Houston Astros vs. Edwin Jackson

I understand Jackson has been surprising a lot of people and pitching fairly well, but I think it’s all coming to an end here. He did just pitch very well against the Astros two starts ago allowing just two earned runs over five innings, but the difference is health within the Astros lineup. EVERYONE is back and we saw last night what that looks like when they tagged Brett Anderson -- who was pitching great coming into the game -- and company for 11 runs.

Starting right up at the top of the Astros lineup is where we need to look here. There aren’t many hotter hitters than Alex Bregman across baseball right now. He had a four hit game yesterday extending his hit streak to eight games while hitting .410 over his last 10 games. José Altuve is also riding a little hot streak since coming back from the disabled list posting four multi-hit games over his last five contests. Altuve also happens to be hitting .351 against right-handed pitching on the year.

Tyler White has to be added into any Astros stack you’re building. Not only is he mashing right-handers this year (.294 AVG, .420 wOBA) but he has four multi-hit games over his last five and has hit four homers over his last nine games with six overall in August. White isn’t the only Astro having a big August, especially when you look at Marwin González ’s last eight games. He’s had a hit in all eight and has hit .412 over that span with four home runs and 12 RBI.

Three secondary plays would be Carlos Correa , Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel . Gurriel is hitting .308 over his last 10 games. Gurriel has been really good at home all year hitting .285 with a .331 wOBA. Carlos Correa hasn’t quite figured it out since the All-Star break, but he’s still an elite talent. Martin Maldonado has the BvP advantage against Edwin Jackson going 6-for-14 with two home runs. He could be a cheap rout to fit the rest of the Astros team in your builds.

Primary Option(s): José Altuve , Marwin González , Alex Bregman , Tyler White

Secondary Option(s): Carlos Correa , Yuli Gurriel , Martin Maldonado

 

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Ariel Jurado

Ariel Jurado ’s Major League experience has not been going very well lately and it’s likely not going to get much better here. Jurado has allowed 16 earned runs over his last three starts. The home runs have been a problem too allowing five over his last three games. Lefties have absolutely demolished Jurado this season as they’ve hit .370 with an OPS up over 1.000 and a .464 wOBA.

The Dodgers rank top-six in OPS, ISO, wOBA and wRC+ since the All-Star break against right-handed pitching. They have a LOT of powerful left-handed bats in their lineup including Max Muncy , Cody Bellinger , Joc Pederson and Yasmani Grandal . All four of these guys have a .376 wOBA or better against right-handed pitching, making them all elite plays in this spot.

But I’m not ignoring the righties here either because Jurado hasn’t been great against them either. Manny Machado and Yasiel Puig have had almost all of their success against right-handed pitching. Puig has hit .288 against RHP this year which has been a trend basically his entire career while Machado is up over .300 and almost has a .400 wOBA against RHP on the year. Machado has homered in back-to-back games and has hit five over his last nine games. He’s finally settling into the Dodger blue. I can’t ignore Justin Turner either who has six multi-hit games over his last nine games while hitting .375 over his last 10.

Primary Option(s): Cody Bellinger , Joc Pederson , Max Muncy , Yasmani Grandal

Secondary Option(s): Manny Machado , Yasiel Puig , Justin Turner
 

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Anthony DeSclafani

It feels like the entire Reds pitching staff sucks versus left-handed bats and DeSclafani is no different. The power lefties have shown against him is ridiculous as they’ve posted a .549 SLG and 12 home runs in just 41.2 innings. Lefties have notched a 2.59 HR/9 and a 38.9-percent hard-hit rate against the Reds righty as well.

The Brewers have plenty of powerful left-handed hitters such as Travis Shaw , Mike Moustakas , Christian Yelich and Eric Thames . All four of the Brewers have a .350 wOBA or better against right-handed pitching, so the correlation is quite nice. Yelich has been on fire hitting five home runs over his last eight games and Moustakas has hit two in his last three contests. You can mix and match any of the four in your stacks.

Ryan Braun and Manny Piña are the two righties that intrigue me here. Braun has hit .343 over his last 10 and is riding a mini five-game hit streak. Braun is a nice threat to steal a bag and possibly hit a homer as well, obviously putting him in play for this stack, he’s just a little pricey. Pina is a cheaper addition to this stack and has hit north of .400 over his past 10 games.

Primary Option(s): Travis Shaw , Mike Moustakas , Christian Yelich , Eric Thames

Secondary Option(s): Ryan Braun , Manny Piña