Wednesday night baseball has five games on the main MLB DFS slate on DraftKings this week, with the action getting underway at 7:40 p.m. ET when first pitch is scheduled for Kansas City, where the Royals host the Reds. With 10 teams in action, there are lots of ways to consider constructing your roster for daily fantasy baseball contests and some clear matchups to attack in search of offense. Let’s take a look at the matchups and identify Wednesday night’s top three MLB stacks.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, “stacking” is an MLB DFS strategy that uses multiple players from the same lineup. Ideally, MLB stacks include options that are back-to-back in the lineup or at least close enough together to be very connected in their production. Creating MLB stacks allows for a positive correlation between your players’ production, and if you can find the right matchup, the increased connection can pay off in huge ways. Due to the nature of fantasy baseball scoring, multiple players from the team earn points most of the time when a team scores a run. MLB stacks can be very effective because high-scoring teams usually have multiple players near the top of the overall leaderboard. If you can find the right MLB stacks in the right matchup, they can carry you all the way to the top of the leaderboard..
Here are my top three MLB stacks for this Wednesday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
1. Chicago Cubs
Kyle Tucker ($6,500)
Pete Crow-Armstrong ($6,000)
Seiya Suzuki ($5,700)
Nico Hoerner ($4,300)
Matt Shaw ($3,500)
The Cubs are back in the top spot in my MLB stacks for this Wednesday, even though the wind has kept scoring down the last few days at Wrigley Field. It is expected to let up in time for Wednesday night’s game, and the Cubs get a great matchup as well as they go up against Tanner Gordon ($6,500). Gordon has pitched six innings in each of his first two starts for the Rockies this season, but he has allowed nine runs on 14 hits for a 4.38 ERA and 3.39 FIP. Both those games were at Coors Field, though, so this will be his first start not at elevation in the majors this season. Last year, Gordon went 0-6 in eight starts for the Rockies, posting a 8.65 ERA and 6.14 FIP while serving up 10 homers in only 34 1/3 innings.
Gordon’s major problems in both of his stints in the majors have been against righties, which is why I actually lean towards Suzuki as the core of my Cubs stack this Wednesday. I highlighted him along with Hoerner and Shaw as values in my top MLB DFS targets for the day. Tucker and PCA are also great plays with a ton of upside if you have the salary to pay up for them. Tucker is averaging 12.3 fantasy points per game with five stolen bases and a pair of homers over his last 10 games, while Crow-Armstrong is averaging 11.8 fantasy points with three stolen bases, two doubles, two triples and two homers over his last 10 games.
2. Seattle Mariners
Cal Raleigh ($5,300)
Julio Rodriguez ($5,000)
Jorge Polanco ($4,400)
J.P. Crawford ($3,500)
Rowdy Tellez ($3,100)
The Mariners blasted their way to a 9-1 win on Tuesday night against the Nationals and are in a good spot again on Wednesday night as they take on Trevor Williams ($6,200). Williams has had a rough start to the season and comes into this outing with a 6.39 ERA, 4.28 FIP and 1.56 WHIP. He has served up seven homers in 49 1/3 innings, including six long balls to lefties, who have a .435 wOBA wOBA against him.
Those splits are why switch-hitters Raleigh and Polanco are strong options, along with lefties Crawford and Tellez. Raleigh is one of my top home run props of the day after he smashed two homers and had 28 fantasy points on Tuesday. Polanco has been struggling but if he hits second in the order could be in a great slot in this stack to produce with the top of this lineup. Tellez isn’t the most consistent fantasy option since he’s very boom-or-bust with homers or strikeouts, but at just over $3,000 he can be a cheap option that still brings upside, especially given Williams’ work against left-handed hitters this season.
3. New York Yankees
Aaron Judge ($6,600)
Cody Bellinger ($5,100)
Trent Grisham ($4,800)
Anthony Volpe ($4,500)
Paul Goldschmidt ($4,500)
The Yankees don’t have quite as juicy a matchup as the top two MLB stacks in this post, but they have been very productive on their current road trip and still can be good pay-up plays since they have good power ceilings. Over the last 30 days, the Yankees have hit .257 as a team with a .349 wOBA while averaging 5.7 runs per game. They’ll face lefty Yusei Kikuchi ($7,200) on Wednesday, who has a 5-4 record in 15 appearances against the Yankees in his career along with a 3.38 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings.
None of the Yankees have especially strong BvP history against Kikuchi, although Judge does have a pair of home runs to go with his 5-for-25 (.250) and 12 strikeouts in the past. This stack is much more about current form than the matchup, though. New York has won four straight with 26 runs scored since losing the first game of this road trip in Colorado. Judge has averaged 10.9 fantasy points over his last 10 games, while Bellinger has averaged 12.5 fantasy points over his last 10 while going 15-for-39 (.385) with seven extra-base hits. Goldschmidt has been a solid source of consistent batting average and production and usually hits leadoff against lefties, and Volpe has started to come around lately after a slow start, going 20-for-73 (.274) over his last 19 games with a .345 wOBA as he looks to turn things around after a slow start.
