Rise and shine, DFS players. A matinee-heavy Saturday schedule around MLB means an earlier main slate than usual for those looking to set their lineups, with nine games at DraftKings DFS kicking off at 4:05 p.m. ET. With a relatively limited menu and not a lot of time to deliberate, here are three teams we recommend stacking on Saturday afternoon.
Top MLB DFS stacks: Saturday, June 17
Cincinnati Reds vs. Houston Astros
Elly De La Cruz ($5,100)
Jonathan India ($4,800)
Matt McLain ($4,600)
TJ Friedl ($4,200)
Astros righty Brandon Bielak’s 4.01 ERA looks respectable enough, but a 1.59 WHIP and 6.39 expected ERA suggest that regression is coming soon. Bielak wouldn’t even be in the rotation if it weren’t for injuries to Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr., and this Reds offense has been revitalized by the promotions of top prospects Elly De La Cruz (a homer and five steals over his first nine games) and Matt McLain (.871 OPS over his last 10). Cincy has averaged 5.5 runs per game over their last nine. Bielak has allowed an .893 OPS to righties and a .953 mark to lefties, meaning there isn’t much of a platoon split to worry about.
Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals
Jorge Soler ($4,800)
Luis Arraez ($4,600)
Bryan de la Cruz ($3,900)
Jesus Sanchez ($2,900)
Nats rookie righty Jake Irvin has struggled badly over his last five starts, with a 8.41 ERA and .896 OPS allowed. He’s had a very hard time getting lefties out all season, with a .275/.398/.493 slash line allowed that should mean big things for Arraez (a whopping 5-for-5 last night) and Sanchez (five of his six homers this year against righties). Soler and de la Cruz may not have the same platoon advantage, but they’ve both got an ISO higher than .200 against right-handers this year.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Oakland Athletics
Bryce Harper ($6,300)
Kyle Schwarber ($5,500)
Nick Castellanos ($4,900)
Alec Bohm ($3,600)
A’s starter James Kaprielian has at least been serviceable across six outings since returning from a demotion to the Minors, with a 4.01 ERA over those 33.2 innings. 6.7 strikeouts per nine with 4.28 walks and 5.70 xFIP portend some regression coming soon, likely today against a red-hot Phillies offense. Philly has put up at least five runs in six of their last seven games, as guys like Schwarber (.977 OPS over his last 10) and Harper (three multi-hit games over his last six) finally start to heat up. Bohm homered yesterday as well and has tallied four multi-hit games since returning off the IL, making him a sneaky value who will provide salary relief after including Harper.