3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Wednesday 4/12/23

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.

Toronto Blue Jays

The night's top implied total belongs to the Toronto Blue Jays as they boast a 5.20 clip for their home date with lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

Toronto is a righty-heavy lineup that might be the game's toughest matchup for southpaws, and it's not like E-Rod has been any good through two starts, struggling to a 5.87 SIERA and 14.0% strikeout rate across 10 innings.

George Springer ($3,700), Bo Bichette ($4,000), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,900) and Matt Chapman ($4,400) are the top bats for the Jays, and all four will hit from the right side. There's some sticker shock at Chapman's salary, but it's hard to argue with it as he popped another dinger last night and owns an expected wOBA (xwOBA) of .546 so far in 2023.

The only negative with those four is how high they are in salary, and that's particularly troubling if you're trying to roster Kevin Gausman ($11,100) or Spencer Strider ($10,900) at pitcher.

That's where Alejandro Kirk ($2,700), Whit Merrifield ($2,900) and Danny Jansen ($2,400) come in handy, and there's an outside shot Jordan Luplow ($2,000) gets a start versus a lefty. Kirk had a 41.0% hard-hit rate against left-handers last year while Merrifield put up a 45.5% fly-ball rate in the split.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers (4.72 implied total, third-best) are in a great spot at home versus Brad Keller, and with no one salaried over $3,500, Texas is a sweet fit alongside Strider or Gausman.

Keller ended 2022 with a 4.57 SIERA. That was actually his best SIERA since his rookie year (2018), which tells you all you need to know. He's got a 17.4% strikeout rate for his career, and the only even somewhat scary thing about his profile is that he does a nice job limiting fly-balls, posting a 52.1% ground-ball rate a campaign ago.

While it seems unlikely Corey Seager ($3,300) plays today after last night's early exit, the Rangers still have plenty of high-upside sticks, including Adolis Garcia ($3,500), Marcus Semien ($3,300) and Nathaniel Lowe ($3,200). Lowe will have the platoon advantage, and he recorded a .354 wOBA in the split in 2022.

Rookie Josh Jung ($2,900) is off to a nice start, mashing his way to a .351 wOBA through his first 41 plate appearances of the season. Robbie Grossman ($2,700) and Jonah Heim ($2,800) are modest-salaried switch-hitters. Brad Miller ($2,700) will have the platoon advantage and is eligible at both third base and outfield.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers might fly under the radar on this six-game slate due to a matchup with Alex Cobb.

Cobb is a quality hurler. He pitched to a 3.15 SIERA last year and is off to a stellar start this season, registering a 2.67 SIERA and 27.3% strikeout rate through two turns. He's not someone I usually go out of my way to attack.

However, we know how potent LA is, and with early draft percentage projections around the industry having most of the Dodgers' bats going overlooked, I am intrigued. Plus, the wind is blowing out tonight in San Fran, and the Dodgers' 4.18 implied total is a respectable number.

Will Smith ($4,100), Mookie Betts ($3,800) and Freddie Freeman ($3,700) are LA's premier bats. Freeman has a .518 xwOBA early on, and he tagged right-handers for a .406 wOBA and 39.6% hard-hit rate a year ago.

The Dodgers offer some quality midrange bats, too, in Max Muncy ($3,000), James Outman ($3,300) and J.D. Martinez ($3,200). Muncy just had a huge night on Monday (60.9 FanDuel points) and looks to have carried over his form from the second half of 2022, when he racked up a 46.3% hard-hit rate and 47.2% fly-ball rate.

Miguel Vargas ($2,600), Jason Heyward ($2,400) and David Peralta ($2,300) are viable cap-relief options.