3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Monday 7/25/22
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.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are positioned to blow up with a plum draw. Pitcher Paolo Espino has struggled mightily moving from the bullpen to the rotation.
According to FanGraphs, in seven starts totaling 31 1/3 innings, he's had a 4.88 ERA and a not much more encouraging 4.50 xFIP. Further, in Espino's five most recent turns, he's had a grotesque 5.56 ERA. Espino has also yielded a .366 wOBA to 137 batters as a starter in 2022.
Additionally, the Dodgers should keep rolling after Espino gets the hook. The Washington Nationals have had the fifth-highest bullpen ERA (4.41).
Mookie Betts ($4,200), Trea Turner ($4100), and Freddie Freeman ($4,200) are the club's superstars. However, Will Smith ($3,000) and Gavin Lux ($2,600) shouldn't be overlooked. Since last year, Smith has had a .366 OBP, .234 ISO, and 136 wRC+ against righties. Meanwhile, Lux has had a 119 wRC+ against righties since 2021.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros should light up the scoreboard in an arguably better matchup than the Dodgers tonight.
Adam Oller, like Espino, was moved from the pen to the rotation during the year. The rookie has been a tire fire as a starter, recording a 10.89 ERA and 6.51 xFIP, ceding 3.79 homers per nine innings.
The righty has had no answers for opposing hitters on both sides of the plate, too. Oller has allowed a .462 wOBA to lefties and a .417 wOBA to righties.
The only reason it's unclear if the matchup is better for the Astros than the Dodgers is because of the bullpen discrepancy. The Oakland Athletics have had a 4.15 ERA in the bullpen, marginally better than Washington's 4.41 ERA. Thus, it's close.
Nevertheless, Houston's offense should smash the A's tonight. As long as Yordan Alvarez ($4,300) is back in the lineup tonight, he's the top dog. Since last year, he's had a .377 OBP, .316 ISO, and 172 wRC+ against righties. Kyle Tucker ($3,700) is my second-favorite pick, smashing righties for a .371 OBP, .240 ISO, and 148 wRC+ since 2021.
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals aren't as obvious of a stack tonight, making them an attractive option in GPPs. However, Noah Syndergaard has had a 4.50 ERA in his previous three starts, and he hasn't been a world-beater this year with a 4.00 ERA and 4.24 xFIP.
Thor has yielded a .320 wOBA to lefties in 2022. He also hasn't been a strikeout machine against righties, striking out a ho-hum 20.3 percent of them this year.
Moreover, baserunners have run wild on him. Syndergaard has allowed 23 stolen bases in 14 games. He's also had a long-standing issue slowing runners down, allowing 162 stolen bases in 135 games.
Bobby Witt Jr. ($3,200) left yesterday's game early with right hamstring tightness, but he's day to day. If he's in the lineup, he's a candidate to swipe bags against Syndergaard since Witt has stolen 20 bases in 2022. Whit Merrifield ($2,700) and Nicky Lopez ($2,500) can also steal, having swiped 14 and seven bags, respectively.
Finally, Vinnie Pasquantino ($2,200) is an excellent punt. He's been unlucky on his batted balls and has had a great combination of plate discipline (10.5 percent walk rate) and contact skills (16.8 percent strikeout rate).
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.
