$500K Mid-Summer Classic Strategy: Stacking
Part two of the Mid-Summer Classic preview over the MLB All-Star break focuses on one of the more controversial aspects of DraftKings daily fantasy baseball; stacking. Stacking, for better or worse, is a substantial factor in choosing your batters over at DK. Today we’ll take a look at the cost of stacking each team’s most common top-8 hitters.
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Team by Team Cost Analysis
For generalization, I combined each team’s most recent lineup with some other platoon/injury factors to get each team’s total salaries for their top eight batters. It’s not exact but the numbers for a total team stack should fall somewhere in these ranges. I also didn’t account for the inability to use 2 players at the same position here.
LEGEND
- Est. Stack $$$ – Total sum of 8 most likely hitters to be in each team’s lineup
- Opp Pitcher – Opponent Pitcher and throwing hand
- Cap Space – Salary Cap space left over for 2 pitchers with that team’s stack (DK’s cap is $50,000)
- Avg $/SP Left – Average money you can spend on each of your two pitchers with a given team stack
| Team | Est. Stack $$ | Opp. Pitcher | Cap Space | Avg $/SP Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | $28,400 | Kennedy-RHP | $21,600 | $10,800 |
| Marlins | $28,600 | Lohse-RHP | $21,400 | $10,700 |
| Astros | $28,800 | Saunders-LHP | $21,200 | $10,600 |
| Phillies | $29,500 | Hefner-RHP | $20,500 | $10,250 |
| Mariners | $29,500 | Norris-RHP | $20,500 | $10,250 |
| Mets | $29,900 | Kendrick-RHP | $20,100 | $10,050 |
| Twins | $30,500 | Kazmir-LHP | $19,500 | $9,750 |
| Royals | $30,700 | Sanchez-RHP | $19,300 | $9,650 |
| White Sox | $31,500 | Hudson-RHP | $18,500 | $9,250 |
| Brewers | $31,500 | Turner-RHP | $18,500 | $9,250 |
| Athletics | $31,500 | Weaver-RHP | $18,500 | $9,250 |
| Diamondbacks | $32,000 | Gaudin-RHP | $18,000 | $9,000 |
| Dodgers | $32,100 | Strasburg-RHP | $17,900 | $8,950 |
| Padres | $32,400 | Westbrook-RHP | $17,600 | $8,800 |
| Cardinals | $32,700 | Marquis-RHP | $17,300 | $8,650 |
| Red Sox | $33,400 | Pettitte-LHP | $16,600 | $8,300 |
| Cubs | $33,400 | De La Rosa-LHP | $16,600 | $8,300 |
| Yankees | $33,700 | Doubront-LHP | $16,300 | $8,150 |
| Nationals | $33,700 | Nolasco-RHP | $16,300 | $8,150 |
| Rays | $34,000 | Rogers-RHP | $16,000 | $8,000 |
| Angels | $34,300 | TBA – Oakland-NA | $15,700 | $7,850 |
| Pirates | $34,700 | Leake-RHP | $15,300 | $7,650 |
| Indians | $35,000 | Pelfrey-RHP | $15,000 | $7,500 |
| Reds | $35,100 | Liriano-LHP | $14,900 | $7,450 |
| Blue Jays | $35,100 | Price-LHP | $14,900 | $7,450 |
| Braves | $35,200 | TBA – White Sox-NA | $14,800 | $7,400 |
| Rangers | $35,500 | Chen-LHP | $14,500 | $7,250 |
| Tigers | $36,000 | Santana-RHP | $14,000 | $7,000 |
| Orioles | $36,800 | Holland-LHP | $13,200 | $6,600 |
| Rockies | $39,800 | Samardzija-RHP | $10,200 | $5,100 |
Most Expensive Teams – Above $35000 in Total Salary
1) Colorado Rockies – $39800 – At a shade under $40K, you would be forced to use both Chad Gaudin and Esmil Rogers when stacking the Rocks. While the premise behind a Rockies stack is certainly enticing at Coors against a struggling Samardzija, with such little room for variance I wouldn’t recommend the full-team stack.
2) Baltimore Orioles – $36900 – Facing a left hander who had success against these Orioles recently, the O’s don’t seem worth the $37K total price range. But the good news is that you could actually plug in Chad Gaudin (who has been pretty solid of late) and your pick of mid-ranged pitcher in with an O’s stack. The other thing going for Baltimore is the Arlington factor. If that wind is blowing in, the ball will be flowin out.
