4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 9/16/20

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.

New York Mets

After being held to just one run in a plus-matchup with Jake Arrieta last night, the New York Mets could see a lower rostership rate than they normally would in a tough matchup with Aaron Nola. And, I can't stress this enough, it is a tough matchup with Nola. Having said that, the Mets have crushed righties this year, ranking first with a 129 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus), per FanGraphs.

Using a Mets stack tonight is largely appealing because of the contrarian angle, but it's also due to the excellence of their top hitters against righties. Their typical lineup against right-handed pitchers features six hitters with a 120 wRC+ or higher in the split since 2017 (or since debuting in the Majors for those who reached the bigs after 2017), including Brandon Nimmo ($2,800), Michael Conforto ($3,400), Dominic Smith ($3,300), Robinson Cano ($3,000), Pete Alonso ($3,500), and Jeff McNeil ($3,000). I wouldn't advise that gamers tossing in just a few GPP lineups should opt to use a Mets stack, but those firing double-digit bullets in GPPs tonight should give them a shot as a swerve-play from the chalkier stacks.

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals aren't a high-powered offense, but they have a few intriguing hitters in their lineup and a tasty matchup with rookie lefty Tarik Skubal in the offing tonight. Skubal's lasted only 17 and 1/3 innings in his five starts in the Majors, and he's been rocked for a 7.27 ERA and 5.04 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA). He's also yielded a .363 weighted on-base average (wOBA) that's bad but actually been a bit lucky in comparison to his .371 expected wOBA (xwOBA), according to Baseball Savant.

My favorite option in a Royals' stack sits atop their order, Whit Merrifield ($3,300). He's hitting at an above-average clip this year with a 113 wRC+ and adds to his fantasy appeal with eight stolen bases. Speaking of stolen bases, Adalberto Mondesi ($2,800) was recently bumped back up into the two-hole in the lineup and has swiped 16 bases on the year. He's a high-strikeout hitter with a below-average bat, but he can get into a groove with his free-swinging ways, and he's in the midst of a heater at the moment.

Salvador Perez ($2,900) is enjoying a fantastic comeback season after missing the entire 2019 season. He's sitting on a .354 OBP, .226 isolated power (ISO), and 144 wRC+ thus far this year. The other player I'm interested in using in a Royals stack is Hunter Dozier ($3,200). Last year was a breakout season for him, and he's validating the breakout with a .380 OBP, .195 ISO, and 128 wRC+ this season.

Atlanta Braves

If you're interested in rostering a pitcher with a lower salary tonight or punting a few spots in the lineup with one of the aces on tonight's slate, the Atlanta Braves are a high-upside stack in a plus matchup with a few hitters who require sizable salary commitments. The plus matchup is with rookie lefty Keegan Akin. Last year, he totaled an uninspiring 4.73 ERA in 112 and 1/3 innings pitched at the Triple-A level, and this year he has a 4.61 ERA and 4.69 SIERA in 13 and 2/3 innings.

As for the studs with big salaries who are worth a look in Braves' stacks, they include Ronald Acuna ($4,400), Freddie Freeman ($4,200), Marcell Ozuna ($3,900), and Ozzie Albies ($3,800). Freeman is the only left-handed hitter of the quartet, but with a .357 OBP, .204 ISO, and 121 wRC+ against lefties since 2017, he shouldn't be automatically tossed from your stack. Fellow veteran Ozuna has pummeled lefties for a .362 OBP, .227 ISO, and 134 wRC+.

The duo of precocious studs, Acuna and Albies, best both Freeman and Ozuna in their marks against lefties. Acuna has a .378 OBP, .270 ISO, and 140 wRC+ against southpaws since reaching the Majors in 2017. Albies has demolished southpaws for a .377 OBP, .233 ISO, and 149 wRC+ since reaching the Majors in 2017. Travis d'Arnaud ($3,200), Adam Duvall ($3,000), and Austin Riley ($2,600) are three more hitters from the Braves to consider mixing into stacks against the Baltimore Orioles tonight.

Cleveland Indians

I've saved my favorite stack for last, the Cleveland Indians. They've burned me before touting them in this space this year, but short memories are important, as holding a grudge against a club is a bad way to maximize your chances at cashing big in GPPs. With that in mind, I'll go back to the well with them against Jon Lester. The veteran southpaw's made nine starts spanning 46 and 1/3 innings and totaled a 5.05 ERA that's only a bit higher than his 4.77 SIERA.

He's done a much better job missing bats in his last two starts, but he sits at a below-average 7.5 swinging-strike percentage on the year. Pitching to contact is a risky proposition against the Tribe, and it's an even riskier move for a lefty whose batted balls have resulted in a .365 xwOBA this season.

My favorite full four-man stack of the Indians includes Carlos Santana ($2,800), Franmil Reyes ($2,900), Francisco Lindor ($3,300), and Jose Ramirez ($3,700). Santana's the least accomplished hitter of the bunch against southpaws, with a .199 ISO and 125 wRC+ against them since 2017, and that speaks volumes about the damage the others have done against lefties. The trio of Ramirez, Lindor, and Reyes all hit or clear the thresholds of a .200 ISO and 130 wRC+ against lefties since 2017 -- or 2018 in the case of Reyes, since that's the year he reached the Majors. As an added bonus, this quartet can be stacked while leaving more enough cap space for an ace and another of the touted stacks above.

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.