4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 8/28/20
In the world of daily 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 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 total, park factor, and stats to identify the quality of the opposing pitcher.
Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s main slate’s featured stacks.
Chicago White Sox
I'm not going dive into the San Diego Padres-Colorado Rockies matchup at Coors. That game has a 12.0 over/under, and both sides sit with an implied total of 6.0. The Rox and Padres are firmly on the stacking radar with Zach Davies and Kyle Freeland pitching. You already knew that. Let's move on.
This is a really great night for offense. In all, there are eight teams with implied totals above 5.00, and with so many quality options, ownership should be fairly spread out, especially on the non-Coors teams.
Outside of Coors, my favorite stack is the Chicago White Sox (5.16 implied total), who are up against Danny Duffy. In 2019, Duffy pitched to a 4.89 SIERA while allowing a 39.1% hard-hit rate and 42.0% hard-hit rate. Righties tagged him for a 41.3% hard-hit rate and 41.0% fly-ball rate.
Chicago holds a 5.16 implied total and has plenty of right-handed pop in their lineup. They're a fun stacking option just because there are so many bats to choose from that it is easy to make the position puzzle pieces fit when pairing them with another offense. They have gotten pricey, though.
Jose Abreu ($4,100), Tim Anderson ($3,700), Eloy Jimenez ($3,500), Yoan Moncada ($3,300), Luis Robert ($3,300), Yasmani Grandal ($2,900) and Edwin Encarnacion ($2,800) are the guys I'll be mixing and matching in lineups.
Encarnacion has a long track record of punishing lefties, and with Abreu red hot and also occupying the first base/catcher slot, EE could slip through the cracks a bit. It wouldn't surprise me to see the parrot make an appearance.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers' 5.46 implied total is the top non-Coors clip. The Brewers are at home versus lefty Derek Holland. Since the start of 2019, Holland owns a 4.88 SIERA, 45.2% hard-hit rate, and 39.3% fly-ball rate. He does have a 22.0% strikeout rate, but he pairs it with an 11.3% walk rate.
Righties should be our focus as they got to Holland for a .406 wOBA, 49.4% hard-hit rate, and 49.7% fly-ball rate a season ago.
Keston Hiura ($3,500) is the only Brewers right-handed hitter who is above $2,800. He's very good at baseball, but he actually has reverse-splits in his brief career, posting a mere .304 wOBA and 33.8% hard-hit rate versus southpaws. I probably won't have too much of him.
Instead, I like Milwaukee's cheaper righties. Justin Smoak ($2,800), Avisail Garcia ($2,700), and Ryan Braun ($2,700) will hit from the right side and should be in the meat of the lineup. Luis Urias ($2,200) is an interesting cheap dart throw if he's in the starting nine. If Urias is sitting, it likely means Jedd Gyorko ($2,200) is playing, and Gyorko would be a nice value option, as well.
While Christian Yelich ($4,200), the Brewers' most expensive stick, is better against righties, he did have a .383 wOBA and 46.3% hard-hit rate in lefty-lefty spots in 2019. He's been heating up, too, with a 50.9% hard-hit rate since August 9th.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies carry a 5.16 implied total into their date with Robbie Erlin. The Atlanta Braves' lefty has a 28.8% strikeout rate this year, but it's mostly a smoke-and-mirrors act as his swinging-strike rate is only 8.9%. He's surrendered a 43.2% hard-hit rate since the start of 2019, and righties mauled him for a 46.4% hard-hit rate a year ago.
Rhys Hoskins ($3,300) is a stellar play tonight -- as a core stacking piece or a one-off plug-in. Against lefties in 2019, Hoskins rung up a .407 wOBA, 53.9% hard-hit rate and 48.0% fly-ball rate. Yes, please.
J.T. Realmuto ($3,800), Andrew McCutchen ($3,100), Alec Bohm ($2,600) and Jean Segura ($2,500) will have the platoon advantage. 'Cutch will likely be in the leadoff spot, giving his outlook a shot in the arm. I don't mind Scott Kingery ($2,000) as a minimum-priced shrug-emoji play.
Let's not forget about Bryce Harper ($4,300), who more than holds his own in lefty-lefty clashes. In 2019 Harper lit up southpaws for a .391 wOBA and 52.6% hard-hit rate -- both better than his marks with the platoon advantage.
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels have some lefty killers, and they could mash tonight against Nick Margevicius, who has struggled to a 4.84 SIERA, 39.8% hard-hit rate, and 17.6% strikeout rate over 76 2/3 career innings.
Mike Trout ($4,500) and Anthony Rendon ($3,800) cost a pretty penny, but both dudes crush southpaws. Trout had a .408 wOBA in the split in 2019 while Rendon recorded a .418 wOBA. Yes, the cost is a factor, especially if you're using Max Scherzer ($10,600), but that may suppress their ownership a bit.
The rest of the Halos are much cheaper. David Fletcher ($3,100), Jo Adell ($2,100), Justin Upton ($2,500), and Albert Pujols ($2,800) will all have the platoon advantage tonight. Adell is striking out in nearly 40% of his plate appearances, but he is a superb prospect who is dirt cheap.
