Friday night is set to start the weekend with a bang since there are 12 games on the main DFS fantasy baseball slate that gets underway at 7:05 p.m. ET. With a massive 24 lineups to choose from, there are many great ways to consider assembling your roster to help you start the weekend with a “W.” Let’s take a look at the matchups and find some top options to use in Friday’s MLB stacks.
In case you’re new to the term, “stacking” is a fantasy baseball strategy that relies on multiple players from the same team to boost each other’s production in a favorable game environment and matchup. MLB stacks are effective because fantasy baseball scoring awards multiple players for the same run-scoring event. High-scoring teams often have multiple players near the top of the overall leaderboard, especially if their opponent is especially hittable. Creating MLB stacks allows for a positive correlation between your players’ production, and if you can find the right matchup, they can all deliver big games by boosting each other’s output. Increasing the connection built into your lineup raises both the ceiling and the risk of your roster, but it can pay off in huge ways if you find the best MLB stacks on the board.
Here are my top three MLB stacks for this Friday.
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1. New York Yankees
Aaron Judge ($7,000)
Clay Bellinger ($5,500)
Trent Grisham ($5,400)
Paul Goldschmidt ($5,300)
Anthony Volpe ($5,200)
Sneaky? Nope. Contrarian? Definitely not. When a pitcher grooves a fastball down the pipe, though, there’s no reason not to take a mighty swing at it just because too many people might like it. It’s an expensive stack, but the ceiling is too high to pass up.
The Yankees have one of the most power-packed lineups in the majors, and they’re playing at Coors Field against Tanner Gordon ($6,000). Gordon has only made one MLB appearance this year, giving up seven runs (four earned) in 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. In Triple-A, he went 1-3 in eight starts for the Albuquerque Isotopes, posting a 6.23 ERA with a 5.20 FIP whiel also allowing six homers in 39 innings (1.38 HR/9). Last year with the Rockies, he gave up 10 homers in 34 1/3 innings on his way to a 0-6 record, 8.65 ERA and 6.14 FIP.
Most of the damage against Gordon was done by righties last season, who had a .474 wOBA against him. Judge is a great play if you can afford him, and he comes to Coors hot after going 15-for-38 in his last 10 games and averaging 11.6 fantasy points per game. Bellinger has also averaged over 11 fantasy points per game in his last 10 contests, going 15-for-42 with three homers. Goldschmidt and Dominguez are on the better side of the split, along with Judge, and each has been productive enough to be a top option at their position in such a juicy spot for MLB stacks.
2. Houston Astros
Isaac Paredes ($4,000)
Jeremy Pena ($3,900)
Jose Altuve ($3,700)
Yainer Diaz ($3,400)
Victor Caratini ($3,000)
Over the last two weeks, the Astros have been a top-10 offense, hitting .268 as a team with a .337 wOBA and 59 runs scored (4.2 runs per game). They host the Mariners on Friday night and face Emerson Hancock ($5,800) in what should be a good spot for them to be a nice, much more affordable stack to either use instead of or alongside the Yankees. Hancock has a 6.21 ERA and 5.39 FIP in his seven starts and has given up seven homers. Five of those seven have been to left-handed hitters, but the Astros don’t have many lefties in their lineup right now.
The only player who will hit from the left side on Friday in the projected lineup is Victor Caratini ($3,000), who I almost included in my top value picks for this slate. Caratini fills a tricky catcher spot at just $3,000 and has double-digit fantasy points in each of his last three starts, going 15-for-41 (.366) with a .423 wOBA over his last 12 games. The top three in the order are solid and affordable with Pena, Paredes and Altuve each in a nice groove right now. Pena is 20-for-57 (.351) over his last 15 contests, while Parades has six homers in his last 10 games and has averaged 12.5 fantasy points per game over that span.
3. Los Angeles Angels
Zach Neto ($4,900)
Yoan Moncada ($4,500)
Taylor Ward ($3,800)
Nolan Schanuel ($3,500)
Matthew Lugo ($3,200)
Did the Angels just become the hottest team in baseball all of a sudden? They have won seven straight after sweeping the Dodgers and Athletics, scoring at least six runs in six of those seven games. The Halos scored more runs than any team in baseball over the last week with 17 home runs in that span, while no other MLB team has 12 or more. They hit .300 as a team with a .405 wOBA and a 164 team wRC+.
They’re back home on Friday as they open a series against the Marlins and take on Sandy Alcantara ($7,700), who has scuffled to a 2-6 start this season with a 7.99 ERA, 5.36 FIP and 1.61 WHIP. The Angels will look to continue Alcantara’s struggles and keep their momentum going on Friday night.
Neto and Ward have led the charge for the Angels and are both pretty affordable compared to the other options at their positions. Neto has gone 15-for-43 (.349) in his last 10 games with four home runs, a stolen base and an average of 14 fantasy points per game out of the leadoff spot. Ward has started absolutely crushing the ball, going 18-for-47 (.383) with six homers and 18 RBI in his last 11 games, averaging 16.3 fantasy points per game over that span and producing double-digit fantasy points 10 times. Schanuel is a good value play who has 12 hits in his last 10 games while averaging 9.1 fantasy points per contest, and Lugo has also been solid since joining the team with three home runs in his last 10 games to average 8.1 fantasy points per contest.
