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.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox scored six runs last night, and they have another good matchup tonight. Jose Urquidy has had a 4.40 ERA in six starts this year. That's an adequate mark to stack against. However, he's actually been lucky. According to FanGraphs, he's had a 6.29 Expected ERA (xERA).
In addition, the 27-year-old righty has struck out only 15.7 percent of the hitters he's faced with a 47.9 percent fly-ball rate. Urquidy's low strikeout rate and high fly-ball rate are a recipe for struggling at hitter-friendly Fenway Park.
Thankfully, gamers don't need to get cute stacking the Red Sox with high-powered alternatives. As a result, Rafael Devers ($3,900), J.D. Martinez ($3,500), and Xander Bogaerts ($3,500) are the top options. Since 2019, against righties, Devers has had a .299 Isolated Power (ISO) and 150 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+). Martinez and Bogaerts haven't matched Devers' excellence, but they've posted a 116 wRC+ and 138 wRC+, respectively.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants will likely hang a crooked number on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, last night exemplified the risk of stacking them. San Francisco uses platoons throughout their lineup, so some of the starters will probably get lifted for a pinch-hitter -- at least if a southpaw comes out of the bullpen.
Regardless, the offense's upside is cathedral high at Coors Field, MLB's most hitter-friendly park. The matchup should be good, too. This year, Chad Kuhl has had a 2.88 ERA, which is a significant outlier in his career. However, the righty has made only minor changes to his pitch usage, and it's still early in the year. Thus, his recent stinker against the Giants in his last start might signify Kuhl is turning back into a pumpkin.
Since last year, the veteran righty has ceded a .339 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) to left-handed batters. Therefore, San Francisco's lefties are the best stacking options. Last night, the Giants' lineup featured LaMonte Wade Jr ($2,900), Joc Pederson ($3,300), Mike Yastrzemski ($3,200), and Brandon Belt ($3,700) in the first four lineup spots. All four are excellent picks against Kuhl and the Rockies tonight.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees have a mouthwatering matchup tonight. Spenser Watkins has had a 5.19 ERA in six starts. But, incredibly, his ERA understates how poorly he's pitched. The 29-year-old righty has had a 6.74 ERA and 5.37 Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA).
Watkins has also had a pathetic 10.2% walk rate and 11.0% strikeout rate. His combo of below-average control and a lack of strikeouts makes him prone to getting hammered by New York's power-packed lineup. Further, the right-handed hitters should be chomping at the bit to face Watkins. He has coughed up a .663 slugging percentage and .444 wOBA to righties since last year.
So, it behooves gamers to snag some of New York's right-handed thumpers for their stack. Namely, Giancarlo Stanton ($4,000) and Aaron Judge ($4,500) are the best picks. Since 2019, Stanton has had a .248 ISO and 141 wRC+ against righties. Judge has nearly been his equal, ripping off a .254 ISO and 140 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.