Chalk Stack(s)

Coors Field

It’s very hard to pick which side if my favorite here because there’s simply no great choice. I’ll talk about the visiting Angels first. They draw a matchup against the left-handed Tyler Anderson . Anderson has actually been pitching very well allowing two earned runs or less in five consecutive starts, which included three starts at home. The thing is, Anderson’s allowed a career .337 wOBA to right-handed hitters throughout his career.

If you didn’t see the hitting coach I put out for Tuesday’s slate, I mentioned how great Mike Trout has been at Coors. In five games -- before Tuesday -- Trout slashed .571/.640/1.048 with three bombs. Trout has a .943 OPS and a .403 wOBA versus southpaws for his career. Justin Upton , Andrelton Simmons and Zack Cozart are who we jump to next. Although Upton has been bad this year, until very recently, he had a 1.155 OPS last year against LHP. His hard-hit rate was a ridiculos 43.8-percent. Simmons has been one of the hottest hitters in all of the game of late as he’s slashed .452/.452/.762 over his last 10 games while driving in 13 runs and scoring eight of his own. Cozart has begun to heat up with hits in six of his last seven games including two home runs. Like Upton, Cozart destroyed lefty pitching last season to the tune of a .337 AVG and a .440 wOBA. A series at Coors can do wonders for players that are struggling.

One of the platoon guys in Jabari Blash and Chris Young could be in play here as well. Young has been a notorious lefty masher while Blash made the lineup on Tuesday against a lefty. Blash hit 100 points better against left-handed pitching last year and had a .370 wOBA which is very good. Albert Pujols has been a big-time run producer of late driving in six runs over his last four games and would be another guy I’d consider.

Moving on to the home team, the Rockies will face Jaime Barria , a rookie making his fourth career start. Barria has been pretty good to start his career, but pitching at Coors is a different animal. Right-handed bats have been better against Barria slashing .286/.400/.429 compared to .143/.226/.143 for lefties. Those numbers mentioned above are similar to his Triple-A numbers from being his call-up. Just some food for thought.

If we do want to use the right-handers here, Nolan Arenado is obviously the first guy we look at. At home this season, Arenado is hitting a robust .439 with a 1.218 OPS and .517 wOBA. He’s been better against LHP on the year, but an .873 OPS and .365 wOBA isn’t something to just ignore. DJ LeMahieu would be next now that he’s been activated off of the disabled list, mainly because the Rockies offense is littered with lefties. I’m actually more hesitant to use the Rockies bats here than I am the Angels. They rank last or second to last behind the Marlins in most offensive categories against right-handed pitching.

Back to the Rockies bats though, Charlie Blackmon , David Dahl and Gerardo Parra are all three guys I’d consider in a stack as well. Blackmon is one of the more talented players in all of baseball and is amongst the leagues leaders in home runs and runs scored. Dahl has been consistent at the dish since being called up slashing .300/.349/.500 in 13 games. Parra has begun heating up of late too, which is why I prefer him over Carlos González . Parra has three multi-hit contests over his last four and has hit .367 over his last 10 games.

Angels

Primary Options: Mike Trout , Justin Upton , Andrelton Simmons , Zack Cozart

Secondary Options: Albert Pujols , Chris Young , Jabari Blash , Jefry Marte

Rockies

Primary Options: Nolan Arenado , Charlie Blackmon , DJ LeMahieu

Secondary Options: David Dahl , Gerardo Parra

Contrarian Stack(s)

Cleveland Indians vs. Júnior Guerra

Truth be told, other than his last start, Guerra has had a really good season. At least that’s what his exterior numbers tell us. His FIP is a run higher than his ERA and his xFIP is two runs higher. He’s allowed a 36-percent hard hit rate as well and has just an 8.0 SwStr rate on the year which is over 2.5-percent lower than his career mark of 10.5.

If building an Indians stack, I’d suggest starting it with José Ramírez . Ramirez has destroyed everyone of late, but righties especially. He has eight home runs and a .427 wOBA off of right-handers and is hitting .381 over his last 10 games. Next, Michael Brantley should find a way into your lineups. Since coming off of the DL, he’s been silly good. He’s hitting .323 with an .840 OPS on the year and has mashed against right-handed pitching belting all three of his home runs and driving in 12-of-17 RBI.

Both Indians first basemen are very intriguing as well. Edwin Encarnación has been far hotter than Yonder Alonso of late, but Alonso is a lot cheaper and if you plan on spending up for Gerrit Cole , depleted funds will likely be the case for your bats. Alonso has a 41-percent flyball rate on the year which correlates well to Guerra’s 39.8-percent mark. Five of Alonso’s eight bombs have come off of righties and he has a 20.0 HR/FB ratio on the year, something that is severely in play here. Encarnacion has been hot in May so far slashing .333/.375/.667 with a .440 wOBA.

Yan Gomes is a borderline primary option if he’s in the starting lineup on Wednesday. Before last night’s game, he had hits in six of seven and actually has a .344 wOBA off of right-handed pitching this year. Catcher is going to be a position I look to spend down a bit, and Gomes is someone that allows us to do just that. Francisco Lindor is obviously in play even though I haven’t mentioned him until now, he’s just a secondary play because of his cost and the fact that he hits better from the right side of the dish.

Primary Play(s): José Ramírez , Michael Brantley , Yan Gomes , Yonder Alonso

Secondary Play(s): Edwin Encarnación , Francisco Lindor , Jason Kipnis