There are so many good stacks to choose from Wednesday, I almost don’t know where to begin. It is a good problem to have, especially in a split slate where you often get much better stacks in one of the slates than the other. The only issue with these stacks is, with a couple of exceptions, they tend to be pretty expensive. There are some decent pitchers who you can get pretty cheap if you want to play an expensive stack, but if you want to pair a stack or two with one of the better pitchers, your options are a bit limited.

Here are my stacks for Wednesday, July26, listed in order of preference:

 

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves (Aaron Blair, R)

Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock, J.D. Martinez, Brandon Drury, David Peralta

Last season, Aaron Blair had a 4.65 ERA and 3.38 FIP in 71.2 innings at Triple-A and a 7.59 ERA and 6.15 FIP with the Braves. In 87.0 innings at Triple-A this season, Blair has a 4.86 ERA and 4.74 FIP. There is no reason to expect his 2017 MLB debut to go well, especially when you consider the Diamondbacks have a .836 OPS at home this season. Only the Rockies have been better.

Oakland Athletics @ Toronto Blue Jays (Marco Estrada, R)

Ryon Healy, Matt Joyce, Matt Chapman, Yonder Alonso, Marcus Semien

Marco Estrada has allowed at least four runs in three consecutive starts. He has allowed at least three walks in six consecutive starts, and he has finished the fifth inning in just one of his last seven starts. Estrada hasn’t been able to find the strike zone lately, with a 51.9 percent strike rate against right-handed batters over the last 30 days, and he has compounded the problem by allowing a 2.155 OPS over the last 30 days when he is behind in the count.

As much as I love the more expensive stacks in this list, I suspect the A’s will be my most-played stack of the day because you can get such good value. I would also consider a game stack with the Blue Jays, as Paul Blackburn’s 2.88 ERA probably isn’t sustainable considering he has a 4.87 FIP and 5.02 xFIP.

New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, R)

Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, Clint Frazier, Gary Sanchez, Matt Holliday

The Yankees have a .829 OPS at home, thanks mostly to Aaron Judge, who has a 1.203 OPS at home since the start of 2016. Didi Gregorius has bene out of his mind lately, with a 2.004 OPS against right-handed pitchers over the last seven days.

Homer Bailey has been all-or-nothing this season, allowing two runs or fewer in 6+ innings in three of his starts and allowing six runs or more in four or fewer innings in his other three. No one will be surprised if Bailey serves up another stinker on the road against the Yankees.

Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels (Ricky Nolasco, R)

Bradley Zimmer, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana

Indians hitters have a .408 OBP against right-handed pitchers over the last seven days. Like Homer Bailey, Ricky Nolasco has tended to be extremely good or extremely bad, which is just the kind of pitcher you want to stream against. Nolasco has allowed five runs or more in five of his last 10 starts, including two of his last three. The only problem with the Indians is there is little opportunity for a value play unless one of the top six hitters gets a surprise day off.

 

Others Receiving Votes:

Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox (James Shields, R)

Willson Contreras, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics (Paul Blackburn, R)

Ezequiel Carrera, Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak, Russell Martin