Chalk Stack(s)

Chicago White Sox vs. Skoglund

The Royals are sending Eric Skoglund to the mound on Saturday and the lefty has allowed four earned runs or more in each of his first three starts this season. Right-handed hitters have destroyed Skoglund thus far in in 2018 to the tune of a .340/.389/.560 slash line. His numbers versus lefties are actually simply based on luck because his actual FIP against them is 7.51. Right-handers have a robust 46.3-percent hard hit rate against him as well.

José Abreu , Tim Anderson and Welington Castillo are three guys that all hit .300 or better last season against southpaws. Anderson and Abreu have carried over the strong averages into this year, but Castillo has yet to follow suit. Skoglund could get it going for Castillo in a big way here. In ‘17, Castillo hit .344 with a .937 OPS and a .393 wOBA.

Matt Davidson is obviously on our radar too. He’s now put together back-to-back two home run games and has homered against the Royals seven times already this season. Davidson is only hitting .200 on the year against lefties, but he has an insane .680 SLG and 1.013 OPS. Yoan Moncada is a better hitter from the left side, but he’s so locked in right now I’m willing to take a dart on him hitting from his weaker side as well, but only if stacking. Moncada is working on a six-game hitting streak and is hitting .359 with a 1.342 OPS with five homers over his last 10 games.

Primary Option(s): José Abreu , Tim Anderson , Welington Castillo , Matt Davidson

Secondary Option(s): Yoan Moncada , Yolmer Sánchez

 

Contrarian Stack(s)

Los Angeles Angels vs. Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka was really good his last time he took the mound but before that, he hadn’t been pitching well at all. In his two starts prior to his last one against the Twins, he allowed 11 earned runs, 14 hits, four walks in just 10 innings pitched. Right-handed hitters have been the ones giving Tanaka fits. They’ve slugged .567 on the year and have posted a .386 wOBA against him and not to mention, he’s allowed all five of his home runs to RHH. The 46.3-percent hard hit rate he’s notched versus RHH is insanely bad and this Angels offense isn’t very easy to navigate through.

The Angels have this guy named Mike Trout , if you hadn’t heard. He’s pretty good. Seven of his 10 bombs this year have come against right-handed pitching as he currently enters Saturday’s contest with a .423 wOBA against them. Albert Pujols has a hit in three straight games and at least one in eight of his last 10. We want the righty power here and that’s Pujols to a tee.

Ian Kinsler , Justin Upton and even Andrelton Simmons are all viable options as well. Kinsler has homered off of Tanaka in the past and has a .332 wOBA against him which is very respectable. Simmons has a 1.004 OPS over the last 10 days and Upton has five straight seasons of 25-plus homers, so it’s only a matter of time before he begins to heat up.

Primary Option(s): Mike Trout , Albert Pujols , Justin Upton , Andrelton Simmons

Secondary Option(s): Kole Calhoun , Ian Kinsler , Luis Valbuena