MLB DFS Top Stacks & Top Pitchers: August 19, 2026

Eric MacPherson is back with his daily card, breaking down the hitting stacks and starting pitchers he's targeting on this slate. Take his picks into the Stokastic MLB Sims and build by win probability across thousands of simulated contests.

EARLY Pitchers 8/19 ⚾️ 🏖️

Paul Skenes vs DET 3.9 runs: The Pirates pushed this start back in an effort to give Skenes more rest, with his last outing @MIA resulting in a career-low single-game 95.7mph fastball average, which is well below his near 99mph as a rookie and solidly under his 96.7mph for this season. There will likely be just two high-strikeout candidates (HKCs) in the Motor City Kitties lineup, which means the scuffling Skenes will need to make his own magic at the plate, which is the crux of the issue. Caveat Emptor.

Michael King at NYM 4.2 runs: In his three seasons as a starter, the 31-year-old has seen his strikeouts slide from 10.4 per nine innings to 9.3 and a career low 7.8 this season. He will see 4 HKCs from the #LOLMets and his $7.7k cap hit on DK is appealing. On FD he is $200 more than Skenes, but with only half the expected tournament representation.

Taj Bradley vs ATL 4.6 runs: This is a "both-sideser" with the ATL lefties looking appealing as Bradley has struggled with walks over his last trio of tips, handing out 10 free passes in 15 IP, with 19 hits leading to a woeful 11 ERs. After today he will have logged about the same number of innings as each of the last two seasons, so he may be wearing down, despite this being just his age-25 season.

EARLY Top Stacks 8/19 ⚾️🎇

PIT vs RHP Jackson Jobe 4.5 runs: The top-prospect was the third overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, directly from high school. He was promoted to The Show last year after only nine Triple-A innings. He has been taking his lumps from lefties, ceding a .230 Iso in 131 opposite-handed matchups. The Bucs have both Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz back, which makes for a much lengthier lineup than what we saw for most of the summer.

SDP at RHP Robert Stock 4.8 runs: Shout out to the 36-year-old who found his way back to the majors after spending 2022 in the KBO and 2024 in the Mexican League. This is likely the last hurrah for the baseball nomad. Aside from lefties Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets, the rest of the Friars have been crushing for the last month, particularly Fernando Tatis Jr. who has been playing like his pre-2022 suspension self, collecting 7 of his 15 HRs on the season in his last dozen starts.

ATL at RHP Taj Bradley 4.7 runs: Look to the lefties against Bradley, aside from Jim Jarvis, with Ronald Acuna Jr. as an honorable mention.

Pitchers 8/19 ⚾️ 🚀

Parker Messick vs SFG 3.3 runs: The watered down Giants are better suited to face right-handed hurlers. There are five high-strikeout candidates (HKCs) in the projected lineup, with Bryce Eldridge being the "most disciplined" with a 27.1 K%. Don't think Meat, just click.

Logan Gilbert at MIL 3.8 runs: Hopefully the Brew Crew used up all their runs last night in a historic 22-0 thrashing of Seattle. Third baseman Leo Rivas gave up nine in the 8th, but it was all over except for the crying at that point. Aside from his K-rate slipping from 11.9 per nine innings last year to his more typical 9.4 per nine, this has been a solid season for Gilbert. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 19 of his 24 starts.

Chase Burns vs STL 4.2 runs: There are only 2 HKCs in the Redbirds lineup, but the projected crew has very little power. Burns has been dealing since being called up last year and aside from his offensively friend home park, this is a very favorable matchup, though also accounted for his his salary. He has more DFS upside than Gilbert, though he is $1,000 more on DK and well above Messick on DK/FD as well. He is projected to be on fewer than 1-in-5 tournament lineups which is a nice first step towards differentiation.

Ethan Pecko vs LAA 4.2 runs: This will be the debut for Pecko and while the Halos have more LHBs through injury returns and trades, none are particularly daunting aside from Nolan Schanuel. DK SP2 GPP target only.

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