Major League Baseball has an 11-game MLB DFS slate on DraftKings this Saturday night after a few afternoon contests to get the action started. Tarik Skubal leads a strong group of starting pitchers on the mound, but there are a few very attractive matchups to attack as well. With 22 teams to choose from, let’s dig in and find a few of the top offensive lineups to build MLB DFS stacks around on Saturday.
- San Diego Padres: The Padres lead the MLB in team batting average and team wRC+ since the All-Star break and have scored the fifth-most runs with the second-highest wOBA. They have a good matchup against Dean Kremer, who pitches to plenty of contact.
- Texas Rangers: The Rangers have won 4 of 6 games and face Ryan Johnson, who is 0-4 with an 8.20 ERA on the road, allowing 7 HR in 6 road games.
- Cleveland Guardians: The matchup and weather aren’t perfect, but it’s still Coors Field. Gabriel Hughes has allowed 14 runs in his last two starts, so even though the rookie righty has solid overall numbers, the Guardians still should be able to light up the scoreboard in Denver.
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. San Diego Padres
Fernando Tatis Jr. ($5,900)
Jackson Merrill ($4,700)
Ty France ($4,200)
Jake Cronenworth ($3,500)
Gavin Sheets ($2,800)
Since the All-Star break, the Padres have the best team batting average and highest team wRC+ in the MLB and have scored the fifth-most runs with the second-highest wOBA. They took the first game of their series against the Twins with six runs on Friday and get another good matchup on Saturday, facing Dean Kremer ($7,400), who typically pitches to lots of contact. In his 10 MLB starts with the Twins and Orioles, he has a 5.40 ERA and 5.17 FIP. He has allowed 13 homers, with lefties hitting .245 with a .345 wOBA. Righties actually have a higher barrel rate at 10.9%, so both sides of the splits get the green light in this matchup.
Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to be the key contributor in this offense and is the right starting spot for a Padres stack on Saturday. He had 15 FPTS with three hits on Friday and is averaging 11.8 FPTS over his last 10 games. He has two homers and four stolen bases during that stretch and brings both power and speed potential as a key centerpiece to build around on Saturday.
Jackson Merrill has been quiet this week but was rolling before that, and now that he gets to take on a righty, he is in a nice bounce-back spot against Kremer. He also brings a very high ceiling if you have the salary to afford him. Ty France is a little cheaper and is coming off 22 FPTS on Friday when he hit his 18th homer of the season and walked twice. France is averaging 8.8 FPTS over his last 10 games.
To save salary, Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets are strong value options from the left-hand side to finish out the stack, especially if Cronenworth hits second in the batting order. After a slow start, Cronenworth has picked things up since early July and is averaging 6.7 FPTS over his last 10 games. Sheets has been crowded out for playing time in the second half but still has good power potential if he’s in the lineup against Kremer.
2. Texas Rangers
Corey Seager ($4,900)
Jake Burger ($4,400)
Ezequiel Duran ($4,300)
Justin Foscue ($3,600)
Evan Carter ($2,900)
The Rangers start the day alone in the third AL Wild Card spot with a favorable matchup against the Angels. They won the series opener on Friday, 2-1 in extra innings. It took them until the 10th inning to get on the board, even though they did rack up 11 hits. The Rangers have now won four of their last six games, even though their offense has still been uneven.
On Saturday night, though, they’re worth considering as a value stack since they face Ryan Johnson ($5,200). The 24-year-old Johnson is a prospect that has long-term potential, but this season he is 2-7 with a 6.41 ERA. On the road, he has been an even better matchup, going 0-4 with an 8.20 ERA and seven homers against him in six road starts. Both lefties and righties have hit him well and his .408 road wOBA against him makes him a great option to stack against on Saturday night.
I highlighted Corey Seager in my home run props, and he’s a strong place to start the stack after his recent success. He is on a five-game streak of multiple hits, averaging 10.2 FPTS, and I like his chances to go yard on Saturday, which would also make him a great fantasy option under $5,000.
Jake Burger has two games with 20+ FPTS in his last six games, averaging 9.0 FPTS per contest. Ezequiel Duran has also been good lately, posting 22 FPTS on Thursday and 14 FPTS on Friday with multiple hits in each game. Duran has averaged 8.1 FPTS per game at home this season and the switch-hitter has both power and speed upside.
For value plays to finish out the Rangers’ options in MLB DFS stacks, Justin Foscue and Evan Carter both have good potential. Foscue homered on Tuesday and has an .800 OPS for the season, while Carter is even cheaper and had two hits on his way to 10 FPTS in Friday’s win. Even though he’s still only hitting .197, Carter has enough power and speed potential to be worth a flier under $3,000 if you have to go cheap to finish your stack.
3. Cleveland Guardians
Jose Ramirez ($5,900)
Chase DeLauter ($5,000)
Jo Adell ($4,600)
Steven Kwan ($4,000)
Nathaniel Lowe ($3,900)
The Guardians are at Coors Field, so even though the weather and the matchup aren’t perfect, they’re a solid stackable option after they piled up nine runs in their win on Friday night. They are much more expensive than the Rangers, but they bring a high enough ceiling to still be a good option.
They’ll be facing Gabriel Hughes ($5,100), who has solid numbers overall but has allowed seven runs in four innings in each of his last two starts. Hughes is a righty who lefties have hit .286 against with a .337 wOBA. The Guardians are well-stocked with lefties, and they have the potential to rack up runs again on Saturday against Hughes and the struggling Rockies bullpen.
Jose Ramirez is still not quite right since his hand injury but he always brings a very high ceiling with both power and speed. Chase DeLauter is a more in-form centerpiece to build around after he returned from missing a few games with a hamstring injury. The rookie went 1-for-3 with a walk in his return and is averaging 7.9 FPTS over his last 10 games.
While Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe have both infused some nice power production since their arrival, the Guardians’ best hitter lately has been Steven Kwan. Kwan is 26-for-72 (.361) in his last 19 games with two doubles, one homer and one stolen base. He has averaged 8.8 FPTS over his last 10 games and has 11+ FPTS in four of his last six. From the leadoff spot, he should be right in the middle of whatever run production the Guardians can get together against Hughes on Saturday night.
