On Saturday night, Major League Baseball wraps up a packed day of hardball with five games on the main DFS fantasy baseball slate. Two of the five games are the second of doubleheaders as two pairs of divisional foes finish out their twin bills on the night slate. Two of the games begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX, with three games in California starting just after 10:00 p.m. ET. Some of the matchups are especially favorable for offense, so let’s dive into the 10-team player pool and pick out a few MLB DFS stacks around this Saturday night.
- Baltimore Orioles: The O’s are at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park against Jack Perkins. Perkins has a 7.55 ERA and 6.34 FIP in his nine games since July 1, allowing 11 homers and an 11.0% barrel rate.
- Texas Rangers: The Rangers are in Milwaukee facing lefty Shane Drohan, who has allowed multiple runs in seven of his last eight appearances with a 5.18 ERA but just a 3.56 FIP. Righties have hit all nine of the homers against him with a .327 wOBA this year.
- San Francisco Giants: The Giants conclude their doubleheader against lefty Mitch Bratt and the D-backs. Bratt has allowed 20 runs in 39 2/3 innings this season with a 5.28 FIP. On the road, he is 0-2 with a 6.16 ERA and 6.29 FIP.
Before we break down all the selections for these contests, let’s define exactly what we’re searching for. An ideal target for an MLB DFS stack 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 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 for 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. Baltimore Orioles
Pete Alonso ($6,400)
Gunnar Henderson ($5,900)
Christian Encarnacion-Strand ($5,300)
Samuel Basallo ($4,800)
Coby Mayo ($4,100)
Dylan Beavers ($3,800)
The O’s took the first game of their series against the A’s in Sacramento, winning 4-3 in extra innings. Baltimore has won five of its last seven games and has scored 30 runs in the first four games on this road trip. On Saturday, they’ll face Jack Perkins either as a starter or a bulk reliever after an opener. Perkins has a 7.55 ERA and 6.34 FIP in his nine games since July 1, allowing 11 homers and an 11.0% barrel rate. Lefties and righties have pretty even splits against Perkins, but his home splits at Sutter Health Park make him a great option to stack against. In 50 innings at home, he has a 7.56 ERA and a .376 wOBA and 11 homers allowed.
Pete Alonso has been the Orioles’ best bat to build around most of the season, especially lately. He went 0-for-5 on Friday in the series opener, but he’s still averaging 12.1 FPTS per contest over his last 13 games while hitting .373 with a .495 wOBA, 64.1% hard-hit rate, and 15.4% barrel rate.
Some of the younger players have been stepping up lately alongside Alonso, with Encarnacion-Strand posting 7+ FPTS in four straight games and averaging 9.4 FPTS per game over his last 11. Mayo is another good option at the corner infield spots with 16+ FPTS in four of his last nine games, averaging 10.0 FPTS over his last 10 games. Lefty outfielder Dylan Beavers is even cheaper and has posted 7+ FPTS in seven of his last nine games, averaging 10.4 FPTS per contest.
Gunnar Henderson and Samuel Basallo bring good power potential from the left side, but haven’t been quite as hot lately. Henderson didn’t start on Friday, but he averaged 5.1 FPTS over his last 10 starts.
The O’s have plenty of power potential against Perkins and are a great steack to build around if you have the salary to pay up for production at Sutter Health Park.
2. Texas Rangers
Wyatt Langford ($4,900)
Ezequiel Duran ($3,900)
Jake Burger ($3,700)
Justin Foscue ($3,300)
Cody Freeman ($2,100)
Since the Orioles are a little pricey, let’s look at a great value option in the second of Saturday’s MLB DFS stacks. The Rangers are at American Family Field taking on the Brewers and lefty Shane Drohan ($7,900). Drohan has been solid overall but has been hittable lately, giving up multiple runs in seven of his last eight games with a 5.18 ERA and 3.56 FIP. He gave up eight hits in his last start against the Braves and has issued multiple walks in each of his last four outings. While the lefty has been solid against lefties, righties have posted a .327 wOBA and have hit all nine homers against him on the year. For that reason, I’m leaning on the Rangers’ righties for this stack.
Justin Foscue is a great place to start the stack against lefties since he usually hits at the top of the order and comes at a salary of only $3,300. He went off for 25 FPTS on Tuesday against the White Sox and has averaged 7.6 FPTS over his last nine games with three doubles and two homers. Foscue is hitting .308 this season against lefties with six of his nine homers on that side of the splits and a .418 wOBA and 11.7% barrel rate.
Wyatt Langford is a solid anchor for the stack after posting 10+ FPTS in four straight games before going 0-for-4 to start this series on Friday. Ezequiel Duran was also rolling before being held in check on Friday. He had averaged 12.4 FPTS in his seven games before posting that zero Friday.
As a bargain way to round out the stack, Cody Freeman is a solid punt play after posting at least 2.0 FPTS in eight straight games and averaging 4.9 FPTS over his last 10 games, with a pair of games with double-digit FPTS.
3. San Francisco Giants
Rafael Devers ($4,400)
Shay Whitcomb ($3,600)
Bryce Eldridge ($3,300)
Andrew Knizner ($3,200)
Jonah Cox ($3,100)
The Giants’ offense has gotten some momentum lately, with at least six runs in three straight games on their current homestand. Over their last 30 games, they have averaged 3.5 runs and posted a .307 xwOBA. While those numbers aren’t outstanding, they are significant improvements over their season average.
In the nightcap, the Giants take on lefty Mitch Bratt, who has allowed 20 runs in 39 2/3 innings this season with a 5.28 FIP. On the road, he is 0-2 with a 6.16 ERA and 6.29 FIP. Since Bratt is a lefty, the Giants’ righties are a great place to start this stack, which has a relatively low investment but brings plenty of potential, especially since the wind is expected to be blowing out to left-center.
I highlighted Jonah Cox as a great bargain play, likely from the leadoff spot. Devers is in a lefty-lefty matchup but has at least 7 FPTS in five straight games, including 18+ FPTS in three games with an average of 11.5 FPTS in his last 10 contests. Eldridge is also in a lefty-lefty contest, but he has been excellent lately, averaging 9.3 FPTS in 11 games and hitting safely in 10 of those 11 contests.
Andrew Knizner and Shay Whitcomb are righties with some potential upside who come with affordable salaries as well. Whitcomb had 23 FPTS on Wednesday and has been a top prospect for the Astros for the last few years. He hit .273 with a .338 wOBA in 81 games at Triple-A with 10 homers and 23 stolen bases, so he brings good dual-threat potential on Saturday night if he gestured the start against Bratt.
