Chalk Stack(s)

Washington Nationals vs. Eric Lauer

It goes almost without saying that the Nationals are going to the chalk of the day, but let’s break it down as to why. The Padres are sending 22-year old Eric Lauer to the mound and Lauer has not been good of late. He’s given up 10 earned runs over his last two starts including four home runs. In four of his five outings this season he’s given up three runs or more. Right-handed hitters have especially been good against him slashing .373/.458/.667 with a .472 weighted on-base average.

If we’re talking righties on Washington, we should immediately look to Anthony Rendón as a cornerstone to the stack. Rendon has been struggling of late hitting under .200 over the last 10 games, but he’s been good this year against LHP posting a .336 wOBA and just last year he had an OPS of 1.131 against them as well. Two of the newer Nationals, Mark Reynolds and Juan Soto , are also primary options. Soto made his first big league start on Monday and promptly deposited a homer and drove in three runs. Soto has a TON of power and is a big time homerun threat here. Reynolds actually went deep on Monday too and not just once, but twice. He’s now hit four home runs in five games since joining Washington and has at least one hit in all but one of those games. He’s still way too cheap.

Pedro Severino has also been good against left-handers this year hitting .348 with a .360 wOBA. He has a sub 3K price tag and could round out your Nats stack. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper are obviously in play, but both hit better against right-handed pitching. They could be lower owned pieces to your stack and getting either at low ownership could help your lineup blow up.

Primary Option(s):Anthony Rendón , Mark Reynolds , Juan Soto , Pedro Severino

Secondary Option(s): Bryce Harper , Trea Turner
 

Contrarian Stack(s)

Atlanta Braves vs. Vince Velásquez

I’m someone who’s always been high on Vince Velásquez but he’s never been able to stay healthy enough to really take his talents to the next level. He’s faced the Braves three times already this season and success has not come to fruition yet. In his most recent outing against them, he allowed seven hits and six runs over four innings of work. He’s really had difficulties against LHH this year and the Braves showcase a bunch of really good ones.

Freddie Freeman is the obvious choice to build your stack around. He’s hitting .304 with a .398 wOBA against right-handed pitching on the year with a 49-percent hard hit rate against them. Next, we have Ozzie Albies . Now Albies definitely swings a better stick from the right-hand side, but he has a ton of power from the left batters box as eight of his homers have come as a LHH. The issue with playing both Albies and Freeman is they’re both $5,300 on DraftKings so you’re going to need some cheap and mid-range pieces too. You ask, I provide. Nick Markakis is a great mid-range play at just 4.4K. He’s destroying baseballs hitting .341 over his last 10 games which happens to be his average on the year as well. Let’s not overlook the fact that he’s 6-for-16 (.375 AVG) against Velasquez either. This Braves stack actually correlates perfectly with Washington seeing how cheap the Nats bats are.

Ender Inciarte and Ryan Flaherty are two more lefty bats that you could squeeze into your stacks. I will say I don’t love Inciarte’s price tag, but he has surprisingly hit three homers over his last 10 games and has 18 stolen bases on the year. He’s also 8-for-21 off Velasquez. Flaherty is a darkhorse play that is in the lineup because he’s hitting righties this year. He’s only 2.9K and is 3-for-4 off Velasquez with a homer. He also happens to have a .281 AVG and .341 wOBA against RHP on the year.

Two last names I’ll throw out there as secondary options only are Tyler Flowers and Ronald Acuna Jr. Acuna has massive upside due to his power/speed combination, but Velasquez has limited right-handed hitters to a .174 AVG on the year. Flowers is just 3.2K and has a .767 OPS over his last 10 games.

Primary Option(s): Freddie Freeman , Ozzie Albies , Nick Markakis , Ender Inciarte , Ryan Flaherty

Secondary Option(s): Ronald Acuna Jr., Tyler Flowers

 

Cincinnati Reds vs. Jameson Taillon

If you’re looking at Taillon’s recent stretch of games, you’d probably shy away from the Reds. He’s been good over his last four outings, but the numbers lie to us a bit. In four of his last five starts, he’s allowed at least eight base runners during his outing, so he’s been in trouble a lot more often than he hasn’t been. His K-rate from April to May has dropped over two percentage points and his April xFIP of 3.41 has ballooned to 5.43 in May.

A lot of Reds hitters have a long history against Taillon and a bunch of them have actually had a bunch of success. We start right at the top with José Peraza who’s leading off on Tuesday and has gone 8-for-13 off the Pirates right-handed. Peraza has scuffled of late but the Reds implied total has risen to 4.5 for a reason and if Peraza gets on, he could steal and score a run and before you know it he’s already eclipsed his 3.2K evaluation. Another guy with more good than bad against Taillon is Scooter Gennett . Gennett is 8-for-22 off of him which is good for a .368 AVG. Gennett also happens to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he’s slashed .415/.429/.683 while belting three homers over his last 10 contests

Joey Votto hasn’t been great against Taillon, but it’s Joey Votto we’re talking about here. He could put up a 4-4 against anybody on any given night. Votto’s been consistent of late too hitting .290 with an .840 OPS over his last 10. The lefties against Taillon are who we want to target as he’s allowed a .331 wOBA to them, so looking at Scott Schebler , Billy Hamilton and Tucker Barnhart to round out my stack. Barnhart’s hitting in the two-hole at just 3K on DraftKings. He’s put together a really nice campaign and with Devin Mesoraco out of town, he’s become the primary catcher on this team. He has an .816 OPS over his last 10 games and is hitting .273 off of Taillon. Hamilton has been ice cold, but the fact that he’s hitting ninth with Peraza behind him sets up nicely. You could include him in part of a stack because if he gets on, we get a chance that guys like Votto, Barnhart and Gennett drive him in. Schebler is the most powerful of them all as all five of his homers have come against righties and he loves hitting in Cincy (.290 AVG) compared to on the road (.205).

Primary Option(s): Joey Votto , Scooter Gennett , Tucker Barnhart , José Peraza

Secondary Option(s): Scott Schebler , Billy Hamilton , Eugenio Suárez