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.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays return to this space again tonight, drawing another favorable matchup against a right-handed pitcher, Garrett Richards. According to FanGraphs, Toronto ranks tied for second in weighted runs created plus (114 wRC+) and alone in second in isolated power (.197 ISO) against righties in 2021.
As for the matchup, Richards' full-season totals are nothing to write home about. Further, he's been terrible since Major League Baseball started in-game pitcher inspections for foreign substances on June 21. In five starts lasting only 23 innings since then, Richards has been tattooed for a 7.04 ERA, 5.22 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), 1.70 WHIP, and 3.13 homers per nine innings.
Of note, the right-handed hurler is also worse in same-handed matchups than when facing lefties, yielding a .341 weighted on-base average (wOBA) to the latter and a .385 wOBA to the former. Richards' job won't be made any easier by pitching at Fenway Park tonight, either. According to the park factors at FantasyPros, Fenway Park has the second-highest mark for runs and highest for doubles.
Toronto's lineup is stackable from top to bottom. The unquestioned top option, however, is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($4,500). Vladito's clowned righties this year, sporting a .426 on-base percentage, .374 ISO, and 203 wRC+ against them. While he doesn't hit right-handed and won't have the reverse platoon-split benefit, Cavan Biggio ($2,400) is an enticing bargain option lower in the lineup. He has a .345 on-base percentage, .175 ISO, and 107 wRC+ against righties.
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds face Adbert Alzolay tonight, and he's struggled mightily since returning from an injured list stay with a blister. In six starts lasting 30 and 2/3 innings since his reinstatement to the active roster, he's been rocked for a 5.58 ERA, 4.37 SIERA, and 2.93 homers per nine innings. Before handwaving the righty's ERA as unlucky, as evidenced by his SIERA, consider his incompetence against lefties.
Alzolay has faced 174 left-handed batters this year. They've creamed him for 16 homers, a .631 slugging percentage, and .405 wOBA. Yikes. Predictably, my favorite options from the Reds are their left-handed hitters.
Namely, I'm honed in on Jesse Winker ($4,200), Joey Votto ($3,600), and Tyler Naquin ($2,400). Winker's been sensational against righties this year, recording a .404 on-base percentage, .280 ISO, and 169 wRC+. Votto's been great against righties, too, amassing a .394 on-base percentage, .260 ISO, and 151 wRC+. Naquin's nothing special, yet Alzolay makes all lefties look elite this year.
Consider using Aristides Aquino ($2,300) to round out your four-person stack, despite him hitting right-handed. He slotted third in the lineup against a righty yesterday, and his .394 ISO against righties is eye-catching and worth rostering at his bargain salary.
Washington Nationals
The stateside return for Matt Moore from Nippon Professional Baseball hasn't gone smoothly. The veteran lefty has a 6.23 ERA, 5.12 SIERA, 1.67 WHIP, and 2.08 homers per nine innings allowed in his eight starts for the Philadelphia Phillies. The southpaw's homer woes should be compounded by Citizens Bank Park, Major League Baseball's home to the third-highest park factor for homers.
Additionally, Moore's a mess against righties. He's coughed up a .593 slugging percentage and .405 wOBA to 138 righties faced in 2021. The hitters I'm most interested in from the Washington Nationals are righties Trea Turner ($4,300) and Ryan Zimmerman ($2,600). Turner's ripped the cover off of the ball against lefties this year, sporting a .440 on-base percentage, .260 ISO, and 191 wRC+ against them. Zimmerman's not in his peak form, but his .276 ISO and 136 wRC+ will play against Moore.
There's potential for Juan Soto ($4,400) to be on a lower percentage of rosters than usual, given the lefty-lefty matchup and the sizable salary commitment needed to roster him. That enhances the appeal of using him in this stack, as he's plenty good against southpaws, tallying a .358 on-base percentage, .232 ISO, and 119 wRC+ against them this season. Josh Harrison ($2,800) and Alcides Escobar ($3,200) are a couple more hitters to consider using to round out a four-person stack.
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.