After the All-Star break, Major League Baseball is back in full force with 14 games on Friday night’s main slate of action. With just a few weeks before the MLB Trade Deadline and playoff races shaping up, there are so many exciting stories to track over the coming week. With 28 teams in the player pool for Friday’s MLB DFS main slate, there are plenty of places to go looking for offense. While there are a few places dealing with air quality concerns, the weather should be warm enough to create a few great places to attack some favorable starting pitcher matchups. Let’s take a look at the top options and run down my top three lineups to build around in Friday night’s MLB DFS Stacks.
- Chicago Cubs: The Cubs are in Wrigley with the wind blowing out as they face Bailey Ober and the Twins. Ober is 1-3 with a 7.66 ERA, eight homers allowed, and a 1.54 WHIP in his five road starts.
- Colorado Rockies: The Rockies are also home in their offense-friendly spot at Coors Field, where they’ll face Brady Singer, who has allowed 20 homers in his 18 starts with a 4.72 ERA and 5.61 FIP.
- New York Yankees: The Yankees are hosting Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Sasaki has allowed 3+ ER in five straight games with nine homers against him and an 8.61 ERA.
Before we break down all the selections for these contests, let’s define exactly what we’re searching for. An ideal target for MLB DFS stacks is a team well-positioned to score plenty of runs based on its matchup and ballpark. “Stacking” is the strategy of adding multiple players from the same MLB lineup to your roster to boost each other’s production.
Ideally, MLB DFS stacks focus on players who are either back-to-back or from the same part of the lineup to allow positive correlation. Since most run-scoring plays produce fantasy points for multiple players, stacking a high-scoring team can carry your entry to the top of the leaderboard. The key to MLB DFS stacks paying off is finding the perfect matchup to attack, so let’s take a deeper look at the top spots.
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1. Chicago Cubs
Pete Crow-Armstrong ($6,300)
Ian Happ ($4,100)
Dansby Swanson ($4,000)
Michael Busch ($3,800)
Michael Conforto ($3,100)
The environment will be great for hitting at Wrigley Field as long as no storms develop with strong winds blowing out and hot temperatures. The Cubs will look to take advantage of the conditions as they take on Bailey Ober ($7,300). Ober is 1-3 with a 7.66 ERA, eight homers allowed, and a 1.54 WHIP in his five road starts. He has allowed 13 homers in 13 starts this year, and lefties have 10 homers, a .331 wOBA, and a .272 ISO against him on the season.
Lefties Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch and Michael Conforto are all on the strong side of those splits and come in with solid momentum. Switch-hitter Ian Happ will also face him from that side. PCA averaged 13.9 FPTS in his last 13 games before the break and seems to be locking in at the plate. Busch had multiple hits in each of his last two games before the break and averaged 8.2 FPTS in his last nine.
Swanson is on the other side of the splits, but he has been so hot that he can still be a key part of the stack. He averaged 11.7 FPTS in his last 12 games. Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto has also been getting more playing time with Matt Shaw (hand) on the IL. Conforto has three homers in his last seven games and is a nice value play to round out the stack at Wrigley.
2. Colorado Rockies
Hunter Goodman ($6,200)
Mickey Moniak ($5,600)
Jake McCarthy ($4,600)
Cole Carrigg ($4,200)
Kyle Karros ($3,400)
The Rockies will be playing at Corris Field, which is always a great place to go searching for DFS MLB stacks to consider. In this matchup, I actually like the Rockies a little better than the visiting Reds since Colorado will take on Brady Singer, who has allowed 20 homers in his 18 starts with a 4.72 ERA and 5.61 FIP. Singer has been better in a few outings lately, but most of his better showings have been at home.
The Rockies’ offense has been much better over the last few weeks before the break, and they have some lefties who should match up well against Singer. Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy are on that side of the splits, and switch-hitting Cole Carrigg will hit lefty as well. McCarty has been thriving out of the leadoff spot, averaging 13.5 FPTS over his last 11 games. He hit a leadoff inside-the-park homer last Sunday, and he’s up to 10 homers to go with his 15 stolen bases this season. Carrigg also has both power and speed upside, averaging 9.4 FPTS over his last 10.
From the right side, Hunter Goodman has an elite ceiling if you have the salary to spend on him. If you need a value play, Karros is a solid option after averaging 11.1 FPTS per game over his last 10 games with three homers and a stolen base in those 10 contests. The rookie has made the adjustments necessary and seems ready to put together a big second half.
3. New York Yankees
Ben Rice ($6,000)
Cody Bellinger ($4,800)
Jazz Chisholm Jr.($4,600)
Trent Grisham ($4,300)
Jasson Dominguez ($3,500)
The Dodgers and Yankees meet in one of the marquee matchups this weekend after the All-Star break. At Yankee Stadium Friday night, the Yankees will face Roki Sasaki ($6,800). While the 24-year-old has still been getting strikeouts, he has allowed 3+ ER in five straight games, with nine homers against him and an 8.61 ERA. During that stretch, opponents have a 44.4% hard-hit rate and an 18.1% barrel rate.
Both lefties and righties have hit him hard, so all the Yankees are worth considering. Rice is a great centerpiece to build around since he had 10+ FPTS in six of seven games before the All-Star break, averaging 14.6 FPTS over that span. Bellinger had multiple hits in three of his last four games before the break, going 7-for-16. He and Rice have been carrying the offense without Aaron Judge (rib) and will continue to do so until the big right returns.
Grisham and Dominguez are less expensive outfielders who also have some pop and can be boom-or-bust plays who save some salary.
