St. Louis Cardinals vs. Sal Romano

Romano has not been great this year, especially when it comes to allowing power. In 87 innings last year he allowed nine home runs and in 104 this season, he’s already up to 19 pitches that have left the yard. His HR/9 has gone from 0.93 to 1.64 from which is regression in the worst possible way. We obviously don’t like the fact he’s pitching IN Cincinnati either. Romano has been hit hard all year, not just in the power department. He’s allowed a 22.4-percent line drive rate and a 36.7-percent hard hit rate as well.

Although he went 0-for-5 on Tuesday, there aren’t many hotter players in the game than Matt Carpenter , if any at all. He’s homered eight times over his last 10 games including at least one in six straight. Romano has struggled against lefties especially, allowing a .287 AVG and a .377 wOBA. Carpenter is expensive, but he’s the key to any Cards stack you build. The Cardinals don’t have many lefty bats, but Dexter Fowler is another lefty I’m interested in here. Fowler hasn’t been great this year, but he’s been better recently hitting a homer on Tuesday and notching a two-hit game this past Saturday as well. He has been notoriously better from the left side of the plate compared to the right. He’s very cheap as well, so that’s a bonus.

Jumping over to the right side of the dish, both Jose Martinez and Yadier Molina are hitting better than .300 against right-handers. Both guys also happen to be hot, both hitting over .290 over their last 10 games. Two more upside plays are Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna . Both haven’t had great years by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve seen them both dominate simply based on track records alone.

Primary Option(s): Matt Carpenter , Dexter Fowler , Yadier Molina , Jose Martinez

Secondary Option(s): Paul DeJong , Marcell Ozuna

 

Cleveland Indians vs. Jameson Taillon

Taillon has definitely been pitching very well of late and is in the midst of his best stretch of the season, but the Indians have destroyed right-handed pitching since the start of July. They have a .361 wOBA and 128 wRC+ against them, both top three marks in baseball. Despite how good Taillon’s been, he’s allowed a 31.3-percent hard hit rate which is not very good. The is more about the Indians offense than it is about Taillon however.

José Ramírez was the first player in baseball to reach 30 homers and is in the midst of an MVP caliber season. Ramirez has hit 25 homers from the left side of the plate and has an elite wOBA of .458. He’s just one of many Indians that have success against righties. The top five in the Indians lineup on Tuesday all have wOBA’s of .359 or better against them. They are Francisco Lindor , Michael Brantley , Ramirez, Edwin Encarnación and Yonder Alonso . Each and every one of them are in play here. Alonso is the cheapest, so on a site like DraftKings where you can only roster one first basemen, he might be the better option for some salary relief.

Jason Kipnis is definitely a cheaper option for this stack. He’s notched a .909 OPS over his past 10 games and the pop in his bat seems to have warmed up with the weather. Since returning to the Indians, Melky Cabrera has a hit in all four games he’s played in. Whoever makes the lineup between he and Tyler Naquin should be considered an option in an Indians stack for salary relief. It’s going to be very challenging to get both Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez in one lineup without Cabrera or Naquin.

Primary Option(s): José Ramírez , Francisco Lindor , Michael Brantley , Yonder Alonso , Edwin Encarnación

Secondary Option(s): Melky Cabrera , Tyler Naquin , Jason Kipnis