Stacking is an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. Correlation drives upside, giving your lineups a slate-winning ceiling when your stacks explode.
This piece will do the digging and the dirty work each day to determine which stacks are worth rostering on FanDuel's main slate. While we want upside, we also need to factor in game theory, especially in a sport as random as baseball.
Our MLB DFS heat map is a quick way to get a feel for the overall slate and which offenses are in a good spot. You can also check out our daily fantasy baseball projections to identify the slate's best bats.
Let's look at the top stacks for this main slate.
Boston Red Sox
For the third straight main slate, the Boston Red Sox have the top implied total. Boston brings a 5.92 implied total -- nearly a full run higher than anyone else's -- into a Fenway Park date with Austin Gomber, a left-hander who is sporting some miserable numbers, including a 5.50 SIERA and 14.0% strikeout rate.
Gomber is getting hammered by both lefties (.482 wOBA and 3.46 homers per nine) and righties (.397 wOBA and 2.08 homers per nine), so anyone in Boston's lineup is worth a look.
Justin Turner ($2,900) and Adam Duvall ($2,900) will be core pieces for me tonight. Both will hit in the heart of the order and have the platoon advantage. Duvall posted a .357 wOBA against lefties a year ago while Turner owns a gaudy .421 wOBA in the split in 2023. Their salaries can help you stack Boston and still get to Luis Castillo ($10,800), Tyler Glasnow ($10,100), Framber Valdez ($11,300) or Clayton Kershaw ($11,100).
Rob Refsnyder ($2,600) will be an elite value play if he's leading off, which has been the case recently when the Red Sox have gone up against a southpaw. Enrique Hernandez ($2,700) is another excellent value piece. He's eligible at three positions, and our model projects him as the slate's best point-per-dollar bat. Christian Arroyo ($2,200) donged two nights ago and also needs to be on the value radar.
Rafael Devers ($3,600) and Masataka Yoshida ($3,500) are fully viable despite the lefty-lefty matchup. The same goes for Alex Verdugo ($3,200), albeit to a lesser degree. Devers has a higher wOBA against lefties (.351) than righties (.334) so far this season along with a juicy 45.2% fly-ball rate in the split. He's a top-shelf play.
Tampa Bay Rays
The slate's second-highest implied total belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays (5.18), who are on the road versus Luis Medina.
Medina's first 34 2/3 MLB innings aren't going well. He's pitched to a 4.77 SIERA, 20.5% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. A 38.3% fly-ball rate has led to 2.60 dingers per nine, and it's unlikely Medina keeps Tampa's powerful lineup quiet on Tuesday.
The Rays have five guys salaried at $3,500 and above and only one projected starter under $3,000, which isn't ideal on a night when we have so many quality high-salary arms available to us. But if you can find the coin for Wander Franco ($3,800), Yandy Diaz ($3,800), Josh Lowe ($3,700) and Randy Arozarena ($3,900), they're stellar options. Our projections have Arozarena as the night's number-four bat.
Jose Siri ($3,500), Luke Raley ($3,200), Taylor Walls ($3,000) and Isaac Paredes ($3,300) are all solid plays. Raley and Paredes are eligible at two positions apiece and offer good pop at their midrange salaries. Walls is eligible at three spots and has amassed 7 dingers with 15 steals this season.
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are awfully handy tonight. Not only are they expected to do some damage (4.82 implied total), the Cubbies have just one hitter above $2,900, making them a great team to stack alongside an ace.
Chicago will take its hacks versus Osvaldo Bido, a 27-year-old righty who is making his MLB debut. Bido has some respectable strikeout numbers in Triple-A this season but also boasts an ugly 5.25 xFIP.
Nico Hoerner ($3,300) is the only Chicago hitter approaching high-salary status. He'll likely be in the leadoff spot and has shown good wheels this year with 15 steals.
Seiya Suzuki ($2,900), Dansby Swanson ($2,800), Ian Happ ($2,800) and Patrick Wisdom ($2,900) are forecasted to join Hoerner in the top five of the lineup, although Happ is an injury question mark. Of those four, Wisdom will be my priority despite his recent slump. He's got plenty of pop (14 homers) and can be deployed at either third base or outfield.
Christopher Morel ($2,800) would be much more appealing if he gets moved up in the order, something that may happen if Happ is out. Mike Tauchman ($2,400) and Trey Mancini ($2,500) are serviceable salary-savers who offer decent pop.
Other top options:Los Angeles Dodgers (vs. Mike Clevinger), Texas Rangers (vs. Reid Detmers)