When I choose stacks for this column, I choose them independent of one another. I don’t try to choose teams facing weak lefties, or teams who are good at home. I find it interesting when patterns start to emerge among my chosen stacks, since it is always a coincidence (or, at least, an act of my subconscious). In any event, three of today’s recommended stacks are among the top six in wOBA over the last seven days. Two of the others, the A’s and Mets, have today off. Mostly I like these stacks because of the matchups, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that they are swinging hot bats. As always, my stacks are listed in order of preference.
Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers (Myles Jaye, R)
Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Jose Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Yandy Diaz, Jay Bruce
On the surface, this looks like a game to avoid. The Indians are ridiculously expensive, and Myles Jaye has allowed just five baserunners and zero earned runs in 5.2 big league innings. In fact, Jaye shut out this same Cleveland team in 3.1 innings in his first MLB appearance. It isn’t going to last.
Jaye had a 3.58 ERA and 3.98 FIP in 60.1 innings at Triple-A this season, which doesn’t exactly portend big league success. He still hasn’t recorded a strikeout in the majors, and his .150 BABIP and 100 percent LOB% are obviously not sustainable. Jaye has a strike rate of just 37.5 percent vs right-handed batters over the past 7 days, and unless that improves dramatically, the Indians should make short work of Jaye. Jaye hasn’t thrown more than 47 pitches in either of his big league appearances, and the Tigers have the worst bullpen ERA in MLB, so Cleveland could score a bunch of runs even if Jaye throws well.
Lonnie Chisenhall appears to have settled into the number two spot in the batting order, and as such, you should probably include him in any stack. Besides, he is downright affordable compared to most of the other Cleveland bats. The Indians have a .383 wOBA over the last week, which is why you have to pay if you want to play them.
Texas Rangers vs. Seattle Mariners (Ariel Miranda, L)
Elvis Andrus, Mike Napoli, Shin-Soo Choo, Robinson Chirinos, Delino DeShields, Nomar Mazara, Will Middlebrooks, Phil Gosselin, Ryan Rua
Ariel Miranda is coming off an interesting outing to say the least, when he tossed six no-hit innings against Houston but still allowed one earned run thanks to allowing six walks. It was the second time in five starts Miranda had walked six batters. In the outing before that, Miranda allowed six earned runs in 4.1 innings (I believe I had that) at Baltimore. In his last start at Texas on August 2, Miranda allowed four earned runs in 5.2 innings.
For their part, the Rangers have a .373 wOBA over the last week. They are fourth in the league with a .829 OPS at home. Elvis Andrus probably has to be in any Rangers stack, and the rest could depend on the lineup with Carlos Gomez and Rougned Odor likely out. Joey Gallo has a .904 OPS against lefties despite a 38.0 percent strikeout rate against them this season.
Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago Cubs (Reynaldo Lopez, R)
Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Melky Cabrera, Lorenzo Cain, Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez
Only the Athletics have a higher wOBA over the last week than the Royals. Whit Merrifield, Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas are all batting .350 or better over the last week. Reynaldo Lopez has a 4.84 ERA and 4.86 FIP in four starts this season, and his 3.79 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 121 innings at Triple-A weren’t that much better. If the Royals can get to Lopez, they will face a White Sox Bullpen that has the second-highest FIP in baseball behind only the Tigers.
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles (Ubaldo Jimenez, R)
Justin Smoak, Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar, Richard Urena, Kendrys Morales, Steve Pearce, Josh Donaldson, Darwin Barney
Just about any team would rank higher if they were facing Ubaldo Jimenez. The Blue Jays have struggled to a .312 wOBA against right-handed pitchers, probably because their own lineup skews right-handed. Ubaldo Jimenez has allowed a .353 wOBA against right-handed batters and a .419 wOBA against lefties. The good news for the Blue Jays is Ubaldo has allowed at least five earned runs in each of his last three starts. Over the last 30 days, Ubaldo has allowed a 1.378 OPS on pitches in the strike zone.
This stack would probably be my favorite if Steve Pearce and Josh Donaldson are out again. Richard Urena is 5-for-12 during his three-game hitting streak, and he should lead off again if Steve Pearce is out. Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales have been batting third and fourth with Pearce and Donaldson out, and if you throw in Jose Bautista batting second, you have a pretty solid four-player stack.