MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks for September 5, 2017

*Austyn Varney*

MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks – Tuesday, September 5, 2017

*STARTING PITCHERS*

Jacob DeGrom Vs Philadelphia Phillies
Park – Citi Field
Opp implied total – 3.31

When I first looked at this slate, Jacob DeGrom immediately stuck out to me as the top option. When deciding whether or not to play DeGrom, this first thing I look at is if he’s at home. In Citi Field, DeGrom has sported a .276 wOBA, compared to the .308 on the road. He’s also held lefties and righties to a combined .246 wOBA and 10 K/9. He’s dotted the edges extremely well over his last few starts, striking out 23 to just 2 walks. DeGrom has slipped with injuries this year, but he’s still one of the brightest young arms in baseball. His velocity is as high as ever and his change-up has induced an incredible 52% GB rate. He faces off with the Phillies tonight, which doesn’t need much explanation. They’ve posted a .286 wOBA against Phillies in the last 2 months and only have a few guys who deserve to be in a major league lineup. They strikeout close to 25% of the time and make hard contact just 24%. They also move from Citizens Bank Park (top 10) to Citi Field (23rd for hitting). DeGrom should have an extremely solid performance tonight and I’m a big fan in both cash games and tournaments.

Danny Salazar @ Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field
Vegas O/U – 3.62

At this point in the season, there’s a whole lot of attacking offenses. We have a few offenses in the league that stand out as being far worse than the field. The White Sox are certainly in that grouping. Jose Abreu is the only hitter to be afraid of and to be honest, I’m not that worried against a righty with one of the more devastating sliders around. The rest of the order is pretty garbage, with guys like Yolmer Sanchez and Matt Davidson surrounding Abreu. Looking further down the lineup may induce some gag reflex, so be cautious. Guys like Rob Brantly and Adam Engel are AA talent hitters that are pretty solid in the field. Good thing that doesn’t matter in the slightest. As for Danny Salazar, you know what you’re going to get. He is predictably unpredictable. No matter the opponent, Salazar can b one of the more frustrating pitchers to watch. I can vividly remember multiple occasions of wanting to pull my hair out as Salazar walks the pitcher or goes 3-0 to a catcher in the 8 hole. On the other side of things, he can be one of the more rewarding pitchers to have. Those same memories are matched by Salazar on the mound, dicing and dealing for 7-9 innings of no-run baseball. He has been dominant against both sides of the plate this year and has held a K rate over 10. He has one of the best match-ups he’ll see al year, so if his stuff is on, you will see 7+ innings and 10+ strikeouts. If he’s off, there’s no telling when the wheels will fall off. You will know by the 2nd inning.

*OFFENSIVE STACKS*

Cleveland Indians @ David Holmberg (White Sox)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field
Implied Total – 6.11

We’ll stick right in Chicago here with the Indians, who are facing off with David Holmberg and have the highest Vegas O/U outside of Coors on the day. it only makes sense when you look at the match-up. David Holmberg has struggled (.341 wOBA) against both sides of the plate since coming up and a .250 BABIP just tells me some more impending doom is on the way. To put it simply, the Indians aren’t a team to mess with. You won’t go out and throw weird pitches that get them to chase. They will happily walk all night long and wait for some in the zone. The targets are pretty obvious but you will have to choose between Encarnacion and Santana. I personally prefer Encarnacion against a lefty, due to Santana being far better against righties. Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor are also locks and I wouldn’t consider an Indians stack without either. After that, you can go anywhere. Austin Jackson is actually the guy I have a lot of interest in, as he hits lefties well and should go relatively ignored.

Main Stack – Edwin Encarnacion, Austin Jackson, Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor
Sneaky Stack – Jose Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Jay Bruce, Francisco Lindor

Colorado Rockies Vs Ty Blach (Giants)
Park – Coors Field
Implied Total – 6.38

I know, you can’t get any more obvious than this. Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of stacking any other teams than the 2 we’re touching on. I like mixing and matching in tournaments today and there are quite a few options I like across the board on different teams. As for the Rockies, they could easily put up double digits tonight. Ty Blach is a left-handed pitcher that fully relies on the ballpark to save him. He strikes out just over 3 (YES, 3!) batters per 9 innings and has a GB rate that doesn’t do much. In turn, he is giving up more fly-balls than any other pitcher. In the spacious AT&T Park, it’s perfect. it takes a tank to get one over the wall. With this move into Coors Field, the same cannot be said. Those same routing flyouts to left field are going to be 10 rows deep in CoorLiterallyitterally. This Rockies team can certainly hit lefties and there are a few guys that have to be licking their chops. My 2 favorites are Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. I know Story might sound a bit crazy, but listen. He strikes out about 100% of the time and hits an HR the rest. Against Blach, those K numbers fall dramatically. When you can guarantee me a guy with 52% hard contact against lefties is going to see at last 2 at-bats with contact, I’ll take it. The rest of the order is pretty spread out and you can go wherever you’d like. Charlie Blackmon isn’t a must, but he will likely see some righties out of the pen, so don’t count on him busting.

Main Stack – Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Mark Reynolds, Ian Desmond
Sneaky Stack – Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds, Trevor Story, Jonathan Lucroy