3) Detroit Tigers – $36000 – At $36K, you could certainly do much worse than a Tigers stack. Obviously Miggy bears the brunt of the load but against a HR-prone Ervin Santana, the Tigers might have that upside/power combo that could win an event like this. The biggest downside is that there aren’t a ton of low 6k pitchers to pair as your 2nd SP with a Tigers team stack,
4) Texas Rangers – $35500 – It’s really hard not to love the Rangers at home against a left hander. Between, Cruz, Beltre, Kinsler, Andrus, and Profar, this Texas team has a ton of pop from the right side of the plate. Wei-Yin Chen scared no one anymore. But with only $14,500 left over for 2 pitchers you’d probably have to either go Gaudin and Price/Samardzija/Sanchez or Westbrook/Marquis etc.
5) Atlanta Braves – $35200 – Some injuries to look out for here but if the Braves are at 100% they are always going to be a pricey stack given the high-profile names they have brought in. I’ll save my commentary here until I can see who the White Sox officially decide to put on the bump though. If Sale is the guy then the Braves probably diminish heavily in value but if it’s against one of their back-end guys then the Braves will be a favorite to stack with.
6) Toronto Blue Jays – $35100 – The Blue Jays offer no real value against David Price other than for the ultimate variance play. A few of their players hit lefties well including Arencibia who heated up before the break but I just don’t know if I would put much stock in their potential on Friday.
7) Cincinnati Reds – $35100 – If you would still like to believe (as I do) that Liriano is headed towards an absolute implosion at some point then risk a Reds stack. The key guys to target would be Mesoraco, Phillips, Frazier, Heisey and Bruce who surprisingly hits lefties for better power than righties. The one high-priced avoid I’d list in a Reds stack is Shin-Soo Choo who just hasn’t produced at the same level against LHP as he does against RHP.
8) Cleveland Indians – $35000 – Interesting that the Indians get to face Mike Pelfrey and you can still have enough salary left over to pair up someone like Doubront/Kazmir or go after Anibal Sanchez and Gaudin. Cleveland has been one of the best hitting teams all season and the subpar Pelfrey is unlikely to slow them down. I’d consider stock piling the left handed bats in this Cleveland lineup but also realize it’s going to be an extremely popular play.
Middle Tier Teams – $31000 to $35000
9) Pittsburgh Pirates – $34700 – I’d like this play a lot more against a lefty and at home. Given the scenario, I don’t think they offer a ton of stacking value but when you have upside guys like Alvarez, Marte and McCutchen they could always surprise you. Leake has been pretty sound of late though and this stack at this price is probably better left to the significant multi-entry guys.
10) LA Angels – $34300 – Going to pass on my commentary here until I see who they’ll be facing.
11) Tampa Bay Rays – $34000 – The Rays are likely to be one of the more popular stacks given their modest price tag and seemingly appealing matchup against Esmil Rogers. But Esmil hasn’t been that bad and while he won’t be fantasy relevant he manages to keep other teams off the crooked numbers long enough for the Jays strong bullpen to take over. The Rays would qualify as a fade for me.
12) Washington Nationals – $33700 – The Nats might be one of the more intriguing stacks in my eyes. They hit well at home, hit well against righties and get to face Ricky “I can’t understand why LA would trade anyone to get me” Nolasco. The Nats tend to score their runs in bunches and that’s the type of outburst you’d need to win yourself $125K. At the very least, a semi stack of Nats with Harper, LaRoche, Zimmerman and Desmond is intriguing.
13) New York Yankees – $33700 – I don’t know. Doubront can get himself into jams and the Sox bullpen is pretty weak but the left handed bats of NYY have struggled against LHP all season long and I don’t see any reason for that to change come Friday night. Not worth the mid-range price tag for me , and it’s worth noting that this Yankees lineup is far from what it once was.
14) Chicago Cubs – $33400 – I was a little surprised to see the Cubs this low given the Coors factor but against De La Rosa their team stackability doesn’t seem as valuable as some semi-stack options. I really like Barney, Navarro, and Ransom as cheap value plays who destroy right handed pitching and can propel your team up the leaderboard quickly as slight variance plays*
15) Boston Red Sox – $33400 – As a Red Sox fan, I would love to recommend their stack but right now I just don’t see much value in one. They have been scoring a ton of runs by working the basepaths and earning timely hits. That’s great to get into the playoffs but doesn’t mean much for a DFS player. Average matchup as well means I’ll be avoiding them.
Look for the rest of teams #16-30 in tomorrow’s article and feel free to post your own thoughts on what strategies and teams you’ll be targeting in the Mid Summer Classic.