12 games on the board for Friday night, which gives us a whopping 24 offenses to consider stacking. At first glance 22 of them look at least remotely appealing, and we’ve got the Diamondbacks in Coors Field for Game 2 of their weekend stint in Denver.
Obviously Arizona will be at the top of everyone’s wish list, but there are 6 other teams with implied run totals of at least 5 – Detroit, Kansas City, Colorado, the A’s, and both LA teams. Several more check in just under 5, which isn’t a surprise considering Framber Valdez and Jacob deGrom are really the only true aces toeing the rubber around the league.
Without wasting any more of your time, let’s get it.
Primary Stacks – Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres, Dodgers, Rangers, Yankees
Diamondbacks (at RHP Tanner Gordon)
The Rockies don’t have any MLB-caliber pitchers in their rotation, and something called a “Tanner Gordon” will start tonight’s game. This is a guy with a 13.8% K-rate in the majors and moderate groundball skills to righties, but that’s really about it. We’re once again looking at Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Geraldo Perdomo as the headliners from the left side, followed by Adrian Del Castillo and Alek Thomas, assuming they crack the lineup.
Blaze Alexander has impressive numbers (.212 ISO, .373 wOBA) vs. RHP on the year, while Tyler Locklear is an affordable enough way to fill first base. Arizona will be the chalkiest stack on the board for the second straight night, but the ownership shouldn’t be quite as overwhelmingly high as it was on last night’s 5-gamer.
Rockies (vs. Brandon Pfaadt)
The Rockies’ bats didn’t quite hold up their end of the bargain, but today’s a new day. They’ll take their swings against RHP Brandon Pfaadt. He’s talented, but he’s had major power issues against hitters from both sides this season.
Lefties have the long-term advantage, so I’d start with Mickey Moniak, even as a one-off. Colorado is otherwise pretty righty-heavy, but Hunter Goodman, Ezequiel Tovar, and Jordan Beck are capable enough hitters, while Kyle Karros and Warming Bernabel have fared well in limited samples. As always, the Rockies’ side of this game will come with lower ownership.
Padres (at Clayton Kershaw)
Beyond the D-Backs, ownership should be very spread out. I wouldn’t expect the Padres to be super high on a lot of lists, even though they get a nice park boost going into Dodger Stadium, the league’s best home run park.
Clayton Kershaw isn’t what he used to be, but his control is elite and he’s keeping the ball on the ground nearly 50% of the time. He’s not someone I’m super excited to pick on, but the Padres are a capable offense with good right-handed power between Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ramon Laureano, and, occasionally, Xander Bogaerts.
Jose Iglesias, Jake Cronenworth, and Luis Arraez are all affordable enough to make full stacks, as well.
Dodgers (vs. Randy Vasquez)
A lot’s been made of the Dodgers’ struggles of late, but they’re in one of the more favorable matchups on the board against Randy Vasquez, who got recalled from the minors to make this start.
Strikeouts are not a part of Vasquez’s game (11.8%), while his walk (10.1%) and barrel (12%) rates are way too high. He’s beneifted from some favorable batted ball luck, but there’s nothing about the numbers that suggests he belongs in the majors.
Shohei Ohtani is up there with Carroll/Marte among the top hitters on the entire slate. The stack gets a boost if Max Muncy happens to get back into the lineup, but there’s still enough here – Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith, Andy Pages – to make the stack pop even if Muncy sits.
Rangers (at Chris Bassitt)
The Rangers have a lot of talent in the lineup, even if the results haven’t always been there. Chris Bassitt – while a decent real-life pitcher – doesn’t profile very well against lefties. Corey Seager is yet another standout LHB, while you can get pretty cheap with the $3,800 Josh Smith, $2,300 Joc Pederson, and a $2,700 Rowdy Tellez.
Yankees (at Andre Pallante)
We know Pallante has enough groundball ability to potentially skate by, but there isn’t a single hitter in the Yankees’ projected lineup with a high groundball rate vs. RHP on the year:
We know they’ll be putting the ball in play given Pallante’s meager 15% strikeout rate, and I like their chances of doing damage if they’re not hitting the ball on the ground. Still a slight preference for the lefties – Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm, Cody Bellinger – while Aaron Judge is always a priority.
Secondary Stacks – Marlins, Red Sox, Tigers, Mets, Angels, A’s
Both sides of the MIA/BOS and LAA/ATH games are stackable. I’m least inclined to roll out the Angels considering I’m going to be rostering an uncomfortable amount of Jack Perkins against them, but this is still one of the better power-hunting teams on the slate, as usual.
Miami’s righty power profiles well in a great park for righty power against a right-hander with a reverse split – Agustin Ramirez, Otto Lopez, Heriberto Hernandez. As always, you can play Kyle Stowers, too.
Boston’s lefties are generally preferred against Alcantara, who looks diminished on the heels of Tommy John – Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu.
We always like RH power against Kikuchi, so Shea Langeliers, Colby Thomas, and Brent Rooker are the A’s standouts.
Luis Castillo’s numbers against lefties leave a lot to be desired, so I love a Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo mini-stack. Honorable mention – Jeff McNeil, Cedric Mullins, Brett Baty.
Pierson Ohl has been blasted by hitters from either side in a limited sample of MLB duty, but the Tigers’ LHBs generally look the best vs. RHP – Colt Keith, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Wenceel Perez.
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