3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 9/14/21
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.
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox face a ho-hum rookie lefty, Packy Naughton, tonight. Per FanGraphs, the 25-year-old lefty recorded a 4.76 ERA and 4.40 expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) in 56 and 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Those marks don't inspire confidence he can tame big-league hitters, nor does his 4.65 xFIP and 5.20 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) in 14 innings for the Los Angeles Angels.
Digging deeper, he's walked 11.3 percent of the hitters he's faced in the majors while striking out only 14.5 percent of them. That combination won't fly at the fourth-best offense in baseball against lefties. The White Sox have tallied the fourth-highest weighted runs created plus (112 wRC+) this year. In addition, they've been great since the trade deadline, amassing a 118 wRC+ and .222 isolated power (ISO).
A trio of Chicago's hitters stands above the rest as my favorite options. First, if Andrew Vaughn ($2,300) is my favorite option with his near-minimum salary in mind if he returns from a multi-game absence with leg soreness. The right-handed hitting rookie has destroyed southpaws for a .393 on-base percentage, .298 ISO, and 165 wRC+. Second, I'm infatuated with reigning American League MVP Jose Abreu ($4,000). He's recorded a .375 on-base percentage, .270 ISO, and 155 wRC+ against lefties since 2018.
Finally, switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal ($3,800) is an elite stacking option. He has a track record of success against southpaws. Further, he's kicked his production up a notch this year to a .525 on-base percentage, .346 ISO, and 216 wRC+.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros erupted for 15 runs last night. Yet, they're positioned to continue their assault on Texas Rangers' pitching again tonight. It will start with facing Jordan Lyles, owner of the third-highest SIERA (4.82) and the highest xFIP (4.91) and homers per nine innings allowed (2.08 HR/9) among qualified pitchers this year. After he departs, their bullpen is average or worse. As a result, I expect Houston's offense to rake the entire game.
Circling back to Lyles, he's predictably bad against all hitters. Lefties have crushed him for a .480 slugging percentage and .346 weighted on-base average (wOBA). Remarkably, righties have inflicted more damage. They've teed off for a .541 slugging percentage and .372 wOBA. Gamers can fire up the Astros from top to bottom.
Nonetheless, I have my favorite options. Among them are Jose Altuve ($4,300), Alex Bregman ($4,200), Yordan Alvarez ($3,600). The last member of the trio smashed a pair of homers last night. Meanwhile, Altuve and Bregman are exposure to Lyles' greater susceptibility to getting smashed by right-handed hitters. Finally, if Michael Brantley ($2,600) returns to the lineup, he's an enticing option at a bargain salary who's recorded a .421 on-base percentage and 161 wRC+ against righties this year. Those numbers are far better than one should be able to roster for $2,600.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants wrapped up a playoff berth. As a result, some of their regulars might receive a night off. However, I'm skeptical of San Francisco rolling out a "hangover" lineup since they're fighting tooth and nail for the National West division title. Thus, I love their outlook against the completely washed-up Jake Arrieta.
He's been ripped for a 7.04 ERA, 4.77 xFIP, 4.94 SIERA, and 2.19 homers per nine innings allowed in 2021. As a refresher, only his xFIP is lower than Lyles'. Somehow, there's arguably a worse pitcher on this slate than the guy with the highest xFIP and homers per nine innings allowed among qualified pitchers. Yikes. He's also been pummeled by righties and lefties alike, ceding a .556 slugging percentage and .381 wOBA to the former and a .551 slugging percentage, and .404 wOBA to the latter.
The Giants are stackable throughout the entirety of their lineup. Though, whittling it down to my favorites specifically leaves Brandon Belt ($3,600) and Brandon Crawford ($3,400) ahead of their teammates. Belt's recorded a .360 on-base percentage, .324 ISO, and 149 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers this year. Meanwhile, Crawford's nearly been his equal, tallying a .389 on-base percentage, .232 ISO, and 148 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.
