4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 8/25/20

In the world of daily baseball, stacks are often the backbone of the most successful -- and profitable -- lineups. Correlation is the key.

When an offense hangs runs in bunches, it means hitters are scoring runs and teammates hitting behind them are driving them in. By rostering stacks, you’re maximizing the fantasy scoring by essentially double dipping on a run-scoring event.

This is your daily home for the top stacks on the daily fantasy baseball slate. Whether you’re looking to identify the projected highest-scoring stacks or contrarian stacks that can help you separate from the pack in GPPs when they explode, they’ll be thrown under the spotlight here.

Gamers who are numberFire premium members can throw these highlighted stacks into an optimized lineup using our DFS Sharpstack tool. The tool allows you to select the team and number of players from that team you’d like to include in your lineup. If you’re looking to identify other potentially high-scoring stacks beyond those featured in this space, check out our hitting heat map, a tool that provides valuable info such as implied total, park factor, and stats to identify the quality of the opposing pitcher.

Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s main slate’s featured stacks.

New York Yankees

At the time of writing this last night, the Atlanta Braves haven't formally announced a starter, but signs point toward prospect Ian Anderson making his big-league debut. Anderson dominated at the Double-A level last year before scuffling in five starts across 24 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level.

He was knocked around in Triple-A for a 6.57 ERA and 5.93 expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP), according to FanGraphs. Free passes were a major bugaboo for Anderson as he walked a whopping 15.9 percent of the batters he faced at the minor's highest level. Even at the Double-A level, he walked an alarming 10.2 percent of the batters he faced. His control woes make him a candidate to get thumped in his first start in the Majors by a talented New York Yankees offense.

The Yankees are expected to get stud Aaron Judge ($4,000) back from the injured list tonight. Even with the potential for rust, he's worth a look thanks to his gargantuan power. In 1,257 plate appearances against righties since 2017, he's amassed a thunderous .300 isolated power (ISO). With a .384 OBP against righties during that timeframe, he also owns the requisite patience needed to work walks against the wild Anderson.

Whoever else is in the Yanks' lineup is worth stacking given the potential for Anderson to be overwhelmed in his debut. Having said that, my favorite options beyond Judge are Luke Voit ($4,100), Aaron Hicks ($3,100), and Giovanny Urshela ($3,300).

Chicago White Sox

Color me skeptical of Steven Brault continuing to pitch well.

He's basically been used as an opener, making four starts, with only his last outing going five innings or more. He's also made a relief appearance in which he failed to record an out and coughed up four earned runs. He's yet to allow a run in any of his four "starts" and has pitched seven scoreless innings in his last two starts combined, but he doesn't miss many bats with a 5.7 percent swinging-strike percentage and 19.1 percent strikeout percentage and doesn't make up for the low strikeout rate with even average control as he's walked a whopping 14.9 percent of the batters he's faced. His components have led to an ugly 5.40 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA).

Tim Anderson ($4,000) makes for a great stacking option right out of the chute, hitting leadoff for the Chicago White Sox. He's building on a breakout 2019 with an even more impressive 2020, and he has a track record of success against southpaws with a .347 OBP, .209 ISO and 135 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) against them since 2017.

The top stacking option for the White Sox is white-hot Jose Abreu ($4,000). He's homered in three straight games and four of his last five games with two multi-homer contests in that span. He's also riding an eight-game hit streak with multiple hits in five of those games. For the year, he's smacked 11 homers with a .365 OBP, .347 ISO and 178 wRC+ and a lengthy resume of pummeling lefties.

Yasmani Grandal ($2,900) is a cheap-ish option to consider in stacks, while the talented young outfield duo of Luis Robert ($3,300) and Eloy Jimenez ($3,400) are worth a look, too. Yoan Moncada's ($3,400) underwhelming .145 ISO and 93 wRC+ against lefties since 2017 would suggest he's a candidate to toss out of a Pale Hose stack. However, the switch-hitting infielder has a .353 OBP, .205 ISO, and 126 wRC+ against southpaws since last year and shouldn't immediately be cast aside. Edwin Encarnacion ($2,800) is the only other hitter from the White Sox I'd consider using in their stack, and, like Grandal, he's a bargain piece.

St. Louis Cardinals

I'll keep this short and sweet with the St. Louis Cardinals stack -- Matt Harvey is completely washed. He's made one start this year in which he lasted three innings -- walking 2 batters, allowing 4 hits, yieldeding 2 taters, and serving up 3 earned runs overall. This comes on the heels of a season in which he totaled a 5.81 SIERA in a dozen starts (59 2/3 innings). In 310 1/3 innings since 2017, he has a 5.92 ERA, 1.83 homers allowed per nine innings and 4.88 SIERA.

At this point in his career, Harvey's the poster boy for a pitcher to stack against. The Red Birds lack much in the way of star power. As such, they can be stacked for cheap throughout most of the lineup. The one exception is Paul Goldschmidt ($3,700) with a salary that's the third-highest for a first baseman tonight -- though he's also the most appealing stacking option.

The appeal of this stack is picking on a bad pitcher. A fringe benefit, though, is the affordability of doing so around one of the other stacks in this piece. Namely, stacking this group around my forthcoming favorite stack counterbalances the high salaries of the upcoming studs.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are my favorite stack tonight, and they're a costly one. For quick reference to why they're so pricey, take a gander at the since-2017 stats against righties for a number of the best players from the Dodgers. Mookie Betts ($4,400) is raking in his first season with the Dodgers and is in the mix for the top play from this loaded lineup.

Corey Seager ($3,700), price considered, also has a strong case for top stacking option. Among qualified hitters, he ranks first in percentage of barrels per plate appearance, according to Baseball Savant. The suddenly hot Cody Bellinger ($4,200) is the other candidate for top stacking option from this group. After a slow start, Bellinger smashed a pair of taters on August 14. In 42 plate appearances since then, he has six homers, a .429 OBP, .543 ISO and 229 wRC+. Of course, it doesn't matter who of these three players is the best option to headline a Dodgers stack with if you use all three of them -- like I fully intend to do.

Justin Turner ($3,000) is expected back in the lineup today and warrants usage. Max Muncy ($3,400) and Joc Pederson ($2,900) have power that plays in fantasy lineups. And even young catcher Will Smith ($2,500) is a consideration as a wrap-around stacking piece from the bottom of the order. And that's saying nothing of Smith's .360 OBP, .381 ISO and 157 wRC+ in 164 plate appearances against righties since reaching the Majors last year.

With a 4.80 SIERA this year, I don't believe Johnny Cueto is the guy to keep this lineup from exploding.

Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.