With the MLB Trade Deadline just over a week away, Major League Baseball is ready for another important weekend of fun series. Friday night included 10 games on the main slate, with 20 teams in the player pool for the MLB DFS main slate. With some teams stretched thin in their rotation, there are some great places to attack, with only the Reds-Cardinals game in danger of rain causing any issues. 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.
- Athletics: The A’s are at Target Field with strong winds from right to left, and they’re facing Zebby Matthews, who has allowed 18 runs on 21 hits in just 13 2/3 innings over his last three starts.
- San Francisco Giants: The Giants are home with the wind blowing out against Grayson Rodriguez, who has struggled to an 8.23 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in his eight starts this season.
- St. Louis Cardinals: 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.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]!
1. Athletics
Shea Langeliers ($5,300)
Tyler Soderstrom ($4,600)
Jacob Wilson ($4,200)
Henry Bolte ($3,500)
Donovan Walton ($3,000)
The A’s have dropped two of three games in each of their first two series after the All-Star break, but they have scored 36 runs in their six games, so the offense is still rolling even though the pitching staff is struggling. They’ll be in a good spot against Zebby Matthews ($6,800), who has allowed 18 runs on 21 hits in 13 2/3 innings over his last three starts. He has allowed four homers in those three games with a 12.8% barrel rate against him. Lefties have a .360 wOBA against him on the year, and righties have eight of the 15 homers he has allowed.
As the core of the stack, both Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson come in on nice rolls. Langeliers has a seven-game hitting streak with three homers and a .499 wOBA, averaging 11.4 FPTS over those seven games. Wilson has also been heating up and bringing some power with his usual contact. He has hit safely in 10 straight games, averaging 11.0 FPTS per game while going 17-for-42 (.405) with three homers and a stolen base. He moved to the top of the lineup and can be a great play to build around.
Tyler Soderstrom has hit safely in six straight games, including two homers to get to 16 long balls on the season. He isn’t quite as consistent as Langeleiers or Wilson, but he does bring a high ceiling. Walton is a great value option to round out the stack at 2B if he’s in the lineup and is hitting .304 with three homers in his 38 games this season.
2. San Francisco Giants
Casey Schmitt ($4,500)
Luis Arraez ($4,500)
Rafael Devers ($4,300)
Willy Adames ($4,000)
Bryce Eldridge ($3,900)
Drew Gilbert ($3,300)
The Giants are coming home after dropping five straight to finish their road trip after the All-Star break. They’ll be in a good spot against Grayson Rodriguez ($5,800), who has battled multiple injuries this year and struggled to an 8.23 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in his eight starts when available. Rodriguez gave up six runs on seven hits, including a home run, in his first start after the break, and lefties have teed off on him this season, hitting .366 against him with a .244 ISO, a 60.3% hard-hit rate and a .436 wOBA.
Casey Schmitt is solid enough to include as the only righty in the stack, but the core of the stack is the lefty power bats against Rodriguez. Adames has 10+ FPTS in five of his last seven games, averaging 10.9 FPTS per game over that span. Devers hasn’t been quite as consistent but is averaging 7.6 FPTS over his last 10 games with three games of 14+ FPTS.
Bryce Eldridge has impressed as a rookie and has 10 homers in his 60 games since being called up to add more lefty pop. He is averaging 8.7 FPTS in his last 10 games with three homers in that span. Drew Gilbert is another young and affordable lefty with potential, although he has only averaged 3.1 FPTS over his last 10 games. He does have four homers in his 80 games, though, so there is some sneaky upside in using him as a wraparound stack if he’s hitting at the bottom of the lineup right in front of the strong hitters when the lineup flips.
3. St. Louis Cardinals
Jordan Walker ($5,400)
JJ Wetherholt ($5,000)
Alec Burleson ($4,500)
Masyn Winn ($3,300)
Blaze Jordan ($2,200)
The Reds and Cardinals meet in an NL Central contest in St. Louis, and if it stays dry, it’ll be a great place for the Cardinals to soar against Rhett Lowder ($6,200). The rookie moved to the Reds’ bullpen before the break but came back to the rotation for the second half, starting with his matchup against the Rockies last week. His return didn’t go well as he was knocked around for eight earned runs on 11 hits over just 2 1/3 innings. He comes into this start with a 5.75 ERA and nine homers against him in 17 games. Lefties have hit eight of the nine homers against him, with a .211 ISO and 13.8% barrel rate. While he has had some success at home, he is just 2-6 with an 8.27 ERA.
Leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt is a great place to start the stack, with 7+ FPTS in six of his last seven games, averaging 9.6 FPTS per game. He homered on Wednesday and picked up two more hts on Thursday for double-digit fantasy points in each game. Alec Burleson homered on Thursday and has 8+ FPTS in six of his last eight games, averaging 8.4 FPTS per contest.
Home Run Derby Champion Jordan Walker hasn’t homered since he earned the title, but he has still been productive with three games of double-digit FPTS in his last five contests. Masyn Winn and Blaze Jordan are affordable ways to round out the stack of Cards with high ceilings if they go off. Jordan flashed his ceiling with 22 FPTS last Sunday while Winn had 11 and 14 FPTS in his first two games after the All-Star break.
