Stacking Rockies & Nationals for Sep 29, 2021

The Rockies open this week with a three game homestand before finishing out the season on the road. Since playing the matchups is more important than ever as we progress through this final week, it might make sense to stack your team with Rockies and Nationals hitters. While I assume it’s too late to act on this advice for today’s (Sep 28) games, these pickups would still work for the last game of the series on Wednesday. Let’s discuss some of the guys that are lesser owned and likely to start against the scheduled right-handed starters on each side.

Elias Diaz | COL C

Diaz joined the Rockies in 2020 as a catcher with limited power (career .105 ISO) and weak offensive game (.285 wOBA). And now he’s a perfect example of the Coors Effect. Though the sample size is a bit smaller, his ISO has shot up to .208 with the Rockies, driving a .320 wOBA. He has now launched 20 homers in just 395 at-bats, which makes him rosterable in nearly all league formats.

The biggest flaw here is a low batting average, but that’s been fueled by a low BABIP, as opposed to too many strikeouts. The good news is Coors Field is a great park for BABIP, so it’s the perfect spot for a hitter with that weakness. In fact, his home BABIP of .280 is far and away above his away mark of just .197.

Sam Hilliard | COL OF

Hilliard won’t necessarily start against a lefty, but against a right-hander, he should be in the starting lineup, bringing his immense power to the table. He has slowed down his running game, but that also might be a result of getting on base less frequently than in the minors.

Hilliard hasn’t had a long enough career to put too much stock into these splits, but he owns a .379 home wOBA, versus just a .286 mark in away parks. That’s a massive difference! Although he hits for good power away (.233 ISO), he’s been elite at home with a .301 ISO. He’s a great daily transaction league value if you have a deep enough bench to only start him at home against righties, and also an excellent daily fantasy choice when he starts at home as well.

Lane Thomas | WAS OF

Thomas has been the big beneficiary of Victor Robles‘ minor league demotion and has been fantastic since the Nationals traded for him at the deadline. While it might be a bit difficult for him to sustain that .346 BABIP he has posted with the Nationals, that won’t matter much in Coors Field. He walks a lot which could lead to multiple times on base and runs scored. His home run power has been right in line with his minor league history and he has even swiped six bases on the year.

With a baffling CBS ownership of just under 30%, he’d be an excellent pickup even if he wasn’t playing in Coors Field.

Yadiel Hernandez | WAS OF

Hernandez has finally become a true every day player, only getting the occasional day off. There are some flaws here like a low FB% and a HR/FB rate that doesn’t match his ISO, maxEV, or Barrel%. But he should absolutely be in the lineup against a right-hander and has been batting fifth most games.

Keibert Ruiz | WAS C

Ruis is the 22nd best prospect in baseball and hasn’t disappointed during his longest look in the Majors so far with the Nationals. He has posted an incredibly low 5.6% strikeout rate, supported by a microscopic 4.5% SwStk%. That means a lot of balls in play, and that’s exactly what you want at Coors Field.

He hasn’t shown much power yet, but he’s a fly ball hitter, so if and when he starts doing more damage with those flies, his performance will spike quickly. I like his future given his current offensive foundation.

Luis Garcia | WAS 2B

Garcia enjoyed a small sample breakout during his time in Triple-A this year, but that hasn’t resulted in any more success at the MLB level yet. In fact, his wOBA is identical to his mark posted last year.

Though while his wOBA hasn’t changed, the shape of his performance has. His BABIP has collapsed, but ISO has surged, giving some credence to the power spike he enjoyed at Triple-A. Unfortunately, he still hits a ton of grounders, so the power potential isn’t going to get realized until he puts the ball in the air more often. It also makes you wonder if he’s hitting so many grounders, why his BABIP isn’t higher!

Garcia has taken over as the team’s starting second baseman, has almost always struck out at just a mid-to-high teen clip, and has budding power. That’s more than enough to consider rostering him for a Coors Field game.

Carter Kieboom | WAS 3B

The former top prospect continues to get chances, but still hasn’t fully lived up to his supposed promise. For the year, he’s shown little power (.117 ISO) and a low BABIP has led to an ugly batting average. His minor league track record suggests better and that lightbulb could go on at any time.