Saturday is set for a great all-day Major League Baseball marathon with all 30 teams in action. The games are split into a double-header of huge slates for MLB DFS contests on DraftKings, with the seven evening games making up the main featured slate. With some great matchups on the board, let’s take a look at my top three MLB stacks to build your lineup around Saturday night.
While there are some strong pitching options in play, there are also some attractive matchups to attack. Finding the right MLB stack is usually about finding the right blend of a favorable starting pitching matchup and good recent form of the lineup. Stacking a team that goes off leads to plenty of positive correlation and gives your lineup a very high ceiling. Let’s dive in and find the best MLB stacks for Saturday night.
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1. Atlanta Braves
Matt Olson ($4,700)
Marcell Ozuna ($4,600)
Michael Harris II ($3,700)
Bryan De La Cruz ($2,700)
Drake Baldwin ($2,600)
The reports of the Braves’ demise were apparently a little premature… who knew, right? The MLB season is still 162 games and the team still has plenty of time to turn things around after their rough West Coast road trip. Last night was good for the Braves not only because they earned a dominant 10-0 win over the Marlins and their offense got going, but they also got great news on the return of Spencer Strider (coming soon). They’ll be in a great spot to continue the positive momentum on Saturday against Cal Quantrill ($7,200) and the Marlins. Quantrill is a veteran innings-eater for the Marlins, but he got off to a rough start to the season, giving up eight hits and six runs in four innings against the Mets.
Ozuna led the way in Friday’s 10-run resurgence. He hit his first homer of the year and earned 30 fantasy points. Olson also homered for the first time this season and finished with 23 fantasy points. Harris is a great value play in the leadoff spot, as I highlighted in my MLB targets for Saturday, and he brings a high ceiling to the top of the lineup. De La Cruz and Baldwin are nice bargain plays to mix in as well.
2. Athletics
Brent Rooker ($6,100)
Lawrence Butler ($5,600)
Shea Langeliers ($4,600)
Tyler Soderstrom ($3,900)
Jacob Wilson ($3,500)
The Athletics are usually the “bargain stack” to consider, but that’s definitely not the case on Saturday since all the bats are marked up as they’re playing in the rarified air of Coors Field. They scored six runs to spoil the Rockies’ home opener on Friday and will have a favorable matchup on Saturday against German Marquez ($6,600). Marquez didn’t allow a run in his first start of the season but only totaled 24 innings over the last two seasons due to multiple injuries. In his career, he has a 5.07 ERA and 4.01 FIP in his home starts.
Rooker is crushing everything in the early part of the season and is hitting .229 with three homers while continuing his successful batted-ball metrics from the last few years. Langeliers has a pair of home runs while going six-for-26 (.231) and Soderstrom is 10-for-31 (.323) with three homers and an average of 9.4 fantasy points per game after picking up two hits on Friday for 12 fantasy points. Wilson’s power production was up in spring training and has continued into the regular season. He hit his second homer of the year on Friday and is a great affordable option at shortstop that I also highlighted in my top targets for the day.
3. Cincinnati Reds
Elly De La Cruz ($6,200)
Jeimer Candelario ($4,600)
Spencer Steer ($4,000)
TJ Friedl ($3,800)
Gavin Lux ($3,400)
The Reds definitely do not check the box for recent form, but they do have a good matchup against Elvin Rodriguez ($6,100) on Saturday night’s slate. Cincinnati lost three straight games 1-0 before finally getting some runs on the board on Friday night. They still fell one run short in their 3-2 loss, but at least they put a crooked number on the scoreboard. Multiple members of the team and even manager Terry Francona have been battling an illness, but facing Rodriguez could help them get back on track. He gave up four runs on six hits in four innings to take a loss to the Royals in his first start of the season, and he wasn’t much better in spring training, allowing 10 runs on 17 hits in 10 2/3 innings.
Elly De La Cruz has been the one shining light in the Reds’ offense so far this season, producing 10.3 fantasy points per game and hitting two home runs to go with his two stolen bases. Candelario had a key double and RBI on Friday and has hit safely in five of his eight games this season. Lux is a bargain who has hit safely in five of his seven starts and was a key part in the Reds getting runs finally on Friday. Friedl is off to a slow start, going six-for-29 (.207) but is still locked in at the top of the lineup and a good value play with upside in that spot. Even though the team hasn’t been hitting well, this matchup sets them up for some positive regression and makes them a nice leverage option in my MLB stacks for Saturday night in Milwaukee.
