3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Wednesday 5/26/21
Stacks are the backbone of cashing daily fantasy baseball lineups. Correlation drives upside, creating the potential to place high or even win GPPs when your selected stacks explode offensively.
This column will do the digging and the dirty work to determine which stacks are worth rostering each day. Scoring upside will fuel the stacks that get the nod. Sometimes that will lead to chalky selections, but contrarian stacks will get their fair share of love too.
In addition to utilizing the touted daily stacks in handbuilt lineups, numberFire premium members can throw these highlighted stacks into an optimized lineup using our DFS Sharpstack tool. Our hitting heat map tool is also available to premium members looking for more stacking options. It provides valuable info such as implied total, park factors, and stats for identifying the quality of the opposing pitcher.
Let's take a look at the top stacks on today's main slate.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have been a top-10 offense against lefties this year, ranking tied for seventh in weighted runs created plus (110 wRC+), per FanGraphs. They've also been an above-average offense of late, ranking tied for 12th with a 105 wRC+ over the last 30 days. Their power has been most noteworthy over that span, ranking fifth in isolated power (.191 ISO).
The Red Sox also love hitting in their hitter-friendly park, ranking tied for seventh in wRC+ (111) at home this year. Further elaborating on the hitter-friendly nature of Fenway Park, according to FantasyPros, it has the third-highest park factor for runs (1.103) and leads the way for doubles (1.404).
The pitching matchup is tantalizing tonight, too. Drew Smyly The veteran lefty's 4.58 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) is the fourth-highest among probable pitchers on tonight's main slate, and his 2.68 homers per nine innings coughed up to the opposition is the highest mark.
Smyly's getting pummeled by lefties and righties alike. Lefties have recorded a .564 slugging and .354 weighted on-base average (wOBA) against him in same-handed matchups this year. Righties have done even more damage with the platoon advantage, amassing a .524 slugging and .363 wOBA.
The top stacking options are superstars J.D. Martinez ($4,200) and Xander Bogaerts ($3,800). Both hitters have an extensive history of raking against lefties.
Don't sleep on Bobby Dalbec ($2,300) from the bottom of the order, though. The slugging corner infielder has a .384 ISO and 176 wRC+ in 76 plate appearances in his young career against lefties.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants enjoyed hitting at hitter-friendly Chase Field last night. It ranks eighth in park factor for runs (1.040), and the Giants will have a chance to pile up more offensive stats in a plus matchup tonight against Merrill Kelly.
The 32-year-old righty has pitched well of late. Still, he has a 5.05 ERA and 4.30 SIERA for the year. For his career, he has a 4.33 ERA and 4.55 SIERA. He's not a pitcher to avoid even after considering his improved pitching over the last 30 days.
Additionally, he struggles against both lefties and righties. Left-handed batters have a .326 wOBA against him this year. Righties have been even better with a .352 wOBA. He's a pitcher to attack with hitters of either handedness.
My favorite stacking options include but aren't limited to Buster Posey ($3,400) and Brandon Crawford ($3,100). Both hitters have a wRC+ north of 160 and an ISO above .230 against righties this year.
Leadoff hitter Mike Yastrzemski ($3,000) also merits consideration, hammering righties for a .313 ISO and 147 wRC+ this year. Alex Dickerson ($2,200) is a viable punt if he hits third again tonight, and Evan Longoria ($2,800) is a defensible option after homering in a multi-hit effort last night.
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres got the better of ace Corbin Burnes en route to a seven-run game last night. Tonight, the Milwaukee Brewers turn to a significantly less talented starter tonight, Eric Lauer.
The southpaw's been recalled from Triple-A to make the start. In four appearances (two starts) across 16 innings this year, he has a sparkling 2.81 ERA. However, his 3.28 SIERA is less dazzling, albeit still good. More importantly, he has a career 4.65 ERA and identical SIERA that outweigh the small sample of 16 quality innings this year. Further, he's been homer prone, coughing up 2.81 homers per nine innings this year.
Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,700) is the top option in the stack. He's slugged 13 homers, stolen 11 bases, muscled up for a .397 ISO, and recorded a 184 wRC+ in 133 plate appearances this year.
Jake Cronenworth ($3,200) is my second-favorite option, albeit a distant second -- that's taking nothing away from him, as Tatis is a monster. Cronenworth has a .374 on-base percentage and 130 wRC+ this year with a dash of power (five homers) and some speed (three stolen bases).
Manny Machado ($3,300) is a stellar option if he's back in the lineup tonight. Wil Myers ($2,400), Tommy Pham ($2,700), and Jurickson Profar ($2,600) should be on the radar, as well.
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.
