Stacks are an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. They can push a team to the top of a GPP by driving upside. However, they're also viable in cash games, namely smaller (two-person or three-person) stacks that mitigate the volatility of a full four-person stack.
This article is your home throughout the 2022 Major League Baseball season for the day's top stacks. The primary goal is to identify the highest-scoring upside stack. Still, game theory will play a role in contrarian stacks making the cut as GPP options. Nevertheless, chalky stacks will make appearances in this space, too.
Beyond my analysis in this space, I strongly suggest numberFire premium members using our DFS Sharpstack tool and hitting heat map tool. The DFS Sharpstack helps plug stacks into optimized lineups, allowing you to change parameters and lock or exclude players and teams. Meanwhile, the heat map offers a one-stop-shop for the opposing starting pitcher, implied total, park factor, and other notable goodies.
Now, let's look at the top stacks on today's main slate.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros have a dreamy matchup with Dane Dunning and the Texas Rangers' hot-garbage bullpen. According to FanGraphs, Dunning has had a 5.68 ERA, 6.50 Expected ERA (xERA), and allowed 1.42 homers per nine innings in three starts lasting only 12 and 2/3 innings this season. Additionally, he's had just a 4.49 ERA in 164 and 1/3 innings in his career.
The righty is unlikely to have much success against the lefties or righties in Houston's lineup. Since last year, Dunning has allowed a .348 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) to lefties and a .341 wOBA to righties. Texas' dumpster fire bullpen will get the call when he gets the hook. The Rangers have the second-highest bullpen ERA (4.40) and the eighth-highest Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (3.92 xFIP) while coughing up 1.59 homers per nine innings this year.
Michael Brantley ($2,600) is a steal as part of this stack. The veteran outfielder is raking out of the gate, and he has had a .396 OBP and 151 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) with the platoon advantage since 2019.
I also love Yordan Alvarez ($3,500) in this stack. The power-hitting outfielder has had a .372 OBP, .293 Isolated Power (ISO), and 154 wRC+ against righties in his career. Other Astros I love for the stack include Jeremy Pena ($2,900), Alex Bregman ($3,400), and Kyle Tucker ($2,900).
Truly, anyone in this lineup works to pay up for whichever studs or pitchers you'd like around them.
Los Angeles Angels
It's tough to locate anything resembling a contrarian or underutilized stack on a five-game slate. However, the Los Angeles Angels might fit the bill, especially on a slate featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers. The star power on the Angels will prevent them from flying completely under the radar, but I'll gladly chase their ceilings -- even in a potentially challenging matchup.
Shane Bieber has been sharp as a tack through three turns in 2022, holding the opposition to a 2.25 ERA, 2.83 xERA, and 2.85 Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA). Still, according to FanGraphs, his average velocity for his four-seam fastball has been a career-low 90.7 mph, down 2.1 mph from his career-low 92.8 mph last year. As a result, I'm compelled to buy into studs like Mike Trout ($4,500), Shohei Ohtani ($4,300), and Jared Walsh ($3,500) jumping all over Bieber's off-speed and breaking-ball centric pitch mix.
But, of course, Trout, Ohtani, and Walsh have merit for usage based on thriving against righties. Since 2019, Trout has had a .436 OBP, .386 ISO, and 193 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers. Walsh has had a career .372 OBP, .256 ISO, and 149 wRC+ against righties. And Ohtani has dominated righties since last year, crushing them for a .381 OBP, .302 ISO, and 147 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.