Max Stassi Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

A lingering hip issue has forced Max Stassi to the 10-day IL. Despite a career high 365 PAs last season, Stassi disappointed with just a 63 wRC+ and was worth 0.0 fWAR. Logan O'Hoppe and Matt Thaiss are expected to share catching duties while Stassi is out. O'Hoppe made his major league debut last year (16 PAs) straight from AA, where he had a 144 wRC+. Thaiss has been up and down since 2019. He has an 81 wRC+ and negative fWAR value in 278 career PAs.

No Mike Trout, no problem, seems to be what the Angels are saying. The offense is carrying a team 126 wRC+ over the last week and they have done some serious damage to LHP, especially at home. They have a 17.2 HR/FB vs southpaws and 19.1 HR/FB at home this season. Projected to bat fifth, one of the top values on the board might be Max Stassi (although, it might be hard to get past James McCann for just $2.7K on FanDuel), who has pummeled LHP for a 161 wRC+ and .351 ISO in an admittedly small sample of 65 PAs against them since last year, but that should be good enough at a price tag of $2.6K or less against a pitcher whom RHBs have a .323 wOBA and .345 xwOBA against since last year as well. Stassi also has a 312 wRC+ overall since returning from the IL. Justin Upton (134 wRC+, .316 ISO) and Anthony Rendon (128 wRC+, .208 ISO) are also reasonably priced bats (under $4.5K on DraftKIngs, $4K on FanDuel), who have had success against LHP, enabling players to build a fairly inexpensive stack and still have funds left over to pay for pitching. The Angels have a 4.71 implied run line that finds them closer to the middle of the board than the top.

Since 2017, Hector Santiago has a 5.06 ERA, 5.75 xFIP, 8% K-BB and 50.6% FB rate and just a 16.3% soft contact rate, as well as a .354 xwOBA allowed and an 89.4 MPH aEV in 184 innings. Over 43 innings in AAA this year, Santiago had an uninspiring 5.57 xFIP and 12.7% BB rate. Though he’s a lefty, Santiago has actually been worse vs. lefties; since 2017, he owns a .390 xwOBA allowed vs. lefties compared to a .342 xwOBA vs. righties. Mike Trout (.428 xwOBA vs. LHP this year), Kole Calhoun (.365), Albert Pujols (.350), Wilfredo Tovar (.333), David Fletcher (.321), Shoehei Ohtani (.285) Max Stassi (.222), Justin Upton (.226) are all options in the LAA projected order. Trout has been on fire recently with a .465 xwOBA over the past 2 weeks, while Albert Pujols (.222) and Max Stassi (.124) have really struggled. Stassi might still be worth a shot at a price of just $2k on Draftkings. Projected leadoff man David Fletcher is just $3.4k on Draftkings and one of the better values on the slate. Justin Upton is just $4k on DK; he’s been bad this year but figures to turn it around soon as he has a 121 career wRC+ and has never finished below a 105 wRC+ in any season. The Angels have a healthy 5.79 implied total vs. Santiago and the White Sox.

Facing a southpaw at Coors, one would expect the run line for the Astros to be through the rough, but 5.43 almost seems too low. Tyler Anderson (30.1 K%, 3.26 SIERA, .213 xwOBA over the last 30 days) has been on fire. He's holding RHBs to just a .292 wOBA this year despite a 38.3 GB% and xwOBA backs that up at just .307. Alex Bregman (177 wRC+, .302 ISO vs LHP last calendar year) costs a ton, but can't be ignored against a southpaw at Coors. George Springer (131 wRC+, .184 ISO) finally seems to be breaking out of an extended slump (243 wRC+, 66.7 Hard% since the break). Max Stassi (131 wRC+, .229 ISO) does not have an ideal lineup slot, but is affordable at a tough position.

Right-handed batters have a .347 wOBA against Danny Duffy since last season and that's backed by a .350 xwOBA. Twenty-seven of the 30 HRs he's allowed since last season have been surrendered to RHBs and he'll face nine of them tonight in Houston. Despite the most negative run environment in play tonight, the Astros still have a 5.42 implied run line that's third best on the board. Marwin Gonzalez (99 wRC+.151 ISO) is the only batter among the first eight in the order below a 120 wRC+ against LHP over the last calendar year. The three highest ISOs are not who you think: Alex Bregman (152 wRC+, .238 ISO), Evan Gattis (120 wRC+, .256 ISO) and Max Stassi (170 wRC+, .288 ISO). George Springer (156 wRC+, .219 ISO) and Carlos Correa (182 wRC+, .194 ISO) makes it four above a 150 wRC+ against southpaws over the last calendar year.

