MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Wednesday 6/22/22

The Cards can go off today against Eric Lauer, who is slowing after a hot start. Which other offense make sense for Wednesday's main slate?

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.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are catching one of 2022's surprise performers at the right time. Eric Lauer came out of nowhere to pitch like an elite starter early this season. However, he's found the sledding more difficult lately.

According to FanGraphs, in his last five starts (26 and 1/3 innings), he's had a 5.81 ERA, 5.57 xFIP, 11.6 percent walk rate, and 14.9 percent strikeout rate -- all while allowing 2.39 homers per nine innings. This is a tricky matchup for him, too.

Since 2019, seven of the active hitters on the Red Birds have had a 121 wRC+ or better against lefties, albeit with a pair of rookies in that group. Paul Goldschmidt ($4,100) was on the bench last night with back stiffness, but he's the top option in this stack if he's in the lineup tonight.

Nolan Arenado ($3,700) and Tommy Edman ($3,900) are also outstanding selections. Since 2019, Arenado has had a .273 ISO and 134 wRC+ in the split. Edman hasn't matched Arenado's dominance, but his .214 ISO and 128 wRC+ versus lefties have been nothing to sneeze at. Albert Pujols ($2,200) is an enticing GPP pick since he can still put a charge into the ball against southpaws, and Juan Yepez ($2,300) should be in the lineup with Tyler O'Neill injured.

Baltimore Orioles

At this point, it's comical the Washington Nationals haven't designated Patrick Corbin for assignment. Through 14 starts this year, he's registered a 6.59 ERA and 6.32 xERA. Moreover, since 2020, he's had a 5.75 ERA and allowed 1.70 homers per nine innings.

Corbin is a trainwreck. Most importantly, he's had no answers for right-handed batters. Since last year, righties have destroyed Corbin for a .535 slugging and .379 wOBA.

As a result, we should zero in on the right-handed sticks on the Baltimore Orioles.

Some of the headliners from the O's are Ryan Mountcastle ($3,400), Austin Hays ($3,100), and Trey Mancini ($2,900). However, Tyler Nevin ($2,100) is an option who might slip through the wickets and shouldn't. In an admittedly small sample of 47 plate appearances against lefties, Nevin has tattooed them for a .426 OBP, .308 ISO, and 191 wRC+. Even though the sample is small, it shouldn't be entirely overlooked against a washed-up pitcher.

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have a potentially challenging matchup with Tarik Skubal, rendering them a GPP stack. Still, chasing upside at hitter-friendy Fenway Park is alluring.

While Skubal is good, he hasn't dominated righties. Since last year, right-handed batters have had a .457 slugging percentage and .323 wOBA against Skubal. Thankfully, Boston has a few righties who have excelled against southpaws.

Since 2019, Trevor Story ($3,800) has had a .279 ISO and 137 wRC+ in the split. Impressively, Xander Bogaerts ($3,500) and J.D. Martinez ($3,400) have been better with the platoon advantage, owning a 139 wRC+ and 163 wRC+, respectively. These three are the most appealing stacking options for the Red Sox.



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.