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.
Minnesota Twins
Going by implied totals, there are two offenses well clear of the pack today. We'll cover both of them.
The Minnesota Twins carry the slate's top implied total -- a 5.34 clip -- into their date with Kansas City Royals lefty Austin Cox. A starter in the minors, Cox has spent most of his MLB time working as a reliever. He made his first big-league start last week, and it didn't go well, as he was tagged for four runs over 3 2/3 frames, walking four and giving up one dinger. Overall this year, he's got a 4.50 SIERA and is permitting a 42.1% fly-ball rate.
Weather is going to be a factor, and it is something we need to keep an eye on. There's a chance for rain, but if the rain holds off, it should be a pretty dope environment for offense because it's humid and the wind is blowing out.
The Twins have no one salaried above $3,100, so they're easy to love and will likely be chalky.
Byron Buxton ($3,100) will have the platoon advantage against Cox and is showing a gaudy 52.9% fly-ball rate this season. Carlos Correa ($2,900) is also at the top of my Minnesota wishlist. He owns a 40.7% fly-ball rate against southpaws this year and might be leading off.
Donovan Solano ($2,500) and Willi Castro ($2,700) are forecasted to hit second and fifth, respectively. Castro is a handy piece. He can be deployed at short, third and outfield, and he's been running, swiping 15 bags this season.
Kyle Farmer ($2,300), Michael Taylor ($2,300), Jose Miranda ($2,000) and Ryan Jeffers ($2,200) are plenty viable as value plays. Farmer hit fourth the last time the Twins faced a lefty, and Jeffers is the top point-per-dollar bat, according to our model.
Atlanta Braves
Man, the Atlanta Braves are just dominating on offense.
They have mashed their way to an MLB-best .402 wOBA over the last 14 days. The next-best clip is .369. They have a not-that-easy matchup today against Gavin Williams, a hot-shot rookie, but they're getting a 4.94 implied total. Plus, we just saw them knock out another quality rookie, Eury Perez, in the first inning last week.
Williams, a right-hander, was electric in Triple-A this year, recording a 33.3% strikeout rate and 15.4% swinging-strike rate across 46 innings. His MLB sample is only 12 2/3 innings, so we can't pull much from that. With that said, he's giving up a 48.4% fly-ball rate with a 9.1% swinging-strike rate -- which is to say that he hasn't been amazing.
Ronald Acuna Jr. ($4,800) and Matt Olson ($4,400) are two of the slate's top-four sticks, per our numbers. Acuna's salary is a little shocking at first glance, but he has a .463 expected wOBA (xwOBA) with 21 taters and 39 steals. He's been unbelievable. Olson has posted a .389 xwOBA with 28 homers and will have the platoon advantage against Williams.
Michael Harris II ($3,000) and Eddie Rosario ($3,100) are two left-handed bats who come at modest salaries. Rosario has a nice batted-ball profile against righties, amassing a 38.0% hard-hit rate and 38.9% fly-ball rate in the split. Ozzie Albies ($3,600), Sean Murphy ($3,700) and Austin Riley ($3,700) are worth a long look, too. Our model has all of Ozuna, Albies, Harris and Riley projected for double-digit FanDuel points.