FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks for Thursday 5/2/24

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FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks for Thursday 5/2/24

Stacking is an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. Correlation drives upside, giving your lineups a slate-winning ceiling when your stacks explode.

This piece will do the digging and the dirty work each day to determine which stacks are worth rostering on FanDuel's main slate. While we want upside, we also need to factor in game theory, especially in a sport as random as baseball.

The MLB DFS heat map at numberFire is a quick way to get a feel for the overall slate and which offenses are in a good spot. You can also check out our daily fantasy baseball projections -- which are powered by numberFire -- to identify the slate's best bats.

Let's look at the top stacks for today's main slate.

MLB DFS Stacks

Texas Rangers

Implied Total: 4.93 | Opposing Pitcher: Mitchell Parker (L)

The Texas Rangers have the slate's highest implied total, so it's easy to get behind stacking their lineup in DFS.

That's especially true considering they're up against the Washington Nationals' Mitchell Parker, a lefty who's pitched well so far but one that shouldn't scare us off a lethal Rangers lineup.

Granted, the Rangers haven't mashed lefties this season (yet). But they were fourth in wOBA against southpaws in 2023 and still feature several high-profile bats to consider stacking.

Adolis Garcia ($4,000) is the centerpiece of any Rangers stack against a lefty. Garcia is averaging a team-high 13.14 FanDuel points per game (FPPG) on the year, and he leads the team with a .458 wOBA and .321 ISO against left-handed pitchers. He comes into today ranked second in baseball with 25 RBI and fourth with 8 home runs. Garcia has +110 odds to record an RBI and +300 odds to hit a home run via the MLB odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Atop the order, Marcus Semien ($3,600) and Corey Seager ($3,400) both have to be considered, even if the latter has struggled in 2024. Semien has a cool .348 wOBA in this split, and he's quietly third on the team in ISO (.219) against lefties despite hitting leadoff.

Our projections have Semien racking up 13.2 FanDuel points, the second-most among batters.

Seager has a putrid .178 wOBA against lefties so far, but his struggles could see him go under-rostered relative to his upside. For his career, the two-time World Series MVP still has a .340 wOBA in that split.

The rest of Texas' lineup is salaried at $3K or below.

It's a small sample, but Josh Smith ($2,700) has an otherworldly .495 wOBA against lefties thus far, though that's come with a .077 ISO. Still, he's exceeded 15 FanDuel points in three of his last six games.

Projections-wise, Davis Wendzel ($2,100) is the top point-per-dollar value on the slate. We peg him for 9.5 FanDuel points (4.52 FanDuel points per $1,000), but his .187 wOBA against lefties isn't especially encouraging.

For value, I much prefer Nathaniel Lowe ($2,800). Lowe's hit .314 in 10 games since being activated off IL, and he's in the heart of the Texas lineup. The switch-hitter has a career-.339 wOBA against lefties.

New York Yankees

Implied Total: 4.73 | Opposing Pitcher: Kyle Bradish (R)

The New York Yankees are up against the Baltimore Orioles today. And while they haven't officially announced a starter as of Thursday morning, all signs point to righty Kyle Bradish making his season debut.

Bradish had a breakout 2023 campaign, pitching to a 2.83 ERA and 25% strikeout rate. But he did surrender a 42% hard-hit rate, while his 3.76 SIERA suggests he overperformed a bit relative to his actual ERA.

That could spell trouble for him today as the 2024 Yanks have mauled right-handed pitching this season. They're third in wOBA (.337) and fourth in ISO (.178) in that split, so this isn't exactly the best spot for Bradish to debut.

Juan Soto ($4,300) and Aaron Judge ($3,800) are the headliners here. Soto's sporting an absurd .458 wOBA against righties with an OPS north of 1.000. He's exceeded 15 FanDuel points in five of the last six games and is averaging 14.6 FPPG on the season. Judge has struggled a bit early on but still owns a .211 ISO against righties. We project him for 14.0 FanDuel points, the most among batters.

Anthony Volpe ($3,200), Anthony Rizzo ($3,200), and Giancarlo Stanton ($3,100) are all sound mid-range plays.

Volpe is the only one projected over 10 FanDuel points from this group, and he benefits from hitting atop the Yankee order. He ranks seventh in the league with 20 runs and today has -135 odds to score a run on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Rizzo ranks second on the team with a .377 wOBA against righties and sports a respectable .226 ISO in that split.

Stanton leads the team in ISO (.290) against righties, and his .340 wOBA is more than passable. He's moved up to fourth in the order for this Baltimore series.

Among the sub-$3K names are Oswaldo Cabrera ($2,900), Gleyber Torres ($2,600), Austin Wells ($2,400), and Trent Grisham ($2,300).

Cabrera has strong right-handed splits, boasting a .338 wOBA and .200 ISO, and he's coming off a monster 2 for 3 effort that saw him homer and notch 31.2 FanDuel points.

Torres had a .335 wOBA against righties last year, but that's dipped to .250 in 2024. He has begun to heat of late, notching multiple hits in four of his last seven games.

Wells and Grisham are both pretty underwhelming overall, though the former at least has been productive in recent games. He's cracked double-digit FanDuel points in three of his last six games, having gone 7 for 18 (.389 BA) over that span.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.