Top Options: 

We have been seeing some pretty high scores this week, as the Dodgers became the second teams to put up 20-plus runs this week.  Two other games also topped 20 combined runs last night.  I wouldn’t try to play a slate thinking that games are going to score 20-plus runs with everyone going deep at least once, and a solid group hitting two or more out every night, but it definitely helps make the case for team, or full game stacking.  As I mentioned in the chat when asked last night, I wasn’t on the Dodgers for cash games, but teams like them, and the others projected in that four to five runs category are always in play for gpp’s.  Below are some popular, and not so popular routes to consider stacking tonight.   

The Game in Texas:

This game could have went the low score route last night, but went the other route with 25 combined runs, 32 hits, and six homers.  Tonight, it’s the only game with an over 10 implied run total, and could easily be another popular salary relief route if paying up for some pitchers tonight.  Hess checks in as the lowest priced pitcher on both sites, with DK even having the two inning bullpen starter from Tampa priced higher than Hess.  He’s lost his last four decisions, and will be making his first start since he allowed six earned to the Angels back on June 29th. 

The Rangers are once again the favorites to win after scoring 15 runs as the favorite last night, and although they are priced best on FD, they are in play across the board tonight.  I would focus on their hot hitting left handed bats in Joey Gallo , Rougned Odor , Shin-Soo Choo , and Jurickson Profar , if starting.  Odor went 1-1, with a homer last night, while adding five walks.  He had zero walks over his previous five games.  Odor now has four homers over his last five games.  Gallo is just way too cheap on FD, and could be a solid play in all formats on there tonight.  He was 0-8, with five K’s over his previous two games before going 3-5, with a homer and double last night.  Five out of his nine hits over his last ten games have gone for homers.  Choo has twice as many K’s than hits over his last ten games, and would be the one lefty that I would consider pivoting off of.  Having said that, I still think he’ll be a popular choice in a Texas stack.  Profar has an XBH in four out of his last seven hits, and seems to have taken over for Guzman.  If not on Choo, I would pivot to Robinson Chirinos , who was off yesterday, and will look to keep his hot bat going tonight.

The O’s will be a little less popular, but they also have the cheaper price tags, as no player is over $3.1K on FD, and only two above $4K on DK.  I would look at Mark Trumbo for power, and Jonathan Villar for salary relief if leading off again.  Jurado is making his third start for Texas, and likely the replacement in the rotation for Hamels.  He was rocked by the White Sox in his May call up, but shut down the Astros for the win in his first start for Hamels last weekend. 

Nationals:

James and Howard were all over the left handed Washington bats in the live chat leading up to lock time last night, and not sure much changes tonight.  The Nationals have scored 40 runs over their last three games, with the 25 runs on Wednesday starting off their current run.  They are looking to win four straight games for the first time since the end of May, but have beaten the Reds in eight straight dating back to last season.  They face DeSclafani tonight, and although he’s not as bad as Mahle, he’s allowed at least three runs in five out of his last six starts, but at least one homer allowed in eight straight, while totalling 14 HRA over that span.  Trea Turner went deep last night, and continues to run around the bases as he recorded two stolen bases for the third straight game.  He’s scored eight runs over his last three games, and would at least pair him with his high priced teammate in Bryce Harper .  Harper joined Turner by going deep last night, and extended his multi-hit game streak to three games, with at least an XBH in each one.  Daniel Murphy is 4-8, with a homer off DeSclafani, and would add him into the stack.  That fourth spot is pretty wide open though, but would likely stick with the young Juan Soto , who is due to go deep after likely being frustrated with his three walks last night.

Possible Lower Owned Stacks:

Even though the options above are top routes, it’s still a pretty wide open slate, as plenty of teams can equal what the Dodgers, Red Sox, and others have been doing with jacking up a large number of homers. When it comes to possible lower owned stacks, I don’t think you need to take the slightly higher risk route in order to try to stand out from the field tonight. For me, examples of that would include the Reds, Brewers, Twins, and Mariners.  That doesn’t mean those teams aren’t in play, but unless you are a max lineup entry type of player, I would look elsewhere, as I feel you could stills stand out with some other stacks.

Full game DET/OAK stack:

This route works for a late night only slate, as well as for the full, 14-game main slate as a pivot off of the BAL/TEX game for me.  The A’s will be the popular side of this stack, and check in with an implied run total of just under five runs.  They face Hardy tonight, who is priced right down there with Hess across all sites, and just need to put his last start of five innings with only one earned run vs the Indians out of your mind, as the A’s have bounced back nicely since being swept at Coors.  They are coming off a sweep of the Blue Jays, and swept the Tigers already back in June.  Hardy was hit hard in one of those games, allowing six runs (three earned), and two homers over four innings.  Khris Davis is 6-17, with two homers off of him, and checks in as your only higher priced bat on both sides of this game.  He has six homers over his last ten games, and looking for a much better series vs Detroit than his 2-16 four game series vs them in June.  Jed Lowrie took Hardy deep as well in that June start, but has gone just 1-16 over his last four games.  He went 9-17, with two homers, and three doubles over the four game series vs the Tigers though.  Look for Marcus Semien to lead off tonight, and he has three straight multi-hit games, and six out of his last ten. 

On the other side of this game are the low priced Tigers, and although I wouldn’t go 100% all in with them, I like them as part of a full game stack.  Anderson starts for the A’s, and he allowed seven earned in his only home start this year back in May.  The Tigers actually lead the league with a .274 average off of left handed starters, and best to use their bats for salary relief tonight.  As mentioned above, the BAL/TEX game is ideally your best bet, but the Tigers are a very sneaky alternative.

Red Sox:

I think I’ll stay away from this game tonight, but we saw a homer parade in this game last night, and if his name wasn’t Severino, everyone would be all over the Red Sox once again tonight.  The all-star Severino is struggling in the second half though, having allowed 19 earned runs, seven homers, and 33 hits over his last four starts, which is over only a combined 20 innings.  Andrew Benintendi is batting 10-22, with two homers off of him, and after Steve Pearce had his monster three homer game last night, we could see Mitch Moreland in the lineup over him tonight.  Moreland hasn’t taken Severino deep, but is the only other Red Sox player batting over .300 vs him, as he’s gone 5-15 vs Severino.  If thinking he continues to struggle, load up on their expensive bats, as many will be loading up on Washington instead.

Rays and Pirates:

Both teams are more wild card options for me, and could have easily placed them in the slightly higher risk stacked options listed above, but my gut decided to add these two over including them in the list of teams above. The Pirates are more of a narrative play, as they would like to provide Archer some solid run support for his debut start tonight.  Gant is coming off a season low 4.2 innings, and has allowed four earned, and three homers over his last 5.1 innings.  He’s 0-1, with a 4.22 era over four appearances vs the Pirates over his career.  The Rays face Giolito tonight, who came back down to earth in his last start after having a few solid outings.  He still has a league worst 6.26 era as a starter, and has allowed at least five runs in seven starts this season, including five over 4.1 innings in his last one.  He hasn’t faced the Rays this year, but Tampa is 20-4 over their last 24 home games, while the Sox have allowed 10 or more runs in four out of their last eight games.