3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Friday 4/14/23

Stacking is an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. Correlation drives upside, giving your lineups a slate-winning ceiling when your stacks explode.

This piece will do the digging and the dirty work each day to determine which stacks are worth rostering on FanDuel's main slate. While we want upside, we also need to factor in game theory, especially in a sport as random as baseball.

Our MLB DFS heat map is a quick way to get a feel for the overall slate and which offenses are in a good spot. You can also check out our daily fantasy baseball projections to identify the slate's best bats.

Let's look at the top stacks for this main slate.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees were dominated by Joe Ryan last night, but they have a good chance to rebound on Friday against Louie Varland.

Varland, a righty, has thrown just 26 MLB innings in his career, and while we can't make many conclusions from a sample that small, there's nothing in his profile -- including his minor-league numbers -- that tells us he'll be able to mow through the Yanks. In those 26 MLB innings, Varland has recorded a 19.8% strikeout rate and has allowed a 41.0% fly-ball rate.

The Yankees could feast at their hitter-friendly home digs, and they own a 4.81 implied total, the slate's third-highest.

New York has only two bats salaried above $3,400. Both of the two -- Aaron Judge ($4,500) and Gleyber Torres ($3,900) -- are stellar plays, with our model ranking Judge as the night's top stick, but you can craft an economical Yankees stack if you want to.

Giancarlo Stanton ($3,400) and Anthony Rizzo ($3,300) offer good pop at modest salaries, although Rizzo -- who will have the platoon advantage against Varland -- will likely be chalky after last night's double-dong effort. Franchy Cordero ($3,100) hits from the left side and has a .417 wOBA so far in 2023. DJ LeMahieu ($3,100) was available off the bench last night and might be able to return to his spot atop the order for this one. If LeMahieu doesn't start, Anthony Volpe ($2,600) could move up to the leadoff role, giving his outlook a lift.

I'll be interested in both Aaron Hicks ($2,100) and Willie Calhoun ($2,000) as salary savers if either gets into the lineup.

Cleveland Guardians

The slate's top implied total belongs to the Cleveland Guardians, who are showing a 5.14 implied total for their matchup with Trevor Williams.

Williams has never been an overpowering hurler, and he is off to a rough start this season, giving up 1.74 homers per nine while striking out just 16.3% of hitters. He could be the perfect remedy for a Cleveland offense that's slumped to a .297 wOBA out of the gates.

Jose Ramirez ($3,600) is the diamond in this Guardians lineup. He's started slowly, with a .310 expected wOBA and zero homers through 61 plate appearances, but he's bound to bust out at some point.

Andres Gimenez ($3,500), Steven Kwan ($3,200), Josh Bell ($2,200) and Josh Naylor ($2,600) will also have the platoon advantage. Naylor and Bell are enticing at their low salaries. Bell has been miserable to start this campaign but posted a .340 wOBA against righties last year. Naylor had a .363 wOBA in the split in 2022.

Amed Rosario ($2,500) is a value bat who will likely be second in the order and is eligible at shortstop as well as outfield, and Myles Straw ($3,100) is worth a look despite being projected to hit ninth as he's swiped six bags this season.

Seattle Mariners

I'm going off the grid a bit on this one as the Seattle Mariners' implied total of 4.43 ranks just 12th on the slate, but I like them versus southpaw Austin Gomber.

Through two starts, Gomber has a 4.51 SIERA with a blah 20.0% strikeout rate and has been tagged for a 53.1% fly-ball rate. He ended 2022 with a lowly 18.0% strikeout rate, and righties hammered him to the tune of a .376 wOBA and 1.75 homers per nine.

Seattle has a lot of appealing right-handed hitters -- led by Julio Rodriguez ($4,000) -- and can be stacked without using much coin. Julio is their lone bat above $3,300, and we have him projected as the slate's number-five hitter.

Ty France ($3,300) is actually the only other Seattle bat salaried above $2,900, and he's flying so far this year with a .410 wOBA. Cal Raleigh ($2,900), A.J. Pollock ($2,900), Eugenio Suarez ($2,900) and Teoscar Hernandez ($2,900) will all hit from the right side. Hernandez has homered twice in only nine plate appearances versus southpaws this season, and he put up a gaudy .413 wOBA in the split last year. He's one of my favorite plays of the night.