3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 8/17/21
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 terrorize right-handed pitchers, and Wil Crowe should be their latest victim tonight. They rank second in weighted runs created plus (113 wRC+) and eighth in isolated power (.182 ISO) against righties this year, according to FanGraphs. In addition to their full-season excellence, they get a lift from a trade deadline acquisition of Trea Turner ($3,900) and a returning Corey Seager ($3,200) easing the sting of Mookie Betts ($4,000) injured list stint.
As for Crowe, he's a below-average starter. The young righty has a 5.27 ERA and 4.91 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) in 80 and 1/3 innings pitched. Of note, Crowe's been mediocre against lefties, ceding a .317 weighted on-base average (wOBA) to them. However, he's been a punching bag for righties, coughing up a .579 slugging percentage and .410 wOBA.
Max Muncy ($3,600) is a force against righties, putting himself in the stacking mix. Crowe's struggles in righty matchups coupled with the excellence in same-handed matchups for Will Smith ($3,500) and A.J. Pollock ($3,000) pushes them to the top of the heap. Smith has hammered righties for a .416 on-base percentage, .293 ISO, and 169 wRC+. Meanwhile, Pollock's been good, too, with a .217 ISO and 128 wRC+.
Oakland Athletics
Reynaldo Lopez's 1.35 ERA in 20 innings pitched split between the bullpen and starting (14 relieving and 6 starting) isn't enough to dissuade me from stacking the Oakland Athletics. Lopez was crushed for a 6.49 ERA last year in 26 and 1/3 innings. Also, he's been a roaring tire fire in the minors this year, coughing up a 7.62 ERA in 10 starts spanning 39 innings at the Triple-A level.
Lopez has been nearly equally giving to lefties and righties in his career. He's ceded a .328 wOBA to lefties and a .330 wOBA to righties. Add it all up, and I'm comfortable suggesting stacking the A's from top to bottom.
Still, I have my favorite options. Those are headlined by Matt Olson ($4,200). The left-handed-slugging first baseman has a .379 on-base percentage, .250 ISO, and 148 wRC+ against righties this season. Starling Marte ($4,400) is a great option, too. He's been an unstoppable force for the A's since they traded for him, recording a .417 on-base percentage and burning up the basepath with 11 stolen bases.
There's a sneaky potentially off-the-radar option I'm digging from the A's as well, Seth Brown ($2,500). His placement in the bottom-third of the lineup isn't ideal. However, his .269 ISO against righties this season is appealing to roster for his modest salary.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays regularly appear in this space when they draw a below-average righty, and tonight's not an exception opposing Erick Fedde. Toronto ranks tied for third in wRC+ (112) and second in ISO (.197) against righties this year.
Expanding upon Fedde, he's a below-average hurler who's mired in a major funk. He sports a 7.43 ERA and 4.71 SIERA in his last nine starts spanning 40 innings. While he's been tough against righties this season, a larger body of work is less impressive. He's yielded a .337 wOBA to righties in his career.
This won't be shocking to anyone who reads this piece regularly, but the usual suspects from the Blue Jays are my favorite options. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($4,400), George Springer ($4,300), and Marcus Semien ($4,000) have all destroyed righties. Guerrero has a .407 on-base percentage, .335 ISO, and 183 wRC+. Springer's responsible for a .364 ISO and 152 wRC+. Finally, Semien's recorded a .257 ISO and 135 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.
