MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks: April 26th, 2019

Welcome back to the MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks article. In this article, I will run you through the best stacks to build your cash and GPP lineups around and narrow down your player pool!

After an extremely chalky main slate last night that saw Aaron Nola, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez all top 80% ownership in cash games on FanDuel, we turn our attention to a massive 15-game Friday night slate across Major League Baseball.

There are a handful of stud pitching options on the slate and of course, our fair share of gas cans. Below are the 15 matchups with each team’s respective implied run totals (IRTs):

Miami Marlins (3.6) @ Philadelphia Phillies (5.0)

San Diego Padres (2.9) @ Washington Nationals (4.1)

Oakland Athletics (4.1) @ Toronto Blue Jays (4.5)

Tampa Bay Rays (3.7) @ Boston Red Sox (4.4)

Milwaukee Brewers (3.0) @ New York Mets (4.1)

Colorado Rockies (3.8) @ Atlanta Braves (4.8)

Baltimore Orioles (3.9) @ Minnesota Twins (5.7)

Detroit Tigers (4.0) @ Chicago White Sox (4.5)

Cleveland Indians (3.7) @ Houston Astros (4.4)

Los Angeles Angels (4.6) @ Kansas City Royals (4.0)

Cincinnati Reds (3.9) @ St. Louis Cardinals (4.7)

Chicago Cubs (4.2) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (4.4)

Texas Rangers (3.7) @ Seattle Mariners (4.9)

Pittsburgh Pirates (3.3) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (4.3)

New York Yankees (3.3) @ San Francisco Giants (3.2)

While there are a ton of offenses to target, it’s worth noting that 11 of the 30 teams in action have IRTs below 4 runs, so we could see just as many quiet offenses as we could see fireworks, and it will be important to avoid those spots.

With that being said, I am going to structure this piece a bit different differently. Instead of including a primary/secondary stack for both cash and GPP, I am going to include the primary stack, secondary stack, GPP stack and a value stack, to hopefully help you fully construct your lineups.

MLB Daily Fantasy – Primary Stack: Minnesota Twins

The Twins come into the Friday slate making their first appearance in the stacking articles this season and frankly, this may be one of the only times they’ll find themselves as the primary stack. They get to tee off against Alex Cobb of the Orioles and hold a slate high IRT of 5.7 (at the time of writing this on Thurs. night). Below are Cobb’s current 2019 numbers:

Alex Cobb | BAL

K% / SwStr%: 15.0% / 10.1%

SIERA: 4.32

wOBA: 0.597 vs RHB / 0.411 vs LHB

FB% / Hard%: 27.3% / 36.4%

Cobb is not a good pitcher and while he should gravitate back to Earth a bit with his insane wOBA allowed, there’s no reason not to go all out and attack from every side of the plate here. Below are the key pieces to a Twins’ stack that I will be targeting:

(1) Max Kepler (FD: $3100 / DK: $4200)

(2) Jorge Polanco (FD: $4100 / DK: $5100)

(3) Nelson Cruz (FD: $3500 / DK: $4700)

(4) Eddie Rosario (FD: $4300 / DK: $5300)

The Twins are quietly mashing on the offensive end right now, as both Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz hold wOBAs over 0.400 against righties, with Polanco specifically posting a 0.501 wOBA. On top of that, his 0.394 ISO and 12.0% K rate show just how effective he’s been at the plate. He’s a candidate for top play of the slate, as odd as that may sound.

Max Kepler has seen his price drop over the last few slates, making him an appealing leadoff option, particularly on FanDuel, with his 0.211 ISO against righties. Eddie Rosario comes in as the most expensive play on the team, but posts an ISO of 0.333 against righties and a FB% over 44%.

Also Consider: C.J. Cron (great way to save salary + get exposure), Willians Astudillo (yet to K vs RHP this season!)

MLB Daily Fantasy – Secondary Stack: St. Louis Cardinals

As much as it pains me to say this, the Cardinals may have the best lineup in baseball when fully healthy. This team is so good, and they happen to be red hot right now. They get to square off with Reds’ starter Anthony DeSclafani who isn’t someone I’ll always go out of my way to attack, but I really like the spot tonight.

