This content will be dedicated to providing you with an easy-to-follow breakdown of the elite cash plays, GPP plays, and leverage stacks.

 

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Pitching

MLB DK Pitcher Table

Alex Wood

Wood’s throwing at a high level for the San Francisco Giants, posting a 3.60 xFIP with a 24% strikeout rate through 11 starts. His xFIP dips to 3.37 at home, and he’s been a reverse-splits pitcher, recording a 26.9% strikeout rate against righties in 2021. Wood gets a matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies, who utilize plenty of right-handed bats but have also struggled against left-handed pitching. The Giants are a -116 favorite in a game set at 7.5 runs, making him the top option on the early slate.

Walker Buehler

If you have the money to spend on the later slate, Buehler’s the top option. Through 13 starts, he boasts a 3.81 xFIP with a 23.8% strikeout rate. Buehler gets a matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who he posted 30.8 DK points against in their only matchup this season. His 11.6% swinging-strike and 29.5% CWS rates suggest he’ll increase his strikeout rate as the season continues. Buehler’s a -201 favorite in a game set at 9 runs, and he’s a great play in all leagues, even for the high price tag.

Josh Fleming

Fleming’s seen mixed results this season, recording a 4.01 xFIP and a 14.8% strikeout rate through 11 games (5 starts). Fleming boasts similar advanced metrics as a starter or reliever, and he’s thrown 5+ innings in each of his 5 starts this season. Most importantly, he gets a matchup against the Seattle Mariners, who feature arguably the worst offense in the MLB this season. Fleming’s a -134 favorite in a game set at 8 runs tonight. He doesn’t boast the pure upside as some of the other pitchers on this slate, but he’s far too cheap for this matchup, making him an outstanding option.

Other GPP Targets: Aaron Nola, Pablo Lopez, Austin Gomber, Ryan Weathers

MLB Top Batters

Batters

C

Salvador Perez

Perez caught fire in recent games, posting a .359 average with a .718 slugging percentage and a 1.123 OPS over his last 10 games. He owns 6 extra-base hits (4 home runs) and 6 RBIs over that span. Perez gets an elite matchup against Martin Perez, who’s allowed 6 home runs over his last 5 games. The Kansas City catcher also boasts .105 wOBA and .187 ISO differentials against left-handed pitching this season. He’s hitting third in the Royals lineup, as well.

Manny Pina

Pina’s been struggling throughout the season, recording a .143 average with a .343 slugging percentage and a .599 OPS through 31 games. More importantly than his talent, he comes with an absurdly cheap price tag in Coors. He’s also tentatively expected to hit fifth in the Milwaukee offense tonight. Assuming that’s the case, Pina will be the chalk as a cheap way to get a piece of the middle of the Brewers offense.

1B

Nate Lowe

Lowe’s a consistent option, although he hasn’t been overly successful in recent games. He owns a .229 average with 2 extra-base hits (1 home run) and 5 RBIs over his last 10 games. Lowe gets a plus matchup against Randy Dobnak today, entering this game with .034 wOBA and .098 ISO differentials against right-handed pitching. Lowe’s expected to hit second in the Texas Rangers lineup, and he’s an outstanding option on this slate.

Jared Walsh

Walsh boasts tremendous upside on a nightly basis because of his power. He’s hitting for a .179 average over his last 10 games. With that being said, he owns an 85.7% extra-base hit rate (3 doubles, 3 home runs) with 8 RBIs. Walsh is also hitting for a .331 average with a .645 slugging percentage and a 1.052 OPS against right-handed pitching this season. He boasts a .439 wOBA and a .313 ISO against righties, as well. Walsh gets a great matchup against Wily Peralta and a weak Detroit bullpen, making him a great spend-up on this slate.

2B

Whit Merrifield

Merrifield’s always an option for Kansas City because of his ability to score fantasy points with his combination of power and speed. He’s cool off recently, posting a .289 average with only 4 extra-base hits and 2 RBIs over his last 10 games, but he boasts stolen base potential whenever he gets on base. Merrifield’s also hitting for a .309 average with a .489 slugging percentage and a .848 OPS through 35 home games this season.

Ozzie Albies

Albies is in a similar spot to Merrifield, although he doesn’t have nearly as much steal potential. With that being said, he’s hitting for a .262 average with 5 extra-base hits (1 home run), 6 RBIs, and 1 stolen base over his last 10 games. Albies is averaging over 10 DK points per game in Atlanta this season, and he gets an interesting matchup against Adam Wainwright. His price tag is finally catching up to where it should be, although he hasn’t priced himself out yet. Albies is a great option in all leagues.

3B

Cavan Biggio

Due to injuries, Biggio’s moved up to hitting fifth in a potent Toronto Blue Jays lineup. He boasts a .333 average with a .700 slugging percentage and a 1.112 OPS over his last 10 games. Biggio also gets a great matchup against Dean Kremer in a hitter-friendly stadium today. Kremer’s struggled with home runs this season, adding extra upside to the Toronto offense.

