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.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Despite this being just a six-game main slate, it should be a really good night for offense. In all, there are four teams with an implied total above 5.00.
At the top of that list is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are showing a 5.32 implied total for a home clash against Carlos Carrasco. A veteran righty, Carrasco has been a quality pitcher for a long time, but the wheels have fallen off in 2023. He's struggled to a 5.32 SIERA and 16.3% strikeout rate while allowing 2.04 dingers per nine.
Corbin Carroll ($4,000) is the top option from Arizona's lineup. The rookie has been outstanding this year, racking up 18 jacks and 24 steals. Against right-handers, he's mashed his way to a .417 wOBA and 41.0% fly-ball rate. Our projections have him as the night's number-two bat.
Ketel Marte ($3,600) is a top-notch pick, as well, if he's healthy enough to start. After those two, Arizona has no one over $3,100, making them awfully enticing. Of the rest, Christian Walker ($3,100), Geraldo Perdomo ($2,700) and Alek Thomas ($2,400) catch my eye. Walker is quietly having another good power season, hitting 18 homers with a .362 wOBA. Perdomo is projected to be atop the order, and Thomas was solid in June, posting a .339 wOBA for the month.
Los Angeles Dodgers
It feels like I'm writing up the Los Angeles Dodgers on a near-nightly basis, and here we are again as they've been handed a 5.27 implied total, the slate's second-highest mark.
LA is at home versus Johan Oviedo, a righty who owns a 4.74 SIERA and 19.2% strikeout rate. The Dodgers have plated 18 runs through the initial three games of this series, so not only are they facing a meh starter tonight, LA will also see a tired, ineffective Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen -- one that has the eighth-worst xFIP (4.47) on the year.
Everyone in the Dodgers' lineup is fully viable, and it starts at the top with Mookie Betts ($4,400) and Freddie Freeman ($4,200). Betts has become something of a cheat code in DFS now that he's eligible to be deployed at outfield, second and short. He's the slate's top bat, according to our numbers,
Max Muncy ($3,700), Will Smith ($3,600) and J.D. Martinez ($3,800) are putting together quality seasons and should join Betts and Freeman in the top five of the order.
Value-wise, David Peralta ($2,600), James Outman ($2,700), Miguel Vargas ($2,600) and Jason Heyward ($2,500) need to be on our radar if they get in the lineup. All of them except Vargas will have the platoon advantage versus Oviedo, but those three lefties are also a pinch-hit risk if they come up against a southpaw.
Other top options: Cleveland Guardians (vs. Jordan Lyles), New York Mets (at Ryne Nelson)