3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for Thursday 9/21/23

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 numberFire's daily fantasy baseball projections to identify the slate's best bats.

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

Atlanta Braves

Implied Total: 5.44 | Opposing Pitcher: Jake Irvin

Stack the Atlanta Braves today. Not the first time you've heard that one as a matchup against the Washington Nationals and their starter Jake Irvin is as good as it gets.

The 5.44 implied total against Irvin and the Nats sets Atlanta up as the top option of the slate. Irvin has been easy to hit off of in his rookie campaign as he's sporting a poor 5.02 SIERA and 5.29 FIP. Also, the righty is only striking out batters at a 19.1% rate which means the Braves should have the ball in play time and time again tonight. Irvin's 40.5% flyball rate and 20 home runs allowed should have DFS lineups filled with Braves hitters tonight.

Out of the top six projected players on numberFire, five of them are Braves players. It should come as no surprise that the top projected player on tonight's slate is Ronald Acuna Jr. ($5,000), who is chasing the first ever 40-70 season as he's one home run and three stolen bases shy. He's riding a six-game hitting streak too because he can't be stopped. He's projected for a stunning 17.5 FanDuel points per numberFire.

Matt Olson ($4,400) is the second-best player of the day behind Acuna as numberFire's model has him projected for 16.4 FanDuel points. It goes without saying that this has been a career-best season for Olson, who has 52 home runs and a .412 wOBA.

Austin Riley ($3,900), Ozzie Albies ($3,800), Sean Murphy ($3,300), Marcell Ozuna ($3,300), and Michael Harris II ($3,200) are all viable options for the Braves stack tonight.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Implied Total: 5.04 | Opposing Pitcher: Kyle Harrison

The Los Angeles Dodgers have an enticing matchup against San Francisco Giants starter Kyle Harrison.

Harrison has shown some flashes in his first five starts as the second start of his career went 6 1/3 innings, giving up 0 runs and racking up 11 strikeouts. Since then, he's given up 12 runs in 15 2/3 innings, along with watching 6 home runs fly. The 22-year-old has knockout stuff (27.1% strikeout rate) but the Dodgers should take care of him today.

When forming a Dodgers stack, you always want to lead if off with Mookie Betts ($4,500) or Freddie Freeman ($4,300).

Betts has a 48.5% flyball rate which should pair well against Harrison's 44.9% rate. The slugger has 39 home runs on the year but hasn't hit one in his last seven games -- he's due to change that.

Freeman has been a hit machine this year as he's two off from having the first 200-hit campaign of his career. He's done it all whether it's power (26 home runs), driving runs in (94 RBIs), or even racking up stolen bases (20). At his current wOBA of .410, he's got a good chance at being an offensive machine again tonight.

J.D. Martinez ($3,700) has already smacked 3 home runs this week while Max Muncy ($3,600) clubbed 1 of his 36 last night. They both project as good secondary options for the Dodgers stack.

Finishing out with Will Smith ($3,500), James Outman ($2,800), or David Peralta ($2,500) makes the most sense for tonight.

Philadelphia Phillies

Implied Total: 4.72 | Opposing Pitcher: David Peterson

While anything can happen, the Philadelphia Phillies are looking good with the top Wild Card spot and will look to add to their 4.0 game lead against New York Mets.

The Mets will send out David Peterson to try and stop the Phils -- easier said than done. Peterson has a rough 5.22 ERA on the season, paired with a 4.45 FIP. He hasn't been that bad if his SIERA is to be believed, as that sits at a 3.97 clip. The left-handed starter has only made it through six innings twice in his last eight starts, so even if he were to find a groove, it wouldn't be for long.

We're not all too worried about that groove, though, as the Phillies have the third-best implied total (4.72) on the night for a reason.

It should come as little surprise that Bryce Harper ($3,700) is the top projected batter of the day for Philadelphia. numberFire's model has him projected for 13.8 FanDuel points. Harper has handled lefties well this season as he has six home runs and a .357 wOBA against them.

After a brutal start to his Phillies career, Trea Turner ($4,000) has turned things around in the second half as he's hitting .297 with a .921 OPS, .276 ISO, and .387 wOBA. Get him in the lineup.

Kyle Schwarber ($4,100), Bryson Stott ($3,100), Alec Bohm ($2,900), and J.T. Realmuto ($2,800) are all viable options for DFS tonight if you're interested in the Phillies stack.

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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.