Major League Baseball has a nine-game MLB DFS slate on DraftKings this Saturday night, with seven of the nine games starting shortly after contests lock at 7:10 p.m. ET. Weather doesn’t look like it will impact the games on the main slate significantly, with either clear skies or roofs for all nine of the matchups. The scoreboard offers a nice blend of fantasy baseball options on the mound and at the plate. As you assemble your squad this Saturday, let’s spotlight a few of the top offensive lineups to build around in Saturday night’s MLB DFS Stacks.
- St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals take on lefty Kyle Freeland, who is 3-10 in 20 starts with a 6.81 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He has been more hittable on the road than at Coors Field, and the Cardinals will be looking to win their fifth game in their last six.
- Detroit Tigers: The Tigers take on Landen Roupp and the Giants. Roupp has lost back-to-back starts and allowed nine runs in 8 1/3 innings with a 2.04 WHIP in that short span.
- Chicago Cubs: The surging Cubs take on veteran Seth Lugo in K.C. Lugo has allowed 32 runs in 43 1/3 innings over his last eight starts, with a 5.82 ERA and 5.49 FIP and 1.48 WHIP.
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. St. Louis Cardinals
Jordan Walker ($5,300)
JJ Wetherholt ($5,000)
Ivan Herrera ($4,200)
Masyn Winn ($3,400)
Blaze Jordan ($2,400)
The Cardinals won a close 3-2 game over the Rockies on Friday and have won four of their last five games. Jordan Walker returned to the lineup after missing a few games and Ivan Herrera went yard. On Saturday, they’ll take on lefty Kyle Freeland, who is 3-10 in 20 starts with a 6.81 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He has actually struggled more on the road than at home at Coors Field, and he had allowed 19 runs in 22 1/3 innings in four starts before a strong outing last Sunday against the Royals.
Freeland has been hittable by lefties and righties, but aside from JJ Wetherholt, I’m sticking to the right side for this stack. Wetherholt has been extremely productive out of the leadoff spot all season, averaging 8.0 FPTS per game and 7.3 FPTS per game over his last 10. Walker had a hit in his return to extend his current hitting streak to seven games and is averaging 6.0 FPTS per game during that stretch.
Herrera’s homer gave him over 10 FPTS in two of his last four games and boosted his average to 6.9 FPTS over his last nine contests. Herrera is 2-for-6 with a homer in his past matchups with Freeland as well.
I highlighted Jordan in my value plays for the day, and Winn is also an interesting affordable option since he is hitting lefties well this season, with a .292 batting avreage and .327 wOBA on that side of his splits.
2. Detroit Tigers
Dillon Dingler ($5,500)
Kevin McGonigle ($5,000)
Max Clark ($3,200)
Colt Keith ($3,100)
Zach McKinstry ($2,600)
Even after losing on Friday, the Tigers are 5-2 in their seven games on their current road trip. The offense has scored at least eight runs in seven of their last nine games, and even in Friday’s loss they piled up 11 hits even though they only scored twice. On Saturday, they’ll get a solid matchup against Landen Roupp ($7,100), who has struggled in two straight outings, giving up nine runs in 8 1/3 innings with a 2.04 WHIP in that short span.
The two big pay-up anchors for the Tigers’ option in Saturday’s MLB DFS stacks are McGonigle and Dingler. McGonigle had 13 FPTS on Friday after 25 FPTS on Thursday and is averaging an impressive 12.8 FPTS over his last 10 games. The rookie has flashed good power to go with his speed and contact production at the top of the lineup, making him an excellent play to build around.
Dingler is averaging 11.6 FPTS over his last 10 games with four homers during that stretch, giving him 26 homers on the season. My son keeps trying to convince me that the “l” in his last name is silent, and I’m starting to agree with him based on the backstop’s power production.
The Tigers stack also has good value plays with recent call-up Max Clark averaging 9.1 FPTS per game since arriving in the majors and even lefties Keith and McKinstry chipping in excellent production lately. Keith is averaging 8.6 FPTS per game and McKinstry is averaging 8.3 FPTS over their last 10 contests.
3. Chicago Cubs
Pete Crow-Armstrong ($6,500)
Seiya Suzuki ($5,400)
Alex Bregman ($4,200)
Dansby Swanson ($3,700)
Pedro Ramirez ($3,200)
The Cubs knocked off the Royals, 6-4, on Friday in Kevin Gausman’s Cubs debut, and they’ll add another trade deadline acquisition to the rotation with Clay Holmes ($8,300) starting Saturday. The Cubs should be able to back him up with good run support against Royals veteran Seth Lugo ($6,400). Lugo has allowed 32 runs in 43 1/3 innings over his last eight starts, posting a 5.82 ERA and 5.49 FIP. Lefties are hitting .283 with a .351 wOBA against him, and righties have more homers even though they have about half as many plate appearances.
I highlighted Suzuki in my home run props today, and he can be a great fantasy option at the top of the order right behind PCA, who has 15+ FPTS in four straight games and is averaging 14.7 FPTS over his last 10 games. He and Suzuki are a strong 1-2 punch with huge upside as the core of the Cubs stack, but they are expensive options in the outfield.
Bregman, Swanson and Ramirez have also shown upside lately. Bregman had 24 FPTS on Thursday and has at least 7 FPTS in four of his last five games, averaging 8.5 FPTS over his last 10. Swanson has had a couple of down games after averaging 16 FPTS per game in his team’s three-game sweep of the Dodgers to start the week. Ramirez is an even cheaper option, but the rookie homered and had 19 FPTS on Friday and is averaging 6.3 FPTS per game over his last 10 games and 8.0 FPTS in his 17 road games this season. The 22-year-old is slashing .300/.355/.445 with eight doubles, five steals, 15 RBIs and 17 runs to average 5.7 FPTS in his first 43 MLB contests.
