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.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants made themselves at home at Coors Field yesterday to open the series, reaching double-digit runs. Tonight, they're positioned to tee off on Chi Chi Gonzalez. The veteran righty has a 6.13 ERA, 5.11 expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) and 5.28 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA). He has allowed 1.65 homers per nine innings in 98 and 1/3 innings this year, per FanGraphs.
Predictably, Gonzalez struggles in his hitter-friendly home confines, sporting a 5.72 ERA and .362 weighted on-base average (wOBA) allowed at Coors. Further, he has a 5.39 ERA and .347 wOBA allowed at Coors Field in his career. The veteran righty has coughed up a .339 wOBA to left-handed batters this year. However, he's been considerably worse against righties, ceding a .612 slugging percentage and .405 wOBA in the split.
Gonzalez's well-rounded struggles coupled with the hitter-friendly conditions at Coors Field vault all of San Francisco's hitters into the stacking mix. Some of my favorite options include LaMonte Wade Jr ($3,400), Brandon Belt ($3,300), Brandon Crawford ($3,300), and Buster Posey ($3,300). Posey is the lone righty in that mix, providing him access to Gonzalez's woeful inability to keep right-handed batters in check this season.
However, don't sleep on Darin Ruf ($3,100) if he's pressed into duty. Mike Yastrzemski ($3,500) was scratched yesterday, creating the potential for him to sit again tonight. In addition, manager Gabe Kapler might prefer having another righty in the lineup to attack Gonzalez's susceptibility against them. To Ruf's credit, he has a .389 on-base percentage, .211 isolated power (ISO), and 142 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) in same-sided matchups this year.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are nipping on the heels of the Giants for first place in the National League West, and they're in for a treat tonight, facing J.A. Happ. The veteran southpaw is responsible for a 6.20 ERA, 5.27 xFIP, 5.01 SIERA, and 1.90 homers per nine innings allowed this year. Sure, his 4.30 ERA in six starts with the St. Louis Cardinals is better, but his 5.39 xFIP, 5.16 SIERA, and 1.84 homers per nine innings allowed in the split remain marks to aggressively stack against.
The veteran lefty's been below-average against left-handed hitters this year, allowing a .332 wOBA. His struggles against lefties pale in comparison to his .557 slugging percentage and .383 wOBA yielded to righties. The mediocrity against lefties elevates the ceiling for the Dodgers. Yet, it's their right-handed hitters who you should be honing in on.
I'm specifically enamored with Trea Turner ($4,300), Justin Turner ($3,800), and Chris Taylor ($3,400). The former Turner has stolen 26 bases, and he's pummeled lefties for a .434 on-base percentage, .273 ISO, and 188 wRC+ in 2021. His namesake at the hot corner boasts a .378 on-base percentage, .243 ISO, and 144 wRC+ against lefties since 2018. Finally, Taylor's unloading on southpaws this year for a .245 ISO and 142 wRC+.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox lost an extra-innings slugfest at Fenway Park yesterday. However, their 10 runs scored speaks to their upside. Boston's tied for fifth in wRC+ (108) against righties this year, alone in fifth for wRC+ (120) since the trade deadline, and fourth in wRC+ (115) at home. No matter how you slice it, they're a top-five offense.
Unfortunately, Drew Rasmussen isn't an ideal matchup. The young righty has excelled since transitioning to starting. He's pitched only 22 innings in six starts. However, he's been impressive, tallying a 2.45 ERA, 3.58 xFIP, and 4.01 SIERA. Still, there's a potential silver lining here -- Boston's hitters may be on a lower percentage of rosters than their upside warrants, making them an attractive GPP pivot from the Giants and Dodgers.
My three favorite stacking selections from the Red Sox are their top three hitters against righties this year as measured by wRC+ -- Alex Verdugo ($3,200), Rafael Devers ($4,100), and Kyle Schwarber ($3,700). Their respective wRC+ marks are 148, 148, and 159.
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.