3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Tuesday 4/19/22

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.

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox should be the most popular stack in this piece. However, a game at Coors Field and other high-octane offenses should steal most of the spotlight, keeping the Red Sox from getting too chalky. The appeal of using Boston's boppers starts with facing veteran lefty Yusei Kikuchi.

According to ESPN, in Kikuchi's first start for his new team, the Toronto Blue Jays, he had only seven swinging strikes on 84 pitches. If Kikuchi's unable to miss bats at a higher clip, the Red Sox will punish him at hitter-friendly Fenway Park. According to FantasyPros, Fenway Park has the second-highest park factor for runs (1.174) and ranks first for doubles (1.423).

In addition, Kikuchi has been homer prone and struggled mightily with right-handed batters. According to FanGraphs, in 71 starts, Kikuchi has been hammered for 1.63 homers per nine innings. Further, since last year, righties have torched him for a .484 slugging and .360 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA).

Predictably, my favorite picks from the Red Sox are right-handed. At the top of the heap is J.D. Martinez ($3,700). The veteran slugger has had a .386 OBP, .335 Isolated Power (ISO), and 159 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) in 290 plate appearances against lefties at Fenway Park as a member of the Red Sox. Longtime running mate Xander Bogaerts ($3,500) is another excellent pick for this stack.

Finally, my top picks to wrap up a full four-person stack are Trevor Story ($3,000) and Bobby Dalbec ($2,600). These two sluggers have top-shelf power. Since 2019, Story has had a .278 ISO against southpaws. Dalbec has been in the bigs since 2020, and he's had a .286 ISO in 227 plate appearances against lefties.

Milwaukee Brewers

Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers knocked their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates around for six runs. Milwaukee's offense is more good than great, but the pathetic Buccos can make the Beer Makers look their best.

JT Brubaker toes the slab for the visiting Pirates, and he had a 5.36 ERA, 4.63 Expected ERA (xERA), and 4.04 Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA) in 2021. Remarkably, he's off to a worse start this year, allowing eight runs in only 7 and 1/3 innings through two starts. In addition, the righty has walked seven of 39 batters faced.

Somehow, it gets better for the Brewers! Brubaker has allowed 1.76 homers per nine innings in 179 innings, and he has been inept against lefties and righties. Since last year, Brubaker has surrendered a .494 slugging and .355 wOBA to lefties and a .332 wOBA to righties. As a result, Milwaukee's lefties and righties are all viable stacking options.

My favorite picks from the Brewers are Willy Adames ($2,900) and Christian Yelich ($2,900). In 328 plate appearances against righties since joining the Brewers via trade last year, Adames has slugged 17 homers with a .360 OBP, .249 ISO, and 137 wRC+.

Sadly, Yelich has been mired in a lengthy slump dating back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Still, even after accounting for his struggles in 2020 and 2021, he has had a .402 OBP, .236 ISO, and 140 wRC+ against righties since 2019. Further, maybe this is the year he snaps out of his funk. Yelich hit a double and his first homer of 2022 last night, and he has had a .395 OBP, .212 ISO, and 140 wRC+ through 43 plate appearances.

Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners are essentially a speculative stacking suggestion. Jon Gray makes his first start after landing on the Injured List with a blister. After his first start of the season, when he developed the blister, he admitted he couldn't trust his stuff, labeling it a mental issue. What if he doesn't trust his stuff, or he simply doesn't have a feel for it in his first start back? Well, I think the Mariners can get the best of him.

In addition, Gray hasn't been an ace in his career anyway. Gray had a 4.59 ERA last year, nearly identical to his 4.60 ERA in his career. Obviously, he's pitched home games at Coors Field to this point in his career. Still, Gray hasn't proven himself to be a pitcher to avoid stacking against.

I won't rule out stacking any part of Seattle's lineup. Still, my favorite options are Ty France ($3,200), Eugenio Suarez ($3,000), and Jesse Winker ($2,800). France has blossomed into a talented hitter with the Mariners, recording a .380 OBP and 135 wRC+ against righties since 2019.

Suarez is a volatile pick with enormous power but a high strikeout rate accompanying his pop. Nevertheless, I'm happy to chase his .276 ISO against righties since 2019 in GPPs. Finally, Winker has been a nightmare for righties. He has had a .396 OBP, .263 ISO, and 149 wRC+ against them since 2019. Sure, his surface stats have been horrendous to open the year. However, his plate discipline, strike-out rate, and batted-ball data have all been outstanding. As a result, he's due for regression.

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.