Friday night offers a monster 14-game fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings with all but two teams on the main slate. While there is no shortage of options and matchups to break down, a few stand out as the best places to try and find some offense on the slate. While there are a few strong starting pitchers to avoid, there are also a few spots that look favorable to attack for MLB stacks.
In case you’re new to the term, “stacking” is an MLB DFS strategy that utilizes multiple players from the same team in your fantasy baseball lineup, allowing them to multiply production. It makes the most sense to use players from the same section of the lineup to build-in even more positive correlation, as most run-scoring plays earn fantasy points for multiple players. Teams with high-scoring games typically place several players near the top of the overall leaderboard, and using multiple players from the same lineup raises the connectedness of your scoring. While that does increase the risk of a bust, it also can lift your lineup to the top of the leaderboard, as well. The key to a successful stack is finding the right matchup to attack.
Here are the three spots I like the most for MLB stacks this Friday.
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1. Milwaukee Brewers
Christian Yelich ($4,900)
Jackson Chourio ($4,800)
Brice Turang ($4,200)
Rhys Hoskins ($3,800)
Isaac Collins ($3,200)
The Brewers are at home against the Rockies, so they don’t get the Coors Field boost or the salary bump from playing at elevation. However, they’re still a very strong stack to consider as they take on Kyle Freeland ($5,500), who is coming off the IL after battling back stiffness. Before the injury, Freeland was starting to find a nice groove, but his numbers for the year are still high. He is 1-8 in his 14 starts with a 5.13 ERA, 3.63 FIP and 1.53 WHIP.
Freeland is a good matchup, but the main reason I’m backing the Brew Crew is their current form. Milwaukee has won six of its last seven games with an average of 8.6 runs per game. They have at least eight runs in five of those contests and should be able to keep rolling at home at American Family Field.
Yelich and Turang are in lefty-lefty matchups, but they’ve been hot enough to still include as part of the stack. Yelich comes in with a nine-game hitting streak and has gone 18-for-37 (.486) with an average of 14.9 fantasy points per game. Turang has averaged 9.6 fantasy points over his last 10 games with 16 hits, a home run and a stolen base.
On the other side of the plate, Chourio has been scuffling a little bit, but still has a high ceiling with both power and speed potential. Hoskins has good power potential from under $4,000, and Collins has been excellent, as well, in a bargain role in the outfield. Collins has at least six fantasy points in eight straight games while averaging 12.6 fantasy points per game.
2. New York Yankees
Aaron Judge ($6,600)
Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($5,100)
Ben Rice ($4,400)
Trent Grisham ($4,100)
Giancarlo Stanton ($3,500)
The Yankees are coming home after their trip to Cincinnati and will host the Athletics this weekend. They avoided a sweep in Cincinnati with seven runs on Thursday. The first game of the series has them matched up against righty Mitch Spence. Spence has been decent, but not spectacular, for the A’s, going 2-2 with a 3.84 ERA and 3.77 FIP. The former Yankees prospect will face his former team in the Bronx, but even if he’s on, he doesn’t usually go very deep in the game, and the Athletics’ bullpen has been very shaky. This all sets the Yankees up for a nice homecoming on Friday. The winds will be blowing in at Yankee Stadium, but historically, the park factor isn’t dramatically impacted for home runs by the elements. The Yankees have the second-highest implied run total on the board.
Judge has gone 8-for-26 (.308) in his last six games with two doubles and two homers and has shaken off his mini-slump from mid-June. Chisholm has at least seven fantasy points in five of his last six games and has averaged 9.6 fantasy points over his last eight games. Lefties have hit .320 against Spence this season with four homers and a .383 wOBA, which makes Chisholm, Rice and Grisham solid options. Rice has hit safely in four straight while averaging 14.75 fantasy points, and Grisham has dropped at least 20 fantasy points in three of his last six. Stanton has hit safely in four straight, and he remains an affordable way to round out the stack.
3. Detroit Tigers
Riley Greene ($5,200)
Spencer Torkelson ($4,700)
Kerry Carpenter ($4,300)
Javier Baez ($4,200)
Colt Keith ($2,900)
The weather in Detroit is a little iffy, but if the rain holds off enough, the Tigers should have a good home matchup against the Twins and David Festa. Festa has a lot of long-term potential but has struggled to realize it in the majors. He has given up at least four runs in three of his last four games, including his last start, when he gave up eight runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Brewers. The 25-year-old has a 6.39 ERA, 5.27 FIP and 1.61 WHIP. Opponents have a 44.1% hard hit rate against him, and righties have hit .303.
Torkelson and Baez will be on the strong side of that split, and Baez has averaged 10.2 fantasy points per game over his last 10. Torkelson homered and had 19 fantasy points on Thursday. Greene and Carpenter are always good threats for big games with their power potential. Greene has homered and tripled while going 3-for-5 against Festa in their past meetings and has hit a scorching .368 in June with a .438 wOBA, a 45.9% hard hit rate and 19.7% barrel rate. Kieth is a solid bargain to round out your stack after hitting safely in four of his last five starts, including a pair of home runs last week.
