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. We will not talk about the Coors game between the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins. Those two teams own the highest implied totals of the night, but you don't need me to tell you to get exposure to Coors.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins have one of the night's top non-Coors implied totals, carrying a 4.87 clip into a matchup with the San Francisco Giants.
Reliever John Brebbia, a righty, is starting in what's expected to be a bullpen day for the Giants. That always makes things a little tricky for stacking purposes because we can't predict the handedness of pitcher-hitter matchups once Brebbia is out of the game, but given the Twins' lofty implied total and the fact that they have just one bat salaried above $3,200 on a night where there are some enticing high-salary arms, Minnesota is an offense I want exposure to.
Joey Gallo ($3,000), Trevor Larnach ($2,900), Edouard Julien ($2,500) and Alex Kirilloff ($3,200) are all lefty sticks who could be a pinch-hit risk if they see a southpaw later in the game. Of the group, Gallo and Kirilloff interest me the most. Gallo is forecasted to leadoff, and he's been lights out against righties, recording a .400 wOBA and 65.5% fly-ball rate in the split. Kirilloff has also crushed in the split, producing a .461 wOBA and 40.7% hard-hit rate.
Byron Buxton ($3,500) offers sky-high upside if he's in the lineup, but he sat on Sunday due to a calf issue. Carlos Correa ($3,000) is well worth a look, too, at his modest salary. Correa has a 46.0% hard-hit rate in May, and his overall numbers are being dragged down by a lowly .241 BABIP.
Seattle Mariners
I see no reason to stop picking on Kyle Muller. The Oakland Athletics' lefty has struggled to a 5.32 SIERA and 14.6% strikeout rate. Righties have hammered him to the tune of a .410 wOBA, 45.0% hard-hit rate, and 1.56 homers per nine.
The Seattle Mariners' 4.71 implied total is a number we can feel good about, and they have a bunch of right-handed bats we can turn to. They also have pretty friendly salaries.
Julio Rodriguez ($3,500) is off to a slow start with a miserable .289 wOBA, but his expected wOBA of .344 paints a different picture. A .256 BABIP isn't helping matters, and he'll have the platoon advantage against Muller.
Ty France ($2,800), Teoscar Hernandez ($2,800), Eugenio Suarez ($2,900), Cal Raleigh ($3,200) and A.J. Pollock ($2,600) will also hit from the right side. Hernandez isn't swinging it well this year, but he boasted a .413 wOBA against left-handers in 2022. Pollock, Suarez and France also have solid track records in the split.
Jarred Kelenic ($3,300) needs to be on our radar despite the lefty-lefty matchup. He's actually been mashing in this split, slugging his way to a .423 wOBA this year over a small sample.
Detroit Tigers
I'm fairly certain I haven't written up the Detroit Tigers this season, but there are reasons to be into them today in their clash with Brady Singer.
As I alluded to above, finding some low-salary production offensively is going to be a huge factor tonight as there are five hurlers at $9,700 or above -- one of whom is Luis Castillo ($10,500) in a dream date versus the Oakland Athletics. The Tigers can help us as they have no bats over $3,000.
Singer's 2023 numbers are down from what he posted a year ago as he's registered a 4.58 SIERA and 19.4% strikeout rate. He makes for a pretty good matchup, and while oddsmakers have handed the Tigers' a meh 4.17 implied total, I'm more bullish on them than that. Even if you don't want to full-on stack the Tigers, they are a good place to go for one-off plays or mini stacks.
Riley Greene ($3,000) and Zach McKinstry ($2,500) are my favorite picks from the Tigers. Both will have the platoon advantage against Singer and will likely be in the top two spots in the lineup. Greene has a .351 wOBA in the split this campaign while McKinstry owns a .349 wOBA against righties.
Spencer Torkelson ($2,800) has put up a .340 wOBA in May while Nick Maton ($2,300) and Akil Baddoo ($2,400) will hit from the left side. Baddoo isn't a bad dart throw at a homer; he's got a 44.8% fly-ball rate versus right-handers.