On Wednesday, the main MLB DFS slate gets underway at 7:00 p.m. ET and includes the eight games under the lights. Where there are a few aces on the hill, especially in the later games, there are also a few places that look like good matchups to attack if you are looking for offense. Let’s survey the 16-team player pool and find some top matchups to attack for MLB stacks.
In case you’re new to the term, “stacking” is an MLB DFS strategy that is designed to create a positive correlation in your lineup by including multiple players from the same MLB team. The top MLB stacks usually include players from the same section of the batting order, allowing the players to boost each other’s run production. While so much connectedness does raise the risk of the lineup going bust, it also boosts your roster’s ceiling if you can find the right matchup. In examining the eight games on Wednesday night’s slate, here are the three that stand out for tonight’s top MLB stacks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
1. Kansas City Royals
Bobby Witt Jr. ($6,100)
Maikel Garcia ($4,200)
Vinnie Pasquantino ($3,800)
Jonathan India ($3,600)
Drew Waters ($2,300)
The Royals have struggled at the plate this season, but they have a good enough matchup to overcome their slow start and be one of the night’s top MLB stacks. They face German Marquez ($5,300), who has lost three straight starts and given up 13 runs on 13 hits in just 5 1/3 innings over his last two outings. The Dodgers didn’t even let him get out of the first inning on Wednesday, and he gave up six hard-hit balls and two barrels in just 10 batters faced.
Marquez has been hit hard by both righties and lefties this season, giving up a .324 batting average and 47.4% hard-hit rate. Witt is the pay-up place to start the Royals stack, with India usually hitting right in front of him in the batting order. Drew Waters has been a nice bargain at the bottom of the lineup, going 7-for-22 (.318) over his last six games with a triple and home run on Tuesday. Vinnie P. and Garcia are both one-stat producers in homers and stolen bases, but both have shown good upside in the early going this season when the Royals are able to pile up runs.
2. Athletics
Tyler Soderstrom ($5,300)
Lawrence Butler ($4,900)
JJ Bleday ($3,800)
Nick Kurtz ($3,500)
Jacob Wilson ($3,300)
The Athletics are at home at Sutter Health Park, where they have hit 12 home runs and averaged 3.8 runs per game with a .319 team home wOBA. They get a good matchup against Kumar Rocker ($6,900) on Wednesday, who looked much better in his last start but still has a 6.38 ERA, 3.74 FIP and 1.47 WHIP on the season. Rocker has specifically struggled to get lefties out, allowing them to hit .410 with one home run and a .429 wOBA on the year.
His struggles against lefties bodes well for the Athletics’ lineup, which will welcome another power lefty to the lineup Wednesday as Kurtz makes his MLB debut (I discussed his high ceiling in my top MLB DFS targets for the day). Kurtz, Soderstrom, Butler and Bleday will all be on the strong side of that split. Butler has averaged 9.6 fantasy points per game over his last 10 games and Soderstrom is tied for the MLB lead with his nine home runs.
3. Chicago Cubs
Kyle Tucker ($6,400)
Seiya Suzuki ($5,700)
Michael Busch ($5,200)
Ian Happ ($4,400)
Pete Crow-Armstrong ($4,200)
The Cubs rank among the league leaders in almost every offensive category this season and are on pace for an impressive 97 wins. They lead the MLB in runs, hits, RBI, wOBA, stolen bases and OBP while ranking second in ISO, wRC+ and slugging. On Wednesday, they’ll face the Dodgers in a bullpen game after they rallied against that bullpen for an 11-10 win on Tuesday night.
Tucker has been as good as advertised for the Cubs, averaging 13.4 fantasy points per game after going 3-for-4 with a home run, two stolen bases and 36 fantasy points in Tuesday’s dramatic win. Suzuki is also averaging 10 fantasy points per game with Happ thriving out of the leadoff spot and averaging 14.4 fantasy points over his last five games. Busch wasn’t a part of last night’s excitement, going 0-for-4, but he had 12+ fantasy points in three straight before that. Crow-Armstrong has turned his batting average around after a slow start and is hitting .276 on the season with four home runs, eight stolen bases and an average of 13.8 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests.
All those hot hitters against a bullpen game; sign me up! It’s easy to see why the Cubs are one of the top MLB stacks for Wednesday, but you will have to blend in some value options to include all of their hefty salaries.
