MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 8/30/22

Josh Shepardson  —  @BChad50 Aug 30th, 2022
The Atlanta Braves draw a stellar matchup against Jose Urena tonight. Which other stacks stand out?

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.

Atlanta Braves

It can't get any easier for the Atlanta Braves tonight. Jose Urena has been a punching bag for opponents. He hasn't had an ERA under 5.21 in a season since 2018. Additionally, he's had a 5.98 ERA and 5.18 xFIP in 58 2/3 innings this season.

The veteran righty has struck out only 11.6 percent of the batters he's faced this year while walking exactly as many hitters. Yikes. Further, Urena hasn't had any answers for lefties, allowing a .400 wOBA to them.

Predictably, my favorite options are lefties Matt Olson ($4,000) and Michael Harris II ($3,600). Since last year, Olson has had a .355 OBP, .247 ISO, and 134 wRC+ against righties. Harris has terrorized righties in his rookie season, amassing a .351 OBP, .260 ISO, and 152 wRC+.

Finally, all of Atlanta's hitters will benefit from the Colorado Rockies' putrid bullpen. Colorado's relievers have had the third-highest ERA (4.77) this season. So, Atlanta's talented offense is stackable from top to bottom.

Milwaukee Brewers

Mitch Keller seems to have genuinely figured things out this year. Still, he's not bulletproof. In his previous two turns, Keller has allowed 12 runs (6 earned) in only 5 2/3 innings.

The right-hander has struggled mightily with lefties. Keller has allowed a .350 wOBA to left-handed batters this year. But he hasn't been especially good against righties, either, as he's ceded a .330 wOBA to them.

And, obviously, the Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen has been the gift that keeps giving, owning the fourth-highest ERA (4.56) in 2022.

As a result, the Milwaukee Brewers are an attractive stack tonight. Sadly, Rowdy Tellez ($3,000) left yesterday's game early.

Tellez is an excellent choice if his knee discomfort passes, and he's penciled into the lineup. However, if he's out, don't sleep on Keston Hiura ($2,800). Since last year, Hiura has had a .248 ISO and 123 wRC+ against righties.

Christian Yelich ($3,400) and Kolten Wong ($2,700) are nifty picks with the platoon advantage. And Willy Adames ($3,600) and Hunter Renfroe ($3,400) are stellar power sources.

Houston Astros

Dane Dunning has had a thoroughly average season on the bump. The righty has had a 4.19 ERA and 4.18 Expected ERA (xERA) in 129 innings. Dunning isn't an obvious candidate to stack against, and he's not a great target for middling or bad offenses.

However, the Houston Astros are a high-octane offense. Since last year, four Astros projected to start have had at least a 135 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers.

Specifically, Jose Altuve ($3,700), Alex Bregman ($3,500), Kyle Tucker ($3,800), and Yordan Alvarez ($4,400) have unloaded on righties. Altuve has been the least accomplished hitter of the bunch, owning a 135 wRC+ against righties since 2021. He's been bested by Bregman's 140 wRC+, Tucker's 151 wRC+, and Alvarez's 158 wRC+.

The slate is large, including a dozen games, and Houston's implied total isn't eye-popping. Therefore, gamers don't have to get too creative stacking them. The Braves will be rightfully chalky, making the Astros an appealing pivot or complement to Atlanta in GPPs.

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.