Stacking is an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. Correlation drives upside, giving your lineups a slate-winning ceiling when your stacks explode.
This piece will do the digging and the dirty work each day to determine which stacks are worth rostering on FanDuel's main slate. While we want upside, we also need to factor in game theory, especially in a sport as random as baseball.
Our MLB DFS heat map is a quick way to get a feel for the overall slate and which offenses are in a good spot. You can also check out our daily fantasy baseball projections to identify the slate's best bats.
Let's look at the top stacks for this main slate.
Toronto Blue Jays
Despite this being a smaller slate (six games), there are plenty of quality hitting spots, as five teams boast an implied total of at least 4.85 runs.
The Toronto Blue Jays are one of those squads. The Jays are at Fenway against Corey Kluber, and they're showing a slate-high 5.64 implied total.
Kluber has fallen off a cliff so far in 2023, struggling to a 5.03 SIERA and 18.9% strikeout rate a year after posting a 3.85 SIERA. He's giving up a 52.6% fly-ball rate and 2.63 dingers per nine. While Kluber probably won't be this bad all year, he currently checks all the boxes we're looking for in a pitcher to stack against.
As always, the Jays' top bats -- Bo Bichette ($3,900), Matt Chapman ($4,200) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($4,300) -- are way up in salary. They're smashing plays, though, and with the state of pitching on this slate, you may have more salary than usual to spend on hitters.
The guy I'm most interested in on Toronto is George Springer ($3,100). A .270 wOBA is why the salary is where it is. But Springer's expected wOBA (xwOBA) is a more appealing .332, and he's hitting atop one of baseball's elite lineups. The power-speed combo is still there, too, as he's totaled three jacks and five steals. Our model has him ranked second among all hitters.
Daulton Varsho ($3,000) has seen his salary plummet, as well, and he'll have the platoon advantage versus Kluber. Brandon Belt ($2,600) will also hit from the left side.
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are starting to get hot, plating 22 runs over their previous two games, and oddsmakers like them to keep it going versus Luke Weaver, handing San Diego a 4.93 implied total.
Although Weaver has a 3.61 SIERA across 47 1/3 frames since the start of 2022, ZiPS projects him to allow 1.99 homers per nine this season, and he's been tattooed for five longballs in just two starts in 2023. San Diego isn't the team you want to face if you're struggling to keep the ball in the yard.
As I mentioned with the Jays, this is a meh pitching slate, so it's not a bad time to load up on the Padres' elite options -- Juan Soto ($3,400), Manny Machado ($3,000), Fernando Tatis Jr. ($3,700) and Xander Bogaerts ($3,900). With Soto and Machado at modest salaries, this foursome isn't that hard to get to anyway.
Lefties Jake Cronenworth ($2,900), Matt Carpenter ($2,700) and Trent Grisham ($2,800) are worth a look, too, and won't be as chalky as San Diego's big four.
New York Yankees
In spite of getting a cushy home matchup against Cal Quantrill (5.40 SIERA and 12.8% strikeout rate), the New York Yankees are unlikely to be all that popular today, and it makes sense. Aaron Judge is injured, and the Yanks haven't been very good offensively, sitting 25th in wOBA.
This is a really fantastic matchup, though, and the Yankees' 4.48 implied total is a solid mark. I am enticed by the chance to get the Bronx Bombers at lower draft percentages in this spot. Plus, without Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, New York has no starters above $3,400.
Anthony Rizzo ($3,400) owns a .356 xwOBA and will have the platoon advantage. He and Anthony Volpe ($2,900) should hit first and second, respectively. Volpe has swiped eight bags and has recorded a 40.0% fly-ball rate. DJ LeMahieu ($3,100) is eligible at three positions, and Gleyber Torres ($3,300) is sporting a juicy .383 xwOBA.
Lefties Willie Calhoun ($2,300), Jake Bauers ($2,000) and Franchy Cordero ($2,000) are handy value options if they get into the lineup.