MLB GPP Stacking & Ownership: 7-31-15

Welcome to MLB GPP Stacking & Ownership. In this article I will give you three options to stack. Remember that winning a GPP isn't always about maximizing points but instead maximizing some form of points and ownership. As always, plays will be listed from favorite to least favorite of the stack.

Tonight is a big night for the industry; we have some great GPP action across all sites, great pitching options and no weather in risk at time of writing the article.

As most full slates consist of great pitching, tonight is no different; we have multiple studs on the mound as well as viable cheap options.

My strategy tonight will be similar to most full slates. I will be running full stacks in GPPs with contrarian options to fill in around. The reason I do not substitute studs in my stacks on full slates is that the ownership level decreases naturally due to the volume of games. When the player pool is 350 versus 150 the ownership levels are that much lower. Use this to your advantage tonight and run full stacks of the top players on the team, but differentiate by the fill-ins that you select.

Given tonight is a Kershaw night; I will touch on this before getting into my top stacks. Kershaw is coming off of a hip/lower body type injury or tightness. Given his salary and this perceived injury, he does come with extreme risk. I believe most people will fade him tonight and that is not a bad idea. Very rarely do I take a pitcher coming off of an injury; never do I select a pitcher that costs a significant portion of salary coming off of an injury.

While this may be trouble for me if Kershaw does one of his “things," I can't build optimal lines around a player that is potentially injured. I would rather select a health Madison Bumgarner at a significant price decrease without the risk of injury weighing on him. Remember with Kershaw, the Dodgers are primed for a post-season run, if they have a large lead or he has the littlest amount of discomfort he will be coming out of the game.

Without further ado – let's get to our top stacks.

Option 1

Giants @ Rangers – Game Total of 9

The San Francisco Giants see a significant park shift by heading to Arlington to play in a hot park both weather and factor wise. They also get to face off versus Nick Martinez, a right-handed pitcher who boasts a .370 wOBA allowed to righties and .320 wOBA allowed to lefties. To say ...