Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Aces and Bases, where I’ll be going through the top MLB DFS Aces and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel.
Tonight we have a massive 14-game slate of MLB DFS to navigate through. We have a couple of solid pitchers we can turn to and some smash spots for offense.
Let’s dig in and see if we can find some stacks to use today!
MLB DFS Aces – Main
Gerrit Cole vs. Oakland Athletics
While every game that Gerrit Cole pitches in feels like a trap play, he should do well tonight. He’ll be facing a weak lineup that, although he didn’t strike out many, Jameson Taillon was able to essentially dominate last night. This Athletics team doesn’t strike out a whole lot, but they also don’t do much in the way of hitting for power. The projected lineup tonight for the A’s have just a .154 ISO vs. righties over the past month. We may not see a 10 K performance from Cole tonight, but we should see him roll through this lineup with ease. He’s expensive at $10.7k on DK tonight, but he has arguably one of the best matchups on the board tonight.
Justin Steele vs. Milwaukee Brewers
I highlighted this the other day with Andrew Heaney that the Milwaukee Brewers have been pretty bad this season against lefties. Against lefties this season, the Brewers have struck out more than 26% of the time. If we dial that back to more recent data, the projected lineup tonight has a 28.2% strike-out rate vs. lefties over the last month. It also helps that Justin Steele is coming into this one pitching some outstanding baseball. Over his 26 innings of work, Steele has a 36% k rate and just a .68 ERA. While that ERA seems exaggerated, his xFIP of 1.85 shows it’s not a fluke. Justin Steele is coming into his own as a pitcher and he’ll make for a nice value with pitching tonight as he’s only $7.6k on DK.
Bailey Falter vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Bailey Falter gets the privilege of taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight. The Pirates lineup has been pretty cold of late, with just 15 runs scored over the last week and a 26% K rate. With Falter being a southpaw, we’ll be able to neutralize guys like Oneil Cruz. Falter is coming into this pitching pretty well. Over the last month, Falter has a nearly 24% k rate and just a 2.25 ERA. The xFIP of 4.49 does indicate he may have some challenges ahead, but I just don’t see them happening tonight against a lineup that will be trotting out guys like Ben Gamel, Greg Allen, and Rodolfo Castro. Apologies if any of their parents are reading this, I mean no disrespect.
MLB DFS Stacks – Main
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Bryse Wilson
If you were planning on stacking the Phillies last night, you were probably disappointed at the lineup they threw out last night. Guys like J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm got a breather and it made for a watered-down lineup. Tonight’s Phillies lineup should resemble more of an All-Star team as they’ll get their start slugger back in Bryce Harper. And having him back tonight will play heavily into the weakness of Pirates’ starter Bryse Wilson. When you attack Wilson, you do it with lefties. In 2022, lefties have a .612 slugging % vs. him and a .424 wOBA. He struggles mightily vs. lefties and there will be a handful of lefties in the Phillies lineup tonight that can do some serious damage.
Core: With there being some cheap pitchers we can use tonight, there will be plenty of money to go around to fit some expensive bats. My core with the Phillies tonight will be Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. While I still never trust Schwarber, he did homer last night and anytime he does that, there’s always a chance that he can go on an epic run. With a matchup against a pitcher that can’t get lefties out to save his life, there’s a strong chance he can homer on back-to-back nights. Harper returns tonight after a 2-month stay on the IL. He had a brief rehab assignment, but you wouldn’t know it because he absolutely destroyed AAA pitching. I have little concern that he’ll be rusty tonight.
Secondary Pieces: After my core, I’ll look to add in J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott, and Alec Bohm. Stott is playing some amazing baseball right now and won’t break the bank at $4k. He’s hit safely in 7 straight games and has extra-base hits in 3 straight. With him being a lefty, this is a solid matchup for him tonight against Wilson. Realmuto, while not having the platoon advantage tonight, is also swinging a hot bat. He’s been hitting the cover off the ball and until he cools off, I don’t care much about who the pitcher is.
