis Shaw, MIL: 2B/3B (DK: $4.4K, FD: $4.2K)

Today's gut call. Taillon doesn't give up very many homeruns, but Shaw hits RHP well. Just feeling it. 🔮

Value Bats

Similar to the home run watch list, in this section, I’ll provide an outfielder, corner infielder, and middle infielder or catcher who are priced in the value tier. If I can find someone under priced on both sites, I’ll highlight them. But in some cases, it could be site specific.

Keep an eye on the MLB Dashboard to make sure these guys are confirmed starters.

Ramón Laureano, OAK: OF (DK: $3.7K, FD: $2.7K)

Fits the profile of a slate-breaker. Not a ton of plate appearances this year and batting low in the order. My 2% owned HR call.

Tyler White, HOU: 1B (DK: $3.6K, FD: $3.6K)

A much better play on DraftKings due to price.

Tyler Flowers, ATL: C (DK: $3.5K, FD: $2K)

Just make sure he's in the lineup for tonight.

Stacks on Stacks

Coors is an obvious target for tonight. No need to mention them here. But here are a few stacks that I have a lot of interest in as well as the "biscuit stack", a high-risk but high-upside stack for the night.

Oakland Athletics (@MIN)

Stephen Gonsalves is starting for the Twins and had a miserable outing last week against the White Sox, not even making it past the second inning. On top of that, Oakland has a .401 wOBA and .262 ISO against LHP over the past two weeks

Atlanta Braves (@MIA)

Chen pitches well at home, so I hope that scares some people away from Braves stacks today. I'm willing to chance it with the Braves as they have a .370 wOBA and .202 IS vs LHP over the past 2 weeks with a 47% hard contact rate as a team.

New York Yankees (@BAL)

This is an expensive stack if you want to run it, and I think you're going to have to be patient with a Yankees stack. Cashner has been decent, but the Baltimore bullpen is terrible, so it might not be until the 5th or 6th inning for this stack to get going.

Kansas City Royals (vs CLE) *Biscuit Stack*

Usually with my "biscuit stacks," I like to pick who I think is going to be a popular or top-tier pitcher that I think has a decent chance to get blown up. I don't know how popular Kluber will be tonight, but he hasn't shown the consistency you'd expect out of a top-tier pitcher. Because of that, I'll have a few lineups with Royals stacks.

The Bullpen Report

Bullpen numbers over the past 2 weeks are listed below. Green is good, red is not good. So for example, the Yankees have a great matchup against a terrible Baltimore bullpen.

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback on the daily newsletters and hit me up on Twitter (@ZeroInDenver).