4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 8/26/15
Each day here on numberFire, we'll be providing you with four potential offenses to stack in your daily fantasy lineups. These are the offenses that provide huge run potential on that given day based on matchups and other factors.
After reading through these suggestions, make sure to check out our daily projections. These can either let you know which players to include in each stack, or which guy best complements said stack.
Another great tool is our custom optimal lineups, which are available for premium subscribers. Within the tool, we've added the option to stack teams -- you choose the team you want to stack, show how many players you want to use within the stack, and the tool will create a lineup based on this that you can then customize.
Now, let's get to the stacks. Here are the teams you should be targeting in daily fantasy baseball today.
Toronto Blue Jays
Colby Lewis likes fly balls. The Blue Jays like long balls. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Lewis currently holds the seventh-lowest ground-ball percentage in the league at 35.1 percent. Now, that can be fine as long as you prevent walks and get strikeouts (see: Max Scherzer). Unfortunately, Lewis doesn't quite have the stuff to do that anymore, especially against a Blue Jays team with the third-lowest strikeout percentage in the league against right-handed pitchers.
Eventually, you all are going to think that I am the world's biggest Justin Smoak fan. That would probably be an accurate assessment. Lewis' strikeouts drop significantly against lefties, and they are able to lace more line drives. Smoak has a 35.4 percent hard-hit rate against righties, and he brings the salary relief you need to pull off a true Jays stack. He may not be in the lineup, but if he is, he's a solid option for tonight.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers' offense has been disappointing of late, ranking 18th in the league in wOBA over the past 30 days. Still, they rank sixth in the league in wOBA against left-handed pitchers, and David Holmberg is in the process of finding his footing in the majors. They could get their stroke back in this one.
In 133 innings between Triple-A and the Majors this year, Holmberg has recorded 75 strikeouts while issuing 52 walks. That's the kind of ratio to look for on sites that deduct for outs as the on-base percentages of the batters should be off the heezy.
This matchup seems to be screaming Scott Van Slyke's name. He draws a ton of walks against lefties, and then when he decides to swing, he has a 34.0 percent hard-hit rate. His slash isn't as impressive as it was last year, but a lot of that could be based on a small sample size, and he still provides tons of value when there's a southpaw on the bump.
Detroit Tigers
Hector Santiago has got some tough luck. Last week, he had to face the team with the best wOBA in the league against left-handed pitchers in the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays chased him after just 3 2/3 innings and went on to score nine runs. This time, he gets the team that is second in wOBA in a park less friendly to pitchers. Dude can't buy a break.
With that said, Comerica is a park that is generous to fly-ball pitchers. It ranks 26th in home run park factor this season. That hasn't stopped the Tigers from posting a collective .283/.335/.451 slash against fly-ball pitchers on the season, which could lead to another short night for Santiago.
I promise I'm not going to nauseate you by pumping Nick Castellanos for the third time in a week (though you totally should do it). I'd instead like to direct your attention to another batter lower in the order who could serve as a decent tournament flier in James McCann. McCann holds a 31.2 percent hard-hit rate against lefties this year with a 14.8 percent soft-hit rate. He's not the best hitter in the order against lefties (they've still got that Miguel Cabrera guy), but he is going to carry a low price tag and low ownership if you're looking to mix things up.
Milwaukee Brewers
Generally, you won't want to stack teams that shed assets at the trade deadline as opposed to acquiring them. It appears as though the Brewers are entering a game against a pieced-together pitching staff, so it may be time to make an exception.
With Carlos Carrasco being scratched, the Indians will be calling upon Cody Anderson. Anderson was originally scheduled to make a rehab start in the minors on Monday, but instead he hops straight to the bigs off of an oblique injury. Anderson's SIERA had ballooned to 4.71 prior to his injury, so he'll need to get back into shape quick to prevent this one from blowing up.
One big reason the Brewers are still a fun offense to watch is Khristopher Davis. He came off the disabled list in early July, and all he has done since then is hit 11 home runs in 133 plate appearances with an extra-base friendly .229/.301/.534 slash. Sure, he strikes out like crazy, but Anderson has only struck out 10.4 percent of the batters he has faced this year. Davis could provide some sweet upside in an intriguing matchup.