Justin Turner

Turner’s quietly heating up for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over his last 10 games, he owns a .297 average with 5 extra-base hits (3 home runs) and 4 RBIs. Most people target him against left-handed pitching, although he owns a similar wOBA against either handedness. Turner gets a great matchup against Matt Peacock and a weak Arizona bullpen. This is a matchup Los Angeles can take advantage of, and Turner will see plenty of opportunities to find success, as he’ll be hitting third in the lineup.

SS

Bo Bichette

Bichette’s caught fire over his last 10 games, as he owns a .341 average with 4 extra-base hits (3 home runs), 9 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases over that span. Although he’s been better at home this season, he’ll be playing in a hitter-friendly stadium against Kremer, who we know struggles with home runs. Bichette is a staple near the top of the Toronto order, as well. He isn’t going to come cheap, but very few players at his position boast the same upside that he does.

Gavin Lux

Lux continues to flash for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s hitting .265 with 3 extra-base hits (1 home run) and 5 RBIs over his last 10 games. Lux also enters this game with .122 wOBA and .151 ISO differentials against right-handed pitching. He’ll have opportunities to take advantage of Peacock and Arizona’s bullpen, similar to Turner. The key here is that Lux is expected to hit second in the lineup against a right-handed pitcher, and he’s far too cheap if that’s the case.

OF

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox boast multiple high-end options against left-handed pitching in the outfield. J.D. Martinez, Kike Hernandez, and Hunter Renfroe are the three that come to mind, all possessing tremendous upside for their price tag. Assuming he’s in the lineup, Alex Verdugo can also be considered here, as he generally hits second. They get a matchup against Kris Bubic, who hasn’t thrown more than 5 innings in any of his last 4 starts. If Boston can get to Bubic early, they’ll see plenty of the Kansas City bullpen, making Verdugo that much better of a play.

Eddie Rosario

Rosario’s been playing significantly better in recent games, although he continues to lack power. Over his last 10 games, he’s hitting for a .341 average with 4 extra-base hits (1 home run), 9 RBIs, and 1 stolen base. Rosario gets a great matchup against Wil Crowe, and he owns .035 wOBA and .096 ISO differentials against right-handed pitching throughout his career. Rosario is hitting fourth for a hot Cleveland lineup, and he can be used in all leagues tonight.

Los Angeles Angels

Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani are the two players that I initially wanted to outline here. They’re both playing at elite levels right now, hitting well over .300 while flashing speed and power. Ohtani is more or less priced appropriately, while Upton continues to be a nightly steal at his price tag, especially against a pitcher like Peralta and Detroit’s bullpen. Taylor Ward has also caught fire in recent games, though, posting a .333 average with 6 extra-base hits (2 home runs) and 11 RBIs over his last 10 games. He’s a third option for an absurdly low price tag that can be used for Los Angeles tonight.

Dylan Carlson

Carlson’s a fantasy option that generally finds a way to score at least the bare minimum for fantasy points. The issue is that he’s been struggling in recent games, scoring double-digit DK points in only 1 of his last 10 games. With that being said, Carlson gets a great matchup against Drew Smyly tonight. The Cardinals outfielder enters this game with a .352 average, .481 slugging percentage, and .894 OPS against left-handed pitching. He also boasts a .072 wOBA differential against lefties this season.

Stacks

“Team Batting Score” – A metric that quickly highlights overall team batting based on Runs Created (RC+) by team and comparing it to the average and standard deviation of all other MLB Teams

“Opp. Pitcher SP Score” – A weighted metric that evaluates today’s starting pitchers based on xFIP and Games Started (currently using partial end of 2020 data blended with the 2021 season)

“Opp. BP Score” – Similar to SP Score but weights the xFIP for the team’s bullpen

Team Batting vs. Opp. Pitch

DK MLB Stacks

“T2” (and T3/T4/T5) represents the Top 2 projected hitters for the team on the left (not necessarily the top 2 hitters in the batting order)

Stacking is an extremely important element to MLB DFS. In MLB, all of your players are correlated to each other. Outside of solo home runs, they need each other to succeed. If you look at the top of all of the big GPPs every night you will see stacks dominating the leaderboard.

When using our stacks chart, we want to identify teams that are projecting well but the ownership does not reflect their chance of success.

There are two sizeable slates today – one featuring seven games and one featuring eight games. I’ll be outlining my favorite stacks from both slates below.

DraftKings 5-Man Stack Ideas

TOR – Semien/Bichettte/Guerrero/Grichuk/Biggio

BOS – Hernandez/Martinez/Bogaerts/Devers/Renfroe

KC – Merrifield/Santana/Perez/Soler/Mondesi

LAA – Upton/Ohtani/Rendon/Walsh/Ward

LAD – Betts/Lux/Turner/Beaty/Taylor

DraftKings 3-Man Stack Ideas

TOR – Bichette/Guerrero/Biggo

BOS – Martinez/Bogaerts/Devers

KC – Merrifield/Perez/Soler

LAA – Upton/Ohtani/Walsh

LAD – Betts/Lux/Turner

Written by Justin Bales (Follow @BalesSJustin on Twitter)