3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 7/14/22
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.
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves greet Anibal Sanchez back to the majors after a year off.
According to FanGraphs, when we last saw Sanchez in 2020, he had a 6.62 ERA, 5.52 Expected ERA (xERA), 5.30 xFIP, and allowed 1.87 homers per nine innings. That he's getting a start in the majors is a testament to how pitiful the Washington Nationals are.
Moreover, he hasn't demonstrated that a year off has magically fixed his decline. In three starts in Triple-A, Sanchez has had a 4.26 ERA, 5.67 xFIP, and 13.8 percent walk rate. In addition, Sanchez should be a great matchup for Atlanta's lefties and righties. In 2020, he coughed up a .348 wOBA to lefties and a .423 wOBA to righties. As a cherry on top, Washington's relievers have the seventh-highest ERA (4.37) in 2022.
Ronald Acuna ($4,300) is an elite stacking option out of the chute. Since last year, he's had a 137 wRC+ against righties. Acuna has also been a terror on the bases, swiping 18 in 24 attempts. Frankly, the Braves are stackable from top to bottom. Gamers shouldn't discount swerving in GPPs, building a wrap-around stack with Michael Harris II ($3,500) and Robinson Cano ($2,500) -- as a punt and correlation pick -- before reaching elite options, such as Acuna, Dansby Swanson ($3,600), Matt Olson ($3,700), and Austin Riley ($4,100).
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are the 1A to the Braves tonight.
The Kansas City Royals' probable pitcher isn't listed yet, but Jackson Kowar is listed as the projected option on Roster Resource. Calling him a tire fire in the majors would be disrespectful to tire fires. The 25-year-old righty has pitched 43 and 2/3 innings in The Show, allowing an unfathomable 10.92 ERA and 2.06 homers per nine innings.
Predictably, everyone has treated Kowar as if he's thrown batting practice. Lefties have had a .485 wOBA against him. However, since the Blue Jays have a righty-laden lineup, the .403 wOBA and .536 slugging he's allowed to righties are the more noteworthy marks. Additionally, Kansas City's relievers have been a mess, too. They have had the fourth-highest ERA (4.61).
The Blue Jays are sixth in wRC+ (112) against righties, sixth in wRC+ (117) over the last 30 days, and second in wOBA (.347) at home. Thus, they're an elite stack that could score 10-plus runs tonight. They're genuinely stackable anywhere in the lineup. As a result, gamers shouldn't sleep on hitters lower in Toronto's lineup, such as Lourdes Gurriel ($3,100) and Matt Chapman ($2,700). In 200 plate appearances against righties at home since the Blue Jays returned to Toronto last year, he's had a .350 OBP, .191 ISO, and 132 wRC+. Meanwhile, Chapman has muscled up for eight homers and a .255 ISO in 129 plate appearances at Rogers Centre against righties this year.
Minnesota Twins
At a glance, it looks like Johnny Cueto has turned the clock back to his days of being an ace.
However, his 2.91 ERA is significantly lower than his 4.09 xERA, 4.08 xFIP, and 4.16 SIERA. Cueto has also mainly relied on his fielders, striking out only 19.5 percent of the hitters he's faced.
Expanding the sample to include 2021, Cueto hasn't done well against lefties or righties. The crafty veteran has allowed a .329 wOBA to left-handed batters and a .327 wOBA to right-handed hitters. So, lefties and righties for the Minnesota Twins are compelling for stacking.
Minnesota's studs, Byron Buxton($3,700) and Carlos Correa($3,400) are superb picks. Yet, I" m drawn to some of their salary-cap-friendly option, namely Alex Kirilloff ($2,500) and Jose Miranda ($2,200). From June 18 through July 12, Kirilloff had a 135 wRC+, adding another hit and walk to his ledger in four plate appearances yesterday.
Meanwhile, Miranda smashed a homer as part of a three-hit effort yesterday, elevating his ISO to .203 and wRC+ to 115 in 187 plate appearances this year. He's been dialed in since late May.
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.
