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 and hitter-friendly Fenway Park are precisely the combo for ending Beau Brieske's good luck. The rookie righty had only 54 innings above High-A under his belt before the Detroit Tigers tabbed him for their rotation. Now, he's at 54 and 2/3 innings for the Tigers.
The rookie righty has had a 3.79 ERA that suggests he's a rock-solid starter. However, according to FanGraphs, he's also had a 5.68 Expected ERA (xERA), 4.63 xFIP, and 4.71 SIERA. Thus, Brieske has been extremely lucky. Additionally, his underwhelming 16.4 percent strikeout rate and 1.98 homers per nine innings allowed are exciting numbers to stack against.
Right out of the chute, Jarren Duran ($2,700) is a stellar stacking pick. The speedy outfielder showed off his wheels last night, swiping a pair of bases. Further, after a multi-hit effort, he has a .394 OBP, .207 ISO, and 157 wRC+ in 33 plate appearances for the Red Sox.
Directly behind Duran in the second spot in the order, Rafael Devers ($4,200) is the top stacking option from Boston. Since last year, versus righties, Devers has had a .368 OBP, .324 ISO, and 163 wRC+. The other top-flight options are J.D. Martinez ($3,500) and Xander Bogaerts ($3,600). However, since this will probably be a chalky stack, there's nothing wrong with being contrarian and using a hitter from lower in the order to swerve in GPPs.
New York Yankees
The Tampa Bay Rays hadn't announced a starter when this article was penned. However, Roster Resource was projecting Josh Fleming. If the Rays opt for a bullpen game instead, the New York Yankees are still a viable stack -- albeit they'll be less exciting.
Sure, Fleming has been clowning Triple-A hitters. He's twirled a 0.98 ERA and 2.79 xFIP in six starts spanning 36 and 2/3 innings. Regardless, he had a 6.38 ERA in 18 and 1/3 innings for the Rays earlier this year, and he owns a 4.76 ERA in his career. Moreover, the lefty's 15.9 percent strikeout rate in his career is a poor matchup fit against New York's powerful lineup.
Since last year, versus lefties, four members of New York's probable lineup for tonight have had at least a .219 ISO. Giancarlo Stanton's ($3,900) .219 ISO against lefties was the low mark in the powerful quartet. The other three sluggers who've torn the cover off the ball against lefties since last year are Gleyber Torres ($3,700) with a .240 ISO, Aaron Judge ($4,200) with a .292 ISO, and Josh Donaldson ($2,800) with a .294 ISO. As a result, Judge, Stanton, Torres, and Donaldson are my favorite full stack from the Yankees.
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have a dreamy matchup with fill-in starter Chi Chi Gonzalez tonight. Frankly, it's remarkable the 30-year-old righty continues to receive starting opportunities. He's had a 7.71 ERA and 4.81 xERA in two starts spanning seven innings this year. In addition, since 2019, Gonzalez has had a 6.16 ERA, 5.16 xFIP, and 5.37 SIERA.
Gonzalez has also been a wonderful matchup for all hitters. Since last year, he's coughed up a .350 wOBA to lefties and a .423 wOBA to righties. Thus, the Red Birds are stackable from top to bottom.
Still, a couple of my favorite options are Paul Goldschmidt ($4,200) and Juan Yepez ($2,300). Since last year, Goldy's pulverized righties for a .365 OBP, .218 ISO, and 140 wRC+. Meanwhile, in his first 111 plate appearances against righties, Yepez has had a .342 OBP, .225 ISO, and 143 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.