MLB Stacking To Win It: 5-31-18

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.

Pomeranz has been an absolute disaster this season, posting a 6.75 ERA and 1.88 WHIP through seven outings, and he is coming off a terrible 3.1 inning outing against the Braves. While his numbers in the chart above don't look that bad, a quick look at his 2018 numbers tell an entirely different story. To left-handed hitters, Pomeranz has surrendered a 50% FB rate and to right-handed hitters he has surrendered a .404 wOBA, .259 ISO, 40% FB rate, and 33.8% hard contact rating. His 5.08 xFIP to right-handed hitters suggest this isn't just a flash in the pan, and it is something I definitely want to attack in this spot. Pomeranz's four-seam fastball has been problematic for him, as he is surrendering a .227 ISO on the pitch, and we will be focusing on bats that hit that pitch well. First and foremost, George Springer and his .271 ISO and .411 wOBA split against left-handed pitching stands out to me. He doesn't have a lot of power against Pomeranz's four-seam fastball, with just a .185 ISO, but he does own a .399 wOBA against the pitch. He does profile extremely well against knuckle-curves, with a .257 ISO and near 80% contact rate, which is why I am a fan of him tonight. Jose Altuve (.188 ISO, .381 wOBA, 13.5% K-rate) does own some impressive power numbers against the pitch, however, as he has posted a .304 ISO against the pitch dating back to last season. More importantly with Altuve is that he owns a 92% contact rate against the pitch. Altuve also owns great numbers against knuckle-curves, as he has posted a .403 wOBA against the pitch, which makes him a really good option. Yuli Gurriel (.127 ISO, .281 wOBA, 13.8% K-rate) doesn't have great numbers against southpaws but he does standout as a good option against the knuckle-curve, owning a .211 ISO and 73% contact rate against the pitch, while Evan Gattis (.219 ISO, .309 wOBA, 16.5% K-rate) stands out as a great catching option with his .412 ISO against Pomeranz's four-seam fastball. Alex Bregman (.238 ISO, .388 wOBA, 12.6% K-rate) is definitely in play, too, as he owns a .266 ISO and 92% contact rate against the fastball we are looking at, and we can also roll out any of Max Stassi, J.D. Davis, or Jake Marisnick if they grace the lineup tonight.

Cashner is in the midst of a pretty rough stretch of games, with just one quality start in his past five, and he is coming off a putrid performance against the Rays where he allowed five runs on 11 hits in five innings. Cashner has allowed at least four runs in five of his 11 outings this season, with at least three runs in three more, with six or more hits allowed in eight outings. While his 2017-2018 numbers above aren't terrible, at least not to right-handed hitters, it has been a little bit of a different story this season. He is still struggling against left-handed hitters this season, allowing a .370 wOBA and .273 ISO to them, while he has allowed a .375 wOBA and .185 ISO to right-handed hitters this season. He is still struggling with hard contact, allowing 38.2% to the right-side of the plate and 35.3% hard contact to left-handed hitters, so I definitely want to target him here. Cashner relies primarily on three main pitches, a 93 MPH four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, and a changeup, but he also sprinkles in a slider to right-handed hitters at times. He is allowing a .232 ISO overall on his four-seam fastball, a .247 ISO on his two-seam, and a .433 ISO on his curveball. Both of the power right-handed hitters are in play here, with Aaron Judge (.350 ISO, .430 wOBA, 30.8% K-rate) tops the list as he owns a .313 ISO against two-seam fastballs since 2016, but Giancarlo Stanton (.276 ISO, .358 wOBA, 27.8% K-rate) is not far behind as he owns a .291 ISO against two-seam fastballs. Aaron Hicks (.194 ISO, .340 wOBA, 19.6% K-rate) is a fine option, as well, and he owns a .362 wOBA and 32.59% hard contact rating against two-seam fastballs. Gleyber Torres (.300 ISO, .405 wOBA, 25.6% K-rate) has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the last month and owns a .679 ISO against two-seam fastballs with 26 batted ball events, while Gary Sanchez (.250 ISO, .345 wOBA, 23.8% K-rate) owns a .254 ISO against it. From the left side of the plate, Brett Gardner owns a .347 wOBA against RHP dating back to last season and a .183 ISO against two-seam fastballs, while Didi Gregorius (.244 ISO, .351 wOBA, 12.7% K-rate) owns a .327 wOBA against the two-seam fastball and a .318 wOBA against Cashner's four-seam fastball. Feel free to target Miguel Andujar here too, if he makes the lineup. I almost forgot about Greg Bird (.217 ISO, .309 wOBA, 26% K-rate) who is projected to bat cleanup tonight. Bird owns a .297 ISO against sinkers, making him a solid power threat in this park.

The Padres are often thought of as a terrible offense, and while that is true most of the time, they still offer some value in tournaments given the power they possess against southpaws. Chen is a flyball pitcher that struggles against right-handed hitters, and the Padres are one of the top hard contact teams in the Majors against left-handed pitching. That doesn't always come to fruition, as some of those hard hit balls are on the ground, but as far as GPPs go, the Padres bats are great options here. Chen has always struggled with home runs allowed to right-handed hitters, as 108 of his 129 career home runs allowed have come against right-handed hitters, and that is what we are hunting here. Chen relies on an array of pitches to right-handed hitters, although he is four-seam dominant with a 58% frequency, but it is hist four-seam fastball that he allows a .220 ISO on and his slider that he allows a .250 ISO on. I will be focusing on those two pitches when looking at the matchup here, along with the right-handed bats. That starts with Christian Villanueva who owns a massive .578 ISO and .537 wOBA against left-handed pitchers in 68 plate appearances. That is still a rather small sample size but his numbers have stayed rather consistent since the start of the season. He has only put five 90 MPH four-seam fastballs in play but owns a .375 ISO against the pitch, but more importantly, he owns a 87% contact rate against it. Jose Pirela (.188 ISO, .353 wOBA, 21.7% K-rate) comes in as another great option here as he owns a .381 xwOBA against Chen's fastball and has posted a 44% hard contact rating against the pitch. Franmil Reyes (.300 ISO, .353 wOBA, 36.4% K-rate) comes in as the third option for me, although he has only faced a left-handed pitcher for 11 at-bats and doesn't have a batted ball profile against Chen's fastball, or any pitch for that matter. Manuel Margot (.182 ISO, .324 wOBA, 19.1% K-rate) is another great option that owns a .237 ISO against Chen's fastball and a good contact rate against sliders, and A.J. Ellis (.143 ISO, .311 wOBA, 22.5% K-rate) is an option behind the dish. Don't overlook Hunter Renfroe (.345 ISO, .418 wOBA, 19.7% K-rate) if he makes the lineup, either.