MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 9/30/20

The Dodgers headline today's top stacks, but their division-rival Padres offer a nifty pivot. The Marlins round things out as a potentially contrarian stack.

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.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Milwaukee Brewers are opting for a bullpen game started by Brent Suter tonight. Suter's 3.13 ERA and 2.85 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), according to FanGraphs, don't look like numbers to go out of your way to stack against, but 31 and 2/3 innings pitched this year hardly tell the whole story for Suter. Working primarily as a starter in 2018, he amassed a less impressive 4.44 ERA and 4.14 SIERA. Now, those look nicer to stack against.

Additionally, Milwaukee's bullpen is merely adequate, ranking 11th with a 4.17 ERA. When you factor in that Suter, who's been a solid reliever, won't be available due to starting and probably won't pitch deep into the game with a season-high pitch count of 59 pitches in his last start, per ESPN, it looks like a favorable matchup for offensive fireworks from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The entire lineup offers stacking appeal, but a trio of righties stand out as my favorites. A.J. Pollock ($3,100) has ripped lefties for a .369 OBP, .305 isolated power (ISO), and 159 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) in 168 plate appearances against them since last year. Justin Turner ($3,000) has also rocked lefties since last year with a .359 OBP, .261 ISO, and 135 wRC+.

Will Smith ($3,000) is the third righty I'm locking into lineups despite an unimpressive 99 wRC+ against lefties since reaching the Majors last year. This year, however, he's been very good against them with a .400 OBP and 136 wRC+. Also of note, all three hitters are stellar options in same-handed matchups, enhancing their likelihood of piling up fantasy points even after the Brewers take the ball from Suter and turn to their bullpen.

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres are opposing 32-year-old southpaw Kwang-Hyun Kim today. Kim's a pitch-to-contact starter with a tiny 7.3 swinging-strike percentage and 15.6 percent strikeout percentage that both fall well below the 2020 league averages of 11.3 percent and 23.4 percent, respectively. He's made the most of the approach, twirling a glowing 1.62 ERA in 39 innings, but his 5.00 SIERA is ugly.

The two marquee options from this stack are Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,300) and Manny Machado ($4,000). Squaring off against lefties since last year, Tatis Jr. has exploded for a .445 OBP, .266 ISO, and 172 wRC+ while Machado's erupted for a .396 OBP, .330 ISO, and 170 wRC+. Wil Myers ($3,200) and his .300 ISO against lefties since 2019 is my third-favorite option in a stack for the Friars. Meanwhile, Austin Nola ($2,800) and his .223 ISO against lefties since reaching the Majors in 2019 is yet another hitter who can punish Kim's pitch-to-contact approach.

Miami Marlins

With eight games on the docket, there are lots of stacking options. One benefit of this large slate -- by playoff standards -- is the fact it opens the door for a stack like the Miami Marlins to offer contrarian appeal. Listen, a matchup with Kyle Hendricks isn't a walk in the park. Hendricks has piled up a whopping 81 and 1/3 innings in a dozen starts this year, and he's pitched brilliantly with a 2.88 ERA and 4.00 SIERA. His SIERA isn't terrifying, though, and it's even more appealing to stack against depending on the weather conditions at Wrigley Field today.

The location of Wrigley Field and proximity to Lake Michigan create some interesting wind dynamics. When the wind is gusting in, it plays like a pitcher-friendly park. If it's gusting in today, scratch the Marlins and the host Chicago Cubs from stacking consideration and bump Hendricks and Sandy Alcantara up your pitcher rankings. If the wind is blowing out heavily, however, the ball can fly and runs can be piled up in bunches. Of course, it's possible the wind conditions won't be extreme in any direction, in which case I'm still open to stacking the Marlins.

If he's back in the lineup, Starling Marte ($3,000) is one of the top stacking options. He's totaled a .354 OBP, .196 ISO, and 123 wRC+ against righties since last year and adds fantasy scoring upside with his legs, having stolen 10 bases in 61 games this year after swiping 25 bags in 132 games in 2019.

Garrett Cooper ($2,800) is also worth a look with a .365 OBP and 120 wRC+ against righties since last year, but I slightly prefer fellow first-base eligible Jesus Aguilar ($2,900) if picking between the two. Aguilar had a forgettable 2019 after a breakout 2018, and he's rebounded nicely this season with a .352 OBP and 121 wRC+.

My top option from the Marlins, though, is Brian Anderson ($2,800). All he's done is improve every year at the plate since his cup of coffee debut back in 2017. This year, he set new bests with a .210 ISO and 121 wRC+. Although, the primary reason for him being my favorite option from the Marlins is his success against Hendricks' entire arsenal of pitches. According to FanGraphs, Hendricks throws a pair of fastballs -- four-seamer and sinker --, curve and changeup. Since last year, Anderson's posted positive run values against fastballs, curves, and changeups, as you can see in this table.


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.