MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks: Tuesday, April 30th, 2019
By Joe Metz
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 action-packed Monday night MLB slate in which we saw a minimum-priced Jesus Aguilar go yard not once, but twice, we turn our attentions to a full 15-game slate with a TON of aces taking the mound for our MLB Daily Fantasy Picks.
Contrary to most 15-game slates, there are not as many clear cut gas cans as we would hope. With that being said, there are still some attractive spots to target when stacking offenses and I will run you through my favorite stacks for cash games, GPP formats and a salary saving stack that I will be looking towards.
Below are the matchups and the current IRTs at the time of writing (9pm ET the night prior):
Tigers (N/A) @ Phillies (N/A)
Cardinals (4.6) @ Nationals (4.6)
Reds (3.9) @ Mets (3.7)
Athletics (4.3) @ Red Sox (5.3)
Indians (4.1) @ Marlins (3.0)
Padres (4.3) @ Braves (4.3)
Astros (4.4) @ Twins (3.7)
Rockies (4.3) @ Brewers (4.3)
Pirates (5.2) @ Rangers (5.4)
Orioles (3.9) @ White Sox (4.7)
Rays (4.3) @ Royals (3.3)
Yankees (4.0) @ Diamondbacks (4.6)
Dodgers (4.0) @ Giants (3.1)
Blue Jays (4.3) @ Angels (4.8)
Cubs (4.6) @ Mariners (4.0)
As you can see, there are a ton of games that, off the bat, are implied for rather low totals. With that being said, there’s still stacks to break down, so let’s get to it:
*As a note, my projections for batting order are derived from Fantasy Labs
MLB Daily Fantasy – Primary Stack: Boston Red Sox
Checking in with the highest IRT (5.3) on the slate at first glance, the Red Sox square off with Aaron Brooks of the Oakland Athletics, who’s numbers through his first 27 innings are below:
Aaron Brooks | RHP
K% / SwStr%: 20.7% / 8.2%
SIERA: 4.49
wOBA: 0.338 vs RHB / 0.323 vs LHB
FB% / Hard%: 45.0% . 34.6%
No, this isn’t Aaron Brooks the NBA Point Guard, but the numbers may resemble someone who isn’t in the majors; below average strikeout rate, high SIERA, worrisome fly-ball rate. Combine that with the fact that he’s facing off against one of the best offenses in baseball, and that makes just about everyone in the lineup viable, starting with…
(1) Andrew Benintendi (FD: $3800 / DK: $4600)
(2) Mookie Betts (FD: $4400 / $5000)
(3) Mitch Moreland (FD: $3200 / FD: $4200)
(4) J.D. Martinez (FD: $4000 / DK: $4900)
It’s the usual suspects for the Red Sox tonight, but we’re getting a handful of them at some suppressed prices. Mookie Betts finds himself as the most expensive option and is the only Red Sox player with a wOBA over 0.400 (0.429) against righties, while also holding a 0.311 ISO. Mitch Moreland also holds an ISO north of 0.300 (0.338) against righties and comes in at an extremely cheap price, making him a staple cash game play tonight, as everything is lining up for a breakout game after he’s posted an unlucky 0.160 BABIP so far.
Andrew Benintendi holds the second highest wOBA against RHB on the team (0.365) and is one of three players with a hard-contact rate over 40% (41.7%). The leader, J.D. Martinez, is rocking an elite 47.6% hard-contact rate against righties. His $4,000 price tag on FanDuel is a discount compared to what we’re used to, so it’s best to buy low when we have the chance.
Also Consider: Rafael Devers (great cash game value), Jackie Bradley Jr.
MLB Daily Fantasy – Secondary Stack: Chicago White Sox
If there’s any pitcher that is more polarizing in DFS than Andrew Cashner, let me know, because I don’t think there is. The Chicago White Sox will be the next team to take on the unpredictable gas-can/infrequent ace/serviceable starter (??) and will look to bounce back after being held to 1 run in 7 innings last time out against him.
Andrew Cashner | RHP
K% / SwStr%: 14.7% / 6.9%
SIERA: 5.29
wOBA: 0.357 vs RHB / 0.274 vs LHB
FB% / Hard%: 34.0% / 44.7%
For the second year in a row, Cashner’s surface stats are completely masking how poor his peripheral stats are and I’m hellbent on proving that it will catch up with him at some point, so I am banking on the White Sox tonight.
