MLB DFS Picks: Stack Slants for DraftKings + FanDuel

I might have a problem, you guys. I’m pretty sure I’m not even supposed to be writing about baseball today, but I just can’t help wanting to throw a couple of stack thoughts out there. As usual, be sure to check out my overnight Quick Hits for additional stacks and home run picks. We have 11 games today on the DraftKings slate and 13 on the big slate over on the blue site, so we should be in for another full wild day of baseball. Didn’t you miss this?

In last night’s piece we touched on the Rockies, Rays and Reds, and I think they all still look good now that we have Awesemo’s projections and the stack tool to work with. The Rockies rank lower than I would have hoped, but they are not a popular option, so they’ll be in play for me. The risk-averse may want to look elsewhere in that spot. There are a few other emerging options on the board as well, and I’m going to hit two of them here before I get to crunching lineups.

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Our goal here is going to be a quick review of lineups in the afternoon — hopefully with some confirmed information — in the hopes of finding a different approach to some stacks or a high-quality, low-owned stack that we can exploit. We’re going to be focusing primarily on Awesemo’s Top Stacks Tool as a frequent reference point. While we may land on popular builds from time to time, we’re generally going to try to be different in this space, so bear that in mind when deploying ideas you find here.

If you haven’t been playing MLB DFS, you might not be familiar with how the stack tool works, but you should familiarize yourself with it. Personally, I think it’s one of the most powerful features on the site. I’ll review each team’s probability of being the day’s top stack and compare it with the projected team ownership that the tool provides. When we see ownership that is trending significantly below the team’s chances of being your best option, it’s a great spot. I’ll also be careful to review the various probability rankings in relation to one another. Some days there isn’t as much difference between third and seventh as you might think, indicating some undervalued opportunities.

We’ll typically be working with projected lineups here, so watch out on the Live Blog for any breaking news, and adapt accordingly.

Cleveland Indians: – 9-2-3-4-5 – Zimmer – Lindor – Ramirez – Santana – Reyes

I get it, the Indians can be a frustrating stack to roster, but with the Royals announcing Ronald Bolanos as today’s starter there’s just no reason in the world you should be fading them. I liked them a ton when I thought it was Mike Montgomery on the mound, but Bolanos is no Mike Montgomery … which really isn’t saying much. The Indians have power and speed to burn, and despite what seem like constant letdowns, they’re a great team to roster in MLB DFS. They offer significant positional flexibility and good pricing to go along with the dynamic bats. The Indians rank third in the stack tool on DraftKings and fourth on FanDuel and are going well under on both sites.

Franmil Reyes burst onto the scene last year, mashing 39 home runs between the Padres and Indians. With a .245 ISO over his first season and a half, the slugger is emerging as one of the game’s premier power hitters and is just getting started. Mash him into your lineups in this spot. Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor are established stars and hit above Reyes at third base and shortstop, and you can just play the top five here while only rolling one outfielder if you want to add Cesar Hernandez and Carlos Santana. I don’t love the back half of the lineup, but Roberto Perez has some pop if you need an inexpensive, low-owned catcher option. Oscar Mercado helped some MLB DFS scores last season but those were more outlier performances, he’s fine to include to differentiate multiple Indians lineups but would not be a focus play for me.

If Bradley Zimmer is hitting in the late end of this lineup, he intrigues me slightly for almost no salary or popularity. Zimmer has not done much with his minimal chances at the big league level yet but this is a guy the Indians were at one point excited about. Now 27, the former top prospect is running out of time to make something happen. In his three full minor league seasons, he’s had three seasons of around 15 homers and more than 25 stolen bases. This is the kind of off-brand “Leury Garcia hitting two home runs” play that could win you a GPP.

Chicago White Sox – 1-2-4-5-7 (DraftKings) / 2-4-5-7 (FanDuel) – Anderson – Moncada – Encarnacion – Jimenez – Robert

The White Sox are going slightly under-owned for their ranking in Awesemo’s top stacks, where they sit around 10th but are drawing only half the ownership that their probability of success would suggest. They aren’t the most likely option, but we’re looking for the less traveled path in this space and they fit the bill.

The lowered popularity is likely due to the quality pitching matchup against Kenta Maeda, who is making his Twins debut after coming over from the Dodgers in the offseason. The White Sox are one of the big up and coming teams in the league and I already featured them either here or in Quick Hits once this season. There is a ton to love in this lineup even against a good starter. Rookie Luis Robert is still not garnering the attention he’ll be getting from MLB DFS owners shortly, he’s a guy I want to take advantage of while I can, even from late in the lineup. When a kid comes up and immediately draws Roberto Clemente comps, you just plug and play at this price and ownership. The top of the White Sox lineup just hums along with production.

AL Batting Champ Tim Anderson makes a great option at shortstop with his hit tool, power and speed combination, he hit 18 homers and stole 17 bases to go with his batting crown in 2019 and still has room to improve his strikeout rate. We covered Yoan Moncada the other day, he’s going to be one of the best all around hitters in baseball starting this season, include switch-hitter here. The rest of the White Sox power is largely right handed, but veteran sluggers Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion have shown the ability to handle same-side pitching without losing much, and the White Sox’ other other young emergent superstar, Eloy Jimenez, has been better against right-handers so far in his young career, posting a .271 ISO in the split.

On DraftKings we can’t include both Encarnacion and Abreu due to positioning, but feel free to include that combination in your White Sox stacks on FanDuel where you gain the Flex spot.

Note: Yoan Moncada is sitting out today. Based on the revised lineup, I love the 3-7 with Abreu, Grandal, Encarnacion, Jimenez, Robert in order. You can, however, make it work with two of Grandal, Abreu and Encarnacion.

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Author

Terry McBride

Terry used to do other things, now he writes words on the internet. He hopes his more than 20 years’ experience in season-long and daily fantasy sports and his custom models for MLB, NBA, and NFL don't steer you too wrong when he writes columns and makes picks on Awesemo.com. A lifetime of experience keeping odd hours make Terry ideal to cover KBO baseball overnight until the world returns to normal. Most of those late night hours have been spent on the couch watching sports, T.V., and movies; just try to shut him up about any of the above. You can find his pop-culture ramblings and more on Sideaction.