Top Stack

Boston Red Sox vs Matthew Boyd

It’s true the Red Sox so far this season have been just average against right-handed pitching, but they are quickly improving upon their team batting average and OPS against southpaws.  Last night we saw them torch Tigers lefty Blaine Hardy and tonight they get southpaw Matthew Boyd .  Boyd has been the Tigers best starter this season but his lack of strikeouts could pose a problem against this potent Boston lineup.  J.D. Martínez and Xander Bogaerts will lead the charge when it comes to stacking the Red Sox tonight.  First basemen Mitch Moreland is 4-for-11 with a home run off Boyd but he may be out of the lineup tonight after Boston called up Sam Travis a few days ago.  Travis, along with Blake Swihart , Eduardo Núñez and Sandy León will all provide cheaper exposure to go with Martinez and Xander.  I am also OK with using Andrew Benintendi who is crushing everything right now but is hitting just .229 against lefties this season.

Oakland A’s vs Jason Hammel

To Hammel’s credit he has been pitching better of late but I going to need to see a few more starts of that before I start to believe he is turning his season around.  Overall, even with this recent stretch, he is 2-5 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.  The A’s have had little trouble scoring runs against this Royals staff earlier this week and the usual suspects are once again in play today with my stacks starting with Matt Olson , Khris Davis and Jed Lowrie .  Outfielder Dustin Fowler is also starting to surge and should be in the mix as he is hitting .323 with two home runs and two stolen bases over the last 10 games.  If Stephen Piscotty is healthy enough to be in the A’s lineup he is worth a look as a cheaper option as he is 5-for-16 (.313) with two doubles, one triple and one home run in his career vs Hammel.

Contrarian Stack

Detroit Tigers vs Jalen Beeks

The Tigers have some bats in their lineups that do damage against left-handed pitching.  I know that last night that did not come through as they were shutdown by Red Sox southpaw Eduardo Rodríguez , but they will get another crack at a lefty tonight in rookie Jalen Beeks who will be making his major league debut.  Now, Beeks has been no slouch at AAA this season as he leads the International League in strikeouts with 80 over 56.1 innings for an impressive 12.78 K/9.  Being a pitcher that attacks the zone Beeks does throw in the strike zone which has lead to him being taken deep seven times in 10 starts this season.  I am starting my Tiger stack with Nicholas Castellanos who is hitting .429 with an OPS of 1.081 on the year.  I also like both James McCann and John Hicks as both have had success against southpaws this season and provide power from the right-side of the plate.  The question with those two is really about who will be in the lineup as they platoon at catcher now that Miguel Cabrera has returned from the DL.  Third basemen Jeimer Candelario missed Wednesday’s game due to a finger injury but if he finds himself good to go today he will also be in play as he is hitting .309 with an OPS of 1.005 this year against southpaws.  Finally I will be looking to use shortstop José Iglesias who I touted yesterday against Rodriguez and he went on to drive in the only run for the Tigers.  Iglesias is not known for his bat but he is hitting .308 with an OPS of .902 against lefties this season.  He has also hit both of his home runs this season off southpaws.  We saw the Pirates jump all over rookie Caleb Ferguson last night so I think it’s worth taking a shot on the Tigers tonight against another pitcher making his major league debut.