Thank goodness the trade deadline is over. It was wild and crazy, which was fun for Baseball but now we can let things settle a little bit. I have a prediction that the good teams are going to start to flex their muscle in a couple of weeks and go on a 1-2 week stretch where we see some explosive stacks start to hit. This time of year, things do turn more into a stack building mode even for a single entry spot because bullpens wear down and August weather is obviously really good.
We move into an early slate today which has five games on it so it’s good enough to play, write and win.
WEATHER
All good. We have two west coast games, two dome games and Detroit.
John Means
If this game was on the main slate I would likely pass on Means, but he’s looking like he’ll be back to full strength now after a long IL stint. His results prior to the injury and after have not been great, but you attack the Tigers with secondary stuff and Means change-up has been solid while the Curve is where the spin rate drop has mostly been. If he can get it going today vs the Tigers he should be able to throw up a really good score.
Domingo German
Process of elimination pick which I don’t love but makes a lot of sense. Miami is one of the teams that to me has almost no consistency in their lineup right now with Marte and Duvall both gone via trade. Miami actually has a few more lefties in their lineup too which helps German out.
San Francisco Giants
Crawford, Yaz, Posey
Supposedly the Giants will not have Kris Bryant in the lineup today, but that’s alright because the OG Giants are the ones I want. Greinke is a soft tosser which should greatly favor the weaker part of the Giants lineup. Love the Giants today.
As for KB … I have never been a huge Kris Bryant fan, but this move is an excellent fit. In just 17 career games out in San Francisco Bryant has a .324/.618/1.004 slash line with 5 HR and 3 2B so clearly he has seen the ball well in San Francisco and this is a lineup which doesn’t strike out as much as his former team so the RBI chances assuming he’s batting clean-up should be tremendous. I expect him to do very well in SF.
Oakland Athletics
Olson, Lowrie, Laureano
Best weather/park combination on the slate. Jaime Barria for Anaheim has been hammered by lefties, so we can expect Matt Olson to pop off as a top play today and I would prioritize going with 3-4 Athletics today as they should break out in a big way.
Tampa
Lowe, Cruz
Can’t trust Eovaldi personally and Tampa has proven their power is real with the addition of Cruz in that lineup as it has suddenly really turned on the jets for everyone else. Lots of gas coming from Nate and the ball should fly out when they make contact
CATCHER
- Buster Posey
- Sean Murphy
FIRST BASE
- Matt Olson
- Trey Mancini
SECOND BASE
- Jed Lowrie
- Brandon Lowe
- Jose Altuve
THIRD BASE
- Wilmer Flores
- Maikel Franco
SHORTSTOP
- Brandon Crawford
- Enrique Hernandez
- Carlos Correa
OUTFIELD – Mt Rushmore
- Starling Marte
- Mark Canha
- Mike Yasztremski
- Nelson Cruz
OUTFIELD – Value
- LaMonte Wade Jr
- Justin Upton
The Dongers Club
- Matt Olson – 1B – Athletics
- Mike Yasztremski – OF – Giants
- Brandon Crawford – SS – Giants
- Brandon Lowe – 2B/OF – Rays
BETS
- SF Giants ML
- Boston/Tampa OVER 8.5
- HR Parlay: Olson, Yaz, Lowe
The Chalkiest Stacks
Athletics
Good Teams Getting Overlooked
Giants, Rays
Best Leverage Play against Chalk
Giants, Rays
Favorite DK Pitching Combinations
Means, German