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.
Colorado Rockies
Coors Field is a house of horrors for even the best hurlers. Presumably, it's a nightmare for a rookie making his first trip there. Konnor Pilkington is the unlucky sap tasked with navigating the pitfalls of Coors Field.
The lefty pitcher has pitched in the bullpen and rotation this year. According to FanGraphs, he's had a 3.57 ERA. Yet, his ERA overstates his caliber of pitching. Instead, his 5.23 Expected ERA (xERA), 4.66 xFIP, and 4.47 SIERA are more representative of his work. Thus, the regression monster should rear its head tonight in the form of the Colorado Rockies.
The top picks from the host team are Connor Joe ($3,200), C.J. Cron ($3,900), and Brendan Rodgers ($3,100). Joe and Rodgers have excelled at home and against lefties. However, Cron has been superhuman against southpaws at Coors Field. In 111 plate appearances in Colorado against lefties since signing with them last year, he's slugged 10 homers with a .414 OBP, .412 ISO, and 173 wRC+.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have an opportunity to further James Kaprielian's sophomore slump. The second-year righty was a pinch lucky last year in a rock-solid rookie campaign. However, he's hit the skids this year.
In eight starts lasting only 37 and 2/3 innings, Kaprielian has been roughed up for a 5.73 ERA, 5.17 xERA, 5.17 xFIP, and 5.00 SIERA. The 28-year-old righty has also had a problem keeping the ball in the yard, yielding 2.15 homers per nine innings. He's unlikely to turn his season around at hitter-friendy Fenway Park tonight.
Boston's lineup has many stacking options, but none are better than Rafael Devers ($4,200). He has the platoon advantage against Kaprielian, and Devers has been a stud against righties at home. Since 2019, he's had a .371 OBP, .284 ISO, and 148 wRC+ at Fenway Park versus righties. Other top options from the Red Sox include Trevor Story ($3,800), J.D. Martinez ($3,600), and Xander Bogaerts ($3,500).
Toronto Blue Jays
It says a lot about the Toronto Blue Jays that their five-run effort last night was a major disappointment. Thankfully, they face another below-average hurler getting the ball for the Baltimore Orioles.
Tonight, the below-average starter in question is lefty Bruce Zimmermann. The 27-year-old lefty has been ripped for a 5.52 ERA, 6.45 xERA, and 2.18 homers per nine innings this year. Additionally, he's been a punching bag for right-handed batters. Since last year, he's ceded a .515 slugging and .364 wOBA to them. The Blue Jays have a nearly neverending collection of talented righties in their lineup. So, they should rough up Zimmermann.
Toronto is legitimately stackable from top to bottom or bottom, wrapping around to the top. Thus, there are countless stacking possibilities. Still, a few of the best options are George Springer ($3,800), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,800), and Teoscar Hernandez ($2,500). Hernandez stands out as a screaming value from the trio with production that belies his tiny salary. Since 2019, he's had a .364 OBP, .299 ISO, and 153 wRC+ against southpaws.
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.