3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 5/4/23
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, which starts at 1:05 p.m. EST. We will not talk about the teams playing at Coors. The Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies have the slate's top two implied totals, but you don't need me to tell you to get exposure to Coors.
Chicago Cubs
I wrote up the Chicago Cubs yesterday, and they flopped, scoring one run. I'm going right back to them for this afternoon slate as they boast a 5.25 implied total -- the best non-Coors mark -- for their matchup with Patrick Corbin.
Chicago's offense has been really good in all facets so far in 2023, but they are especially tough on lefties, sitting third in wOBA in the split (.369). They should feast on Corbin, who owns a 4.90 SIERA and 14.4% strikeout rate this year. We've been picking on Corbin for a few years now, and this might be the worst version of him yet.
The Cubs may feature as many as eight righties today, and I will be prioritizing Patrick Wisdom ($3,800), Dansby Swanson ($3,100), Seiya Suzuki ($2,800) and Trey Mancini ($2,800). Wisdom has identical 50.0% hard-hit and fly-ball rates against southpaws this season. Suzuki has mauled left-handers to the tune of a .419 wOBA and 47.1% hard-hit rate.
Nico Hoerner ($3,700) will be atop the order, and while this is the worse side for switch-hitter Ian Happ ($3,000), he's worth a look, too.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are another offense that keeps finding itself in a nice spot, and that's the case again today as they tangle with Jordan Lyles.
A righty, Lyles has been brutal this season. He's always had an issue with fly-balls, but his fly-ball rate is up to 54.2%. He's not missing many bats, either, sporting a lowly 7.1% swinging-strike rate, and he's been tagged for 2.29 dingers per nine. He's pretty much exactly what we're looking for when trying to find a pitcher to stack against.
As such, the O's are showing a juicy 5.21 implied total.
Cedric Mullins ($3,800), Gunnar Henderson ($2,500), Adley Rutschman ($3,300), Adam Frazier ($2,600) and Anthony Santander ($2,900) will all have the platoon advantage against Lyles, and that's where I want to focus due to Lyles permitting a .365 wOBA and 1.75 homers per nine in the split in 2022.
Henderson is off to a poor start, but a .267 BABIP deserves some of the blame. I'm willing to roll the dice on him at this friendly salary. Rutschman has put up a .379 wOBA versus righties so far this campaign, and Mullins is a top-notch power-speed threat.
Kyle Stowers ($2,100) and Ryan O'Hearn ($2,000) are viable dart throws if they get into the lineup.
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have been one of the more disappointing offenses in the league thus far, but they can have a big day in a date with Drew Rucinski.
A righty, Rucinski has 59 2/3 MLB frames to his name, and they haven't gone well as he's recorded a 4.44 SIERA and 16.4% strikeout rate. In his 2023 debut, he went 5 2/3 innings and generated one strikeout against a bleh Cincinnati Reds offense.
Seattle brings a 4.79 implied total into this matchup, and they have only two bats salaried above $3,100.
Those two are Julio Rodriguez ($3,600) and Jarred Kelenic ($3,400). After faceplanting in 2022, Kelenic has mashed this season, racking up a .412 wOBA overall and posting a 41.7% hard-hit rate against right-handers. Julio is taking the opposite path, dominating last season but slumping to start 2023 (.316 wOBA). We know the talent is there, though.
Teoscar Hernandez ($2,800), Eugenio Suarez ($2,600), Ty France ($2,900) and Cal Raleigh ($3,100) offer nice pop at modest salaries. Kolten Wong ($2,300) makes sense as a salary-saver.
