MLB Mobile Sports Betting Toolkit
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.
Washington Nationals (4.3) Vs. Clayton Richard (L) |
||||||
SP Splits (2017-2018) |
wOBA Allowed |
FB% |
ISO |
K% |
BB% |
Hard% Allowed |
Vs. LHB
|
.302 | 14.4% | .066 | 27.9% | 5.0% | 26.6% |
Vs. RHB
|
.380 | 22.2% | .217 | 14.4% | 8.5% |
38.9% |
Command has been a big issue for Clayton Richard this season and it has caused him to walk at least three batters in each of his last six starts. In his last outing, Richard struggled early on, with a first-pitch strike on just 11 of the 26 batters he faced, and he has seen his first-pitch strike rate drop to 59.5% this season after posting marks above 60% in each of the last three seasons. Getting behind in counts is always troublesome, especially against good teams like the Nationals, and issuing free passes at will tends to lead you to surrendering runs. That has been the case for Richard, who despite only allowing six home runs in 37.2 innings pitched this season, has allowed a whopping 26 total earned runs. Those 26 earned runs allowed ties him with Felix Hernandez for the fifth-most runs allowed so far this season and Richard has done that in one fewer outings. Richard is getting completely blasted by right-handed hitters, allowing a .380 wOBA dating back to last season, and a .395 wOBA to the handedness this season, with a massive hard hit rating of 38.9%. Richard has struggled with his four-seam fastball, allowing a .398 xwOBA and .278 ISO with the pitch that he is throwing 24.12% of the time to right-handed hitters, but his two-seam fastball/sinker has also been problematic for him. He has allowed a .215 ISO with that pitch this season, along with a .372 xwOBA, and he is throwing that pitch 47.6% of the time this season. His slider is the only pitch that seems to be working for him, as he is allowing a .289 xwOBA and .172 ISO with it, but he is only throwing that pitch 22% of the time this season. Lastly, his changeup, a pitch he is throwing about once per at-bat against each hitter, is getting blasted for a .750 ISO and .789 xwOBA.
Despite Bryce Harper (.139 ISO, .342 wOBA, .361 OBP) being a left-handed hitter, it is really tough to stack the Nationals and not use him, especially if he is in the lead-off spot tonight. He has been outstanding against two-seam fastballs/sinkers since 2016, with a .266 ISO and .444 xwOBA against the pitch. Now that Anthony Rendon (.313 ISO, .444 wOBA, .435 OBP) is back from his toe injury, we can start locking him in against southpaws once again. He doesn't have insane power numbers against two-seam fastballs, just a .169 ISO dating back to 2016, but he does own a .409 xwOBA and 39.01% hard hit rating with a 91.55% contact rating over that span. Rendon does mash four-seam fastballs, however, posting a .289 ISO with a 47.5% hard hit rating since 2016. Hopefully, Ryan Zimmerman (.310 ISO, .421 woBA, .385 OBP) will be healthy enough to make the lineup today, as he has posted a .239 ISO and .417 xwOBA against two-seam fastballs since 2016, while Howie Kendrick(.185 ISO, .362 wOBA, .360 OBP) posted a solid .390 xwOBA and 92.03% contact rating against four-seam fastballs. Michael Taylor (.242 ISO, .358 wOBA, .323 OBP) could be an overlooked member of the team tonight, and that would be a mistake, as he has obliterated four-seam fastballs since 2016, with a .297 ISO and .473 xwOBA, when he makes contact with them. Unfortunately for Taylor, he is only making contact at a 75% rate. He has great numbers against two-seam fastballs/sinkers, however, posting an 83.71% contact rate to go along with his .233 ISO and .409 xwOBA. Don't forget about Wilmer Difo (.334 wOBA, .350 OBP) at the bottom of the lineup, and of course, the speedster Trea Turner (.291 wOBA, .329 OBP) is in play despite his somewhat pedestrian numbers against southpaws. Turner has managed to put up a .202 ISO and .368 xwOBA against two-seam fastballs since 2016.
