Phillies (Zack Wheeler, RHP) @ Pirates (Mitch Keller, RHP)
Yankees (Gerrit Cole, RHP) @ Orioles (Grayson Rodriguez, RHP)
Angels (Lucas Giolito, RHP) @ Blue Jays (Kevin Gausman, RHP)
Nationals (MacKenzie Gore, LHP) @ Mets (Max Scherzer, RHP)
Guardians (TBD) @ White Sox (Touki Toussaint, RHP)
Brewers (Adrian Houser, RHP) @ Braves (Yonny Chirinos, RHP)
Rays (Shane McClanahan, LHP) @ Astros (Cristian Javier, RHP)
Twins (Sonny Gray, RHP) @ Royals (Brady Singer, RHP)
Cubs (Hayden Wesneski, RHP) @ Cardinals (Jordan Montgomery, LHP)
Athletics (J.P. Sears? LHP) @ Rockies (Kyle Freeland, LHP)
Mariners (Logan Gilbert, RHP) @ D-backs (Tommy Henry, LHP)
Rangers (Dane Dunning, RHP) @ Padres (Joe Musgrove, RHP)
Reds (Brandon Williamson, LHP) @ Dodgers (Bobby Miller, RHP)
Red Sox (Kutter Crawford, RHP) @ Giants (Logan Webb, RHP)
Pitching Preferences
- Gerrit Cole
- Zack Wheeler
- Logan Webb
- Kevin Gausman
- Max Scherzer
- Shane McClanahan
- Joe Musgrove
- Mitch Keller
- Sonny Gray
- Logan Gilbert
- Jordan Montgomery
- Lucas Giolito
- MacKenzie Gore
Favorite Teams
- Braves
- Dodgers
- Reds
- Cardinals
- Mariners
- Twins
- Rays
- Yankees
- Guardians
- Athletics
- Mets
- Brewers
- Giants
- Rockies
Batter Ranks
- Ronald Acuna Jr
- Shohei Ohtani
- Aaron Judge
- Mookie Betts
- Freddie Freeman
- Julio Rodriguez
- Jose Ramirez
- Paul Goldschmidt
- Edouard Julien
- Fernando Tatis Jr
- Juan Soto
- Corbin Carroll
- Will Smith
- J.D. Martinez
- Ozzie Albies
- Austin Riley
- Sean Murphy
- Nolan Arenado
- Christian Yelich
- Sal Frelick
- Tyler O’Neill
- Jordan Walker
- Christopher Morel
- Nico Hoerner
- Henry Davis
- Kyle Schwarber
- Ramon Laureano
- Wander Franco
- Randy Arozarena
- Pete Alonso
Good afternoon! There are (approximately) one million baseball games today. The slate is set up in a really interesting way however, such that the field is almost certainly going to treat it more like an 8 game slate for pitchers and batters, respectively.
There are an overwhelming number of options at SP today. If you think there’s a separator amongst the group such as Gerrit Cole or Zack Wheeler for instance, you can take them with your first or second pick and build around them fairly easily because of the size of the slate. However, you also have a dozen other SPs after those two go off the board that are likely to put up decent numbers as well. I’m going to most likely wait. But I also want my contrarian stacks to contain some Gerrit Cole today. My Pirates fandom won’t allow me to take Wheeler on a slate this size.
Now, for the sticks today. With good (perceived) pitching, comes low ownership of their opponents. I can guarantee you that at least one of my favorite pitchers today is going to get blown up. It could even be Gerrit Cole! And that stack/those players that contribute to said blow up are likely to be extremely low owned. Why would the average drafter want to stack O’s against Gerrit Cole when these other matchups exist instead? The answer is obviously leverage, but it’s going to be really difficult for people to get on to these tougher matchups today. Myself included! But here is what I would do if I was trying to find ownership leverage.
- Stack Giants against Kutter Crawford
This stack will be low owned and features a non-elite pitcher on the mound for the Red Sox. Oracle Park (SF) is a pitcher’s park, and Crawford hasn’t been terrible, but I love Giants against RHP as my loyal readers know well.
- Stack Royals against Sonny Gray
Sonny Gray will be taken often in drafts today. The Royals are bad, and Gray has a nice low ERA of 3.15. What the Royals do have on their side is nice weather, and some easy to stack bats at the top of the order.
- Stack Athletics and/or Rockies in Coors
It’s hard to envision a worse combination of teams in Coors. But that is what makes this series so exciting. Nobody will be interested in either of these teams. I’ll dabble in some combinations tonight, and if they both flop, that makes tomorrow even more enticing to go back to this same gross well.
Baseball contests are tough. 14 game slates are hard. We can’t just rely on volume to cover our bases. I wouldn’t make your entire portfolio out of high leverage low ownership plays, but save some room for a few in case things go awry today.
I’ll be off all next week as I’ll be on vacation with my family in Maryland. I will still be in the BR streets most likely, but not holding myself to any Take Sheets during that time. I appreciate your understanding. Lets win something today.
Nez
Take Sheet 