(2) Yoan Moncada (FD: $4000 / DK: $5100)
(3) Jose Abreu (FD: $4300 / DK: $5200)
(4) Yonder Alonso (FD: $2600 / DK: $4000)
(5) Tim Anderson (FD: $4100 / DK: $5400)
The bats are expensive, but getting exposure could vault you to the top of cash games and GPPs (or the bottom fo Cashner goes full troll :,) ). Both Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada hold wOBAs over 0.400 against righties, with Anderson specifically posting an elite 0.480 wOBA. On top of that, both also hold ISOs over 0.310, making them both top plays at their respective positions.
Jose Abreu busted out of his early-season slump and has been scorching at the plate, recording 15 hits over his last 7 games, with 14 RBIs in that span (two 5-RBI games). He’s posted a 43.1% hard-contact rate on the season his 0.277 BABIP has slowly been rising, indicating his positive regression is underway.
Yonder Alonso has been rather brutal against RHP this season with his 0.239 wOBA, but he bats in the heart of the order at a dirt-cheap price tag, which means he’ll be chalky in this matchup. Given that we are targeting cash games, he’s a smart play for ownership purposes.
Also Consider: Leury Garcia (especially if he leads off), Wellington Castillo, Yolmer Sanchez
MLB Daily Fantasy – GPP Stack: Washington Nationals
While both sides of this game are certainly viable when looking at a stack, if I had to pick one side, it would be the Nationals who get to step into the box against Adam Wainwright, whose age and injury-induced regression has been rearing its head over the last couple of seasons.
Adam Wainwright | RHP
K% / SwStr%: 20.6% / 6.2%
SIERA: 4.64
wOBA: 0.280 vs RHB / 0.417 vs LHB
FB% / Hard%: 31.9% / 40.5%
His 40.5% hard-contact rate 14.1% higher than it was last season, although he only pitched 40 innings, it is still alarming nonetheless. His strikeout rate continues to fall and his struggles with lefties are on full display. Below is the core of a Nats stack that I will target in tournaments:
(1) Adam Eaton (FD: $3400 / DK: $4300)
(4) Juan Soto (FD: $4300 / DK: $5100)
(4) Howie Kendrick (FD: $3500 / DK: $4500)
(5) Matt Adams (FD: $3100 / DK: $4500)
As you can see, three of the four of the above players bat from the left side of the plate. The other being Howie Kendrick, who has absolutely obliterated RHP to the tune of a 0.452 wOBA, 0.444 ISO and a 43.5% hard-contact rate. Assuming Anthony Rendon sits again, Kendrick is a good bet to slide into the cleanup spot and makes for a fantastic play.
Juan Soto has been seeing the ball well as of late and has posted a 0.374 wOBA against righties this season and a 19.8% walk rate. He possesses arguably the highest ceiling on the team and is a staple in my GPP lineups. While teammate Adam Eaton has also not produced a ton of pop this season, his 0.338 wOBA atop the lineup is more than serviceable enough at his salary. Should he get on base, a stolen base or two is also not out of the question.
Matt Adams remains too cheap for his power upside in this matchup, as he’s posted a 0.278 ISO and a 47.8% hard-contact rate, making him viable not only in GPPs, but cash games as well.
Also Consider: Victor Robles, Anthony Rendon (IF ACTIVE)
MLB Daily Fantasy – Value Stack: Cincinnati Reds
The Reds step into a massive boom-or-bust spot thanks to a few factors; their matchup and well, them as a team. There are a heap of great plays here, but I will stick to the rather affordable ones given that this is the value stack against Jason Vargas.
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Jason Vargas | LHP
K% / SwStr%: 13.2% / 7.7%
SIERA: 6.08
wOBA: 0.409 vs RHB / 0.409 vs LHB
FB% / Hard%: 44.2% / 57.1%
Woof. There really isn’t any other way to summarize the metrics above, other than saying this should be quite a short outing. Below are the key cogs to a Reds stack that should help save some salary:
(4) Yasiel Puig (FD: $3300 / DK: $3800)
(5) Curt Casali (FD: $2100 / DK: $3500)
(9) Jose Peraza (FD: $2500 / $3300)
Obviously these are not the heavy hitters of the Reds, but these are all three serviceable plays at extremely reasonable salaries. Against LHP this season, Yasiel Puig has posted a 0.375 ISO and a 50.0% fly ball rate. If he gets ahold of one, look out.
Curt Casali has played extremely well in limited playing time this season, capped off by his 3-hit / 4-RBI game over the weekend. Through his first 16 games, he’s rocking a 0.306 BA and while he’s not a lock to make the lineup, he’s a prime GPP play if he does that should come with less than 3-5% ownership.
Jose Peraza is always a serviceable play at this price point regardless of lineup spot due to his power/speed ability and he’s finally started to hit the ball, posting 6 hits over his last 4 games.
Also Consider: Eugenio Suarez (not a value play, but top play on the team), Joey Votto (value play on a PP$ basis)
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