Monday starts off another great week of Major League Baseball action with nine games on the main MLB DFS schedule, which starts at 7:05 p.m. ET after the three-game early turbo slate. With 18 teams in the player pool, there are some great matchups and situations to attack as you build your MLB stacks for this Monday night.
In case you’re new to the term, “stacking” is a strategy in fantasy baseball that refers to adding multiple players from the same team’s lineup. MLB stacks work because of the way fantasy baseball scoring awards multiple players for the same run-scoring event. It makes sense to include multiple players from the same team on your roster to create a positive correlation between your players’ production, and if you can find the right matchup, they can all deliver big games by boosting each other’s output. Increasing the connectedness of your lineup raises both the ceiling and the risk in your roster, but it can pay off if you find the best MLB stacks on the board.
As we look at the nine matchups on Monday’s main slate, check out these three top MLB stacks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Knuckleball [$50K to 1st]!
1. Philadelphia Phillies
Kyle Schwarber ($6,400)
Bryce Harper ($6,100)
Trea Turner ($5,900)
Nick Castellanos ($5,200)
Weston Wilson ($3,600)
The Phillies are an obvious and high-priced play on Monday as they start their series at Coors Field, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be the right play as well. They’ll head to elevation and take on Rockies’ starter Kyle Freeland ($5,000), who had a 6.15 ERA but only a 3.29 FIP. Freeland has given up 23 runs (17 earned) in his 15 2/3 innings at Coors Field this year. Most of the damage inflicted against him were by right-handed hitters, who have a .355 batting average, three homers, and a .382 wOBA in the splits.
Turner and Castellanos are the two right-handed bats who are especially attractive, while Schwarber and Harper bring enough upside to use even though they’re lefties. Both Schwarber and Harper have flashed plenty of power potential and have produced over 8.0 fantasy points per game over their last 10 contests. Turner is hitting .354 over his last 19 games with five extra-base hits and four stolen bases. He’s also 10-for-37 with two homers against Freeland in their past meetings. Castellanos is 4-for-17, but three of those four hits have been home runs.
Weston Wilson could be a sneaky way to get a wraparound stack against Freeland, since he has stepped into a platoon role against lefties. Wilson has played eight games since returning from an oblique injury and gone 4-for-14 (.286) with a home run and a .440 xwOBA based on his 66.7% hard-hit rate.
2. Los Angeles Angels
Zach Neto ($4,800)
Yoan Moncada ($4,400)
Taylor Ward ($3,500)
Nolan Schanuel ($3,000)
Matthew Lugo ($2,600)
While it’s no Coors Field, Sutter Health Park has been a very hitter-friendly place for MLB Stacks this season. Since the Phillies are so expensive, you may have to blend them with a low-priced option like the Angels, who are in a good matchup against J.T. Ginn ($6,700), who is coming off the IL. Ginn had a 4.61 ERA and 6.23 FIP in his three starts before landing on the IL with elbow inflammation. In his rehab start last week, he only pitched 3 1/3 innings, so he probably isn’t ready for a full workload, meaning more exposure for the A’s bullpen in this matchup.
Neto has been excellent in the leadoff spot for the Angels, who have been productive without Mike Trout over the last week, even though their strikeout rate remains high. Neto had 10+ fantasy points in five of his last six games, averaging 14.2 fantasy points per game. Moncada has averaged 8.8 fantasy points per game over his last 11, and Ward has six homers in his last 12 contests, averaging 11.7 fantasy points over that span.
Lugo is a great value to mix in as well since he has made a nice splash, going 9-for-25 with two doubles, a triple and three home runs to average 9.0 fantasy points per game in his nine games in the majors. I also highlight Schanuel as one of my top three values of the day.
3. Tampa Bay Rays
Yandy Diaz ($4,300)
Junior Caminero ($4,200)
Chandler Simpson ($3,800)
Christopher Morel ($3,700)
Jose Caballero ($3,600)
The Rays are another affordable option in MLB stacks that can fit alongside the Phillies or whoever else you want to pay up for Monday night. The Rays are at “home” at George M. Steinbrenner Field as they welcome in the Astros, who give the ball to lefty Colton Gordon ($6,000) for the second start of his MLB career. In his debut, he gave up three runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Royals, with only two whiffs in his 85 pitches. He looked better in Triple-A but may need to make some adjustments to find MLB success.
Diaz missed the Rays’ series in Toronto with passport issues, but hit safely in all three of his games against the Marlins, going 4-for-13 with four RBI in the Citrus Series. Caminero has hit .298 at home with seven of his eight home runs boosting his home wRC+ to 149, which is a remarkable contrast to his 1 wRC+ on the road (no, that’s not a misprint–it’s literally 1).
Simpson, Caballero, and Morel are all solid mid-range options with good upside. Simpson scraped his face and hand on Saturday, diving into home plate. He sat out Sunday and may get another day off Monday but will have good upside if he plays after hitting .333 (12-for-36) with three doubles, three stolen bases and 7.9 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests. Caballero had two stolen bases Saturday and has hit safely in five straight starts.
