3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 8/24/21

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

Griffin Jax is pitching adequately for the Minnesota Twins lately. Still, he has a 5.11 ERA and 4.86 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) in 44 innings. In addition, he didn't dominate at the Triple-A level. Simply put, he's not the caliber of pitcher I expect to tame the Boston Red Sox.

There isn't a lens to view the Red Sox through in which they don't appear to be a high-octane offense. According to FanGraphs, they rank eighth in weighted runs created plus (105 wRC+) against righties, seventh with a 111 wRC+ at home, and fifth with a 121 wRC+ since the Major League Baseball trade deadline. Therefore, I expect them to pummel Jax.

They're a stackable group from top to bottom. Still, Kyle Schwarber ($3,700), J.D. Martinez ($3,900), Rafael Devers ($4,000), and Xander Bogaerts ($4,200) are among their top options. Out of that quartet, Devers is my favorite. He's ripped righties for a .276 isolated power (ISO) and 134 wRC+ since 2018.

Let me also call your attention to Alex Verdugo ($3,000), owner of a .395 on-base percentage, .199 ISO, and 145 wRC+ against righties this year. He's also been responsible for a 128 wRC+ against them since 2018. I'm inclined to swap him in for one of the aforementioned studs to differentiate from others stacking the Red Sox while also saving salary to use elsewhere.

Atlanta Braves

I was burned stacking the Red Sox against Andrew Heaney the last time he toed the slab. It's imperative to have a short memory in daily fantasy, though. The bigger picture reveals homer problems and general struggles for Heaney. He has a 5.51 ERA and 1.94 homers per nine innings through 22 starts.

So, I'm expecting Heaney to turn back into a pumpkin, and the Atlanta Braves to benefit from drawing him tonight. Specifically, I'm fixated on the hitters who will bat right-handed against him.

It starts at the top with switch-hitting Ozzie Albies ($3,900). The second baseman is capable of starting the game off with a bang, owning a .242 ISO against lefties since 2018 and a .269 ISO this year. Jorge Soler ($3,500) is another great power source, slotting directly behind Albies. The slugging outfielder has a .285 ISO against southpaws since 2018 and a .314 ISO this year.

Left-handed-hitting first baseman Freddie Freeman ($4,200) is worthy of a look even without the platoon advantage. I also like Austin Riley ($4,100) and Dansby Swanson ($3,800), as both have the requisite pop to take Heaney deep.

San Francisco Giants

I've often touted the San Francisco Giants in this space. Yes, they carry more risk than many of the top offenses since they're reliant on platooning and lineup depth for their offensive success. They don't have a tightly defined stack, and the platoon starters are at risk of being lifted early for a reserve. Nonetheless, they have a high ceiling that's desirable for GPPs.

Further their propensity to platoon results in much of their lineup having the platoon advantage. That should come in handy tonight since righty Tylor Megill is tough as nails on righties and giving to lefties. To that point, he's held right-handed hitters to a .217 weighted on-base average (wOBA). Yet, lefties have clobbered him for a .500 slugging percentage and .369 wOBA.

As a result of his struggles with lefties, I'm all over San Francisco's left-handed hitters. Namely, I'm using LaMonte Wade Jr ($3,400), Brandon Belt ($3,100), and Brandon Crawford ($3,000). Wade's having a breakout season, smashing righties for a .303 ISO and 140 wRC+. Belt has a track record of hitting for power against righties, and he's muscled up a little extra for a .282 ISO this year. Finally, Crawford's reworked his swing, and he leads the team in wRC+ (148) against righties. I'm expecting the Giants to be on a low percentage of rosters, enhancing the appeal of using them 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.