What’s up, 4Deep?! Baseball is here and I’m ready to put us in the driver’s seat to hopefully take down some tournaments this year! First and foremost, baseball is the only sport that I consistently play multiple lineups. I HIGHLY recommend at least playing two lineups. Fading chalk in baseball is usually the key to taking down tournaments, but is not always the correct move. What I will be providing below is an in-depth breakdown of my top stacks of the night and I will always start with what I believe will be the chalk, followed with my favorite pitchers as well. Generally speaking, chalk is usually chalk because they are in a good spot and I will be telling you whether or not I agree with it. What I want though, is for you to understand what is chalk and then determine whether or not you want to play them! Now, let’s get to the fun part with a lot of numbers and all the pitch data you can handle!
Chalk Stack Of The Day
Cleveland Guardians vs. Steven Cruz/Alec Marsh
I was not really expecting this chalk tonight, but I’m all about it. The best part is the price tags on these guys that allow us to spend up at pitching, which is where I think the money is tonight. My favorites in order are Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor, and Gabriel Arias.
Top Stacks Of The Day
Chicago White Sox vs. Jackson Rutledge (RH)
Apparently it’s super stinky offense day because the White Sox might have the best matchup of the night. In his only major league start, Rutledge got absolutely torched and I don’t see that getting any better for him tonight. In his minor league career, he has failed to miss bats and serves up fly balls. Again, we have some really nice value here to help us spend up on pitching. My favorites in order are Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, and Gavin Sheets, but anyway you can fill in the value here is fine.
Houston Astros vs. Kyle Gibson (RH)
Rounding out tonight’s stacks, I’ll lean most into the Astros as my expensive stack. Over the last 30 days, they are the #1 offense in the split and they are not striking out at all. Gibson has seen better days, but is still inducing ground balls at a good rate, but Houston is in the bottom half of ground ball rate over the last 30 as well. There is going to be some extremely hard hit balls in this game and I actually think the full game stack here is interesting if you can find a cheaper pitcher you like tonight. My favorites in order are Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman.
Top Spend Up Pitcher Of The Day
Blake Snell (LH) vs. Colorado Rockies
Snell is very clearly the top option of the night and my top overall pitcher. The price is steep, but every dime is worth it in what could arguably be the best matchup in the entire league, despite the Rockies playing better lately. If there’s any concern about the effort here, Snell is still the front runner for Cy Young and will absolutely lock it up tonight.
Top Mid Tier Pitcher Of The Day
Luis Castillo (RH) vs. Oakland Athletics
Over the last 30 days, the data says that Castillo will have the best matchup tonight. In the split, Oakland has the third-highest K rate and they’re the fourth-worst offense overall. On DraftKings Castillo is more expensive than Snell, so it’s tough to justify that, but realistically, they’re both in the same tier for me tonight and they separate themselves from everyone else.
Top Value Pitcher Of The Day
Javier Assad (RH) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Oddly tonight, in such a large slate, there isn’t a cheap pitcher I like tonight, but we have to throw a dart somewhere. Assad has pitched well for the most part, but ran into the D-backs and then pitched in Coors over his last two starts, so it looks a lot worse than it actually was. Prior to that, he had back to back 49 fantasy point games. The Pirates are just a subpar offense with an above average ground ball rate, which works well into what Assad does the best. Once again, I don’t love anything down here, but if I have to pick, this is the one.
