3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Friday 6/2/23

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.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Tampa Bay Rays have the night's top implied total (5.01), but rain could be a big issue in that game, so let's break down the St. Louis Cardinals, whose 4.99 implied total is the slate's second-highest.

St. Louis is on the road against Roansy Contreras. A righty, Contreras was pretty solid a year ago but is posting worse numbers across the board, including a 5.41 SIERA and 16.4% strikeout rate. He's giving up a 42.4% fly-ball rate overall, and he's having a particularly hard time with lefties, amassing a mere 8.6% strikeout rate in the split while surrendering a .350 wOBA and 44.0% fly-ball rate.

Paul Goldschmidt ($3,800) and Nolan Gorman ($3,700) are the main attractions for the Red Birds.

Gorman's 2023 breakout looks legit as his expected wOBA (xwOBA) is .387. He's got 13 jacks and 4 steals, and he's pummeling righties to the tune of a .381 wOBA and 40.4% fly-ball rate. Goldschmidt is hitting the ball better than he did in 2022, which is saying a lot since he, you know, won the MVP last year. He's putting up a 46.5% hard-hit rate, 43.4% fly-ball rate and .402 xwOBA -- all of which are superior to his 2022 clips. We have him ranked as the night's top bat.

Jordan Walker ($2,000) is a fantastic cap-relief play. He's expected to be recalled from Triple-A and has been swinging a hot bat there, slashing .292/.386/.542 over the last 14 days. A top-shelf prospect, Walker is easy to love at this salary. The lone negative is that he'll likely be chalk.

Nolan Arenado ($3,400), Paul DeJong ($3,300), Willson Contreras ($2,800) and Tommy Edman ($2,800) are appealing mid-range plays. Edman may hit leadoff if Lars Nootbaar ($3,300) is out of the lineup. If Nootbaar plays, he's worth a look, too.

San Diego Padres

While the San Diego Padres' implied total of 4.69 isn't a huge number, I'm a lot more bullish on them for their clash with Jameson Taillon.

The right-handed Taillon has pedestrian numbers this year, recording a 4.44 SIERA and 8.9% swinging-strike rate. He's also giving up a 43.7% fly-ball rate and 1.44 homers per nine. It's a small sample, but left-handers are crushing him to the tune of a .469 wOBA and 2.84 dingers per nine.

Due to Taillon's struggles with lefties, I am prioritizing Juan Soto ($4,300). Soto's salary has jumped nearly $1,000 over the last week, but this is where it should be as he's got a .412 xwOBA and 10 jacks with 6 steals. He finished May with a silly .468 wOBA, 42.6% hard-hit rate and more walks than strikeouts.

Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,200) comes with sky-high upside every time out, but he won't be a priority for me today. After Soto, I want exposure to Xander Bogaerts ($3,400), Jake Cronenworth ($3,100), Matt Carpenter ($2,900) and Rougned Odor ($2,900). Other than Bogaerts, everyone from that group will hit from the left side.

Minnesota Twins

Like the Padres, the Minnesota Twins are a team with an implied total (4.50) that doesn't jump off the page, but I think they could have a big night.

Minnesota is at home versus righty Aaron Civale, the owner of a 4.62 SIERA and 16.0% strikeout rate across a small sample of 12 2/3 innings this season. Over 2021 and 2022, Civale gave up 1.50 homers per nine with a meh 21.8% strikeout rate.

Admittedly, if the Twins don't have all of Byron Buxton ($3,400), Carlos Correa ($2,800) and Max Kepler ($2,900) -- three players who got dinged up yesterday -- I won't be as high on them. If any of them play, they'll be a quality option. I'd be especially interested in Kepler at his modest salary as he has registered a 43.8% fly-ball rate versus right-handers.

However, even if that trio sits, the Twins offer some high-ceiling options.

Joey Gallo ($3,000), Jorge Polanco ($3,200), Alex Kirilloff ($2,900) and Willi Castro ($2,700) will all have the platoon advantage against Civale. Gallo has a .359 wOBA and 62.5% fly-ball rate against righties, although he's a pinch-hit risk if he sees a southpaw later in the game. Castro has been red-hot, notching two homers and five swipes with a .539 wOBA over the past seven games.

Other top options: Tampa Bay Rays (at Garrett Whitlock), Philadelphia Phillies (at Josiah Gray), Atlanta Braves (at Merrill Kelly)