MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Monday 8/15/22

Josh Shepardson  —  @BChad50 Aug 15th, 2022
The Orioles are well-positioned to do some damage in Toronto on Monday. Which other squads should you target?

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.

New York Yankees

The Tampa Bay Rays square off with the New York Yankees tonight, and Roster Resource projects Ryan Yarbrough to start. The lefty will have his hands full against MLB's most explosive offense against southpaws.

According to FanGraphs, the Yankees are first in wRC+ (126) and ISO (.220) against lefties this season, four points clear of second place for wRC+ and 23 points above second for ISO. As a result, any lefty would struggle against them, and Yarbrough's generally struggled this season. The 30-year-old lefty has had a 5.08 ERA and 5.04 xFIP in 2022. Moreover, in 211 and 2/3 innings since last year, Yarbrough has had a 5.10 ERA and 4.71 xFIP.

Obviously, the top option from the Yankees is Aaron Judge ($5,100). The slugger is a lefty-killer, crushing them for a .402 OBP, .330 ISO, and 177 wRC+ since 2019. Gleyber Torres ($3,200) is also an excellent target. Since 2019, he's had a .348 OBP, .228 ISO, and 133 wRC+.

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins have been a mid-pack offense against lefties this year, but a matchup against Kris Bubic should help them elevate their play. The 24-year-old lefty has been knocked around for a 5.02 ERA and 4.79 SIERA in 19 appearances (18 starts), totaling 86 innings. In his young career, Bubic has had a 4.60 ERA and 4.54 xFIP.

The Twins also have a dreamy matchup with the Kansas City Royals' dreadful bullpen. Kansas City's bullpen ERA (4.69) has been the third-highest in MLB this season. So, the Twins can light up the scoreboard tonight.

I'm specifically fixated on three hitters, Carlos Correa ($3,000). Byron Buxton ($3,700), and Jose Miranda ($2,900). Since 2019, Correa has had a .392 OBP and 138 wRC+ against lefties. Buxton has been better, pummeling lefties for a .300 ISO and 151 wRC+. Finally, Miranda has torched lefties for a .268 ISO and 140 wRC+ in his rookie campaign.

Baltimore Orioles

Yusei Kikuchi has been an unmitigated disaster for the Toronto Blue Jays this season. In 19 starts lasting only 79 innings, he's had a 5.13 ERA, 5.97 Expected ERA (xERA), and allowed 2.05 homers per nine innings.

Sure, he showed signs of life after being activated from the Injured List (IL) in late July, allowing only one run in five innings and ceding two runs in four innings in back-to-back starts on July 28 and August 3. But, of course, Kikuchi came crashing back to Earth in his most recent start, coughing up five runs on six hits (three homers) and three walks in only five innings to tonight's opponent, the Baltimore Orioles.

Kikuchi has been tough as nails against lefties, allowing only a .245 wOBA. So, righties have done all the damage, amassing a .525 slugging and .392 wOBA. As a result, the most enticing selections will bat right-handed against him.

Switch-hitter Anthony Santander ($3,300) and righties Ryan Mountcastle ($3,000), and Austin Hays ($2,900) have been Baltimore's most accomplished hitters against lefties. Mountcastle has had a .215 ISO and 110 wRC+ in his career against southpaws. And since 2019, Santander and Hays have had a 112 wRC+ and 114 wRC+.


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.