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 for the day's top stacks throughout the 2022 Major League Baseball season. 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.
Atlanta Braves
Coors again has the top two implied totals with Mike Clevinger and Austin Gomber on the bump. It's a great place to stack, but instead of breaking down the obvious and telling you to stack the offenses of the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies, let's look at some other options outside of Coors.
The Atlanta Braves have raked against lefties and at home this year. According to FanGraphs, Atlanta is fifth in wRC+ (118) and third in ISO (.200) against lefties. Overall, they're also fourth in wOBA (.335) and third in ISO (.193) at home in 2022.
The matchup is mediocre. In 11 starts, David Peterson has had a 3.74 ERA and 3.69 SIERA this season. However, he hasn't been any great shakes against righties. Since last year, Peterson has coughed up a .331 wOBA to them. Thus, Atlanta's righties have a plus matchup.
Ronald Acuna ($4,100) is the top target from the Braves. Atlanta's leadoff hitter has a .373 OBP, .322 ISO, and 146 wRC+ against lefties at home in his career. Austin Riley ($3,900) is the other elite option in this stack. He's had a .361 OBP, .311 ISO, and 145 wRC+ against lefties at hitter-friendly Truist Park since debuting in 2019.
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals have a potentially excellent matchup tonight, as the opposing hurler is due for significant regression. Rookie Beau Brieske appears to have made a seamless transition to the majors after only 10 innings in Triple-A and 44 in Double-A. However, his 4.16 ERA has been smoke and mirrors. Brieske's 5.70 Expected ERA (xERA), 4.81 xFIP, and 4.86 SIERA all suggest regression will be swift and unkind.
Brieske has also had a below-average strikeout rate. The righty owns a 15.9 percent strikeout rate, much lower than the league average (22.2 percent). On top of all that, Brieske has struggled on the road, putting up a 5.13 ERA in away tilts.
My favorite targets from the Royals are Bobby Witt Jr. ($3,100) and Vinnie Pasquantino ($2,300). The rookie shortstop has a .201 ISO and 117 wRC+, which will play well against Brieske's .345 wOBA allowed to right-handed batters. Meanwhile, after slugging his second homer of the season yesterday, Pasquantino is up to a 115 wRC+ with a sterling 15.5 percent walk rate and 13.8 percent strikeout rate.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants have a mouthwatering matchup against Dallas Keuchel. Among starters with at least 40 innings pitched in 2022, Keuchel's 7.63 ERA is the highest. Yikes.
Moreover, in 210 and 1/3 innings since last year, Keuchel owns a 5.82 ERA, 4.74 xFIP, and 5.01 SIERA. He's also had a pathetic 4.6 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate. Additionally, since last year, the lefty has allowed a .368 wOBA to left-handed batters and a .363 wOBA to righties. In short, San Fransisco's lineup is stackable throughout.
Darin Ruf ($2,600) is the most attractive option. Since 2020, he's torched lefties for a .382 OBP, .276 ISO, and 151 wRC+. Some other notable targets are Austin Slater ($2,600), Wilmer Flores ($3,000), and Yermin Mercedes ($2,000). The salaries here are super handy on a Coors slate.
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.