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.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of Major League Baseball's best offenses against right-handed pitching in 2021, ranking tied for second in weighted runs created plus (114 wRC+), per FanGraphs. They have a golden opportunity to build on that mark tonight in a drool-inducing matchup.
Opposing starter Chi Chi Gonzalez as a 5.96 ERA and 5.12 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) in 14 starts spanning 74 innings. While it would be understandable to assume his ERA is greatly inflated by playing home games at Coors Field, that's not the case upon inspection. The righty's ERA is actually higher on the road this year, sitting at an eye-popping 6.64. Further, he's been beaten like a drum to the tune of a .388 weighted on-base average (wOBA) on the road.
Gonzalez hasn't had many answers for lefties or righties. He's yielded a .367 wOBA to left-handed batters. Yet, he's been even worse against righties, ceding a .377 wOBA to them. As a result of Gonzalez's shortcomings and the Dodgers' offensive excellence, they're stackable from top to bottom.
Honing in on a few favorites, Max Muncy ($4,000), Will Smith ($3,300), and A.J. Pollock ($2,600) get the nod. Muncy has a .396 on-base percentage, .292 isolated power (ISO), and 155 wRC+ against righties this year. Smith has been even better, raking for a .411 on-base percentage, .258 ISO, and 162 wRC+. Pollock's not in their class of hitting. Nonetheless, his 133 wRC+ and .262 ISO are both exemplary marks.
Editor's note: Muncy has been placed on the paternity leave list and will not play Friday.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are Major League Baseball's best offense. They lead the way in wRC+ against lefties and righties. They'll face southpaw Kolby Allard tonight. However, their excellence against righties aids their case for inflicting damage against the Texas Rangers' bullpen, too. Speaking of their bullpen, it's a below-average group, recording the 11th-highest ERA (4.55).
Houston has four players who project to be in the lineup tonight sporting a 129 wRC+ or higher against lefties this season. Jose Altuve ($4,000) is the low man in the group, with "only" a 129 wRC+. Yordan Alvarez ($3,500) has been a little better with a 134 wRC+.
The two players ahead of them are my favorite stacking options, Carlos Correa ($3,000) and Yulieski Gurriel ($2,700). Correa's totaled a 142 wRC+. Meanwhile, Gurriel's been a world-beater, tallying a 151 wRC+ and .235 ISO. As a bonus, both players provide salary relief, making them ideal targets to utilize around the aforementioned Dodgers stack.
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals don't bring a juggernaut offense to the table like the Dodgers or Astros. However, they have a plus matchup tonight in a hitter-friendly venue. Opposing starter Jorge Lopez has been rocked for a 6.04 ERA and 4.52 SIERA this season. Lefties have touched him up for a .360 wOBA. Righties have inflicted even more damage, recording a .371 wOBA.
As for the hitter-friendly conditions, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is one of Major League Baseball's top venues for offensive production. According to the park factors at FantasyPros, it has the 11th-highest park factor for runs and third-highest mark for homers.
Washington's lack of lineup depth creates a narrow stacking pool. The players of interest are Trea Turner ($4,300), Josh Bell ($3,100), and white-hot Juan Soto ($4,700). Ryan Zimmerman ($2,500) is also a sneaky option with the services of a designated hitter. Zimmerman's 63 wRC+ against righties this year is atrocious. However, he can still put a charge into the ball, tallying a .215 ISO with six homers in 98 plate appearances.
Circling back to Soto, he's the must-have player in this stack. In 29 plate appearances since the all-star break, he's smashed five homers with a .621 on-base percentage, .739 ISO, and 364 wRC+. He's a man on fire.
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.