MLB Stacks April 1, 2018
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are Athletics pitcher Daniel Gossett, who had a 21% HR/FB last year, which is worst of any pitcher on this slate. It wasn’t the largest sample size, as it was only 91.1 innings pitched, but we have a pretty good idea of what we are going to see from him. Last season he also gave up 1.42 HR/9 to left-handed hitters, and 2.53 HR/9 to right-handed hitters. The 1.42 rate is bad, the 2.53 rate is astoundingly bad, and you want to stack against him any chance you can get. Gossett allowed a .383 wOBA to left-handed hitters, and a .378 wOBA to right-handed hitters last season. All the signs are pointing to him being a true gas can, and a pitcher we want to target anytime he is on the mound.
The Angels are led by Mike Trout, and anytime you have the salary for him, you should always be rostering him. Obviously one, if not the best hitters in the league, so load him into this stack. You should also be looking at Justin Upton and Zack Cozart, who are somewhat expensive, but don’t break the bank. You could also throw Albert Pujols in the mix, since Gossett is so bad against righties. Pujols is clearly the riskiest of the bunch, but he is cheap and still has some power despite getting up there in age. The Angels have an implied run total of 4.80, which is second highest on the slate, and these players are likely to contribute to that, given this super favorable matchup.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays aren’t going to be known for having a stellar offense this season, but they are in a good spot tonight, against an inexperienced pitcher, Hector Velazquez. Last season, Velazquez only pitched 24 innings for the Red Sox, so this is a super small sample size we are working with, so just take note of that. Nonetheless, in that span, he gave up 2.35 HR/9 to left-handed hitters, and 1.06 HR/9 to right-handed hitters. He also only had a swinging strike rate of 7.9%, which is second lowest on this slate. He also gave up a .387 wOBA to left-handed hitters, and really seems to struggle with them.
Most people aren’t jumping to roster Rays’ players, so this has the potential to be a nice low owned stack. Stick with the lefties, since that is where he seems to struggle, but don’t be afraid to mix in a righty if need be. Some left-handed hitters include, Brad Miller, Denard Span, Kevin Kiermaier, and the one right-handed hitter, Carlos Gomez, since he has a career .322 wOBA vs right-handed pitchers.
A much cheaper stack, which will allow you to get up to a higher priced offense, along with hoping for lower ownership, since we are dealing with a full slate of games.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals are going to be one of the best offenses in the league, as we are all expecting, and coming off a nice 13 run game yesterday. This is a bit straighter forward, and should be all season. If you have the salary for Nationals players, you should be rostering them when you can. Today, they are up against Sal Romano, who gave up a .337 wOBA to left-handed hitters and a .343 wOBA to right-handed hitters last season. He didn’t give up a ton of homeruns, but seemed to get hit around, as he has a 50% GB%. Never a good idea to let guys on base, when you have the likes of, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Adam Eaton, Ryan Zimmerman, and Anthony Rendon ready to clear the bases. All of them make solid options today, really just a matter of having the salary to fit them into your lineups.