3 FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks for Friday 4/12/24

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3 FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks for Friday 4/12/24

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

Cincinnati Reds

Implied Total: 5.01 | Opposing Pitcher: Chris Flexen

Entering Friday's main slate, the Cincinnati Reds look like a team that could produce plenty of runs with Chris Flexen expected to draw the start for the Chicago White Sox. Flexen is a pitcher who fails to generate swings and misses consistently, so he invites a ton of contact from opposing teams.

After finishing 2023 in the 23rd percentile in whiff rate (22.3%) and seventh percentile in strikeout rate (15.9%) across 16 starts and 29 appearances, Flexen is in the ninth percentile in whiff rate (16.7%) and seventh percentile in strikeout rate (10.6%) over his first two starts in 2024. So while the Reds have the third-worst strikeout rate (29.4%) against righties to begin the year, they should avoid Ks versus Flexen.

Cincinnati's lineup is also hitting with plenty of power when going up against right-handed pitching thus far, producing the third-best ISO (.190) and sixth-best SLG (.435) in that split. With Flexen giving up a .432 wOBA and 3.04 HR/9 to righties last year and a .373 wOBA and 1.89 WHIP to righties to begin this year, Jonathan India ($3,000) and Christian Encarnacion-Strand ($2,800) are the right-handed bats to target in the early part of the order.

Encarnacion-Strand has the shortest odds to hit a home run (+280) in Friday's clash between the Reds and White Sox.

Even with Flexen's right-righty splits, Will Benson ($3,100), Jeimer Candelario ($2,800), Jake Fraley ($2,800), and Elly De La Cruz ($3,900) are viable options in Cincinnati's lineup. Spencer Steer ($3,800) is also an enticing option as he leads the Reds in home runs (3) and RBIs (15) while registering a .565 wOBA, .370 ISO, and 249 wRC+ in his first 31 plate appearances versus righties this season.

Atlanta Braves

Implied Total: 4.86 | Opposing Pitcher: Trevor Rogers

The Atlanta Braves are going to be popular team to target all season, but they are coming off a 16-4 blowout loss to the New York Mets on Thursday. Following a disappointing showing from the Braves against lefty Jose Quintana, they should bounce back versus Trevor Rogers and the Miami Marlins on Friday.

Rogers has walked three-plus batters, allowed five-plus hits, and surrendered multiple earned runs in each of his first two starts this season. The lefty starter for the Marlins has made just six starts since the 2022 season, giving up three-plus earned runs in half of them.

If Rogers continues to struggle with his command on Friday, the Braves can do damage against a Marlins bullpen that is posting the ninth-worst SIERA (4.28), third-worst WHIP (1.62), and eighth-worst HR/9 (1.28) to begin the season. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Ronald Acuna Jr. ($4,200), Ozzie Albies ($4,200), Austin Riley ($3,800), and Matt Olson ($4,400) are the primary targets in Atlanta's lethal lineup.

While Marcell Ozuna ($3,900) is off to a hot start and should be considered, don't forget about Michael Harris II ($3,600), Adam Duvall ($2,600), or Orlando Arcia ($2,800). Arcia has five multi-hit outings in Atlanta's first 11 games this year.

Ozuna has the second-shortest odds to hit a home run (+420) in the Braves-Marlins matchup on Friday while leading the team in homers (5) and RBIs (13).

Arizona Diamondbacks

Implied Total: 4.84 | Opposing Pitcher: Steven Matz

The Arizona Diamondbacks have had plenty of experience facing left-handed pitching to begin the season, and they'll take on another one with Steven Matz on the bump for the St. Louis Cardinals. Through their first 13 games, the Diamondbacks have the second-most plate appearances (231) against southpaws thus far, logging the second-best wOBA (.361), sixth-best wRC+ (123), and third-lowest strikeout rate (14.7%) versus that handedness in the process.

Matz has seen his strikeout rate drop from 21.8% in 2023 to 14.6% to begin 2024 with just three strikeouts in each of his first two starts despite pitching at least five innings in both contests. The experienced left-handed hurler could struggle to record strikeouts against a Diamondbacks squad that doesn't swing and miss much versus lefty pitchers.

Ketel Marte ($3,700), Lourdes Gurriel ($3,500), and Christian Walker ($3,700) are the right-handed bats to focus on in the early part of Arizona's lineup. Walker notched the 26th-best wOBA (.381) and fifth-best ISO (.319) against left-handed pitching in 2023, and despite failing to hit a homer in this split this season, he is still recording a .405 wOBA and 152 wRC+ versus lefties.

Along with the main culprits, Eugenio Suarez ($2,900), Gabriel Moreno ($2,500), Randal Grichuk ($2,500), and Blaze Alexander ($2,800) provide fantastic value in the latter part of Arizona's batting order. Alexander has three games this season where he's posted 21-plus FanDuel points, and all of those instances have come against a left-handed pitcher.

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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.