Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Opening Day

In the world of daily fantasy baseball, stacks are often the backbone of the most successful -- and profitable -- lineups. Correlation is the key.

When an offense hangs runs in bunches, it means hitters are scoring runs and teammates hitting behind them are driving them in. By rostering stacks, you’re maximizing the fantasy point scoring by essentially double dipping on a run-scoring event.

This is your daily home for the top stacks on the daily fantasy baseball slate. Whether you’re looking to identify the projected highest-scoring stacks or contrarian stacks that can help you separate from the pack in GPPs when they explode, they’ll be thrown under the spotlight here.

Gamers who are numberFire premium members can throw these highlighted stacks into an optimized lineup using our DFS Sharpstack tool. The tool allows you to select the team and number of players from that team you’d like to include in your lineup. If you’re looking to identify other potentially high-scoring stacks beyond those featured in this space, check out our hitting heat map, a tool that provides valuable info such as implied totals, park factors, and stats to identify the quality of the opposing pitcher.

Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s main slate’s featured stacks.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On just a two-game slate for Opening Day, the Los Angeles Dodgers stand out as the far and away the top stack. They’ll undoubtedly be chalky as a result, but the projected high-ownership rates of their top bats obviously isn’t a hindrance in cash games and shouldn’t dissuade you from using them in GPPs, either.

The Dodgers are massive -310 moneyline favorites, per MLB odds. They also have the softest pitching matchup. Johnny Cueto was healthy enough to pitch in just four games (16.0 innings) last year after recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in August 2018. On a slate of bat-missing hurlers, he’s the exception. That’s a boon for the power-packed lineup the Dodgers boast.

Mookie Betts ($4,200) kicks things off as the new leadoff hitter for the Dodgers, and he’s one of the top options from their loaded lineup. The same-handed matchup with a fellow righty isn’t concerning, as Betts rakes against righties. Among qualified hitters versus right-handed pitchers since 2017, Betts ranks 21st in weighted runs created plus (wRC+) with a 136 wRC+, and he also owns a stellar .232 isolated power (ISO) and superb .379 on-base percentage (OBP), according to FanGraphs.

Fellow right-handed hitter Justin Turner ($3,100) also rips the cover off the ball against righties. In the same three-year stretch, Turner’s rattled off a .383 OBP, .174 ISO, and 131 wRC+. As good as the righty combo of Betts and Turner is, a pair of lefty sluggers have done even more damage against righties.

Cody Bellinger ($4,500) and Max Muncy ($3,900) are a pair of top-10 hitters (among qualified batters) facing righties in wRC+ since 2017, ranking tied sixth (148 wRC+) and fifth (150 wRC+), respectively. Remarkably, their power is even more eye-catching against righties, with Bellinger ranking fourth in ISO (.296) and Muncy checking in at third (.299) during that three-year span.

The quartet comprises my favorite -- albeit pricey -- plays from the Dodgers, but they’re not alone. Shortstop Corey Seager ($3,200) is a strong play in cash games and GPPs. After missing the majority of the 2018 season as a result of undergoing Tommy John surgery, the left-handed hitting middle infielder returned to post a .348 OBP, .239 ISO, and 126 wRC+ in 356 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers last year.

In GPPs, slugging outfielder Joc Pederson ($2,800) offers a pivot off of his likely higher-owned star teammates. Power is his calling card, and among qualified hitters facing righties since 2017, he ranks sixth with a .286 ISO. Last year, he ranked fifth against righties with an even better .319 ISO. The risk with using him is a massive platoon split that could lead to him being lifted early for a pinch-hitter if the San Francisco Giants use a lefty reliever when Pederson’s spot in the order is due up.

Washington Nationals

Finding a second stack isn’t a clear-cut choice. Having said that, the Washington Nationals have a few solid options to string together despite their daunting task of taking hacks against the newly minted ace of the New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole.

Trea Turner ($3,600) offers a great blend of on-base skills, pop, and speed. The speed could be especially useful if he reaches base against Cole. Turner finished fifth last year with 35 stolen bases, and since 2017, Cole’s yielded the 14th-most stolen bases (42).

Likely from the two-hole, Adam Eaton ($2,600) is a lefty who makes a ton of contact and gets on base at a high rate (.366 OBP against righties last year and .387 OBP against them since 2017). He’s not the class of speedster that the aforementioned Turner is, but he’s coming off of stealing 15 bases, as well, and offers some stolen base potential if he reaches against Cole.

Starlin Castro ($2,500) is a viable option at a position lacking much firepower. The primary case for using him is his projected lineup spot of third.

The crown jewel of Washington’s lineup is 21-year-old Juan Soto ($4,000). In just his second season in “The Show” last year, he established himself as one of the game’s elite hitters. Among qualified batters against righties, he ranked tied for third in OBP (.416), ninth in ISO (.303), and fifth in wRC+ (155). As great as Cole is, Soto’s excellence gives him a case to be in a daily lineup every single night, Opening Day included.

The final intriguing piece of the Nationals is brawny slugger Eric Thames ($2,400). He can put a charge into the ball. Thames checked in at 20th in ISO (.275) and 12th in hard-hit percentage (47.4 percent) out of qualified hitters facing righties last year. Like Pederson from the Dodgers, he’s in danger of getting pulled for a pinch-hitter if the Yankees bring in a southpaw to face him. Still, at $2,400, Thames is an attractive stack piece who offers salary relief in addition to homer potential.

Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.