Stacks of the Day - Big Things Brewing in Milwaukee
Join the pile-up! Here are the top lineup stacks for Saturday, April 23:
Milwaukee Brewers (vs. Phillies)
Phillies starter Charlie Morton heads to one of the toughest places for a pitcher to succeed: Miller Park. The home of the Brewers has been a top-10 park in terms of home run factor for years, finishing number one in 2012 and 2015.
The potential for giving up a homer in each at-bat is concerning enough but even more so when you consider Morton's recent track record when pitching on the road. From 2013 to 2015, Morton (then with the Pirates) posted a 3.10 ERA at home and a 4.74 ERA on the road.
Start your Brew Crew stack with OF Ryan Braun, owner of a .359 BA and .444 OBP against righties this year. Add C Jonathan Lucroy to fill a position that generally offers less offensive upside, then fill in the rest of the stack with safe cash-game options (2B Scooter Gennett) or streaky sluggers (1B Chris Carter) to suit your needs.
3-player stack: Braun, Lucroy and Gennett.
5-player stack: Braun, Lucroy, Carter, Gennett and OF Domingo Santana.
Detroit Tigers (vs. Indians)
The Tigers lineup features some of the most consistent contact hitters in the game. 1B Miguel Cabrera leads the charge and should begin to find his groove after hitting .220 to start the season; when Detroit has Cabrera, OF Justin Upton, OF J.D. Martinez and 1B/DH Victor Martinez firing on all cylinders, Detroit will be an assembly line of hits.
2014 Cy Young winner Corey Kluber has given up 13 runs in his first three starts while only giving up two home runs. The 'death by 1,000 paper-cuts' model has been killing Kluber -- and despite his long track record of success, that trend could continue on Saturday.
Kluber has allowed a .373 BA with 14 extra-base hits in 126 at-bats against current Tigers, a big enough sample that it has to be given some consideration. Of Detroit's core, Cabrera has hit .571 with five home runs in 35 ABs against Kluber. There has been no better opportunity for Cabrera to break out of his slump.
3-player stack: Cabrera, J.D. Martinez and 2B Ian Kinsler.
5-player stack: Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Kinsler, 3B Nick Castellanos and C Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Los Angeles Dodgers (at Rockies)
Every time there is a home game in Colorado, either the Rockies or their opponents invariably find themselves on the stack list. To paraphrase the late Los Angeles-based rapper Tupac Shakur: "That's just the way it is."
A Rockies stack bears some risk; they have yet to face Dodgers rookie SP Kenta Maeda, and the Japanese import has put up great numbers through three starts, with 15 Ks, four walks and just one earned run allowed in 19 innings. Most importantly, Maeda's 52 percent groundball rate -- 27th in the majors currently -- could negate some of park effects that come with playing at altitude.
The Dodgers' bats, however, are fair game. Colorado RHP Tyler Chatwood has given up a 4.69 ERA over 190 innings at home in his career. To date, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, OF Yasiel Puig and 2B Chase Utley have slashed at least .315/.385/.475 against righties this year. Build your stack around these three.
3-player stack: Gonzalez, Puig and Utley.
5-player stack: Gonzalez, Puig, Utley, 3B Justin Turner and C Yasmani Grandal.