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 that starts on FanDuel at 6:40 pm ET.
Washington Nationals
German Marquez has been an unmitigated disaster this year. According to FanGraphs, he's had a 6.14 ERA and allowed 1.64 homers per nine innings in eight starts totaling 44 innings. Interestingly, his numbers aren't merely inflated by pitching in Colorado. Instead, he's allowed 11 runs (seven earned) in two starts spanning 9 and 2/3 innings on the road this year.
Marquez has been most vulnerable against left-handed hitters this year and last year. The right-handed pitcher has coughed up a .343 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) to them. In addition, when Marquez is lifted, the Washington Nationals can tee off on Colorado's bottom-five bullpen.
Juan Soto ($3,700) is the clear-cut top choice for this stack. Since 2019, he's had a .461 OBP, .279 Isolated Power (ISO), and 172 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) against righties. Fellow outfielder Yadiel Hernandez ($2,700) is a potentially under-the-radar pick who gamers should consider using, too.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers will probably be the chalkiest stack on a slate with bad weather potentially raining out multiple contests. Thankfully, the limit of four hitters and the depth of their lineup should reduce the percentage of rosters some of the hitters are on. Regardless, this is a great stack to invest in, with a juicy draw tonight.
Righty Humberto Castellanos has had a 4.29 ERA with an even uglier 4.45 Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP) in 2022. Additionally, he's had an ugly 4.89 ERA with equally horrible ERA estimators in 92 innings in his big-league career. The bullpen backing Castellanos has had the 10th-highest ERA (4.01) in 2022. Thus, the Dodgers should rough up their division rivals tonight.
It's never an exaggeration to state the Dodgers are stackable one through nine. Still, Will Smith ($3,400) is a specific player worth consideration. The backstop has had a .378 OBP, .282 ISO, and 148 wRC+ in his career in same-handed matchups.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are explicitly a GPP-only contrarian stack. Opposing starter Nestor Cortes has had the fifth-lowest ERA (1.80) among qualified pitchers this year. Further, he has sparkling underlying statistics.
So, this stack isn't about picking on a bad pitcher. Instead, it's about trusting an offense with a few players who've been hot and some who excel against southpaws.
In the last 30 days, Manuel Margot ($3,500) has had a .464 OBP, .260 ISO, 233 wRC+, and four stolen bases in 56 plate appearances. During that same time frame, Randy Arozarena ($3,300) has had a 146 wRC+, four homers, and six stolen bases in 108 plate appearances. Finally, Yandy Diaz ($2,800) has also been hot with a .393 OBP and 140 wRC+ in 89 plate appearances.
Additionally, since 2019, they've each had a 122 wRC+ or better against lefties. Wander Franco ($3,200) is the other stand-out player. The young shortstop has had a .399 OBP, .230 ISO, and 174 wRC+ in 148 plate appearances against lefties.
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.