Major League Baseball gets the weekend started with all 30 teams on the schedule for this Friday. Four games are sprinkled throughout the afternoon and early evening with 11 games on the main slate under the lights. Contests get started at 7:05 p.m. ET with games in Tampa and Baltimore and continue throughout the whole evening with the last game starting in Anaheim at 9:38 p.m. ET. Coors Field is on slate, but the weather calls for snow, so it’s probably not going to be ideal hitting weather. Don’t worry, though; there are still plenty of good bats available for your MLB DFS roster. Let’s take a look at Friday’s matchups and find some top matchups to attack for MLB stacks.
In case you’re new to the stacking hype train, let’s define the term before we dive in. “Stacking” is an MLB DFS strategy that creates a positive correlation in your lineup by including multiple players from the same team. Ideal stacks include players from the same section of the lineup, so they can work together to boost each other’s run production. While stacking lowers the floor of your lineup, the added ceiling is often worth the added risk, especially if you pinpoint the right matchup to attack. Looking at Friday’s matchups, here are the three that stand out for MLB stacks on Friday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$50K to 1st]
1. New York Mets
Juan Soto ($5,800)
Pete Alonso ($5,700)
Francisco Lindor ($5,200)
Brandon Nimmo ($4,200)
Luisangel Acuna ($3,400)
The Mets are home on Friday night against the Cardinals and will go up against veteran Miles Mikolas ($6,800). Mikolas has given up 14 runs in 13 innings this season, with 16 hits allowed and a 35.6% hard-hit rate against. He has let lefties hit .391 against him in this season’s small sample size with a .419 wOBA. The weather forecast is warmer for New York City on this slate, and the winds will be out to left field at a brisk 20 mph.
Soto is 0-for-8 with a walk over his last two games but had back-to-back games with a home run before that. Since he’s on the strong side of the splits against Mikolas, he’s a good pay-up place to start the stack. Lindor had three hits in Thursday’s win to start this series against St. Louis and has at least nine fantasy points in three of his last five games. Acuna did not start Thursday but has hit safely in five straight starts, averaging 13.6 fantasy points per game over that stretch with four stolen bases. He’s a nice wrap-around stack with Lindor and Soto while Alonso also brings plenty of power potential if you have the salary available.
2. Atlanta Braves
Matt Olson ($4,600)
Marcell Ozuna ($4,400)
Michael Harris II ($4,000)
Alex Verdugo ($2,800)
Drake Baldwin ($2,500)
The Braves have struggled mightily this season, starting just 5-13 with a .222 team batting average and a .302 team wOBA. Even though they have only scored 61 runs, the fourth-fewest in the MLB, they are a solid stack to take a look at in this home matchup against Chris Paddack ($6,000). Paddack is 0-2 on the season with a 9.49 ERA, 6.65 FIP, and 1.86 WHIP. He gave up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings in his only road start and had a 6.59 road ERA last year, where he allowed a .339 wOBA.
One key factor to monitor is whether Marcell Ozuna (hip) is ready to return after missing the team’s three-game series in Toronto. If he is back, he’ll give a nice boost to the heart of the order, but if he needs more time to recover, Baldwin and Sean Murphy ($4,300) will likely both be in the lineup at catcher and DH. Baldwin has hit safely in five straight games and hit his first MLB homer on Wednesday. Harris has struggled but remains the team’s primary leadoff hitter, while Olson and Austin Riley ($4,600) have both shown signs of life lately. The Braves could also get a boost from the season debut of Verdugo, who was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.
3. Cincinnati Reds
Elly De La Cruz ($5,600)
Matt McLain ($5,300)
Jaimer Candelario ($3,500)
Spencer Steer ($3,400)
Austin Hays ($3,300)
The Reds are another offense that hasn’t quite found its stride this season but is in a good spot to produce on Friday. They’ll go against lefty Cade Povich ($6,400) in the first game of their series with the O’s in Baltimore. Povich has served up 25 hits and nine earned runs in his 15 innings this season, allowing opponents to post a .364 batting average and 50% hard-hit rate. In his career, righties have typically hit him very hard, posting a .359 wOBA and hitting 11 home runs in his 19 career games.
Hays will be making his return to Baltimore and is one of my top value plays of the day after his fast start after joining the Cincinnati lineup earlier this week. He has a great history of smashing lefties in his career, and could get an extra boost from facing his former team. McLain is back from the injured list to team up with his double-play partner De La Cruz. Elly posted double-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games and always brings a high ceiling with both power and speed potential. With Christian Encarnacion-Strand (back) on the injured list, Candelario and Steer will need to step up to fill in the corner infield spots.
