4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 8/17/20
In the world of daily baseball, stacks are often the backbone of the most successful -- and profitable -- lineups. Correlation is the key.
When an offense hangs runs in bunches, it means hitters are scoring runs and teammates hitting behind them are driving them in. By rostering stacks, you’re maximizing the fantasy scoring by essentially double-dipping on a run-scoring event.
This is your daily home for the top stacks on the daily fantasy baseball slate. Whether you’re looking to identify the projected highest-scoring stacks or contrarian stacks that can help you separate from the pack in GPPs when they explode, they’ll be thrown under the spotlight here.
Gamers who are numberFire premium members can throw these highlighted stacks into an optimized lineup using our DFS Sharpstack tool. The tool allows you to select the team and number of players from that team you’d like to include in your lineup. If you’re looking to identify other potentially high-scoring stacks beyond those featured in this space, check out our hitting heat map, a tool that provides valuable info such as implied total, park factor, and stats to identify the quality of the opposing pitcher.
Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s main slate’s featured stacks.
New York Yankees
Even with a bevy of injuries to their regulars, the New York Yankees offer a high-upside stacking option tonight in a great matchup. Opposing starter Martin Perez' 3.38 ERA flies in stark contrast to his 5.53 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), per FanGraphs. Furthermore, his combination of a low strikeout percentage (18.2 percent) and high walk percentage (12.5 percent) offer a ticking time bomb for a blow-up start, and his lack of grounders (36.7 percent ground-ball percentage) enhances his odds of a messy start at homer-friendly Yankee Stadium. FantasyPros credits Yankee Stadium with the ninth-highest park factor for homers at 1.075.
The players of greatest interest for stacking in the Yankees' lineup are their righties, given the platoon advantage and Perez' struggles with right-handed batters. Since last year, Perez has coughed up a .346 weighted on-base average (wOBA) to 657 right-handed batters faced.
With a righty starting last night, Aaron Hicks ($2,800) and Luke Voit ($3,400) slotted in the top-two spots in the order. It's possible the Yankees will run that arrangement back tonight with each boasting excellent numbers against lefties. They're both strong stacking options.
After getting off to a slow start, Gleyber Torres ($2,900) is riding a four-game hit streak that includes a four-hit performance. Settled into a nice groove, he should be a popular option tonight, too. He's hit 11 homers with a .331 OBP, .281 isolated power (ISO), and 132 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) in 160 plate appearances against lefties at home in his career. I fully support the likely chalk ownership rate and will be heavily exposed to him in Yankees' stacks and as a standalone play.
Giovanny Urshela ($3,200), Gary Sanchez ($3,000), and Clint Frazier ($2,900) also warrant attention, with Urshela my favorite of the trio. The Yankees unlocked something special in Urshela by changing his swing, and the results speak for themselves. The right-handed hitting third baseman has thumped lefties in 161 plate appearances since last year with a .342 OBP, .230 ISO, and 129 wRC+. His Statcast data is impressive this year as well. Among qualified hitters in 2020, he ranks tied for 32nd in barrels per plate appearance percentage, according to Baseball Savant.
Minnesota Twins
Rookie lefty Kris Bubic has been tasked with making the leap from High Single-A to the Majors this year, and the fact he hasn't been a total disaster is good for him. However, that's relative, and a 5.40 ERA -- even accompanied by a 3.72 SIERA -- is hardly good. He's also coming off of his worst start of the year having ceded 7 hits, 2 homers, 1 walk, and 5 earned runs in just 5 innings to the Reds.
The Minnesota Twins have some lefty mashers who should cause him to scuffle again tonight. Nelson Cruz ($4,100) headlines the group. Cruz has a lengthy track record of pummeling lefties and owns a .405 OBP, .323 ISO, and 161 wRC+ against lefties since 2017. Miguel Sano ($3,100) also crushes lefties with a .340 OBP, .298 ISO, and 132 wRC+ since 2017. He's also a Statcast darling, leading qualified hitters in fly-ball and line-drive exit velocity at a sizzling 102.1 miles per hour. They're the cornerstones of a Twins stack tonight.
I'm also digging using Byron Buxton ($3,000) and Mitch Garver ($2,500) for wrap-around stacks. Buxton owns a .341 OBP, .167 ISO, and 106 wRC+ against lefties since 2017, and he's tapping into his power in a big way this year with 5 homers and a .286 ISO in 59 plate appearances. Garver has been lost thus far this year, but I'm unwilling to look past his .368 OBP, .243 ISO, and 132 wRC+ in 277 plate appearances against lefties in his career as a result of a slow start. In fact, I'll welcome the salary discount and potential for him to be under-owned.
New York Mets
Jordan Yamamoto is starting for the Miami Marlins tonight, and, in short, he's been bad in the Bigs. He's lasted only 7 and 2/3 innings in his two starts this year and allowed 4 homers while recording a 9.82 ERA and 4.44 SIERA. In 17 starts totaling 86 innings since reaching the Majors last year, he has a 4.92 ERA and 4.64 SIERA. He's also allergic to coaxing worm-burners, with only a 33.9 percent ground-ball percentage. His proclivity for allowing fly balls bodes well for the power hitters in the New York Mets' lineup.
Also enhancing the outlook for the power hitters on the Mets are the offseason renovations to Marlins Park. Yamamoto has been no great shakes against righties, with a .327 wOBA allowed to them in his career, so feel free to fire up Pete Alonso ($3,500) and J.D. Davis ($2,800).
Lefties Brandon Nimmo ($3,100), Michael Conforto ($3,200), Dominic Smith ($3,300), and Robinson Cano ($2,800) all have a traditional platoon split that favors right-handed pitchers. Conforto and Nimmo are both underpriced given their exploits against righties, and Smith has top-shelf pop with a .251 ISO against righties that puts him in the stacking mix. Cano deserves some special attention for turning back the clock. Cano's recorded a .423 OBP, .191 ISO, 175 wRC+, and hit two homers through 52 plate appearances this season.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are big favorites tonight and have a tantalizing implied run total as a result. Justin Dunn hasn't been good this year with a 4.85 ERA through three starts spanning only 13 innings, but he's fortunate that he hasn't been worse. He's walked 10 of 60 batters faced and struck out only 8 of them. That's a walk and strikeout combination that's super for a hitter but horrific for a pitcher.
Enter the entirety of the Dodgers lineup as a rude awakening for Dunn and a stacking option. Gamers can get creative stacking down-order, mid-order, the top of the order or a wrap-around stack. With zero starting pitchers commanding a five-figure salary, the pricey salaries of Mookie Betts ($4,300) and Cody Bellinger ($4,200) aren't a hindrance for rostering with one of the top arms.
Max Muncy ($3,200) is the best value and one worth highlighting, though. Among qualified hitters since 2017, he ranks tied for 16th in OBP (.378), 5th in ISO (.284), and tied for 8th in wRC+ (143) against righties. Teammate Joc Pederson ($2,700) has also excelled against righties in that time frame with a .340 OBP, .281 ISO, and 128 wRC+.
Shortstop Corey Seager ($3,500) might be my favorite stack option from the Dodgers. He's fully locked in this year and putting good wood on the ball, ranking first among qualified hitters in barrels per plate appearance percentage. Seager's ability to square up the ball has helped him pop five homers and total a 149 wRC+ in 73 plate appearances.
Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
