Friday night’s 12-game MLB slate looks ready to deliver plenty of offense with some sketchy starting pitching options taking the hill. Hitter-friendly environments, Coors Field and Sutter Health Park are both in play as well, so there are lots of teams to consider using as MLB stacks on Friday for your lineups on the main slate, which gets underway at 7:05 p.m. ET.
For the sake of clarity, let’s define what we mean by “stacking.” Stacking is a strong MLB DFS strategy that can create a positive correlation in your lineup by including multiple players from the same MLB team. Finding the right matchup for the team is critical to successful MLB stacks, and trying to concentrate your picks in the same section of the lineup can also pay off if players boost each other’s run production. In examining the 12 games on Friday night’s slate, here are my top three MLB stacks to use as the core of your roster.
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1. Athletics
Brent Rooker ($5,400)
Lawrence Butler ($5,200)
Tyler Soderstrom ($5,200)
Jacob Wilson ($3,600)
Nick Kurtz ($3,500)
Even with Coors Field in play, the Athletics get the top spot in my stack tonight since they’re at home at Sutter Health Park and taking on the White Sox. Chicago will go with lefty Tyler Gilbert ($5,400) as an opener in front of righty Sean Burke ($5,400). Burke is 1-3 in his five starts this season with some strong individual outings but also a 6.23 ERA, 6.90 FIP and an 8.86 xERA, due to the fact that he has given up a 17.3% barrel rate.
The Athletics have been much better on offense this season and are hitting .254 as a team with 35 home runs, a .179 ISO, and a .328 wOBA, all of which rank in the top eight in the MLB. Soderstrom hasn’t homered in six games but is still hitting .292 and has produced double-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games. Butler has been red hot, averaging 11.1 fantasy points in his last 10 games with four homers and five stolen bases. The team called up power-hitting prospect Kurtz earlier this week, and he is 1-for-6 in his two games after demolishing Triple-A. It’ll be interesting to see how the A’s line up their lefties against a lefty opener, but Burke and the rest of the day should be a good enough matchup to still make the A’s an A+ stack.
2. Reds
Elly De La Cruz ($6,400)
Matt McLain ($6,000)
Austin Hays ($5,000)
Noelvi Marte ($3,900)
Santiago Espinal ($3,600)
The Reds are at Coors, and their salaries rise with the altitude. However, they aren’t quite as good of a stack since the weather at Coors could be less than ideal for hitting. They’ll also face sinker-baller Kyle Freeland ($5,000), who is off to a rough start to the year but can sometimes overcome the challenge of Coors by not allowing the ball to be hit in the air. He’s 0-4 on the year, but his 2.52 FIP shows he hasn’t been quite as hittable as it may seem at first glance.
Still, this is Coors Field we’re talking about and the Rockies bullpen is stretched thin and not very deep to begin with. De La Cruz is a great pay-up option if you have the salary available. He has double-digit fantasy points in seven of his last eight games even without any elevation boost and is up to five homers and 10 stolen bases on the year. If Espinal hits second in the order he’s a great way to balance the hefty salaries of McLain and Hays. Hays especially makes sense since he regularly demolishes lefties like Freeland.
3. Seattle Mariners
Julio Rodriguez ($5,000)
Cal Raleigh ($4,800)
Randy Arozarena ($4,500)
Luke Raley ($3,500)
Rowdy Tellez ($2,500)
The Mariners have a lot of swing and miss in their lineup, but they have a great matchup and plenty of power upside to consider as well as they start their series at home against the Marlins and Paul Quantrill ($5,200). Quantrill has a 8.31 ERA, 7.01 xERA and 2.08 WHIP and has given up 10 runs on 15 hits in his last two outings against the Nats and Phillies. Seattle just beat Garrett Crochet on Thursday in Boston, so facing Quantrill at home should be a huge matchup improvement, to say the least.
Rodriguez has hit safely in five straight games and is actually on the strong side of his reverse splits against a righty and on the strong side of Quantrill’s reverse splits as well. Raleigh has averaged 11.5 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests and is tied for the MLB lead with nine homers on the season. Tellez and Raley have good power ceilings even though they can be hit or miss depending on the matchup. Since this matchup should allow them to get good contact, they can be used to supplement other Seattle bats or to balance out another one of the MLB Stacks (Reds or Athletics) that are a little more expensive.
