MLB Stacking To Win It: 6-13-18

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.

Ian Kennedy stifled this Reds team last night, which was frustrating for those who rostered them. I am willing to go back to the well tonight as Jason Hammel has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball this season. Hammel is allowing a 48.6% hard-contact rate to left-handers and a 44.1% hard-contact rate to right-handers at times this season. A majority of the power has come from lefties with him allowing a .194 ISO and 49.5% flyball rate. All five of Hammel's pitches have over a 40% hard-contact rate against. I am looking for the hitters that hit sinkers well and get some lift, and most of these Reds to that. If they can hit sliders, that is an added bonus since Hammel is throwing it 36% of the time. Against sinkers, Scott Schebler has a .407 wOBA and .186 ISO. He has also been leading off of late, which adds to his value. Tucker Barnhart has seen a change in the lineup as well, hitting second over the recent stretch of games. Barnhart is a cheap catching option, and has a .389 wOBA and .168 ISO off sinkers. Joey Votto hits both sinkers and sliders well. He has a .437 wOBA and .185 ISO off sinkers, and a .352 wOBA off sliders. Scooter Gennett has a .439 wOBA and .262 ISO off sinkers dating back to 2016, and is a high upside play at 2B this evening. Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez are a few options to consider if you are looking to make it a five man stack. Suarez has a .396 wOBA off sinkers, while Winker has a .329 wOBA.

St. Louis let us all down last night, but the Cards are a team to go back to tonight. Eric Lauer has allowed a .403 wOBA, .211 ISO, and 42.6% hard-contact rate to right-handers dating back to last season. He relies on a 90-91mph fastball, throwing it 63% of the time, and then a cutter 20% of the time. Both are getting blasted for over a .400 wOBA dating back to last year. Jose Martinez is someone who stands out against this cutter with a .553 wOBA and .371 ISO. Tommy Pham has a .367 wOBA and .205 ISO against the cutter, while Jedd Gyorko also posts a .351 wOBA. Against this fastball range, Pham, Martinez, and Gyorko all have over a .400 wOBA. Marcell Ozuna has a .476 wOBA and .363 ISO against this range of fastball as well. Ozuna has started to lift the ball in June, and it has shown in his recent production. Yadier Molina has a .329 wOBA and .261 ISO against left-handers dating back to last season, with a ridiculous 47.1% hard-contact rate. Harrison Bader has been on this route as well, sporting a .459 wOBA, .333 ISO, and 47.5% hard-contact rate. All are tremendous options on tonight's slate.

Generally I do not like to stack against the Yankees due to their solid bullpen, but also their starters never tend to blowup. Washington is an against the grain stack tonight, as they face Sonny Gray in a very friendly ballpark for lefty power. Gray has had a few blowup starts this season, allowing five or more earned runs in four starts this season. Most of his blowups have come at home, where he is allowing a .392 wOBA. His strikeout rate and walk rates go in the opposite direction at Yankee Stadium, and he is allowing a 39.4% groundball rate and 36.5% hard-contact rate. While this is over a smaller sample size, it is something to note if this trend continues. Right-handers have done more damage against Gray this season, as he is allowing a .358 wOBA and .200 ISO. Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon are the two right-handed bats you can use in this spot. Both have subpar production against righties on the year, but xwOBAs over .400. Washington is healthy again as Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy joined the lineup yesterday. Dating back to last season, both have over a .200 ISO against right-handed pitching, and a wOBA over .390. While I said Washington is healthy again, Bryce Harper did leave the game yesterday after a HBP. If in the lineup, hard to ignore him with over a .300 ISO against right-handers and in Yankee Stadium. Matt Adams and Juan Soto are the other to lefties to look at in this spot.