Welcome to Bales’ MLB Game Theory. In this article, I will outline my favorite plays at each position for MLB’s Sunday slate. You can find all of Karma’s staff cores through our MLB Premium Package. Without further ado, here are my favorite plays at each position.
| Pitcher | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
| James | Alonso | Schoop | Bryant | Baez | Brantley |
| Glasnow | Cron | Cano | Suarez | Bregman | Martinez |
| Houser | Cabrera | Altuve | Ramirez | Lindor | Soler |
| Foltynewicz | Rizzo | Goodrum | Mercer | Anderson | Merrifield |
| Lester | Adams | Hiura | Davis | Correa | Renfroe |
(Flip your mobile device on its side for optimal viewing)
*If you don’t already play 3 lineups and 3 max entry contests daily, try using the teams provided in the stacks above to maximize upside and correlation in your MLB lineups.
Slate Thoughts:
- There are two clear-cut chalk options at pitcher tonight – Tyler Glasnow and Josh James. Both make outstanding options because of their ability to record strikeouts, although both could have short leashes. With that being said, there are very few spots that you want to attack with pitching on this slate, making these two the easy cash games plays on DraftKings. The only other pitcher that would be cash viable is Adrian Houser but he’s a clear spot down from these two in my rankings.
- As mentioned above, Houser makes a solid option tonight, specifically in tournaments. He gets one of the better matchups on the slate. Mike Foltynewicz and Dylan Cease are two more solid tournament options. They have the ability to throw deeper into a game, although they are in tough spots tonight. Still, you’re going to have to take a stand in GPPs unless you’re eating the chalk at pitcher. The upside of either of these two is undeniable, making them two of the better tournament options on a slate that will focus significantly more on batters than pitchers.
- There are a number of outstanding stacking options on this slate, but I don’t want to list basically every team. That’s means I’ll be taking a stand in this article. The New York Mets and Houston Astros are likely the two best stacks for cash games. They feature the highest implied team totals (6 and 5.9) on the slate and should be able to take care of easy matchups on the mound. There isn’t any high-priced pitcher worth spending up for in cash, meaning you can stack any offense on the slate. There are also more than enough value bats, including guys like Michael Brantley and Jonathan Schoop to allow you to stack any team.
- I’m looking at stacking three games in tournaments. The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers are my favorite game to stack. If you saw my Bet Karma article, you know I already played over 9.5 runs for this game. The Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox are two more outstanding stacking options. I prefer the White Sox side, as I believe they’re going to go overlooked, but feature one of the highest upside offenses in the MLB. Finally, the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are in a great spot to score runs. I believe this game will be the highest owned of any of these three games, making it my least favorite. Leverage will be key on a slate like tonight, and I’m looking for low ownership in my stacks.
