Boston Red Sox's Chris Sale pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Boston, Saturday, April 15, 2017, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
We already highlighted Aaron Nola, Steven Strasburg and Carlos Martinez in our Tuesday picks article. We also highlighted the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies as popular game stacks at their respective team price points. Here we will look at some other (possible GPP) considerations.
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Opponent - NYY (Luis Severino) Park - BOS
FD - 40.9 DK - 22.96
This may seem like a crazy play because frankly, targeting the Yankees will be suicide for most of the season. However, Chris Sale is a different animal altogether. Comparing his 2017 numbers to everybody else on the slate, he stands out. Sale once again put up elite numbers last season as his 36.2 percent strikeout rate, 2.65 xFIP and 2.58 SIERA all lead the slate. Furthermore, he doesn't walk anybody and once again his 5.1 percent walk rate is also tops on the slate. Now, the Yankees loaded up in the offseason adding Giancarlo Stanton to their already pretty stacked roster. Now, Stanton has hit some home runs this season, but he is also striking out a ton. The Yankees have a ton of power, but they also have a lot of free-swinging power hitters. If Sale is on his game tonight, he could be able to rack up the strikeouts. His elite strikeout ability should be able to counter any of the runs that the Yankees do end up scoring.
Opponent - MIN (Jake Odorizzi) Park - MIN
FD - 33.3 DK - 16.89
Dallas Keuchel is the king of the groundball. His insanely high 66.8 percent groundball rate in 2017 easily leads tonight's slate. In his two starts this season, Keuchel has certainly struggled but hopefully, that will change tonight against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins have struggled to score runs with just 34 in their first eight games, which puts them just 22nd in runs scored. There is plenty of power on Minnesota, and although Keuchel limited his opponents to just a 17.7 percent fly-ball rate against him in 2017 when they do put the ball in the air, his 21.1 percent home run to fly ball rate is exposed. Keuchel also leads the late in average batted ball distance at just 115 feet and has the second-best average exit velocity of just 84.5 miles per hour. Inducing weak contact is his strength and this looks like a great opportunity to get his game back on track after a slow start.
Houston Astros vs. Jake Odorizzi (MIN)
Opponent - MIN (Jake Odorizzi) Park - MIN
FD - 11.98 DK - 9.27
Opponent - MIN (Jake Odorizzi) Park - MIN
FD - 12.08 DK - 9.1
Opponent - MIN (Jake Odorizzi) Park - MIN
FD - 9.51 DK - 7.28
Opponent - MIN (Jake Odorizzi) Park - MIN
FD - 9.46 DK - 7.24
The Houston Astros are in Minnesota to take on the Twins on tonight's main slate. Houston has scored 49 runs this season which puts them sixth in the Majors. However, they have been doing so without the long-ball as their 10 home runs sit them in the middle-of-the-pack at 14th. The Astros also have a very mediocre team wOBA (.323) and team ISO (.150). Having a 26.4 percent strikeout rate leaves a lot to be desired for the Astros, however, the fact that they have put up strong run numbers while struggling elsewhere leads me to believe that we could see a Houston home run explosion soon given the power that is on this team.
Houston had a lot of success against right-handed pitching last season. Jose Altuve leads the way with a .403 wOBA along with his .200 ISO. As we move down in the batting order, Carlos Correa put up a .380 wOBA and .239 ISO while Marwin Gonzalez had an also-elite .397 wOBA and .230 ISO. George Springer is also expected to be back in the lineup for the Astros tonight, so do not be afraid to include him in a stack even though he is coming off of the DL. He had a more than respectable .363 wOBA and .236 ISO against righties last season.
Pitching for the Twins tonight will be Jake Odorizzi and he struggled immensely last season. His 36 percent hard-hit rate is the worst on the slate, while his 47.3 percent fly ball rate is the second-worst. Furthermore, his average batted ball distance was 205 feet. All of this explains why his horrible 1.88 home runs per nine innings. There isn't much to like about Odorizzi as a pitcher and considering he had just a .227 BABIP last year, there is reason to believe that he could be in for an even bigger of a disaster season than in 2017.
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Andrew Cashner (BAL)
Opponent - BAL (Andrew Cashner) Park - BAL
FD - 10.54 DK - 7.89
Opponent - BAL (Andrew Cashner) Park - BAL
FD - 12.9 DK - 9.61
Opponent - BAL (Andrew Cashner) Park - BAL
FD - 11.53 DK - 8.62
Opponent - BAL (Dylan Bundy) Park - BAL
FD - 9.21 DK - 7.04
One of the more surprising offensive teams in the early part of the 2018 MLB season has been the Toronto Blue Jays. Through 11 games, the Jays are third in the Majors with 59 runs scored and second with 17 home runs. Furthermore, they have the sixth best team wOBA (.334) and are tied for the lead in all of baseball with a .208 ISO. Needless to say, the Jays power and offense in general in the early part of 2018 has been surprising.
Tonight, the Jays are taking on the Baltimore Orioles in game two of their three game series. With Curtis Granderson and Steve Pearce platooning in left field, we will see Granderson leading off for the Jays tonight. He hit for a good amount of power against right-handed pitching last season with a .343 wOBA and a .255 ISO. Josh Donaldson will take his usual spot, hitting second and fresh off a Grand Slam late in last nights contest. Donaldson also crushed right-handed pitching last year with a .389 wOBA and a .261 ISO and with Justin Smoak and Yangervis Solarte rounding out the top four hitters in the batting order, there is a lot of power at the top.
The Baltimore Orioles will have Andrew Cashner on the mound tonight, who is absolute a pitcher we want to target with our bats. His 5.52 SIERA is among the worst on the slate, while his 4.61 FIP (5.30 xFIP) along with a .266 BABIP indicates that he even got a bit lucky there. Cashner does not strike anybody out as he has a slate-worst 12.2 percent strikeout rate. This is a great matchup for a Jays team that has shown a plethora of power early in the 2018 season.
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