MLB DFS Top Stacks: Saturday, August 26
Taylor Smith walks you through the top stacks for the upcoming MLB main slate. Should we eat the chalk? Which team is a good pivot? Where can we find leverage? Find out below!
MLB DFS is complex. Most articles on MLB DFS picks are about the individual players most likely to succeed on any given day, but the MLB DFS picks most likely to succeed aren’t always the MLB DFS picks we should be most likely to play.
In this space, we will look at the MLB DFS process over the MLB DFS picks. And we’re looking at teams over individual players, using the features of the RotoGrinders Top Stacks tool. We’ll still look at the player projections available in LineupHQ. Still, we’ll be more focused on collective ownership, optimal scores, and matchups of full stacks within the context of game selection and leverage.
Saturday brings an 8-game main slate without much clarity. There’s quite a bit of pitching worth paying up for, which means we may be looking to save some salary with our bats. The cheap pitching looks risky, so some of the more expensive stacks may go overlooked.
Who should we be stacking up on Saturday night?
Chalk Stack – Orioles vs. Chris Flexen
Several of the league’s elite offenses are playing this afternoon, which leaves us with an interesting mix of options on the main slate. Thanks to the matchup, the Orioles look like the offense that’ll garner the most attention. The O’s will take their swings against journeyman Chris Flexen.
Flexen is throwing baseballs for the Rockies these days, and success has been elusive. His 5.14 SIERA isn’t as garish as his 7.18 ERA, but we’ll still gladly stack against anyone with a 5.14 SIERA. He won’t be missing many bats (15.9% Ks), and he’s allowed 19 homers through 22 appearances.
Flexen has also had a pronounced reverse split throughout his career, though he’s been so poor against lefties this season (.379 wOBA allowed) that I’m not at all concerned about that split when it comes to stacking the Orioles. Camden Yards is also a significantly better park for lefty power these days, which puts Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Anthony Santander at the top of the list for stacking. Ryan O’Hearn (10.1% barrels) has been a pleasant surprise, while Cedric Mullins recently returned from the IL. There’s your 5-man lefty stack right there.
Fourteen of the nineteen homers served up by Flexen this year have been hit by righties. If there’s anyone capable of hitting the ball over that silly left-field wall here, it’s Ryan Mountcastle. I like his chances of doing damage here against a guy with a strikeout rate barely over 13% vs. RHBs.
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
