Chalk Stack(s)

Texas Rangers vs. James Shields

The Rangers offense has not been great this season, but facing James Shields can break anybody out of a slump. He was especially bad against left-handed batters the past two seasons allowing a .388 wOBA in 2017 and a .370 mark in ‘16. He’s been slightly better this season, but the peripheral numbers (5.54 xFIP, 5.61 SIERA & .261 BABIP) show us he’s been very lucky. It’s only a matter of time before those numbers catch up to him.

I really like the lefties here, and it’s hard not to look directly at Joey Gallo . Shields has given up at least 27 homers in three straight seasons and you can’t spell Gallo without home run. He’s only hitting .135 over his last 10 games but has still managed to bop three homers in that span. If you don’t like Gallo, Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo are the guys for you. Mazara has had a great month of May slashing .288/.362/.769 with a .462 wOBA. Choo has a 46-percent hard-hit rate during the month of May as well, so both are striking the ball nicely. Choo also has a nice 7-for-20 sample size off of Shields in his career.

Delino DeShields is also a big time player if stacking Texas. I know I said I like the lefties, but the threat of DeShields stealing multiple bases and scoring multiple runs here is something I really like to pair with the lefties. Going back to the left-handers, Ronald Guzman and Rougned Odor are two options here. Odor has been back for five games and is working on a mini three-game hitting streak while Guzman has posted at least seven DK points in three straight games.

Primary Option(s): Joey Gallo , Nomar Mazara , Shin-Soo Choo , Delino DeShields

Secondary Option(s): Rougned Odor , Ronald Guzman

 

Contrarian Stack(s)

Detroit Tigers vs. Marco Gonzales

I’m on the record talking about how much I really like Marco Gonzales ’ arsenal, but I think this Tigers lineup could present some issues on Thursday. He’s been rock solid against lefties, but righties are slashing .336/.370/.503 against him this season. 20 of the 24 earned runs he’s allowed have come to righty swingers and all four bombs allowed are to RHH as well. RHH have a 40-percent hard hit rate and an insane 35.2-percent line drive rate.

The Tigers have a lot of firepower against left-handed pitching this year as five of their everyday players have a wOBA of .344 or better. The build has to start off with Nicholas Castellanos. Castellanos’ dominance against LHP is a staple of his game and he’s hitting .485 against them with a .546 wOBA this season. Fitting pieces with him will be crucial. Both catcher/first-base options in James McCann and John Hicks are in play here as well. Hicks is hitting .342 over his last 10 games while McCann’s also over .300 at .306.

Niko Goodrum switch hits and will get a chance to showcase his power in this spot despite only hitting one of his four bombs versus LHP. Goodrum has been more unlucky than his numbers indicate as he’s connected with a 50-percent hard contact mark versus left-handed pitching on the year. That correlates perfect with Gonzales.

The most surprising success this year, at least offensively, has to be José Iglesias . He’s slashing .333/.393/.583 against lefties in 2018. He’s definitely in play as well. The best part about the Tigers today is their price tags are all reasonable and you can pair a very expensive stack with them if you would like.

Primary Option(s): Nicholas Castellanos , Niko Goodrum , John Hicks , James McCann , José Iglesias

Secondary Option(s): JaCoby Jones , Dixon Machado