3 FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks for Wednesday 5/22/24

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

Toronto Blue Jays

Implied Total: 5.01 | Opposing Pitcher: Nick Nastrini

The Chicago White Sox are slated to give rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini another start on Wednesday. Unfortunately for the first-year starter, his MLB career has had a rocky start -- he has worked to a 7.88 ERA through his first eight innings of work while posting a 2.00 WHIP.

Nastrini has been giving up a lot of walks so far. Eight innings is not a huge sample size, but it's not ideal to see him walk almost one batter per inning. It's certainly not ideal that he's given up 10 hits in those innings, either. The 24 year old had been struggling at Triple-A before his call up, too, with a 5.83 ERA and 9 home runs allowed in 29.1 innings.

The Toronto Blue Jays are set up to tee off on the White Sox today. And if Nastrini gets into trouble early, the White Sox will have to turn to a bullpen that ranks 27th league-wide in Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA) as a unit.

Davis Schneider ($3,100) is projected for a slate-high 14.7 FanDuel points in this one. He's been batting leadoff for the Jays in recent weeks and is working to a strong .827 OPS on the season. The breakout hitter gets on base a lot and could be a major player for any Blue Jays stacks today.

If Danny Jansen ($3,200) gets a start, our projections like his chances of making an impact in DFS. The power-hitting catcher has a .681 SLG on the season and is currently projected for 12.4 FanDuel points in this one. As appealing as he looks for today's game, Jansen has started in back-to-back games for Toronto and could be left off of today's lineup as a result.

Even if Jansen sits, the rest of Toronto's lineup is projected for solid outings and has perfectly manageable salaries. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a $3,200 salary and is projected for 10.8 FanDuel points. He hasn't hit a home run yet in May but has been batting for an insane .439 average over the last two weeks. I like his +360 odds to hit a home run today on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Guerrero isn't the only Blue Jays batter with a surprisingly low salary -- all of Justin Turner, Daulton Varsho, Bo Bichette, and George Springer are salaried at $3,100 or less on today's slate. Varsho seems like an interesting addition for any Blue Jays stacks considering his .436 SLG against right-handed pitching this year. The Blue Jays' offense has been a bit sluggish to open the year, and this seems like a perfect get-right spot for them.

Philadelphia Phillies

Implied Total: 4.99 | Opposing Pitcher: Dane Dunning

Today's game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers has a 9.5-run total, per FanDuel Sportsbook's MLB odds, tying it for the highest total on the slate. This one could turn into a slugfest, which means you'll want to get some Phillies and/or Rangers into your lineups for DFS. We'll talk about both in these next two sections.

On the Phillies side of things, they'll square off against righty Dane Dunning, who has pitched to a 4.10 ERA on the season. Dunning is by no means a bad hurler, but he's not a pitcher to avoid in DFS, either. The veteran has a solid 1.15 WHIP backing up his 4.10 ERA, illustrating how most of the damage done against him has come from dingers -- he's allowing them at a career-worst rate of 1.7 per nine innings this year. That should normalize over a full season but might have to wait until after his matchup with the righty-mashing Phillies.

Philadelphia ranks sixth-best in the Majors in wRC+ against right-handers and also owns a .421 team-wide SLG that trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers on the year. They should be able to get on the scoreboard against Dunning.

Kyle Schwarber ($3,600) and Bryce Harper ($4,000) carry the highest projected FanDuel points on the team at 13.1 and 13.0, respectively. J.T. Realmuto ($3,100) isn't far behind them. Schwarber and Realmuto have been more boom-or-bust this year for Philadelphia but have 14 homers between them.

Alec Bohm ($3,700) and Bryson Stott ($3,500) are having breakout seasons so far. Stott has recorded a 1.167 OPS over the last two weeks and has somehow struck out just once during that span while drawing 10 walks. Bohm has been more consistent throughout the year with a .924 OPS and a team-high 42 RBI. Only Atlanta Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna (43) has recorded more RBI than Bohm on the year, illustrating the kind of fantasy baseball firepower we're working with here.

Texas Rangers

Implied Total: 4.51 | Opposing Pitcher: Taijuan Walker

On the flip side of the same game, the Rangers are queued up for plenty of fantasy production, as well. The Phillies are letting Taijuan Walker take his usual turn in the rotation even after the righty was forced from his previous start after taking a comebacker to the foot. He has struggled to a 4.91 ERA since coming back from a spring shoulder injury and could have a tough time against a Rangers lineup that has recorded the seventh-best wRC+ against righties this year -- one spot behind his own Phillies in that regard.

We can't expect this continue over a full season, but Walker is giving up homers a lofty rate of 2.0 per nine innings through his first 22 frames this year. That 5.4% home run rate is more than double what he recorded over his previous two seasons and is well above the 3.2% clip he's averaged over his 12-year career. Whether it's because he's still getting warmed up or because he is more banged up than we currently realize, Walker has been a pitcher to target in DFS.

Jonah Heim ($3,000) is projected for the most FanDuel points (13.4) on the Rangers and trails only the Blue Jays' Schneider for the highest projection on the slate. He has a .421 SLG over the last week and bats cleanup behind the Rangers' studs, making him a solid option for any stacks and a top notch point-per-dollar play.

Speaking of studs, Corey Seager ($3,500) and Marcus Semien ($3,700) are very good at what they do. Seager has dispelled his slow start and has a 1.044 OPS over the last two weeks, during which he has notched 4 home runs and more walks (10) than strikeouts (8). Semien has been no slouch, either, with a pair of doubles to match his pair of dingers over the last week.

With a right-hander on the mound, Nathaniel Lowe ($3,000) and Josh Smith ($2,700) make for solid values. The pair rank first and third, respectively, among the Rangers' star-studded lineup in wOBA versus right-handers, an impressive feat considering their stiff competition.

While Evan Carter ($2,900) and Leody Taveras ($2,600) might seem like decent values based on the levels we've seen them play at previously, Travis Jankowski ($2,300) and Robbie Grossman ($2,400) are playing at similar levels with even lower salaries.

Carter missed time with a back injury and has been sluggish since returning while Taveras' hot stretch mostly came against the Oakland Athletics and at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies. These players aren't nearly as enticing as the top portion of the Rangers' lineup but have low enough salaries to be worth consideration for stacks.

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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.