3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 5/24/22
Stacks are an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. They can push a team to the top of a GPP by driving upside. However, they're also viable in cash games, namely smaller (two-person or three-person) stacks that mitigate the volatility of a full four-person stack.
This article is your home throughout the 2022 Major League Baseball season for the day's top stacks. The primary goal is to identify the highest-scoring upside stack. Still, game theory will play a role in contrarian stacks making the cut as GPP options. Nevertheless, chalky stacks will make appearances in this space, too.
Beyond my analysis in this space, I strongly suggest numberFire premium members using our DFS Sharpstack tool and hitting heat map tool. The DFS Sharpstack helps plug stacks into optimized lineups, allowing you to change parameters and lock or exclude players and teams. Meanwhile, the heat map offers a one-stop-shop for the opposing starting pitcher, implied total, park factor, and other notable goodies.
Now, let's look at the top stacks on today's main slate.
New York Yankees
Tonight, the New York Yankees will take cuts against Bruce Zimmermann for the fifth time in 2022. Interestingly, each start has been progressively worse for Zimmermann, culminating in him yielding five runs on seven hits and a walk in only five innings last time out.
The 27-year-old lefty's 3.48 ERA has been rock-solid this year. However, according to FanGraphs, he's also had a far less impressive 4.63 Expected ERA (xERA). In addition, he's struggled against righties, which is good news for New York's righty-laden lineup. Since last year, Zimmermann has allowed a .346 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) to righties.
It should go without saying, but white-hot Aaron Judge ($4,400) is the crown jewel of the Yanks' offense and mashed two more taters last night, running his total to 17 in 2022. Giancarlo Stanton ($3,800) and Gleyber Torres ($2,700) are also excellent picks.
Since 2019, Stanton has had a .374 OBP, .239 Isolated Power (ISO), and 147 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) against lefties. Torres hasn't been a slouch, either. He's had a .349 OBP, .206 ISO, and 127 wRC+ in the split.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers flexed their muscles, hanging 10 runs on the Washington Nationals. It's a lot to ask them to repeat last night's showing, but it's within their range of outcomes against Josiah Gray and Washington's horrible bullpen.
Gray has pitched 114 innings in the majors, getting knocked around for a 5.05 ERA and 4.74 Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP) while ceding a bloated 2.21 homers per nine innings. He's also been just mediocre against righties (.314 wOBA) and helpless against lefties (.383 wOBA). The Dodgers should rough him up, but the beating is unlikely to stop when Gray gets the hook.
Washington's bullpen has been one of only two 'pens with an ERA above 5.00, sporting the second-worst bullpen ERA (5.06).
As was stated last night, the Dodgers are stackable from top to bottom. Sadly, highlighting Edwin Rios ($2,300) didn't pan out when he failed to reach base in his five plate appearances. Still, if he receives another spot start, he's a great option at only $300 above the minimum salary. The slugger has a .302 ISO and 128 wRC+ in 203 plate appearances against righties in his career.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros have a plum draw with Zach Plesac. The righty had a surprising breakout campaign in 2020, but he reverted into a pumpkin in 2021 and has remained one this year. Since 2021, he's had a 4.62 ERA, 4.78 xFIP, and 4.77 Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA) in 181 and 1/3 innings.
Plesac has also surrendered 1.44 homers per nine innings while striking out an underwhelming 16.1 percent of the batters he's faced. Thus, Plesac is ill-equipped to navigate Houston's talented lineup.
The Astros, like the Dodgers, are stackable from top to bottom. In fact, Houston could start an entire lineup of players with at least a 117 wRC+ against righties since 2019. Jose Siri ($2,000) has been rotated in and out of the lineup versus righties this year. If he plays, his 136 wRC+ in 91 plate appearances in the split in his young career is a lot of bang for his minimum salary.
Jose Altuve ($4,200) and Yordan Alvarez ($3,800) are arguably the best picks, hitting leadoff and cleanup, respectively. Both hitters have had a track record of success against righties, and they've kicked their production up a notch against righties this year. Altuve has a 174 wRC+ in the split, and Alvarez owns a .440 ISO and 216 wRC+.
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.
