3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Friday 9/16/22

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.

St. Louis Cardinals

Unfortunately, the Cincinnati Reds haven't announced a starter tonight. Nevertheless, Roster Resource projects Reiver Sanmartin as the unlucky sap opposing the St. Louis Cardinals. The lefty is no match for the high-powered Cardinals.

According to FanGraphs, the 26-year-old lefty has a 5.64 ERA in 60 and 2/3 innings for the Reds in his young career. He's also had a putrid 7.36 ERA in 18 and 1/3 innings in Triple-A this year. And, of course, Cincinnati's bullpen has been a roaring dumpster fire this season. The Reds have the second-highest bullpen ERA (4.71) in 2022. So, naturally, the Red Birds should light up the scoreboard tonight.

The Cards are stackable throughout their lineup, but Paul Goldschmidt ($4,500) is the crown jewel of the offense. Since 2019, Goldy has had a .444 OBP, .335 ISO, and 200 wRC+ against southpaws. Nolan Arenado ($4,300), Tommy Edman ($3,600), Tyler O'Neill ($3,400), and Albert Pujols ($3,200) are other lefty-killers from the Cardinals who merit consideration for this stack.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are a high-upside GPP pivot from the likely chalkier Cardinals. They have a delectable cupcake to feast on tonight. Jordan Lyles faces the Blue Jays tonight, and he's had a 4.62 ERA and 4.97 Expected ERA (xERA) in 28 starts this year.

Additionally, Lyles has been awful against lefties and righties. This year, left-handed batters have ripped him for a .515 slugging and .376 wOBA. Conversely, right-handed batters have had a .327 wOBA. Thus, even though Toronto's elite hitters are right-handed, they shouldn't have difficulty with Lyles.

Obviously, Bo Bichette ($4,500), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,900), George Springer ($3,800), and Teoscar Hernandez ($3,200) are exciting choices from the high-powered Blue Jays. Still, don't sleep on Matt Chapman's ($2,500) thunderous lumber. He's launched 20 longballs with a .213 ISO against right-handed pitchers, saving his best work against righties for the Rogers Centre. Chapman has clubbed 13 of his homers against righties this year at home.

Baltimore Orioles

The Blue Jays are another team keeping their starting pitcher for tonight close to the vest. Still, Roster Resource projects Tom Hatch to start for Toronto tonight. He's made only one start for the Blue Jays this year, getting drilled for 10 runs in only 4 and 2/3 innings on July 2. Yikes.

Obviously, everyone can have a bad game. However, Hatch has also struggled in the minors this year. In 24 appearances (22 starts) in Triple-A, Hatch has had a 5.02 ERA and 4.61 xFIP this season. Obviously, it's unlikely a pitcher with an ERA north of 5.00 in Triple-A will find the sledding easier in the majors.

So, the Baltimore Orioles will benefit from Hatch taking the ball tonight. In addition to being an exciting stacking option tonight because of the excellent matchup, the Orioles are also an enticing source of salary relief, with none of their hitters sporting a salary higher than $3,100.

Finally, my favorite four-person stack from the O's is Cedric Mullins ($3,100), Adley Rutschman ($3,000), Anthony Santander ($2,700), and Gunnar Henderson ($3,000). Rutschman has creamed righties for a .380 OBP, .227 ISO, and 153 wRC+ in his rookie campaign. Santander has muscled up for a .200 ISO against righties since last year. And Mullins has had a .363 OBP, .213 ISO, and 140 wRC+ against righties since 2021.

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.