4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 9/22/20

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.

Atlanta Braves

I'm running it back with the Atlanta Braves tonight. They hung five runs in the first two innings last night, looking primed to put up a big number, but they failed to score another run the remainder of the game. I have higher expectations for them tonight against Jose Urena. He's made only three starts spanning 15 innings this year, but he's been rocked for a 6.00 ERA and 6.03 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), according to FanGraphs. The sample is small, but it's not out of line with Urena's 5.21 ERA and 4.84 SIERA in 84 and 2/3 innings.

The 29-year-old righty is especially giving to left-handed batters. Last year, the 175 left-handed who faced him ripped of a .544 slugging and .376 weighted on-base average (wOBA). This year, he's faced just 23 lefties, but they've hammered him with a pair of homers, a .900 slugging. and .578 wOBA.

The obvious top left-handed-hitting option from the Braves, and, tonight, the top-stacking option on the squad is Freddie Freeman ($4,000). Since 2017, he has a .417 OBP, .262 isolated power (ISO), and 156 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) against righties. Against them this year, he's been an unstoppable beast with a .497 OBP, .364 ISO, and 217 wRC+.

Nick Markakis's ($2,700) 85 wRC+ this year against righties leaves something to be desired, but his platoon advantage puts him in the stacking mix. The other batter who will face Urena left-handed is switch-hitting second baseman Ozzie Albies ($3,900), who's my second-favorite stacking option behind Freeman. Albies has punished righties for a .292 ISO and 145 wRC+ this season.

Urena's not good enough to warrant fading the top right-handed-hitting options from the Braves, either. With that in mind, Ronald Acuna ($4,500), Marcell Ozuna ($4,200), Travis d'Arnaud ($3,300), and Adam Duvall ($3,100) are excellent stacking options. Further, Dansby Swanson ($3,500) has some contrarian appeal if he's slotted eighth again like he was the last time they faced a righty.

Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins are also repeat visitors. They, too, got off to a fast start with three runs in the first inning before adding just one more in the eighth inning. As is the case with the repeat-visiting Braves, I'm expecting more from the Marlins tonight. Cole Hamels was initially lined up for this start, but he'll miss the rest of the year. The team hasn't announced a starter for tonight's game at the time of writing this piece, but Bryse Wilson was added to the squad in a corresponding move to Hamels' removal from the active roster, and he's a candidate -- or perhaps the favorite -- to start tonight.

Wilson has pitched only 7 and 2/3 innings for the Braves this year, but he's sporting an ERA north of seven after doing the same in 20 innings pitched for them last year. In 34 and 2/3 innings pitched in his career, he has an abysmal 7.01 ERA and 5.81 SIERA. He's also surrendered a line drive on 28.8 percent of balls put in play against him and coaxed a grounder on just 31.5 percent of balls put in play against him in his career.

The entirety of the Marlins' lineup is in the stacking mix. Having said that, my favorite full four-man stack features Starling Marte ($3,200), Jesus Aguilar ($3,000), Brian Anderson ($2,900), and Garrett Cooper ($3,100).

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are coasting to the best record in the National League and have had the luxury of sitting some of their regulars, so it's anyone's guess who will sit tonight. The depth of their offense that ranks third with a 126 wRC+ and first in ISO (.239) against righties this year makes them highly stackable against any righty, Frankie Montas included.

Montas has failed to replicate his breakout 2019 season's success with an ugly 5.86 ERA and 4.75 SIERA this year. The right-handed hurler has been tough on right-handed batters, holding them to a .241 wOBA. However, he's been befuddled by left-handed batters, yielding a .639 slugging and .447 wOBA to them.

The Dodgers have a bunch of talented lefties in their lineup, but Corey Seager ($3,800) and Cody Bellinger ($3,900) are my two favorites. Seager's locked in against righties this year with a .372 OBP, .301 ISO, and 165 wRC+. Bellinger isn't playing at the star level he's capable of, but his .250 ISO and 119 wRC+ against righties this year are still good.

The other lefty who I'm going out of my way to use in Dodgers stacks if he is in the lineup again tonight is Edwin Rios ($2,500). Rios is typically a bench bat, but he's played regularly of late with the Dodgers opting to rest some of their regulars. Rios boasts gargantuan power with a .330 ISO in 106 plate appearances against righties since reaching the Majors last year.

Baltimore Orioles

Salary-cap implications considered, the Baltimore Orioles are my favorite stack tonight in a plus-plus matchup against Nick Pivetta. For fantasy gamers of a certain age, Pivetta likely reminds them of the original posterchild for underperforming advanced stats, Ricky Nolasco. Maybe the Boston Red Sox can turn his intriguing underlying stats into actual production, but in 396 and 1/3 innings in his career, Pivetta's been pummeled for a 5.50 ERA while coughing up 1.63 homers per nine innings. He hit rock bottom this year with a 15.88 ER in three relief appearances spanning 5 and 2/3 innings.

The Orioles don't have a deep lineup with high-ceiling hitters, but leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins ($2,300) looks like a solid play thanks in large part to his lineup spot but also due to the salary relief his modest $2,300 salary provides gamers rostering him. The two hitters who are must-use options in the lineup, though, are D.J. Stewart ($2,900) and Ryan Mountcastle ($3,600).

Interestingly, both players were first-round picks in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft. Stewart hit at a well-above-average level in the upper minors before scuffling last year in his first taste of big-league coffee, but the left-handed-hitting outfielder's .389 OBP, .357 ISO, and 158 wRC+ in 73 plate appearances against righties this year are all excellent marks. Mountcastle's carrying tool is his bat, and he's showcasing it in his rookie season with a .405 OBP, .240 ISO, and 167 wRC+ against righties.

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.