Friday starts the weekend with a juicy fantasy baseball slate as all 30 Major League Baseball teams take the field under the lights. The first three games are on an early slate with a dozen games in the MLB DFS features contests, which begin at 7:05 p.m. ET. Based on the starting pitchers on the board, it should be a great night for offense with only a few strong options from the front of teams’ rotations. With the Padres at Coors Field and the Yankees at Sutter Health Park, there are some great situations to build some strong MLB stacks this Friday.
In case you’re new to the term, let’s quickly define what “stacking” is. Due to how fantasy baseball scoring works, using MLB stacks is a good strategy to consider on most slates. “Stacking” is using multiple players from the same team and preferably the same section of a team’s lineup to create a positive correlation between your offensive production. If you can find the right team in the right matchup, your players can boost each other’s output and vault your team to victory. Increasing the connectedness of your picks raises the ceiling of your roster, but it also raises the risk since they could all struggle. That’s why finding the right matchup to attack is the key to building MLB stacks.
As we look at the 24 teams taking the diamond this Friday night, these are my top three MLB stacks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Hidden Ball Trick [$50K to 1st]!
1. San Diego Padres
Fernando Tatis Jr. ($6,500)
Jackson Merrill ($6,000)
Manny Machado ($5,700)
Luiz Arraez ($5,000)
Jake Cronenworth ($4,400)
The Padres are an obvious and expensive stack this Friday as they stop at Coors Field and take on Antonio Senzatela ($5,000). Just because they’re obvious, though, doesn’t mean they won’t be extremely productive. The matchup against Sezatela would make them a top stack anywhere, but especially with the boost from playing at elevation. Senzatela is 1-5 on the season with a 5.50 ERA, 5.84 FIP, and a 7.01 xERA that indicates he has been giving up hard contact all year long. He has a 7.63 ERA at home, where he has allowed 14 runs and five home runs in 15 1/3 innings this year. Seven of his eight home runs allowed this year have come against right-handed hitters.
Tatis and Machado are both on the strong side of the splits and have had success in the past against Sezatela. Machado is 9-for-23 with four doubles and a home run against him in their past meetings. Merrill just returned from the IL and had two hits in his two games since returning, posting 10 and 21 fantasy points. Cronenworth is expected to also be activated off the IL, giving the Padres’ lineup even more upside after it was stretched thin by injuries over the last few weeks. The Padres aren’t a cheap option in my MLB stacks this Friday, but they can be mixed with some of the more affordable options from below or in my MLB Bargain values.
2. New York Yankees
Aaron Judge ($6,400)
Ben Rice ($4,800)
Trent Grisham ($4,500)
Paul Goldschmidt ($4,100)
Jorbit Vivas ($2,300)
The Yankees aren’t at Coors Field like the Friars, but they are at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park and have a good matchup against Osvaldo Bido ($6,000). Bido has allowed 20 runs in his seven starts with a 4.71 ERA and 5.78 FIP. While he has held lefties to a .207 average, he has let righties hit .329 against him with a .406 wOBA. He’s also been much more hittable at home, where he has allowed 11 runs in just 15 2/3 innings.
Judge is a huge centerpiece you can always build around since he’s hitting .400 this season with a dozen home runs and an average of 13.2 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests. Goldschmidt is another key righty to include in your MLB Stacks around the Yankees since he is also on the strong side of the splits against Bido and is hitting .341 on the season with three homers and 7.8 fantasy points per agme. Rice and Grisham can be mixed in as well to stack the top four in the order, but they are on the wrong side of Bido’s reverse splits. Vivas is a bargain play that can create a “back-door” stack if he hits ninth in front of Rice when the lineup flips.
3. Baltimore Orioles
Ryan O’Hearn ($4,300)
Jackson Holliday ($3,600)
Ryan Mountcastle ($3,300)
Heston Kjerstad ($3,100)
Coby Mayo ($2,100)
Since the first two options in today’s MLB stacks are pricey plays, for the third spot, I’m going to highlight an option loaded with value. The Orioles’ offense has been struggling as they head to Anaheim, but they’ll be in a solid matchup against Kyle Hendricks ($5,800), who usually pitches to plenty of contact. Hendricks did have a good outing in his last start but still has a 5.28 ERA, 5.55 FIP and only a 4.7 K/9 through his first six starts with the Angels.
All five of the home runs he has allowed this season have been to right-handed hitters, who have a .340 wOBA against him. That’s why Mountcastle and Mayo are especially attractive, and Mayo could finally have a good chance to deliver on his top-prospect status, which has yet to translate to anything since his promotion. Holliday and Kjerstad also have struggled to adjust to the majors but have shown signs of coming around lately. The Orioles have lost five straight, but a matchup with Hendricks could help them get turned around and make them a nice complementary value stack that you can blend with either the Padres or the Yankees on Friday’s salte.
