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.
St. Louis Cardinals
Andrew Heaney has been a perpetual tease. But then, the Los Angeles Dodgers got their hands on him. The veteran lefty has battled injuries this year but has otherwise been excellent. According to FanGraphs, he's spun a 2.66 ERA and 2.81 xFIP.
Nevertheless, Heaney has still been homer prone. The veteran lefty has ceded 1.77 homers per nine innings. He's also coughed up an eye-popping 2.17 homers per nine innings in 10 starts in the second half.
As a result, the St. Louis Cardinals are an exciting stack. They have top-shelf lefty-killers in their lineup. Paul Goldschmidt ($4,000) and Albert Pujols ($2,900) are two of my favorite picks from the Red Birds. Since 2019, Goldy has had a .442 OBP, .331 ISO, and 198 wRC+ against lefties. Meanwhile, Pujols has had a .288 ISO and 139 wRC+.
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are at Coors Field tonight. That's immediately a check in the pros column for stacking them. However, they're also facing an overwhelmed rookie hurler.
Ryan Feltner has a 6.05 ERA and 5.35 Expected ERA (xERA) in 80 and 1/3 innings this year. Moreover, he's been lit up for a 6.27 ERA and 4.67 xFIP in 37 and 1/3 innings at home this season. So, the Friars should crush him tonight.
In addition, they should feast on the Colorado Rockies' bullpen. Colorado's relievers have had the second-highest ERA (4.68) this year. In the Mile High thin air, the sky is the limit for San Diego's offense.
Obviously, the crown jewels of San Diego's stack tonight are Juan Soto ($4,300) and Manny Machado ($4,400). Since last year, Soto has had a .467 OBP, .242 ISO, and 173 wRC+ against righties. Machado hasn't matched Soto's excellence, but he's had a .357 OBP, .223 ISO, and 140 wRC+.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Jose Quintana has had a remarkable bounce-back campaign. Additionally, he's kicked it up a notch since the Cardinals acquired him in a deadline deal. In nine starts spanning 48 innings for the Red Birds, he's had a 2.44 ERA. However, Quintana's 3.70 xFIP with his new employer hasn't been as sparkling.
Further, Quintana's mediocre 20.6 percent strikeout rate with the Pittsburgh Pirates has cratered to 18.0 percent with St. Louis. Thus, he's playing with fire tonight against LA's high-powered offense.
The Dodgers' lefty-killing lineup is stackable from top to bottom. Still, I'm enamored with Mookie Betts ($3,500), Trea Turner ($3,900), and Justin Turner ($3,300). The former Turner has pummeled lefties for a .260 ISO and 166 wRC+ since 2019. The latter Turner has had a .217 ISO and 125 wRC+ against southpaws.
Also, gamers shouldn't sleep on Chris Taylor ($2,200). Taylor has had a .212 ISO and 116 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers since 2019.
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.