clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Fantasy Baseball Stacks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Offenses to Target for September 18

Garion Thorne gives his top offenses to target for Friday’s DraftKings MLB slate, which locks at 7:10 p.m. ET.

Los Angeles Dodgers v San Francisco Giants - Game One Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

It’s Friday, and if there’s anything that poet laureate Rebecca Black taught us about this day, it’s that everyone is looking forward to the weekend. Still, I urge you to not get ahead of yourself. There’s a whole 12-game featured MLB slate to take down and you’re not going to be able to do that if you’re strictly thinking about partyin’ (yeah) and fun.

Instead, you need to be focused on which offenses you want to be stacking this evening and, thankfully, I’ve got you covered.

Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $150K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]


1. Los Angeles Dodgers

After scoring nine runs in the altitude last night, the Dodgers remain the top stacking option on Friday’s slate. It’s not really all that difficult to see why, either. Not only does Dave Roberts have one of the deepest lineups in all of baseball, but said lineup will get to face Ryan Castellani ($6,300). Dating back to Aug. 19 — a span of six appearances and 25.2 innings for the right-hander — Castellani has been absolutely atrocious. In fact, he’s surrendered a jaw-dropping 2.81 home runs per nine in that stretch, while also pitching to a .414 wOBA and an 8.34 FIP. To be perfectly blunt, Castellani doesn’t currently belong at the major league level and that’s an especially bad space to occupy when Los Angeles happens to be in the opponent’s dugout.

Players to Consider

Mookie Betts ($6,000)
Cody Bellinger ($5,800)
Corey Seager ($5,300)
Justin Turner ($5,200)
Will Smith ($4,800)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Smith and Turner are not in the lineup for tonight’s game vs. the Rockies.


Curious about when major leagues and events will return? Check out our DraftKings Sports Calendar for the latest updates.


2. New York Yankees

You can never be completely sure which version of Martin Perez ($6,900) is going to show up on a given night, but one of the biggest indicators of his success so far this year has been location. When the left-hander has had to toe the rubber in Boston, he’s compiled a 5.48 ERA with just a 14.6% strikeout rate. That’s simply not going to get it done against a Yankees’ attack that has managed at least six home runs in three-straight games. Of course, the other issue facing Perez is his handedness. Few teams in baseball can tout more right-handed power than New York and that fact is evidenced by the roster’s RHBs hitting to a .237 ISO and a .133 wRC+ within the split so far this season. The scariest part? That’s with just 27 combined plate appearances from Aaron Judge ($5,000) and Giancarlo Stanton ($4,300) — who are both now healthy.

Players to Consider

DJ LeMahieu ($5,600)
Luke Voit ($5,300)
Aaron Judge ($5,000)
Gio Urshela ($4,500)
Giancarlo Stanton ($4,300)


3. Atlanta Braves

Coming into tonight’s matchup with Steven Matz ($6,400), it’s fair to suggest that the Braves have not maximized their potential against left-handed opponents so far this season. In fact, while Atlanta possesses an MLB-best .364 wOBA when opposed by an RHP, that number falls to a below-average .297 when going up versus a southpaw. Still, that’s not enough to scare me off of this spot. While Matz is a lefty, he’s just been terrible in 2020, pitching to a robust 8.63 ERA and surrendering 3.38 home runs per nine in his 24.0 innings of work. He also hasn’t faced more than three batters since Aug. 15, so I very much doubt he’s going to be going deep into this ball game. That means we’ll get to see a lot of a Mets’ bullpen that’s posted a 5.07 xFIP across the past 30 days. Sounds tempting, right?

Players to Consider

Ronald Acuna Jr. ($5,800)
Freddie Freeman ($5,700)
Marcell Ozuna ($4,900)
Travis d’Arnaud ($4,700)
Ozzie Albies ($4,500)


4. Los Angeles Angels

I sort of feel for Angels fans. I mean, for as blessed as they’ve been to get to watch Mike Trout ($5,900) play baseball every day for the past decade, we’re starting to get to a point in the team’s playoff drought where the word “curse” is appropriate. Case and point: This truncated 2020 campaign. Los Angeles got off to a horrendous start to the season that essentially shot down any World Series hopes before they could even get off the ground. It’s a pity, too, because this lineup has finally been living up to its potential in September. Only four teams come into play on Friday with a better wRC+ in the month (129), while the Angels’ strikeout rate is also the lowest in baseball over that span (18.2%). Needless to say, I don’t have a lot of faith that Texas’ combination of Jimmy Herget ($4,000) and Wes Benjamin ($5,900) will slow them down; especially with the Rangers’ bullpen owning an ugly 5.03 xFIP.

Players to Consider

Mike Trout ($5,900)
Anthony Rendon ($5,700)
David Fletcher ($5,300)
Shohei Ohtani ($4,700)
Jared Walsh ($4,000)

Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $150K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]


Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game.


I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is theglt13) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.