I have this weird hang up about Rookie Davis. I have said the word rookie approximately 1.3 million times in my life (mostly while referencing the movie Rookie of the Year), but whenever I read “Rookie Davis,” I want to add a couple extra o’s so that I sound like the dog from the Cookie Crisp commercials. Anyone else have names or words they know how to pronounce but want to say wrong anyway? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Without further ado, let’s get to the stacks for Wednesday, September 20, featuring the one and only Rookie Davis. As always, my stacks are listed in order of preference.
Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles (Wade Miley, L)
Chris Young, Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia, Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Sam Travis, Rajai Davis, Hanley Ramirez
This lineup has the potential for some value plays, even with Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez expected to return, so be sure to check the starting lineup before you lock in your stack. Wade Miley has allowed a .377 wOBA against right-handed batters, so any part-time players like Travis or Davis who make it in the lineup would be worth considering.
Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates (Steven Brault, L)
Domingo Santana, Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton, Jesus Aguilar, Hernan Perez, Travis Shaw, Manny Pina
Here is a philosophical question: Do you stack a lineup against a pitcher who just shut down that very same lineup in his last start? My answer is obviously yes, since the Brewers make an appearance in today’s article. To my knowledge, facing the same lineup a second time around hasn’t been shown to benefit the hitter or the pitcher, though there may have been some research I have missed. In any event, Milwaukee’s lineup is full of right-handed batters who have made a career feasting on left-handed pitching. Right-handed batters have a .339 wOBA against Steven Brault this season.
Houston Astros vs. Chicago White Sox (James Shields, R)
George Springer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez, Yulieski Gurriel, Alex Bregman, Carlos Beltran, Josh Reddick
James Shields has a 5.43 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, so I probably don’t need to waste much time explaining why you should stack the best offense in baseball against him at home. I will say, if you stack Astros, try to include Josh Reddick and/or Carlos Beltran. You need Beltran in your stack to keep the price down, especially on FanDuel. Reddick costs a lot more, but he could be a decent value because he is playing really well right now. Reddick is batting .427 over the last 30 days, and he may be owned less than the bigger names in the Astros lineup.
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds (Rookie Davis, R)
Jose Martinez, Matt Carpenter, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Dexter Fowler, Yadier Molina
As someone who just watched him nearly single-handedly beat his team, I can say unequivocally you absolutely have to include Dexter Fowler in any Cardinals Stack. Fowler is 7-for-12 with two home runs and five RBI during his current three-game hitting streak. Among Wednesday’s starting pitchers, only Anibal Sanchez has allowed a higher wOBA against rightes than Rookie Davis this season, and he has been slightly worse against lefties. The Cardinals’ lineup tends to be predominantly right-handed, but that is less of a concern than it would be against another righty. Davis has a 7.71 ERA and 2.24 WHIP in 21 innings for the Reds, and his 4.77 ERA and 4.40 FIP in 60.1 innings at Triple-A leave little reason to believe he can get big league hitters out.