Chalk Stack Play
New York Yankees vs Chris Tillman
Chalk Stack: Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius/ Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge/ Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez
Contrarian Stack Players: Neil Walker, Brandon Drury
The Yankees are going to be the chalk stack all season and for good reason as they have one of the best, if not the best, lineups in the majors. The popular plays are going to include Stanton, Judge and Gregorius against Tillman with Didi potentially being the highest owned player of the slate as he is 11-for-20 (.550) with five doubles, one home run and four RBI against Tillman in his career. If looking to add some contrarian pieces to a Yankees stack I would take a look at Neil Walker who is relatively cheap across the industry and will be batting from the left side of the plate where he has historically done the most of his damage throughout his career.
Washington Nationals vs Steven Matz
Chalk Stack: Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper/ Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman
Contrarian Stack Players: Howie Kendrick, Michael Taylor
It was not a great start to the season for Matz who allowed three runs on four hits over four innings in his season debut against the Cardinals. In his second start he finds himself on the road in start against a Nationals team that currently ranks third in the National League in runs scored and will stack the top part of their lineup with right-handed hitters with the one expection being Bryce Harper who has already hit four home runs over the first seven games this season. Any combination of the first four hitters will make for a nice stack here as Matz is likely going to be in for a long day. If looking for some cheaper options to build this stack take a look at Howie Kendrick and Michael Taylor who has a home run off Matz in his career.
Contrarian Stack Play
Milwaukee Brewers vs Yu Darvish
Chalk Stack: Eric Thames, Christian Yelich, Travis Shaw/ Eric Thames, Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun/ Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun, Travis Shaw
Contrarian Stack Players: Lorenzo Cain, Domingo Santana
Darvish got rocked by the Marlins of all teams on Opening Day, allowing five runs on five hits over 4.1 innings. He now gets to face a much more dangerous team in the Brewers for his second start as a member of the Cubs. There is certainly a lot of upside here for Darvish as the Brewers are one of the leagues more strikeout prone teams but they also have some very dangerous hitters in the top half of their lineup. The Brewers just tagged Kyle Hendricks for four runs on nine hits over five innings on Friday night which included two home runs allowed. I see Darvish likely being one of the popular pitching plays of the day as he finds himself as the fourth highest priced starter on DraftKings so stacking against him could be profitable in GPP's.