jason mezrahi 
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Stack City, where I’ll be going through the top MLB DFS Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel.
There are eight games on DK’s 4:05 PM EST early slate today, so I’m diving into that, as well as their five-game main slate that begins at 7:15 PM EST. On FD, the 4:05 PM EST slate is their Main Slate, and it includes 10 games, concluding with the two games that start at 7:15 PM EST. Any FD stacks that exists in those last two games (and there will be at least one) will be included in my Main Slate analysis.
We should once again peruse Adam’s Starting Rotation article as our first order of business to help decide on arms, for the early and main slates.
Now it’s time to get to the stacks and build that bankroll!
MLB DFS Hitter Stacks – 4:05 Slate
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Madison Bumgarner
There are two games that start right at 4:05 p.m., but this is the one I want to focus one, especially given how hot the Phillies are (the team has a 154 wRC+ in the past week). I know the other game features the Brewers vs. Patrick Corbin, but they’ve struggled at the plate recently and don’t hit lefties all that well. While the Phillies have a bunch of lefty bats and they have to tangle with a former ace southpaw in Bumgarner, he’s a volatile shell of his former self who simply won’t last as many innings as he did during his prime. He’s also a longshot candidate for an ejection since he’s such an uber-sensitive snowflake when he’s on the mound.
My Phils stacks begin with Rhys Hoskins (very hot and just $3,900 on DK) and Bryce Harper. who’s seeing the ball extremely well and sports a .390 wOBA vs. LHP over his last 52 games.. From there, we can mix in shares of J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm and even the struggling Nick Castellanos, who’s much better against lefties.
Houston Astros vs. Braxton Garrett
Garrett’s metrics from his 2022 debut are downright comedic, with his 10.80 ERA and 6.73 FIP. He also made some starts in 2020 and 2021, which didn’t go much better. Opposing hitters just don’t have much of an arsenal to fear here, ands the Astros should take full advantage, even if it costs us quite a bit of salary.
My favorite stacking options include Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Michael Brantley, Jeremy Pena, and Kyle Tucker. We can use Martin Maldonado and I’d actually prefer they give Chas McCormick the start since he fares well vs. LHP. I’m probably done using Alex Bregman at 3B with his price still way up there over $5K until he gets hot again at the plate and can string together some multi-hit games or long balls.
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Beau Brieske
The Blue Jays are raking right now and Brieske is 0-5 in 2022, sporting a 4.93/6.54 WERA/FIP combo, with an xERA of 6.43. He’s exactly the type of pitcher we look to stack against in MLB DFS, with his 41.8% hard hit rate and questionable command of a mediocre pitch repertoire.
I’m looking at using the red-hot Alejandro Kirk along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, with additional exposure to Santiago Espinal, George Springer and Lourdes Gurriel. They’re pretty expensive on DK, so that could reduce their ownership a bit and make them a fine stack for GPPs.
Also consider:
Atlanta Braves vs. Zach Thompson
Baltimore Orioles at Kansas City Royals game stacks
Milwaukee Brewers RHB
San Diego Padres (Game 1) mini-stacks w/: Luke Voit, Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado
MLB DFS Hitter Stacks – 7:15 Slate
New York Yankees vs. Matt Swarmer
Swarmer has pitched well in his first two starts, logging 6.0 IP in each and yielding just one ER in each. But his 5.30 FIP belies an issue that we can see right in a very important counting category — HRs. With three long balls given up over those first two outings, I could see the Yankees lineup giving him problems in the Bronx on a fine night for hitting.
Let’s assume that Matt Carpenter gets another start with a righty on the mound and the Yankees a little worn out from their recent road trip and late night yesterday. From there, we can add in shares of Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and GPP extraordinaire Joey Gallo, a “three true outcome” hitter if there ever was one. Jose Trevino is still hitting well and relatively inexpensive, so he’s an option at the often difficult catcher slot.
New York Mets vs. Michael Lorenzen
Lorenzen is far from a bad pitcher, but he’s rocking a pretty unsustainable 7.5 HR/FB rate and the Mets are a team that could beat him up a bit tonight. Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo all hit fastballs well, and it’s really Lorenzen’s only good pitch. I could see them touching him up for a couple of long balls early and forcing an early exit. Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme are also in play.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Sam Long
It’s hard to argue against the Dodgers, even on the road in a traditional pitcher’s park. Long is, for the most part, an opener, which means they probably won’t se him past the third inning. For that reason, I’m less worried about R-L splits and that opens up the entire Dodgers lineup to mix and match against what works with the previous two MLB DFS stacks and the better hitting matchups from the COL-SDP game.
I really like Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner and Max Muncy, but Mookie Betts has been struggling at the bit and might not be worth that $6K price with so many other red-hot options. Still, he’s an option in stacking the Dodgers 1-4 hitters, which I don’t mind.
Good luck today, and remember to show us your green screens in Discord!