Cincinnati Reds (5.2) Vs. Jason Vargas (L)
|
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SP Splits (2017-2018) |
wOBA Allowed |
FB% |
ISO |
K% |
BB% |
Hard% Allowed |
Vs. LHB
|
.377 |
41.7% |
.207 |
13.4% |
7.9% |
29.9% |
Vs. RHB
|
.333 |
40.3% |
.188 |
18.7% |
7.8% |
34.2% |
It would probably be an understatement to say that Jason Vargas has not quite had the start the Mets were hoping for when they signed him this offseason. It really has not been pretty for Vargas in his first two starts, as he has allowed 15 runs in just 8.1 innings, and it probably won't get much better for him tonight as he faces off against the Reds. He has allowed 20 total hits in those 8.1 innings, five home runs, has walked five batters, and has struck out just eight. Vargas has been terrible for quite some time now and this season seems to be building on that. He has minimal strikeout stuff, with right-handed hitters being his biggest boon to his strikeout rate, although that isn't saying much considering he is striking out just 18.7% of right-handed hitters faced dating back to last season. Left-handed hitters have actually hit him the hardest dating back to last season, posting a .207 ISO and .377 wOBA against him but we can still target right-handed hitters against him as he has allowed a .188 ISO and 40.3% FB rate to them. Vargas has struggled with his two-seam fastball this season, with hitters on both sides of the plate posting wOBAs over .550 against the pitch, while right-handed hitters have blasted his changeup to the tune of a .727 ISO and .733 wOBA. His knuckle-curve has also been problematic, as left-handed hitters have put up a .333 ISO against the pitch, to go along with a .481 wOBA. Now, it should go without saying that he probably won't be this bad going forward, but even a slight improvement will still make the Reds a great team to stack.
The best place to start is obviously Eugenio Suarez (.245 ISO, .390 wOBA, .397 OBP) as he has been on fire the past couple of weeks. He has excellent numbers against changeups since 2016, a .217 ISO and .351 xwOBA to go along with a 40.58% hard hit rating, and has posted a .407 xwOBA against two-seam fastballs. After Suarez, Adam Duvall (.296 ISO, .373 wOBA, .346 BOP) is a great home run option here, as he mashed both two-seam fastballs and changeups, with a .400 ISO against two-seamers and a .281 ISO against changeups, and it would be crazy to overlook Joey Votto (.236 ISO, .390 wOBA, .413 OBP) despite the lefty on lefty matchup. He has excelled against two-seam fastballs, with a .456 xwOBA, .189 ISO, and 90.43% contact rate, but did his most damage against the knuckle-curve, posting a massive .325 ISO against the pitch. Scott Schebler (.200 ISO, .338 wOBA, .310 OBP) is another great bat in a LvL matchup, as he has posted a .403 xwOBA against two-seam fastballs, and Billy Hamilton (.240 OBP) is a stolen base threat towards the bottom of that lineup. If he is able to get on base tonight, he would be a lock for at least one stolen base assuming Lobaton is behind the dish for the Mets. Don't overlook Alex Blandino (.321 wOBA, .417 OBP), Jose Peraza (.281 wOBA, .310 OBP), or Tucker Barnhart (.318 wOBA, .365 OBP) either, as anyone in this lineup tonight has a decent amount of value.
Texas Rangers (5.3) Vs. Mike Fiers (R) | ||||||
SP Splits (2017-2018) | wOBA Allowed | FB% | ISO | K% | BB% | Hard% Allowed |
Vs. LHB
| .354 | 37.5% | .223 | 19.7% | 10.3% | 31.2% |
Vs. RHB
| .351 | 39.4% | .207 | 21.3% | 6.9% |
30.5%
|
There are plenty of great offenses to target tonight, especially with Coors on the slate, but I come to you with one that may go overlooked! It is expected to be a warm night in Texas, which could help hitters, and of course, Fiers is a total gascan which only helps the Texas side of this game even more. Fiers hasn't exactly been the pitcher Detroit expected when they signed him in the offseason. He has allowed at least two home runs in three of his five starts this season, three or more earned runs in all but one of his starts, and at least six hits in three of the last four. He has notched very few strikeouts, with four or fewer in three starts, and has posted a putrid 13.6% strikeout rate this season. His flyball rate has climbed seven percent this season, up to 44%, and he has seen his overall hard contact rating climb four percent this season. He has been putrid against left-handed hitters, allowing a .223 ISO dating back to last season, but he has also struggled against right-handed hitters with a .351 wOBA and .207 ISO allowed. Fiers has had major issues with his changeup, a pitch he is throwing over 20% of the time to hitters on both sides of the plate, as left-handed hitters have posted a massive .545 ISO against the pitch, while his four-seam fastballs has been problematic as well. The Texas hitters that excel against those pitches will be my primary targets here.
It starts with Shin-Soo Choo (.193 ISO, .346 wOBA, .352 OBP) who has posted a massive .533 xwOBA and .233 ISO against low-velocity four-seam fastballs dating back to 2016. He doesn't have great power numbers against changeups, just a .175 ISO, but he did post a .404 xwOBA against the pitch, as well. Beyond Choo, Nomar Mazara (.194 ISO, .335 wOBA, .334 OBP) is another great target as he had a great .416 xwOBA and 90.32% contact rate against four-seam fastballs, while Joey Gallo (.335 ISO, .361 wOBA, .320 OBP) posted a massive .262 ISO against changeups. Robinson Chirinos (.252 ISO, .335 wOBA, .318 OBP) has been great against four-seam fastballs, as well, with a .308 ISO against the pitch, and so has Delino DeShields (.305 wOBA, .340 OBP) with his .304 ISO against the pitch.
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