MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 8/25/22

Josh Shepardson  —  @BChad50 Aug 25th, 2022
The Mets have smashed righties all year, and they'll draw another at Citi Field on Thursday. Which other offenses can we target?

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.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have beaten up the Cincinnati Reds in three consecutive games and should do the same tonight. The Phillies have scored four runs, seven runs, and seven runs, bringing the tally to 18 runs in the previous three days.

Tonight, the matchup is drool-inducing again. Justin Dunn made his season debut for the Reds on August 8. According to FanGraphs, in three starts totaling 13 and 1/3 innings, Dunn has had a 6.08 ERA and 6.06 xFIP, coughing up five homers with a 13.1 percent walk and 16.4 percent strikeout rate. Dunn's struggles have been an extension of his quality of work rehabbing in Triple-A.

In seven starts spanning 26 innings in Triple-A, Dunn had a 6.92 ERA, 6.14 FIP, 12.4 percent walk rate, and 17.8 percent strikeout rate. Dunn also coughed up 1.38 homers per nine innings. As a result, Dunn is a dreamy pitcher to attack by using opposing offenses. In addition, Cincinnati's bullpen has had an MLB-high 4.84 ERA this season.

Like last night, Kyle Schwarber ($3,200) and Rhys Hoskins ($3,200) are my favorite stacking choices. Since last year, Schwarber has had a .335 ISO and 144 wRC+ against righties. Since last season, Hoskins has powered up for a .232 ISO and 113 wRC+ against righties.

Houston Astros

The full-season marks for Chris Archer tell the tale of a pitcher who's been lucky. The veteran righty's 4.02 ERA is markedly lower than his 4.53 xFIP and 4.67 SIERA. However, the other shoe has dropped lately. In Archer's last six starts totaling 26 innings, he's been clobbered for a 6.23 ERA.

He'll have difficulty righting the ship against the Houston Astros tonight. Houston's projected lineup has four hitters with at least a 133 wRC+ against righties last year. Their lineup is also deep. If Christian Vazquez ($2,100) starts tonight and the Astros use the other eight starters from last night's game against a righty, everyone in tonight's lineup will own at least a 95 wRC+ against righties since last season.

The depth and top-shelf talent in Houston's lineup make them a stackable group from top to bottom that can erupt tonight. As usual, Yordan Alvarez ($4,100) is my favorite option in this stack. Since last season, he's hammered righties for a .372 OBP, .288 ISO, and 160 wRC+.

New York Mets

The New York Mets host the Colorado Rockies and their below-average starting pitcher Ryan Feltner tonight. The 25-year-old righty has had a 5.88 ERA and 5.60 Expected ERA (xERA) in 56 and 2/3 innings for the Rockies this season.

Additionally, Feltner hasn't merely been the victim of Coors Field. He's had a disastrous 6.26 ERA in 27 and 1/3 innings on the road this year. Feltner's also been drilled by lefties and righties, yielding a .343 wOBA to the former and .357 wOBA to the latter. Colorado's pathetic bullpen is a cherry on top. They've had the second-highest ERA (4.83) this year.

As a result, the Mets have a sky-high ceiling tonight. Gamers can stack anywhere in New York's lineup. However, I love Dan Vogelbach ($2,800). The burly slugger has a cap-friendly salary, and he's roughed up righties for a .228 ISO and 139 wRC+ since 2021.

I'm also not sleeping on Brett Baty ($2,700). The rookie had 19 homers, a .406 OBP, .232 ISO, and 159 wRC+ in 394 plate appearances in Double-A this year. He was also highly successful in his brief pit stop in Triple-A, and his 19.4 percent strikeout rate and .150 BABIP indicate he hasn't been overwhelmed in The Show and has been unlucky. Baty will likely slip through the cracks, adding to the appeal of using him in this stack in tournaments.


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.