Chicago White Sox vs. Tommy Henry
The underperforming White Sox draw a sweet matchup tonight vs. the southpaw Tommy Henry. Over the last few years, the White Sox have been a lock vs. lefties when playing MLB DFS. While that hasn’t always worked out this season like it has in years past, it should be tonight vs. an average pitcher in Henry. Henry hasn’t pitched awful through his 4 starts this season, but he does have some pretty dramatic home/road splits. At home, he’s pitched to a 1.46 ERA. On the road has been a completely different story as he’s pitched to a 6.10 ERA. With this game being in Chicago tonight, I’m hopeful the trend will continue of him struggling on the road.
Core: My White Sox core will be the 2 guys that will most likely hit right at the top of the lineup, A.J. Pollock and Luis Robert. Pollock will provide us some decent value at just $3.4k while also providing us with some solid production. Over the last month, he’s been excellent vs. lefties. He has a .364 ISO and a .371 wOBA vs. them. His price-plus spot in the lineup makes him one of my favorite bats on the day. Robert, while a little more expensive, is also in a great spot tonight. He has a massive .421 wOBA vs. lefties over the last month and should be able to do some damage tonight.
Secondary: After my core, I’m going to add Jose Abreu, Andrew Vaughn, and Eloy Jimenez. Jose Abreu has a long career now of abusing southpaws. He hasn’t shown much power vs. them over the last 30 days, but he does have a high wOBA vs. them of .398. Andrew Vaughn is coming into this one as one of the most consistent White Sox bats. He’s sporting a modest 4-game hitting streak and has hits in 6 of his last 7. He had a solid game last night, with 2 extra-base hits and he’ll look to build on that tonight vs. Henry.
Value: There will be some decent value at the back of this White Sox lineup tonight. Elvis Andrus, Josh Harrison, and Romy Gonzalez are all $2.5k and below tonight on DK and will have the platoon advantage. Andrus has been really good against lefties over the last month, with a .250 ISO and a .468 wOBA. He’s my favorite value play on the White Sox tonight.
New York Mets vs. Chad Kuhl
Although they won last night, the Mets were somewhat of a disappointment in terms of MLB DFS as they only scored 3 runs. I’m going to go right back to the well tonight because they face a struggling pitching in Chad Kuhl. Kuhl has now gone 6 straight starts giving up at least 3 ER. In his last start vs. the Padres, he gave up 9 ER before being pulled.
Kuhl is a borderline Major League pitcher and one that anytime he’s on the mound, we should consider stacking against. Kuhl has been pretty bad vs. both sides of the plate this season as righties and lefties have a slugging % over .460 vs. him and wOBA’s over .340. The Mets should be able to put up a big number tonight vs. Kuhl
Core: My core with the Mets tonight will be Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. Alonso provided the majority of the Mets’ offense last night with his 2-run homer. He’s been mostly quiet over the last week or so, but much of it has been due to bad luck thanks to a low BABIP. Could his homer last night be the start of things to come as we get into the home stretch of the season? I sure hope so and I’ll be counting on it tonight.
McNeil has put together a solid season after disappointing last year. Over the last month, he has had a .428 wOBA vs. righties and a .210 ISO. He’s reasonably priced at $4.3K on DK and will be a lock in my Mets stack.
Secondary Pieces: Other Mets bats I really like tonight will be Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, and Daniel Vogelbach. All three are extremely solid vs. righties and will make for nice additions to a Mets stack. Over the last month, Lindor has a .448 wOBA vs. righties. He’s pricey at $5.6k, but he’s a stat-sheet stuffer and can always put up a monster number thanks to his combo of power and speed.
MLB DFS Summary
Other stacks I like tonight are going to be the Houston Astros vs. Kyle Bradish, Tigers vs. Glenn Otto, Rangers vs. Tyler Alexander, and Nationals vs. Mike Minor.
Make sure to check out our new Home Run Model, it’s been running white hot!
Good luck and hope to see you in the green.
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