Anthony DeSclafani | CIN

K% / SwStr%: 26.2% / 10.8%

SIERA: 4.17

wOBA: 0.275 vs RHB / 0.423 vs LHB

FB% / Hard%: 46.2% / 39.6%

As you can see above, this can be a tough pitcher to figure out. DeSclafani racks up a ton of strikeouts, but when he induces contact, it’s not necessarily soft. Below are the pieces of a Cardinals stack I will be looking towards:

(1) Matt Carpenter (FD: $3300 / DK: $4100)

(2) Paul Goldschmidt (FD: $4600 / DK: $5100)

(4) Marcell Ozuna (FD: $4500 / DK: $5100)

(6) Dexter Fowler (FD: $2900 / DK: $3900)

Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler are included due to DeSclafani’s immense struggles against left-handed hitting. Carpenter has gotten off to a slow start to the season, but stil holds a respectable 0.181 ISO and should get ample opportunity out of the leadoff spot. Fowler has been a pleasant surprise with his 0.385 wOBA against righties and comes at a discount across both FanDuel and DraftKings.

Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna are two of the best hitters in the MLB when they are on and both are posting wOBAs over 0.410 and ISOs over 0.350 against righties this season. If choosing one, Ozuna gets my vote as he’s been tearing the cover off of the ball. I should note, however, that Goldschmidt is as well, as they BOTH hold hard contact rates over 50%.

Also Consider: Paul DeJong, Kolten Wong (GPPs)

MLB Daily Fantasy – Primary GPP Stack: Seattle Mariners

After a blazing hot start to the season, the Mariners have cooled off considerably over the last couple of weeks. Even with them sputtering a bit, they still possess an extremely dangerous lineup and get to square off against gas-can Shelby Miller of the Texas Rangers.

Shelby Miller | TEX

K% / SwStr%: 7.3% / 5.0%

SIERA: 7.51

wOBA: 0.392 vs RHB / 0.417 vs LHB

FB% / Hard%: 37.7% / 49.2%

Every single stat above screams gas-can and there’s no argument against it. Below are the pieces of the Mariners that I will target, but realistically, anyone who cracks the lineup is a viable play.

(1) Mitch Haniger (FD: $4200 / DK:$5400)

(2) Domingo Santana (FD: $3700 / DK: $4800)

(4) Dan Vogelbach (FD: $3800 / DK: $4900)

So far this season, Dan Vogelbach has been a revelation against right-handed pitching, holding a 0.506 wOBA, 0.455 ISO and a 20% walk rate. His average EV of 94.2mph is just as elite as his wOBA and ISO as well, making him one of the top plays on the board.

Both Mitch Haniger and Domingo Santana have both posted hard contact rates over 40% to start the season and ISOs of 0.200 or higher. Santana’s 0.383 wOBA also jumps off the page, making him a sneaky play on such a large slate.

Also Consider: Jay Bruce (if active), Edwin Encarnacion, Dee Gordon (love the wrap-around 9-1-2 stack)

MLB Daily Fantasy – Value Stack: Toronto Blue Jays

The day has finally come, Vlad Guerrero Jr. has FINALLY been called up to the big leagues and the matchup literally could not get any better. Obviously he is not the only reason to look at the Blue Jays, as their matchup with Mike Fiers of the A’s provides plenty of opportunity for some of these players at reasonable salaries.

Mike Fiers | OAK

K% / SwStr%: 17.0% / 7.7%

SIERA: 5.11

wOBA: 0.367 vs RHB / 0.416 vs LHB

FB% / Hard%: 40.5% / 43.0%

Not only is Fiers struggling to strike batters out this season, he’s struggled to both keep the ball on the ground and in the yard, as evident by his fly-ball and hard-contact rates. Below are the value plays that I will be targeting from the Blue Jays:

(1) Eric Sogard (FD: $3200 / DK: $3800)

(3) Vlad Guerrero Jr (FD: $3200 / DK: $4300)

(5) Rowdy Tellez (FD: $2500 / DK: $4100)

Eric Sogard has been scorching at the plate this season with his 0.367 average and has topped 15 FanDuel points in 4 of his 7 games this season, while recording at least one hit in each contest. He should see 5 ABs at the top of the lineup and given the matchup, I would expect him to score more than once.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. is one of the plays that I fully expect to be chalky due to the narrative tonight and I’m fully on board. He’s been tearing up AAA and this is a scenario where I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes yard off of Fiers should he make solid contact.

The play that I don’t expect anyone to be on at all is actually my favorite play of all of the Blue Jays – Rowdy Tellez. On the season, he’s posted a 0.375 wOBA, 0.280 ISO and a wRC+ of 137 against right-handed pitching and comes at a dirt cheap price tag.

Also Consider – Teoscar Hernandez, Justin Smoak (not a value play, but red hot and best hitter in their lineup..well, 2nd best now 🙂 ).

Thanks for reading the MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks article for the 15-game main slate on Friday April 26th! For more MLB DFS Breakdowns, make sure to follow @FantasyCPR on Twitter and myself, @JMetz34, for any questions!