Hitting Stacks

A stack can win you a tournament, and it can also put you inlast place. Picking the right stack is an art, and if you perfect that art, youwill find yourself with a large bank account. Today I am here to help you scoutout all the stacks for the nine game MLB slate. Each team is ranked in orderfrom what I (Muntradamus) expect to be most dominant, to least.

BRAVES

Nick Margevicius is pitching well with an ERA hovering in the3.50 range, but a matchup against a Braves team that just crushed the lefty inTyler Anderson is not what Margevicius was hoping for. In order for the Bravesto be shut down, they have to beat themselves. There will be hard hit balls allgame long, and those hard hit balls can find themselves in the stands,especially at home.

DODGERS

The Dodgers offense is one of the best in baseball, and eventhough Jeff Samardzija is pitching better this season, he is still not solidenough to escape this game without any damage. The Dodgers bats are all hot andplayers like Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger can rip the cover off the ballplenty of times throughout the night.

WHITE SOX

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, you cannot be fooledagain. Last time John Means shut down the White Sox to one earned in five IP.While that is an impressive start, to pitch against the same team in back-to-backstarts is never an easy task. The White Sox bats got hot over the weekend, and whena pitcher does good in one start, that MEANS his second start will not be asgreat.

BREWERS

Kyle Freeland has shown signs of life on the road, and he is onthe road for this start. The Brewers offense can take advantage of thosehanging curveballs. To be honest it is better to be a lefty than a rightyagainst the Brewers these days, but this matchup does look semi-promising forthe Brewers, who are happy to return home. Freeland has to be on point to avoidthe big hits.

ASTROS

Jake Odorizzi is starting to pitch better, and lucky for him hewill be home against one of the best teams in the AL. The Astros do not haveany particular matchup that makes you scream in excitement, but as a team theycan figure out how to put up a lot of runs. It may not come as expected, butOdorizzi is far from a safe start in this one.

ROCKIES

Zach Davies has been sharp with an ERA sitting at 1.65, but Ican guarantee you his ERA will not finish the season like that. A matchup againstthe Rockies, not in Colorado, is not what Davies wants. The middle of thatlineup is on fire, Arenado/Story/Blackmon are all hitting the ball well, evenIan Desmond is heating up. This could easily be the sleeper stack of the night.

OAKLAND

Eduardo Rodriguez has a lot of junk in his arm trunk, howeverthe Athletics are the type of team that can take advantage of a lefty when heis not having a good night. Chances are Eduardo will get it done, but MattChapman is hitting the ball well, and Stephen Piscotty is playing his bestbaseball all season. The key is Khris Davis, who has been cold over the lasttwo weeks, but he is always capable of launching a big time shot against anylefty pitcher.

BOSTON

While a Boston stack at home could usually lead to great thingsin the past, this Red Sox team is not stroking the ball the way they would liketo. Mookie Betts is starting to heat up a bit, but the rest of the team is farfrom impressive. While J.D. Martinez is hitting .340, he only has four HRs thisseason! The rest of the team’s power is not getting it done, and Frankie Montasis a hard throwing righty that should be able to get past this Red Sox lineupmore often than not. While there is potential because the Red Sox are at home,they are only on this list because of what they have done in the past.

RAYS

Brad Keller has been strong this season, but a matchup againstthe Rays may be his hardest yet this season. There are not a lot of soft spotsagainst this Rays lineup, and they are riding sky high after beating Chris Salein Boston. Keller is a good pitcher, but he is a better fantasy pitcher when hefaces bad teams.

NATIONALS

While Michael Wacha has been hittable this season, the Nationalsbats are really struggling in the back half of that order. It is also no lockat all that guys like Juan Soto and Adam Eaton, who need to get on base forthis stack to work, will have BEAST performances against Wacha. He is comingoff of his best start a couple weeks ago, allowing only one ER to the Brewers.The Nationals bats are semi-hot, but this matchup is not.

METS

Tanner Roark is pitching some solid baseball as of late as hehas not allowed more than one ER in his last three starts. The Mets bats arenot that dominant, and besides Michael Conforto, there is not a huge threat togo yard. Pete Alonso is doing well, but Brandon Nimmo is beat up and RobinsonCano may not even play. The Mets need a star in order to compete.

CARDINALS

Paul Goldschmidt is not hitting the ball well, in fact a lot ofthe Cardinals are struggling. Going up against Patrick Corbin, who is easilyone of the best lefties in baseball, the Cardinals will be hard pressed to finda breakout hitting game. The matchup does not look good on paper, especially inWashington.

TWINS

The Twins are hot as an offense, but hitting usually comes withthe territory of playing against the Orioles. However, this is no Oriolesmatchup on Monday, it is Justin Verlander. When Verlander is on the mound, 10times out 11, it is not a good idea to stack against him. The only reason Twinsare not on the bottom is because they are hitting the ball.

PADRES

Mike Soroka owns a 1.69 ERA, which automatically means thePadres have a tough matchup ahead. Eric Hosmer has been super hot to carry thePadres offense as of late, but besides him there is nobody that Soroka shouldreally fear. Expect it to be a long day for the Padres offense.

ORIOLES

The Orioles will hardly appear on a high ranking for a stackwith their weak offense. They are going up against Manny Machado, um, MannyBanuelos, who is a hard throwing lefty that completely fooled the Orioles forfour IP of shutout baseball last week..

ROYALS

It’s never good to face the Rays when they go with Ryan Stanekfor the opener, then turn it over to Jalen Beeks the rest of the way. TheRoyals bats do not match up well with any pitcher that Rays throw out there,and with all the confusion and changing of pitchers, expect the timing of theRoyals offense to be off on Monday.

REDS

After a slow start of giving up 11 ERs, Zach Wheeler has foundhis form and is coming off of a dominant 11 strikeout game. The truth is theReds bats do not have a name to really be afraid of, maybe Yasiel Puig and JoeyVotto, if it was 2016. The Reds are not consistent enough to be able to unravelthe white hot Wheeler.

GIANTS

The Giants hitting the ball in Dodger Stadium? Would not counton it. Kenta Maeda has been one of the stronger pitchers for the Dodgers thisseason, and the Giants are really lacking good hitting against tough pitching.While they were semi-productive hitting the ball this weekend against theYankees, they were also getting blown out. Expect Maeda to escape with an easywin.