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, which starts at 6:40 p.m. EST.
New York Yankees
As of early Thursday, the New York Yankees have the night's top implied total, as they're showing a 4.72 clip for their home matchup against Kyle Gibson.
A veteran right-hander, Gibson has put up some very attackable numbers so far in 2023, including a 4.80 SIERA and 16.7% strikeout rate. Lefties are destroying him to the tune of a .398 wOBA, and righties are posting a 40.0% fly-ball rate, giving us a lot of flexibility with our Yankees stacks.
Aaron Judge ($4,500) is the obvious top option for the Bronx Bombers, and he might end up being the slate's most popular bat. The $4,500 salary is up there, but you could argue he's under-salaried as Judge has 14 dingers and a .471 expected wOBA (xwOBA). Whew. Our model ranks him as the night's best hitter.
The rest of the Yankees are salaried at $3,300 or lower, so they're not a bad fit alongside one of Lucas Giolito ($10,000) or Logan Gilbert ($10,600), the night's standout hurlers, especially if you fade Judge.
Anthony Rizzo ($3,300) owns a gaudy .465 wOBA at home versus right-handers this year, and he's one of my favorite plays of the night. Gleyber Torres ($3,200) donged twice yesterday while DJ LeMahieu ($2,800) is eligible at three positions. That trio plus Judge is projected to occupy the first four spots in the lineup.
Lefties Jake Bauers ($2,500) and Willie Calhoun ($2,400) are superb value plays if they're in the lineup.
Milwaukee Brewers
On a night when we need to save a little salary with our stacks to plug in one of Gilbert or Giolito, the Milwaukee Brewers are a perfect offense to target. The Brew Crew have no one salaried over $3,300 and just two bats are at $3,000 or above.
Milwaukee is hosting the San Francisco Giants, who are expected to deploy left-hander Scott Alexander as an opener in what might be a full-on bullpen game. Stacking the opposing offense in this situation is a little tricky, especially when it's a team that has a couple of platoon hitters like Milwaukee does. But on a night without any true smash spots outside of the Yankees, I'm willing to roll the dice on the Brewers.
Christian Yelich ($3,300) and Willy Adames ($2,900) should play the whole game regardless of who follows Alexander, and they're likely to hit first and second, respectively. Yelich's .378 xwOBA looks a lot better than his .330 wOBA, and he's running more this year, swiping 10 bags already. Adames is off to a sluggish start but still has nine jacks and four steals.
If Rowdy Tellez ($3,000) is in the starting lineup despite his first plate appearance coming versus a southpaw, he'll likely play the whole game, and the same goes for fellow left-hander Jesse Winker ($2,400).
Owen Miller ($2,800) has become a regular of late and is eligible at second, third and outfield. William Contreras ($2,800) and Brian Anderson ($2,800) are two other modest-salaried right-handers who are worth a look.
Seattle Mariners
If it feels like the Seattle Mariners keep seeing left-handed pitchers, it's because the Mariners keep seeing left-handed pitchers.
The M's will face another Oakland Athletics' southpaw tonight as they go to battle against JP Sears. Unlike the other Oakland hurlers who have thrown in this series, Sears is actually a solid pitcher, sporting a 4.02 SIERA and 25.1% strikeout rate. But Sears has a major gopher-ball problem, permitting a 56.5% fly-ball rate and 2.03 taters per nine, and he'll be followed by an A's bullpen that is dead last in xFIP (5.68).
Julio Rodriguez ($3,400) and Jarred Kelenic ($3,300) are the top dogs in Seattle's lineup. Kelenic is firmly in play despite the lefty-lefty matchup as he's amassed a .431 wOBA and 4 homers in 48 plate appearances in the split this year. Julio has six hits across the last three games and might be emerging from his early-season funk.
Ty France ($2,900) and Eugenio Suarez ($2,900) will be core pieces to my Seattle stacks if they're healthy enough to start. Teoscar Hernandez ($2,800) is another righty who needs to be on our radar, as he recorded a .413 wOBA with the platoon advantage in 2022.