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. We won't touch on the Coors game between the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants. The Rockies and Giants have two of the night's top implied totals, but you don't need me to tell you to get exposure to Coors.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oh, it's the Los Angeles Dodgers again. LA has the slate's top non-Coors implied total (6.09) for the second straight day. The Dodgers came through as a popular stack on Tuesday, plating eight runs, and they offer big-time upside again today as they're up against lefty Brandon Williamson.
Williamson has just 21 MLB innings to his name. Nothing in profile suggests he'll be able to quiet the Dodgers' deep and talented lineup. Williamson owns a 19.8% strikeout rate and 5.14 SIERA over those 21 MLB frames, and he wasn't missing many bats at Triple-A, either, recording a 16.4% strikeout rate across 34 innings there this year. Yikes.
We know the drill with the Dodgers -- you can stack them from top to bottom. They've got five guys with a salary of at least $3,800, and all five -- Freddie Freeman ($4,200), Mookie Betts ($4,000), J.D. Martinez ($4,000), Max Muncy ($3,800) and Will Smith ($3,900) -- are superb options.
Betts being eligible at short and second in addition to outfield feels like a cheat code. Freeman and Muncy are well worth a look despite the lefty-lefty matchup. Martinez and Smith will have the platoon advantage, a split in which Smith has killed it this year, amassing a .440 wOBA, 45.2% hard-hit rate and 54.8% fly-ball rate versus left-handers.
Miguel Vargas ($2,700) and Chris Taylor ($2,600) are sweet cap-relief choices who are projected to bat seventh and sixth, respectively. Taylor is a priority for me tonight. At times, he's hit higher up in the order against southpaws, and he's got a gaudy .425 wOBA, 43.3% hard-hit rate and 56.7% fly-ball rate in the split this campaign. Also, he's eligible at three positions (outfield, third and short).
Miguel Rojas ($2,200) and Jonny DeLuca ($2,000) could be in the lineup. Both should be on the dart-throw radar if they start, even if they occupy the final two spots in the order.
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels have a tasty home matchup versus Jameson Taillon.
After a quality season with the New York Yankees a year ago, Taillon's numbers look pretty rough so far in 2023, with the right-hander sporting a 4.45 SIERA and 9.2% swinging-strike rate. He's allowed a 45.0% fly-ball rate, which has led to just 1.22 dingers per nine because of a 9.3% homer-to-fly-ball (HR/FB) rate that is the lowest clip of Taillon's career. Once the HR/FB rate normalizes, Taillon is going to be in a world of trouble.
The Angels' 5.09 implied total is the night's fourth-highest, and whenever we're stacking the Angels, Shohei Ohtani ($3,800) and Mike Trout ($3,600) are the obvious top picks. Ohtani donged last night and is holding a .404 wOBA and 43.7% fly-ball rate versus righties. Trout has mashed his way to a .378 wOBA, 42.5% hard-hit rate and 46.9% fly-ball rate in righty-righty matchups.
Mickey Moniak ($3,000) was bumped out of the leadoff spot last night -- down to eighth -- and Taylor Ward ($2,900) was atop the lineup. That'll be a boon to Ward's outlook if it holds true today. He's got a 41.0% fly-ball rate against righties.
Brandon Drury ($3,000), Hunter Renfroe ($2,900) and Anthony Rendon ($2,700) are projected to join Ward, Trout and Ohtani in the top six of the lineup. Matt Thaiss ($2,600) and Jared Walsh ($2,300) are viable dart throws but may get pinch-hit for if they see a lefty later in the game.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The wheel of Patrick Corbin lands on the Arizona Diamondbacks today, and the delightful matchup results in Arizona being handed a 4.95 implied total.
Most times when Corbin throws, the offense facing him is a chalky stack. Arizona will definitely attract attention today, but they might not be super popular due to how many good offensive spots there are on this slate. The Snakes also have just one expected starter above $3,300 in salary, so they check a few boxes.
Corbin's 4.84 SIERA and 14.0% strikeout rate are career-worst marks. Righties will be my focus as they have a .359 wOBA against him and have slugged 1.78 jacks per nine.
Christian Walker ($3,100) has two-homer upside in this matchup and is someone I want to be overweight on today. He's been outstanding with the platoon advantage this year, registering a .429 wOBA and 40.0% hard-hit rate in the split.
Ketel Marte ($3,300), Emmanuel Rivera ($2,600) and Evan Longoria ($2,700) will hit from the right side versus Corbin. Our model has Longoria as the night's top point-per-dollar bat. He's got a .387 wOBA, 54.1% hard-hit rate and 40.5% fly-ball rate with the platoon advantage. Rivera has been hitting second against southpaws, and Marte -- who has nine jacks and six steals -- has been in the leadoff spot.
Corbin Carroll ($3,700) needs to be on our radar in spite of the lefty-lefty matchup. He's been amazing this season, totaling 10 jacks with 17 steals, and he's a -135 frontrunner to be the NL Rookie of the Year, per the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.