Major League Baseball is ready to start another work week off right with all 30 teams taking the field on Monday night. After a handful of early games, 10 games are on the main slate, which begins at 7:07 p.m. ET when the Blue Jays and Yankees face off in Toronto. With 20 teams on the board, there are lots of good options to consider, and a few teams are in especially good spots for MLB DFS stacks. Let’s take a look at the best offensive matchups to build around this Monday.
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 who are back-to-back or at least from the same part of the lineup to allow plenty of positive correlation if that team piles up runs and fantasy points. Since most run-scoring plays produce fantasy points for multiple players, stacking a high-scoring team can carry you to the top of the leaderboard. In what can be a positive or negative, stacking increases the connectedness of your lineup, raising both the risk and the ceiling of your entry. The key to MLB DFS stacks paying off is finding the perfect matchup to attack, so let’s take a look at this Monday’s top spots.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Knuckleball [$50K to 1st]
1. St. Louis Cardinals
Ivan Herrera ($5,500)
Willson Contreras ($4,900)
Masyn Winn ($4,600)
Nolan Arenado ($4,500)
Jordan Walker ($3,900)
The Cardinals are set to soar high on this slate as they head to the elevation of Coors Field and face their former teammate Austin Gomber ($4,500). Since Gomber is a lefty, I’m leaning into the right-handed bats in the Cards’ lineup. In his six starts, Gomber has a 5.65 ERA and 5.57 FIP with a 1.60 WHIP. In just 28 2/3 innings, he has given up 18 runs and six home runs, with righties hitting .317 with a .383 wOBA against him and lefties hitting .333 with a .470 wOBA. At Coors, he has a 7.36 ERA and has given up four homers in 14 2/3 innings.
Contreras had just a couple of hits in the Cardinals’ first series back after the break, but he is averaging 7.5 fantasy points per game on the season and is 2-for-5 with two homers against Gomber in their past meetings. Arenado will be another interesting play to watch in his return to Coors Field. He’s 4-for-17 in his career against Gomber with a double and a home run, and he has been hitting lefties effectively most of this season.
Herrera has been one of the most consistent contact hitters on the team this season, and he rolls into this week with a .313 batting average and .384 wOBA in his 46 games. Winn and Walker are also interesting plays, even though their salary is inflated by the Coors Field effect. Winn has hit safely in four straight and seven of his last nine games, and he has been a little more aggressive on the bases as well. Walker just returned from the IL, but the young hitter has plenty of potential pop as a value play under $4,000.
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
Corbin Carroll ($5,900)
Ketel Marte ($5,700)
Eugenio Suarez ($5,200)
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ($4,000)
Randal Grichuk ($3,000)
The Diamondbacks came out of the All-Star break hot against the Cardinals, scoring 22 runs in their three-game home sweep. Despite the swirling trade rumors, the offense is a good one to back, especially at Chase Field and in a fantasy-friendly matchup against Colton Gordon ($6,900).
Gordon had to leave his last start after just one inning after being hit in the head by a comebacker. He had given up nine runs in 10 1/3 innings in his previous two starts on 16 hits, including two home runs. On the season, he has given up 10 homers in 10 games with a 4.67 ERA and 4.48 FIP. He is a lefty, which will likely cause the Dbacks to go to a more righty-heavy approach.
Marte is expected to be back in the batting order after missing a few games coming out of the All-Star break, dealing with a burglary at his home. He hit .310 with a .428 wOBA in his last 21 games before the break with seven homers and 17 RBIs during that stretch.
Suarez is one of the hottest names in the trade market and the hottest hitters in baseball after hitting two homers in back-to-back games against St. Louis. He has nine homers in his last 14 games and has averaged 13 fantasy points per game over that span.
Gurriel and Grichuk have been good against lefties and are solid ways to round out the stack without draining all your budget.
3. Tampa Bay Rays
Junior Caminero ($5,300)
Josh Lowe ($4,900)
Yandy Diaz ($4,800)
Jonathan Aranda ($4,700)
Chandler Simpson ($4,500)
The Rays are another strong option in today’s MLB DFS stacks since they’re at home at George M. Steinbrenner Field, taking on Sean Burke ($6,200) and the White Sox. Burke is 4-8 on the year with a 4.36 ERA, 5.07 FIP and 1.40 WHIP. He has struggled even more on the road with a 5.18 ERA, 5.34 FIP and 1.58 WHIP away from Rate Field. He has given up 16 homers and a 10.8% barrel rate, so the Rays should be able to keep rolling on Monday night.
Caminero made his entrance onto the broader MLB stage with his runner-up finish at the Home Run Derby. The 22-year-old righty has been especially good at home with 16 of his 25 homers, a .324 batting average and a .412 wOBA. He has averaged 9.7 fantasy points per game at home this season and 8.9 fantasy points per game over his last 10.
Diaz has also been scorching hot, coming out of the break and producing 53 total fantasy points in three games against the Orioles. He’s averaging 9.25 fantasy points per game over his last eight. Simpson has been causing havoc on the bases since being recalled, averaging 8.0 fantasy points per game in July. He doesn’t have as high of a power ceiling but gets the job done with stolen bases and run production.
