4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 4/16/19

We've got every team in action on Tuesday's main slate (lock at 6:35 ET), which means we can go in all sorts of directions with our stacks tonight. Some more conventional spots stand out, but don't be afraid to go off the beaten path in large-field tournaments if you find a contrarian team you like.

Each day here on numberFire, we'll go through four offenses ripe for the stacking. They could have a great matchup, be in a great park, or just have a lot of quality sticks in the lineup, but these are the offenses primed for big days that you may want a piece of.

Premium members can use our stacking feature to customize their stacks within their optimal lineups for the day, choosing the team you want to stack and how many players you want to include. You can also check out our hitting heat map, which provides an illustration of which offenses have the best combination of matchup and potency.

Now, let's get to the stacks.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Tyler Mahle may have some nice numbers over his first two starts, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are a sizable step up from the likes of the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Dodgers have produced a 133 wRC+ so far -- second only to the Seattle Mariners -- and that number rises to a league-best 139 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. If you're afraid it's too early to read much into those numbers, Los Angeles also ranks first among all active rosters in wRC+ last year against right-handed pitching (123). Needless to say, Mahle will have his work cut out for him to hold this team at bay.

But what's particularly problematic for Mahle are his truly dreadful numbers against left-handed hitting. Last season, he allowed a ghastly 5.54 xFIP and .372 xwOBA to that side of the plate, and he also gave up 2.55 home runs per 9 innings (HR/9). That's what happens when lefty sticks are putting up a 44.6% hard-hit rate and 45.1% fly-ball rate against you.

Even with Cody Bellinger presumably missing the game, the Dodgers can roll out Joc Pederson ($4,100), Corey Seager ($3,600), and Max Muncy ($3,600) from the left side, and Alex Verdugo ($2,800) could also crack the lineup if Bellinger is out. Pederson is off to a red-hot start with seven homers already, and he owns a career .365 wOBA and .258 ISO with the platoon advantage. In limited playing time, Verdugo has impressed so far with a 48.4% hard-hit rate and 13.5% strikeout rate.

Of course, you don't need to totally ignore the righty bats, and A.J. Pollock ($3,000) remains affordable as a secondary choice. He hasn't quite gotten going yet, but he continues to bat in the top half of the order and displayed some improved power last season, producing a 43.9% hard-hit rate and 38.4% fly-ball rate against same-side hurlers.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are looking like a fun team in 2019, with the excellent Tommy Pham ($3,800) being joined by a potential breakout candidate in Austin Meadows ($4,200), along with some solid bats down the rest of the order. Meadows is showing a lot of fire on his Statcast page these days and has slugged six bombs off a promising 47.6% hard-hit rate and 42.9% fly-ball rate.

The main draw, though, is Dylan Bundy, known for both getting whiffs and coughing up home runs by the bundle. Although Tropicana Field isn't the ideal stacking venue, Bundy allowed 2.15 HR/9 in 2018, which was the worst mark among all qualified starters. The dingers are an issue on both sides of the plate, but left-handed hitters have especially been a thorn in his side throughout his career, as he's allowed a career 5.27 xFIP to them with just a 17.7% strikeout rate and 8.0% walk rate.

In addition to the left-handed Meadows, Ji-Man Choi ($2,700), Brandon Lowe ($3,600), and Kevin Kiermaier ($3,500) can all attack Bundy from that side. Although Lowe is striking out at a high rate (30.5%), he owns a strong 50.0% hard-hit rate in the early going.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers boast the highest implied total on the board (5.54), so they're a clear candidate to include in your stacking portfolio.

With temperatures edging close to 80 degrees in Arlington, this is easily one of the evening's warmest games, and it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see Texas get to Jaime Barria. In 2018, Barria produced a forgettable 4.84 SIERA, 18.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate, all while allowing a 36.6% hard-hit rate and 37.1% ground-ball rate. With neither a high strikeout rate nor high ground-ball rate, the Rangers' air attack could be on full display.

We all know Joey Gallo ($4,200) has double-dong upside on any given night, as he launched another bomb on Monday, and his Statcast numbers are as good as ever. Shin-Soo Choo ($3,500, Asdrubal Cabrera ($3,200), and Nomar Mazara ($3,600) all have 20-homer pop, and all three have hard-hit rates exceeding 50% thus far. Danny Santana ($2,400) stole two bases last night and makes a great value if he's batting second again.

New York Yankees

This could easily backfire, but if the Chris Sale we've seen over the first three starts is the guy who shows up in New York, the New York Yankees will eat him alive tonight.

It's sad to say, but Sale's 2019 numbers are among the worst of the slate, with just a 5.23 SIERA and 13.1% strikeout rate, and his worrisome drop in velocity is well documented. He's already allowed 13 runs and 4 home runs over his first 13 innings.

The Yankees may be suffering from injuries, but there are still some potent bats in this lineup, and let's keep in mind that even the lowly Toronto Blue Jays put up five runs on Sale in his most recent start. Yankee Stadium remains one of the top parks in the league, and the Yankees only have two left-handed bats in the lineup tonight. DJ LeMahieu ($3,600) is batting leadoff, followed by Aaron Judge ($4,500), Luke Voit ($4,100), Gleyber Torres ($3,700), and Clint Frazier ($3,200), all of whom are fair game.

As I mentioned in today's Daily Helper, there's always the chance Sale finally resembles his old self tonight, making this more of a strategy for large-field tournaments. Still, ownership should be low on such a large slate, and the runs could pile up quickly given what we've seen from Sale in 2019.