On Saturday night, Major League Baseball has nine games on the main DFS fantasy baseball slate, which gets underway at 7:05 p.m. ET. While there are a few strong starting pitchers on the mound, it looks like a good night for some offensive production with a number of great spots to attack. In this post, we’ll look at the 18 teams on the schedule and pick out a few MLB DFS stacks to build your fantasy baseball lineup around this Saturday night.
- Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays face veteran righty Seth Lugo, who has allowed 5+ ER in four of his last six starts with an 8.31 ERA. Lefties have hit him well all season, so several Jays can be great value plays.
- Seattle Mariners: The Mariners’ offense gets another strong matchup against the A’s, facing lefty Jeffrey Springs who has been hittable all year, giving up a league-leading 33 home runs.
- Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox face Chris Bassitt, who they have handed four losses in his last five starts against them. The veteran has a 4.24 ERA and 5.27 xERA since coming off the IL and the Red Sox have good numbers against him.
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. Toronto Blue Jays
George Springer ($4,400)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($4,000)
Kazuma Okamoto ($3,800)
Alejandro Kirk ($3,700)
Brett Bateman ($3,300)
Nathan Lukes ($2,700)
The Blue Jays have surged back into the AL Wild Card picture, winning six of their last seven games. They have 26 runs in their last three games after scoring nine in Kansas City to start this series with a win on Friday. On Saturday, they’ll face Seth Lugo ($6,000), who has allowed at least five earned runs in four of his last six starts with an 8.31 ERA over that span. Lefties are hitting .300 against Lugo this season with a .364 wOBA and 10 of the 18 homers he has allowed. Lugo did allow just one run in five innings against the Jays in Toronto a couple of starts ago,
Springer has at least 9 FPTS in six of his last seven games, averaging 13.1 FPTS per game over that span. He has been critical to the Jays’ surge, hitting .404 with a .468 wOBA over his last 15 games. Guerrero hasn’t been hot for quite as long, but he did have 30 FPTS on Wednesday and has averaged 7.5 FPTS in his last 10 games.
Kirk is a solid play behind the plate and went 2-for-5 with 14 FPTS on Friday in the series opener. He has averaged 9.2 FPTS in his last five games with three games of double-digit FPTS. Okamoto is another solid mid-range option who can boost the upside of the Blue Jays’ build in Saturday’s MLB DFS stacks.
For value plays, lefties Bateman and Lukes are both great value options. I highlighted Bateman in my top MLB DFS value plays of the day, and he’ll look to keep rolling after averaging 9.9 FPTS in his last nine games. Lukes is another solid way to attack Lugo’s splits with a lefty since he has averaged 8.7 FPTS over his last 10 games and is available with a salary under $3,000.
2. Seattle Mariners
Randy Arozarena ($5,200)
Cal Raleigh ($4,600)
Julio Rodriguez ($4,500)
Taylor Ward ($3,500)
Cole Young ($3,000)
Weston Wilson ($2,800)
The Mariners’ offense has scored 10 runs in the first two games of their series against the A’s and put up 35 runs in their last five games this week. However, they have dropped the first two games of the series and need a bounce-back win if they want to avoid fading even further out of the AL Wild Card race. They have a favorable matchup against lefty Jeffrey Springs ($5,800), so getting some of their right-handed bats in your MLB DFS stacks for Saturday night makes sense. Springs has allowed 33 home runs this season, tied for the most in the MLB. He has a 6.37 ERA and 6.28 FIP in his 25 starts, with a 1.50 WHIP and 9.6% barrel rate against him.
The Mariners scored five runs in five innings against him earlier this season, handing him one of his 13 losses. Springs has also lost three of his last four starts, giving up six homers with a 7.83 FIP and 1.74 WHIP over those four starts.
Arozarena and Raleigh have been two of the team’s hottest hitters, and they’re solid places to start this stack. Arozarena is one of my top home run props, coming in after averaging 16.4 FPTS over his last five games and 9.4 FPTS in his last 19. Arozarena has both power and speed potential with 22 homers and 20 stolen bases on the season, and he has produced 9.5 FPTS in his eight games this year against the A’s. Raleigh had another home run on Friday night and has at least 9 FPTS in four of his last six games, averaging 13.8 FPTS over those six contests and 14.9 FPTS over his last 10.
Julio Rodriguez had 28 FPTS on Friday and has at least 7 FPTS in four of his five games, and he typically hits lefties like Springs well. Taylor Ward is also a hitter who usually produces against lefties, although he has yet to really thrive since joining Seattle at the trade deadline.
Cole Young and Weston Wilson are value plays who can help round out the Mariners option in Saturday’s MLB DFS Stacks as affordable infield options. Young has at least 6 FPTS in four of his last five games and has averaged 5.8 FPTS over his last 10 contests. Wilson has been starting against lefties and had 12 FPTS with a pair of hits in his last game, which was on Wednesday against the Red Sox.
3. Boston Red Sox
Wilyer Abreu ($5,500)
Roman Anthony ($5,000)
Nick Sogard ($4,000)
Adley Rutschman ($3,900)
Mickey Gasper ($3,700)
Eli White ($2,500)
The Red Sox are another offense with a very favorable matchup as they take on veteran Chris Bassitt ($6,500) in Baltimore. Bassitt has gone 6-4 with a 4.97 ERA in his 16 games this season for the O’s, but the Red Sox beat him earlier this season with three runs on six hits in three innings and last season, they scored nine runs on eight hits against him in just two innings. He is 0-4 in his last five career appearances against Boston, and several of their batters have strong numbers against him. Bassitt gave up five runs to the A’s in his last start and has a 4.24 ERA and 5.27 xERA in his four starts since returning from the IL in mid-August.
The Red Sox only got one run on Friday in their win over Baltimore, but they still have been one of the most productive offenses in baseball since catching fire in July. Wilyer Abreu is the anchor of the offense with Willson Contreras (hamstring) on the injured list, and Abreu is 8-for-16 with two doubles and two homers against Bassitt in their past meetings. The other pay-up play to consider due to his upside is Roman Anthony, who is 10-for-26 (.385) in his six games since coming off the IL with two homers and an average of 12.2 FPTS per game.
Nick Sogard was the hero in the first game of this series with a late home run and 18 FPTS on Thursday. He has averaged 8.3 FPTS over his last eight games, while moving all over the infield. Adley Rutschman was another key contributor on Friday with a pair of homers and 30 FPTS. He’s been boom-or-bust in his time in Boston but brings upside against his former squad and a pitcher he caught for most of the season. Rutschman is 5-for-16 with three doubles against Bassitt in the past.
Mickey Gasper homered for the only run on Friday, finishing with 19 FPTS. Since rejoining the team in Mid-August, he is 17-for 45 (.378) with eight homers and an impressive .606 wOBA. He’s a good, affordable option in the stack, which you can round out with Eli White, who has been regularly starting in place of Ceddanne Rafaela (quadriceps). White has elite speed and has been hitting ninth, putting him on base in front of the big bats when the lineup turns over. White is 5-for-11 with two doubles against Bassit in their past meetings.
