Stacks are the backbone of cashing daily fantasy baseball lineups. Correlation drives upside, creating the potential to place high or even win GPPs when your selected stacks explode offensively.
This column will do the digging and the dirty work to determine which stacks are worth rostering each day. Scoring upside will fuel the stacks that get the nod. Sometimes that will lead to chalky selections, but contrarian stacks will get their fair share of love too.
In addition to utilizing the touted daily stacks in handbuilt lineups, numberFire premium members can throw these highlighted stacks into an optimized lineup using our DFS Sharpstack tool. Our hitting heat map tool is also available to premium members looking for more stacking options. It provides valuable info such as implied total, park factors, and stats for identifying the quality of the opposing pitcher.
Let's take a look at the top stacks on today's main slate.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros eviscerate left-handed pitching. According to FanGraphs, they rank second in weighted runs created plus (124 wRC+) against southpaws this year. They're also tied for baseball's hottest offense, ranking tied for first in wRC+ (127) over the last 30 days.
It gets better!
Facing lefties since 2018, five members of the Astros' projected lineup have more than 220 plate appearances and a 134 wRC+ or higher. Kyle Tucker ($3,300) is another above-average hitter against lefties, recording a .212 isolated power (ISO) and 104 wRC+ in 208 plate appearances against them since debuting in 2018.
Hyun-jin Ryu is an outstanding lefty. Make no bones about it. This stack is all about the hitting prowess of Houston's loaded lineup. My favorite options are Jose Altuve ($4,000), Alex Bregman ($3,500), and Yulieski Gurriel ($2,500). Altuve's clubbing lefties for a 153 wRC+ this year, Bregman's at a 173 wRC+, and Gurriel leads the way with a 174 wRC+. Circling back to Ryu, it's possible his excellence could depress the percentage of rosters Houston's top hitters are on, adding to the appeal of stacking them in tournaments.
Oakland Athletics
While an Astros stack might be contrarian, an Oakland Athletics stack at Coors Field -- even on a 15-game slate -- is likely to garner a lot of attention. Thankfully, because every team is playing tonight, even the chalkiest stacks are unlikely to be that chalky.
The A's boast a top-10 offense against righties this year, ranking ninth in wRC+ (103) against them. Their offense will get a lift from playing at Coors, too. According to the park factors at FantasyPros, Coors Field has the second-highest mark for homers (1.257) and doubles (1.345), and it is the leader for runs (1.362) singles (1.230), and triples (2.177). Understandably, the A's have a big implied total tonight (5.38) versus Jon Gray.
As for who I'm eyeballing in their stack, it starts with Mark Canha ($4,000) from the leadoff spot. He owns a .376 on-base percentage and 129 wRC+ against righties since 2018, and he's sporting a .391 on-base percentage and 144 wRC+ against them this year.
The other specific Oakland stick I'm locked in on is my favorite option on their team, Matt Olson ($4,100). Since 2018, he has a .351 on-base percentage, .266 ISO, and 136 wRC+ against righties. He's been even more impressive this year, ripping off a .376 on-base percentage, .292 ISO, and 165 wRC+.
You can make a strong case for anyone in their lineup, but those are the two I want as core pieces.
Baltimore Orioles
I'm willing to fade the aces to retain the salary cap space necessary to stack the Astros and/or the Athletics. If your preference is to spend up for an ace, however, the Baltimore Orioles offer a cap-conscious alternative. Jean Carlos Mejia is tabbed as the starter for tonight's game. He's likely to operate as an opener for the Cleveland Indians since he threw only 21 pitches in his last appearance and has a season-high of 39 pitches in his first appearance of the year.
Rookie Eli Morgan makes logical sense as a bulk reliever operating behind him. A true bullpen game wouldn't be ideal for the O's offensive outlook tonight, as Cleveland relievers have combined for the fourth-lowest bullpen ERA (2.92). Avoiding high-leverage, end-of-game relievers James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase would provide the O's better odds of doing damage against Cleveland's bullpen. And, frankly, if those two are called upon in relief, it almost certainly means the Orioles busted as a stack tonight anyway.
Working in Baltimore's favor is the hitter-friendly conditions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It boosts runs (1.022) and has the fourth-highest park factor for homers (1.171). My preferred stacking options from the Orioles include mixing and matching from the top-five spots in the order -- which are usually occupied by Cedric Mullins ($3,100), Trey Mancini ($3,800), Anthony Santander ($2,900), Jose Iglesias ($2,700), and D.J. Stewart ($2,200).
Out of that quintet, Stewart's my favorite option. The left-hander's bat has taken off since a two-game hiatus from the lineup when they visited a National League park last month and were without the services of a designated hitter. In his last 35 plate appearances, Stewart has ripped a double, four homers, a .433 ISO, and 157 wRC+.
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.