MLB Stacking To Win It: 4-25-18

Stacking has been a popular way to bring down tournaments, and some stacks are even cash game viable. We offer three free top stacks of the night and will provide stacks in a wide range of price tags. We do want to make it known that stacks in Colorado are often fairly obvious and popular stacks. We don't feel the need to break down Colorado stacks and will be more focused on other stacking options. Unless we are struggling to find three others, Colorado stacks will be a top choice but not broken down. We tend to look at park factors, Vegas numbers, starting pitcher and bullpen numbers, and various offensive stats. Feel free to shoot us questions on Twitter at @BrentHeiden1, @JGuilbault11, and @dfcafe.

What do you get when you mix a pitcher that hasn't been able to return to his former self post injury and the best offense in baseball, well, hopefully a lot of run. The Red Sox head to Toronto tonight to face off against Sanchez and the Jays, and they are most certain to be one of the most popular offenses on the board. It hasn't been a good return to the mound for Sanchez, as he has allowed 11 earned runs across 25.2 innings, and I will most definitely be picking on him for that reason tonight. Sanchez is a groundball pitcher that relies on a two-seam fastball, changeup, and slider as the majority of his arsenal. Even though the 2017-2018 stats suggest he is splits neutral, and that very well may the case, it has been left-handed hitters that have caused Sanchez the most issues this season. Lefties have notched a .427 wOBA and 5.67 xFIP against them, while right-handed hitters have notched just a .259 wOBA against him. All of that being said, I am still looking to stack the entire order against Sanchez as they are all in a great spot for success.

The best spot to start the stack is clearly Mookie Betts and his .347 wOBA and 11.7% strikeout rate, as he should be leading off tonight, and he has enjoyed a decent amount of success against Sanchez's pitch arsenal, posting a .399 xwOBA against the two-seam fastball. After Betts, Andrew Benintendi (.347 wOBA, .180 ISO, .358 OBP) stands out as another great option. Benny has posted a stellar .442 xwOBA and .239 ISO against two-seam fastballs, to go along with a .302 xwOBA against curveballs, making him a power option in the two-hole. Of course, J.D. Martinez (.343 ISO, .399 wOBA, .346 OBP) is a great power option to consider in the middle of the order, and Mitch Moreland (.221 ISO, .337 wOBA, .333 OBP) is a great power option that tends to bat cleanup and has posted a .314 ISO against two-seam fastballs and a .226 ISO against sliders. Rafael Devers (.321 wOBA, .195 ISO, .314 OBP) profiles as a great option towards the middle/bottom-half of the lineup, as well, as he has posted a .308 ISO against two-seam fastballs.

It has been a pretty rough start to the season for Graveman, as he has allowed five or more earned runs in four of his five starts, and he faces off against a Texas Rangers offense that has already shelled him once this season. All-in-all, Graveman has surrendered 25 earned, along with seven homers, across 22.1 innings while striking out just 16 batters. He is striking out just 6.45 batters per nine innings this season, or 15.1% of batters faced and has allowed a .519 wOBA to left-handed hitters on the year. Despite not surrendering a lot of hard contact to either side of the plate, home runs to left-handed hitters have been an issue for Graveman, as well. Graveman's cutter has been his biggest issue this season, as he has allowed a .600 ISO to left-handed hitters and .571 ISO to right-handed hitters with the pitch, and he is throwing it about 15% of the time. Opponents have obliterated his sinker, as well, as lefties have posted a .439 wOBA to it while right-handed hitters have a .381 wOBA against the pitch. Because of this, targeting Texas bats that excel against sinkers and cutters is key, but we can also sprinkle in those who can hit two-seam fastballs in this spot. Nomar Mazara (.330 wOBA, .184 ISO, .332 OBP) has excelled against sinkers, sliders, and two-seam fastballs, with ISOs of .381, .333, .328 against the pitches respectively, while Joey Gallo (.359 wOBA, .221 ISO, .319 OBP) has obliterated cutters, two-seamers, sinkers, and sliders since last season, with a ISOs of .538, .429, .318, .203 against those pitches. Shin-Soo Choo (.341 wOBA, .200 ISO, .342 OBP) is a fantastic option at the top of the order to deploy, as he profiles extremely well against Graveman here, while Adrian Beltre (.364 wOBA, .196 ISO, .365 OBP) is a good way to round out the four-man stack. Robinson Chirinos (.233 ISO, .332 wOBA, .324 OBP) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.328 wOBA, .313 OBP) are some great value options to consider, as well, and Delino DeShields (.303 wOBA, .342 OBP) is a fantastic speed option at the top of the order to target for steals and power.

Honorable Mention: The flipside of this game with Oakland is also a great stack to target. Focus on Matt Olson (.362 ISO, .423 wOBA, .372 OBP), Khris Davis (.291 ISO, .372 wOBA, .339 OBP), Jed Lowrie (.193 ISO, .364 wOBA, .369 OBP), and Matt Joyce (.249 ISO, 361 wOBA, .353 OBP). Can also sprinkle in someone like Marcus Semien or Matt Chapman.

While I absolutely love the Red Sox and Rangers stacks tonight, perhaps my favorite stack, and one that could end up being lower owned is the St. Louis Cardinals as they take on Steven Matz and the New York Mets. The Cardinals are a team that I absolutely love stacking when they face a southpaw, even though they rank as one of the worst offenses in baseball against them, as they posses a ton of power against them. Matz is a guy, who like most southpaws, struggles against right-handed hitters, allowing a .367 wOBA and 2.25 home runs per nine innings dating back to last season. Matz's sinker and changeup, pitches he is throwing over 50% of the time against right-handed hitters, are his biggest culprits for his struggles, as he is allowing ISOs of .476 and .375 with those pitches, but his 93 MPG four-seam fastball also happens to be troublesome as he has allowed a .214 ISO and .434 xwOBA with the pitch. Even though Busch Stadium is not classified as a hitters park, those types of numbers play anywhere and could spell disaster against a Cardinals lineup that has six hitters with an ISO over .200 against left-handed pitching.

Digging into the numbers a little deeper, Jose Martinez (.406 ISO, .520 wOBA, 17.1% K-rate) profiles as a fantastic option here towards the top of the St. Louis order. He has posted phenomenal numbers against southpaws against southpaws and he also notched a .444 ISO against changeups and a .250 ISO against curveballs. He doesn't show off a ton of power against four-seam fastballs, at least not in the 93 MPH range, but he did have a .552 wOBA against them last season. Harrison Bader (.276 ISO, .460 wOBA, 15.6% K-rate) could find himself in the lineup if Fowler rests tonight and is a great value option, while Tommy Pham (.255 ISO, .427 wOBA, 19.6% K-rate) at the top of the order is going to be a lock for me here. Pham decimated sinkers last season, posting a .429 ISO against the pitch, and also flashed a ton of power, with a .438 ISO, against changeups. Yadier Molina (.285 ISO, .345 wOBA, 10.4% K-rate) is always a power/steal threat at catcher, and Jedd Gyorko (.257 ISO, .4395 wOBA, 13.4% K-rate) is a great option towards the bottom of the order. Paul DeJong (.298 ISO, .365 wOBA, 34.3% K-rate) is someone with a ton of power but also possesses some strikeout risk, and Marcell Ozuna (.110 ISO, .327 wOBA, 18.9% K-rate) should also be considered even though he doesn't flash strong numbers against southpaws.