3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 9/22/22
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 6:35 pm ET.
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are opposing a familiar foe tonight. Ranger Suarez has toed the slab four times against the Braves this season. The lefty has had mixed results against the Braves.
However, Suarez has had intriguing home/road splits. According to FanGraphs, he's been roughed up for a 4.70 ERA, 4.14 xFIP, and 1.55 WHIP in 59 and 1/3 innings at home. Meanwhile, the Braves destroy lefties. Specifically, seven players in their projected lineup have had at least a 127 wRC+ against lefties since 2019 (or since debuting for players who reached The Show after 2019).
The depth of Atlanta's lefty-killing lineup makes it stackable from top to bottom. However, Austin Riley ($3,800) and William Contreras ($3,000) are two of my favorites. Since 2019, Riley has had a .360 OBP, .283 ISO, and 144 wRC+, and Contreras has had a .387 OBP, .215 ISO, and 146 wRC+ against lefties in his young career.
Cleveland Guardians
Can Johnny Cueto continue defying his ERA estimators in a shockingly good year? Maybe.
Still, the ERA estimators are enticing to stack against. The 36-year-old righty has had a 4.04 Expected ERA (xERA), 4.44 xFIP, and 4.56 SIERA.
Cueto has also left himself at the mercy of batted balls. He's had a paltry 15.4 percent strikeout rate, which is significantly lower than the league average of 22.3 percent this year. Cueto also hasn't dominated lefties or righties, failing to hold lefties or righties under a .300 wOBA. Still, lefties have had the best results against him this season, amassing a .312 wOBA.
Thus, I'm most interested in the lefties on the Cleveland Guardians. Obviously, Jose Ramirez ($4,200) is the crown jewel. He's had a .362 OBP, .274 ISO, and 147 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers since 2021. Others I'm enamored with are Steven Kwan ($2,900), Josh Naylor ($2,800), and Andres Gimenez ($2,800).
Houston Astros
Kyle Bradish has taken a substantial step forward since he was recalled from the minors.
He was tattooed before getting sent down in July. However, in 10 starts spanning 55 and 1/3 innings since returning to the Baltimore Orioles, he's had a 3.09 ERA. Still, Bradish's 4.14 xFIP in his return to the O's has been less imposing.
As a result, the high-octane Houston Astros are an exciting stack. If Jose Altuve ($3,900) is in the lineup tonight after exiting early last night, four members of tonight's projected lineup will own at least a 137 wRC+ against righties since last year. Yeesh.
Altuve is the bottom of the quartet, sporting a 137 wRC+. The other four hitters in the group are Alex Bregman ($3,600), Kyle Tucker ($4,000), and Yordan Alvarez ($4,700). Since last season, they've had a 138 wRC+, 148 wRC+, and 163 wRC+, respectively, against righties.
Therefore, they're the highest-ceiling selections from the Astros.
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.
