Don’t worry, after a couple of days off, Major League Baseball is back to fill up the evenings for the rest of the summer with plenty of great DFS fantasy baseball action. This Friday, 11 games are part of the main slate on DraftKings, which starts at 7:05 p.m. ET. While all the teams will have full bullpens at their disposal, there are still a few spots that make good targets for MLB DFS stacks, since there should be plenty of offense available.
In case you’re new to the concept, “stacking” is an MLB DFS strategy that relies on multiple players from the same team’s lineup. Ideally, MLB DFS stacks are focused on players from the same part of the lineup to allow a positive correlation when the team goes off and piles up both runs and fantasy points. Since most run-scoring plays produce fantasy points for multiple players, stacking a team that scores plenty of runs can carry you to the top of the leaderboard. Stacking increases the connectedness of your lineup, which can be a good or a bad thing, since it raises both the risk and ceiling of your entry. The key to a successful strategy for MLB DFS stacks is finding the right matchup to attack, so let’s take a look at this Friday’s top spots.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$50K to 1st]
1. Minnesota Twins
Byron Buxton ($6,500)
Willi Castro ($4,800)
Brooks Lee ($4,000)
Harrison Bader ($3,900)
Royce Lewis ($3,600)
The Twins pick up after the break with a juicy matchup against Kyle Freeland ($5,000) at Coors Field, where they have the highest implied run total on the board by over a full run. They’re priced up a little bit, but still make for a solid stack if you find salary savers in other spots.
Righties have hit .327 against Freeland this season with a .363 wOBA and eight homers. In his 37 2/3 innings at Coors Field, he has a 1.94 WHIP, 6.69 ERA and 4.35 xFIP, which should set up the Twins’ RHBs to have big nights.
Buxton surged into the break with 8+ fantasy points in six straight games and an average of 11.7 fantasy points over his last 10. He’s hitting .321 with a .447 wOBA against lefties this season and has a 66.7% hard hit rate over his 10 most recent games with an average exit velocity of 95.8 miles per hour over that stretch.
Castro hasn’t been quite as consistent as Buxton but has posted 12+ fantasy points in three of his last 10 games. Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis should both be solid mid-range plays as they face Freeland from the right, as well, and Lewis looks healthy after missing a couple of weeks with a hamstring issue. I highlighted Bader in my top home run props of the day, and the righty is a nice play under $4,000 after averaging 8.8 fantasy points per game over his last 10.
2. Seattle Mariners
Cal Raleigh ($6,100)
Julio Rodriguez ($4,500)
Randy Arozarena ($4,400)
Jorge Polanco ($3,400)
Mitch Garver ($3,000)
The Mariners are also taking on a hittable lefty in a favorable spot, as they come home after the break to celebrate the Home Run Derby champ, Cal Raleigh. They also were on a nice roll before the break, sweeping the Tigers, with 35 runs in three games in the Motor City.
They’ll look to keep rolling in a favorable matchup against lefty Brandon Walter ($7,700), who has had a few good outings and a few rough starts since joining the Astros’ rotation. He has a 5.73 ERA, 4.26 FIP and .289 batting average against in his road starts and has given up 39 hits, including eight home runs in his 40 2/3 innings in the majors.
Raleigh has absolutely mashed lefties this season with a .333 batting average, 16 homers and an eye-popping .512 wOBA in the split. Rodriguez and Arozarena are both very streaky hitters who went into the break on a high note. Julio had 20+ fantasy points in each of the three games in Detroit, while Arozarena hit five homers and averaged 11.4 fantasy points in his last 10 games before the break.
Polanco hit a pinch-hit home run in the last game before the break and averaged 10.1 fantasy points in his 10 most recent games with four homers. Garver is a bargain option behind the plate who brings good upside at only $3,000.
3. Cleveland Guardians
Jose Ramirez ($5,500)
Carlos Santana ($3,600)
Angel Martinez ($2,900)
Brayan Rocchio ($2,500)
David Fry ($2,500)
The Guardians are a bargain stack to consider, either blended with the Twins or another expensive option, or independently if you build around elite arms. The team has bounced back impressively after dropping 10 straight games earlier this summer. After that losing streak, they rallied to win six of their last seven games, and they’ll be at home at Progressive Field against the Athletics and lefty JP Sears ($6,200).
Sears is 7-7 with a 4.79 ERA and 4.88 FIP on the season, although most of his tough outings have been at home in hitter-friendly Sacramento. In his last 10 games, though, he has struggled to a 6.29 ERA and 5.86 FIP, giving up 13 homers and a 40.6% hard hit rate over that span.
Ramirez is always the right place to start building a Guardians’ stack. He’s hitting .349 with a .391 wOBA against lefties this season, and Angel Martinez is a great value option to play right ahead of him in the order. Santana, Rocchio and Fry are all good value plays with sneaky upside against the lefty Sears. Rocchio has 7+ fantasy points in five of his last nine games and has averaged 6.6 fantasy points per game over those nine contests.
