Only seven games for tonight’s main slate.  Smaller slates sometimes limit your options, and I think you have three options to go tonight.

  1. Build your team around Chris Sale.  He’s affordable at $11.5K on FD, but is $5.1K more than the next priced pitcher on DK with a price tag of $14.1K.
  2. Build your team around the Rockies.  They have highest projected run total tonight vs Matt Moore, who is 0-2 with a 12.34 ERA in three starts at Coors.
  3. Go a little contrarian tonight.   The Brewers and Cards have combined for 26 runs over their past two games, and temps are still in the 90’s at Busch tonight.  The Angels have won three straight series, and facing a first time starter on a pitch count.  On the flip side, they are sending Nolasco to the mound who has lost five straight starts.

As always, things can change based on lineups and weather, so do stay up to date using the Playbook Pro tools.  Below are my favorite stack options for the day.  Good luck!

Stacks for Thursday, June 15

Giants @ Rockies

As mentioned above, Moore has struggled vs the Rockies, with a 7.92 career ERA against them, and is 0-2 with a 12.34 ERA vs them at Coors.  The Rockies are 6-1 vs the Giants this season, and coming off being swept by the Royals.  The lefty/lefty matchups don’t bother me too much, with left-handed hitters having a Well-Hit Avg of .282 against Matt Moore this season (Rank: 164th of 167 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .169).  Lefty crusher Nolan is of course in play, and is 7-14 with a HR off Moore.  Tapia had a 4-4 game last night, and should stay in the lineup for Cargo tonight. 

While the Rockies are the top team, and can be paired up with multiple other teams, I don’t mind taking the risk with a Giants team that is in desperate need of a win.  Hoffman has pitched very well as Anderson’s replacement, and comes in with a 4-0 record,  only walking three batters while striking out 32 in just over 25 innings.  He has at least seven K’s in each of his four starts, but the last three have all come on the road.  The Giants are dead last in the majors in batting average, runs scored, and home runs.   They have scored two runs or less in four of their past five games, but put up 13 runs in that outlier game.  Leaving 11 runners stranded last game provides some hope that they can break out tonight.

Top Stack Suggestions: 

Rockies:  Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Mark Reynolds, Raimel Tapia (if starting), Ian Desmond

Giants:  Buster Posey, Eduardo Nunez, Brandon Belt, Hunter Pence, Joe Panik

Alternative Stack:  Pair the Rockies up with the Red Sox or Nationals for a monster stack while going Hoffman or Montgomery as pitcher.

Red Sox paired with the Cardinals  

These are my two favorite alternative teams to target outside of Coors field tonight.  The Sox are looking for the four game sweep of the Phillies.  They face Pivetta tonight, who has not gone past the fifth inning through six starts, posting a 5.52 ERA.  Nick Pivetta has allowed an OBP of .469 vs left-handed batters over the last 30 days (Rank: 127th of 131 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .345), with his control being a issue for him.  Pivetta has walked 11 of 64 batters (17.2%)  over the last 30 days (Rank: 171st of 173 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 7.7%).  Pivetta has a season high of only six K’s, while Red Sox hitters have put 42.9% of their swings in play with two strikes this season (Rank: 1st of 30 in MLB).

The Cardinals have been creeping up in the standings for the currently wide open division. They will not likely have to face the only decent pitcher in the Brewers bullpen in Knebel, and face starting pitcher Zach Davies tonight, who has only three quality starts through his 13 starts this year, but does have the team leading seven wins.  He’s 2-0 lifetime vs the Cardinals with a win already vs them this season.  He has allowed three long balls to them, and as mentioned above, it continues to be warm in the Lou tonight.  Carp, Diaz, and Gyorko have all taken Davies deep before, and batting at least .400 off him.

Boston:  Mookie Betts, Mitch Moreland (If gets call at 1B today), Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. (DK), Dustin Pedroia

St. Louis:  Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, Aledmys Diaz, Kolten Wong (if in lineup but left last game)

Royals @ Angels  

On a smaller slate, both of the late night games could be used as stacks, but I do like Montgomery as a pitching option tonight.  That leaves the Royals and Angels, who both are playing solid baseball lately.  The Angels have won three straight series as mentioned above, and facing the first time starter in Strahm.  He’s pitched out of the bullpen this season, and will be on a pitch count today.  While Matt Strahm has walked 18 of 94 batters this season (Rank: 234th of 237 qualified RPs in MLB), he’s struck out 36.4% (12/33) of left-handed batters he faced this season (Rank: Tied for 17th of 193 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 22.5%).  The good thing is the Angels don’t have many left handed bats.

Nolasco receives the start for the Angels, and has lost five straight starts without recording a win since April.  The Royals have won four straight, scoring at least seven runs in each of their wins.  Attacking Nolasco early is key, as opponents have a Well-Hit Avg of .444 against Ricky Nolasco on the first pitch of at-bats this season (Rank: 98th of 98 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .244), while the Royals hitters have a swing rate of 51.1% versus RHP this season (Rank: 1st of 30 in MLB.

Angels:  Eric Young Jr., Cameron Maybin, Albert Pujols or C.J. Cron

Royals:  Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas, Jorge Bonifacio, Brandon Moss if starting