*Austyn Varney*
MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks – Tuesday, August 8, 2017
*STARTING PITCHERS*
Chris Sale @ Tampa Bay Rays
Park – Tropicana Field
Vegas O/U – 7.5
We have a plethora of expensive pitchers on this slate, with no 1 arm standing out. Our favorite of the bunch is Chris Sale, who faces off with the Tampa Bay Rays in pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field. Sale is having arguably his best season ever, sporting a combined .245 wOBA and striking out over 12 batters per 9 innings. This is also a prime match-up for Sale. Against righties, they hold the 20th ranked wOBA at just .309. They also strikeout 25.5% of the time, which leads the league. Tropicana Field is a huge bump from Fenway Park and Vegas expect the Rays to be shut down. They hold an implied run total under 3 and should be in trouble from the get go. I think Sale and Kluber are pretty close and I don’t know which one ends up more popular, but Sale is my guy.
Dallas Keuchel @ Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field
Vegas O/U – 10
If you want to get a little bit cheaper, but remain in the upper-tier for upside, Dallas Keuchel is your guy. Keuchel has struggled in each of his last 2 starts and it’s resulted in him seeing a price decrease. He’s still the same pitchers he’s been all year and we should be looking at him no differently. This White Sox team is horrible and we’ve been streaming pitchers against them all year long. Keuchel has been utterly dominant against lefties with an. .129 wOBA and 12 K/9. You can wish those guys good luck. As for the righties, a .268 isn’t much better. Jose Abreu is really the only bat I’m scared of in this lineup and he’s far better against southpaws. Keuchel is a bit cheaper than he should be and makes for an excellent play in all formats.
*OFFENSIVE STACKS*
Houston Astros @ Derek Holland (White Sox)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field
Implied Total – 6.34
When first glancing at this slate, there was 1 team who stood out as my favorite and it wasn’t too close. That hasn’t changed and I don’t think it will. The Houston Astros are facing off with Derek Holland in what is the top stack of the night. Depending on what bats make it into the Astros order, you can play them all. Holland has been absolutely pitiful against righties with a .397 wOBA over 97 innings. He’s given up an astronomical 23 home runs and now faces the most powerful team in the game. Good luck. Altuve and Correa are the cream of the crop and so won’t make a stack without them. After that, it depends on where everyone ends up in the order. Gonzalez and Guriel are both good hitters, but hold a lot more appeal if they see a 1-5 spot. All in all, this is easily my favorite offense of the night and I’ll be all over them in stacks.
Main Stack – Jose Altuve, Carlos Beltran, Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman
Sneaky Stack – Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Tyler White, Jake Marisnick
San Diego Padres @ Sal Romano (Reds)
Park – The Great American Ballpark
Implied Total – 4.08
If you want to go contrarian with a team that may be a bit sneaky, don’t be afraid to pick on Sal Romano. While the Padres are definitely one of the more underwhelming teams in the league, they surely have the upside in Great American Ballpark. We saw Jose Pirela hit 2 out last night and the Reds hit about 10. Sal Romano, a young righty, has struggled against both sides of the plate. He doesn’t profile to be good yet and I can’t see why the Reds have forced him into a starting role. While the small sample size is definitely something to consider, a .367 wOBA and 6 BB/9 are numbers you don’t like to see. Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte are my 2 favorite options and they should both be well under 10% owned. You then get into a lot of weird Padres who are under consideration. Pirela, Margot, Renfroe, and Hedges are all worthy of a shot. It just depends on where you have an opening or weakness in your lineup.
Main Stack – Wil Myers, Yangervis Solarte, Jose Pirela, Manuel Margot
Sneaky Stack – Wil Myers, Yangervis Solarte, Hunter Renfroe, Austin Hedges