To say that Matt Moore has struggled this season would be a severe understatement, as the veteran left-hander has allowed at least three earned runs in all but one of his 11 games started and has lacked the ability to get out of the fourth or fifth inning on multiple occasions, which has forced the Texas Rangers to utilize their weak middle relievers out the bullpen more often than they likely had hoped. Moore hasn't faced many left-handed hitters in 2018 since he's been so awful against right-handed hitters, but he's been equally, if not, even worse when gaining the platoon advantage over the last two seasons. Moore has recorded strikeout rates of 15.7% to righties and 14.6% to lefties thus far, all while surrendering hard contact at a 44.2% clip against righties and 58.1% against lefties, a recipe that doesn't indicate any sort of positive regression coming his way in the near or distant future. Those horrendous numbers have all added up to a 5.47 xFIP and 6.58 xFIP, respectively, while his wOBA allowed equates to 0.384 versus righties and 0.516 versus lefties. All this is basically just a long-winded way of saying that Moore is no longer an MLB quality starting pitcher, and a full Houston Astros stack is firmly in play on Sunday's slates, essentially making the full stack the preferred option in tournament formats. George Springer (0.257 ISO, 0.454 xwOBA, 47.0% HH% vs LHP since 2017) and Alex Bregman (0.247 ISO, 0.388 wOBA vs LHP since 2017) lead the way at the top of the lineup with solid power and on-base ability over the last two seasons versus left-handed pitching, while Jose Altuve (0.375 wOBA vs LHP since 2017) and Evan Gattis (0.247 ISO vs LHP since 2017) closely follow with their respective skillsets against southpaws. Max Stassi has one of the smallest sample sizes facing lefties in the Astros order, but he's been tremendous when given the opportunity, racking up a 0.276 ISO, 0.487 xwOBA, and 48.8% HH% since 2017, elevating him into tournament consideration at the backend of the Astros order. Attacking Coors Field batter may be the optimal method for cash games on the DraftKings main slate, but don't sleep on this Houston squad as a likely under-owned stack in tournaments that possesses just as much upside as either team squaring off at Coors this afternoon.

Cole Hamels is the second most expensive pitcher, above $8K on either site, yet he faces a dangerous opponent with the third highest implied run line (5.02) in a dangerous home park. Hamels has just a 23.7 K% this season, but that's still good enough for second best on the board tonight, while his .358 xwOBA is third highest and he's the only pitcher to reach double digits (10%) in Barrels/BBE. He's also allowed multiple HRs in three straight starts. He gets a slight bump with the best hitter against LHP (Carlos Correa) out of the lineup tonight and may be worthy of a GPP dart, but players are going to want some Houston exposure as well. George Springer (151 wRC+, .212 ISO vs LHP last calendar year) has a lineup topping 247 wRC+ over the last seven days and three HRs (.431 xwOBA) in 28 PAs against Hamels. Alex Bregman (138 wRC+, .201 ISO) costs $4.2K on either site. Yulieski Gurriel (116 wRC+, .164 ISO) costs just $2.6K on FanDuel in the cleanup spot. Max Stassi leads the lineup with a 172 wRC+, .397 xwOBA and .250 ISO against LHP in limited looks (56 PAS) over the last calendar year.

The Houston Astros have a 4.66 implied run line in Yankee Stadium against C.C. Sabathia, who has the following line over his last three starts: (13.1 IP – 19 H – 13 ER – 4 HR – 7 BB – 11 K – 67 BF). RHBs have a .424 wOBA, 0.0 K-BB% and equal 37.5% GB and hard hit rates over that three game span. He'll face eight of them tonight and a Houston stack is now even more affordable with the absence of Carlos Correa from the lineup. Only George Springer (178 wRC+, .262 ISO vs LHP last calendar year) and Jose Altuve (137 wRC+, .146 ISO) are above $4K on either site. Alex Bregman (149 wRC+, .231 ISO) is the value play in the two spot. Max Stassi (231 wRC+, .300 ISO) might be interesting batting eighth. While his xwOBA against southpaws is 49 points below his .502 actual, that .453 mark is still 100 points higher than Evan Gattis (96 wRC+, .205) and a point behind J.D. Davis (129 wRC+, .357 ISO) for tops in the lineup. In other words, the line of lefty-mashers in this lineup goes on and on.