3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 6/9/22
Stacks are an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. They can push a team to the top of a GPP by driving upside. However, they're also viable in cash games, namely smaller (two-person or three-person) stacks that mitigate the volatility of a full four-person stack.
This article is your home throughout the 2022 Major League Baseball season for the day's top stacks. The primary goal is to identify the highest-scoring upside stack. Still, game theory will play a role in contrarian stacks making the cut as GPP options. Nevertheless, chalky stacks will make appearances in this space, too.
Beyond my analysis in this space, I strongly suggest numberFire premium members using our DFS Sharpstack tool and hitting heat map tool. The DFS Sharpstack helps plug stacks into optimized lineups, allowing you to change parameters and lock or exclude players and teams. Meanwhile, the heat map offers a one-stop-shop for the opposing starting pitcher, implied total, park factor, and other notable goodies.
Now, let's look at the top stacks on today's main slate that starts on FanDuel at 6:40 pm ET.
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves have a golden opportunity for another big offensive showing tonight after hanging 13 runs on the Oakland Athletics last night. Predictably, JT Brubaker's run of moderate competence came to a close in his last start, when he ceded six runs in four innings.
According to FanGraphs, Brubaker owns a 4.70 ERA and 4.40 Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP), and he has allowed 1.39 homers per nine innings this year. The righty has also been below-average against all hitters. Since last year, he's allowed a .327 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) to righties and a .350 wOBA to lefties.
Further, the Braves should tee off on the bullpen. This season, the Pittsburgh Pirates' relievers are tied for the 12th-highest ERA (4.00). As a result, Atlanta's offense can score points from the first pitch through the end of the game.
A couple of the top stacking options from the Braves are Austin Riley ($3,800) and Matt Olson ($3,600). Since breaking out last year, Riley has had a .359 OBP, .240 Isolated Power (ISO), and 136 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) in righty-righty matchups. Olson will have the platoon advantage, and he crushes righties. Since 2019, he's had a .369 OBP, .251 ISO, and 137 wRC+ in the split.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles have the best matchup of the night. Lefty Kris Bubic has had a 9.33 ERA, 9.08 Expected ERA (xERA), 2.07 WHIP, and allowed 2.45 homers per nine innings in 18 and 1/3 innings this year. Additionally, he's had a 4.86 ERA and 4.83 Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA) in his career.
With Bubic's horrendous numbers, it should come as little surprise that all hitters crush him. Since last year, lefties have had a .632 slugging and .426 wOBA against him. Meanwhile, righties have had a .334 wOBA versus Bubic.
As if Bubic's ineptitude isn't grounds enough for stacking the Orioles, the Kansas City Royals' bullpen is the cherry on top. Royals' relievers have had the third-highest ERA (4.86) this year.
The wholesale failures of Bubic and Kansas City's bullpen make the Orioles stackable from top to bottom. Austin Hays ($3,200), Trey Mancini ($3,100), and Ryan Mountcastle ($3,100) are some of the standouts. However, we shouldn't sleep on Rougned Odor ($2,400). The free-swinging lefty can put a charge into left-handed pitcher's offerings, evidenced by his .208 ISO against them since last year.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees have a Charmin-soft matchup with blow-up-prone Dylan Bundy. Early on it looked like a change of scenery might have helped Bundy right the ship. Instead, he's been a punching bag in his last six starts. During that stretch, he's had an 8.44 ERA, 4.45 xFIP, and 1.88 WHIP while coughing up 2.70 homers per nine innings.
Conveniently for stacking the Yankees, Bundy has been at his worst against righties. Since last year, Bundy has ceded a .521 slugging percentage and .362 wOBA to them. So, understandably, a pair of right-handed hitters headline the top stacking options from the Bronx Bombers.
Aaron Judge ($4,600) and Giancarlo Stanton ($3,500) are the must-use selections for this stack. Judge has mashed 22 taters with a .383 OBP, .364 ISO, and 199 wRC+ in 236 plate appearances this season. And, since last year, Stanton has recorded a .342 OBP, .252 ISO, and 137 wRC+ in 538 plate appearances 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.
