Top DFS Pitching and Team Stacking Strategies for DraftKings
In this article, I’m going to take a deeper dive into pitching and team stacking options. Let’s take a look at our optimizer’s rankings of the pitchers for the DraftKings eight-game main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit WagerKey’s MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Possible rain delay/postponement in Brewers at Cubs game. Proceed with caution!
Tonight’s medium sized slate brings us some top-end options with four starters priced $9k or higher. Spencer Strider is the highest priced and expected chalky option, but my preference is to pivot to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. A matchup in Coors Field isn’t enough to shy me away from him, as he went five scoreless at Colorado for 26 DK points in June.
We’ve also highlighted Nestor Cortes, Brady Singer and Zac Gallen in our optimizer. With a $1,100 discount compared to his FanDuel salary, Cortes checks in as our top point-per-dollar starter with a solid matchup against the Giants. Meanwhile, Gallen faces a Guardians team that ranks 26th in runs scored, 28th in wOBA and dead-last in xwOBA. Note that Trevor Rogers ranks well in the metrics below.
Here’s how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Spencer Strider | 2 | 10 | 2 | 7 |
| Robbie Ray | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Nestor Cortes | 4 | 15 | 9 | 6 |
| Trevor Rogers | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Top DFS Pitching and Team Stacking Strategies for DraftKings
In this article, I’m going to take a deeper dive into pitching and team stacking options. Let’s take a look at our optimizer’s rankings of the pitchers for the DraftKings eight-game main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit WagerKey’s MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Possible rain delay/postponement in Brewers at Cubs game. Proceed with caution!
Tonight’s medium sized slate brings us some top-end options with four starters priced $9k or higher. Spencer Strider is the highest priced and expected chalky option, but my preference is to pivot to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. A matchup in Coors Field isn’t enough to shy me away from him, as he went five scoreless at Colorado for 26 DK points in June.
We’ve also highlighted Nestor Cortes, Brady Singer and Zac Gallen in our optimizer. With a $1,100 discount compared to his FanDuel salary, Cortes checks in as our top point-per-dollar starter with a solid matchup against the Giants. Meanwhile, Gallen faces a Guardians team that ranks 26th in runs scored, 28th in wOBA and dead-last in xwOBA. Note that Trevor Rogers ranks well in the metrics below.
Here’s how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Spencer Strider | 2 | 10 | 2 | 7 |
| Robbie Ray | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Nestor Cortes | 4 | 15 | 9 | 6 |
| Trevor Rogers | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Brady Singer | 6 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Gavin Williams | 7 | 11 | 5 | 12 |
| Dustin May | 8 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| Zac Gallen | 9 | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| Chad Patrick | 10 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Jameson Taillon | 11 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Jack Leiter | 12 | 8 | 11 | 15 |
| Michael Wacha | 13 | 4 | 14 | 9 |
| Yoendrys Gomez | 14 | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| Victor Mederos | 15 | N/A | N/A | 5 |
| Kyle Freeland | 16 | 9 | 15 | 11 |
Analyzing Team Stack Rankings for Maximum DFS Impact
Here is how each team ranks in implied runs, BABIP (batting average on balls in play) and how popular we expect each team stack to be in GPPs:
| Team | Implied Runs | BABIP | Stack Popularity |
| Dodgers | 8.7 | 6 | High |
| Braves | 6.1 | 5 | High |
| Royals | 5.4 | 13 | Medium |
| Cubs | 5.0 | 11 | Low |
| Reds | 4.8 | 3 | High |
| Diamondbacks | 4.8 | 9 | Low |
| Angels | 4.6 | 12 | Medium |
| Guardians | 4.6 | 16 | Medium |
| Rangers | 4.6 | 14 | High |
| Padres | 4.5 | 7 | Medium |
| Red Sox | 4.4 | 1 | Medium |
| Brewers | 4.4 | 2 | Low |
| Orioles | 4.0 | 8 | High |
| Rockies | 3.4 | 4 | Medium |
| White Sox | 3.4 | 15 | Low |
| Giants | 3.4 | 10 | Low |
My primary team stack targets
Dodgers vs. LHP Freeland (4.43 FIP, 1.49 WHIP). Key pieces: Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Miguel Rojas, Shohei Ohtani
Rangers vs. RHP Wacha (3.66 FIP, 17.9 K%). Key pieces: Rowdy Tellez, Marcus Semien, Josh Smith, Joc Pederson, Wyatt Langford
Braves vs. RHP Gomez (5.32 FIP, 1.54 WHIP). Key pieces: Drake Baldwin, Michael Harris, Marcell Ozuna, Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson
Reds vs. RHP Mederos (6.36 FIP, 1.50 WHIP in limited sample). Key pieces: Spencer Steer, Gavin Lux, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Elly De La Cruz, TJ Friedl
Key Matchups and Batter vs. Pitcher Insights for DFS Success
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Salvador Perez: 3-for-3, 2 HR; 1.000 BA, 4.333 OPS
- Ramon Laureano: 7-for-12, HR; .583 BA, 1.699 OPS
- Manny Machado: 5-for-19, 3 HR; .263 BA, 1.177 OPS
- Jose Iglesias: 4-for-11, HR; .364 BA, 1.000 OPS
- Joc Pederson: 6-for-24, 2 HR; .250 BA, 1.000 OPS
- Rafael Devers: 5-for-21, 2 HR; .238 BA, .905 OPS
- Miguel Rojas: 5-for-16, HR; .313 BA, .978 OPS
- Xander Bogaerts: 5-for-18, HR; .278 BA, .937 OPS
- Will Smith: 6-for-20, HR; .300 BA, .914 OPS
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to WagerKey’s Fantasy Baseball News & Latest MLB Updates or follow @WagerKeyMLB on X.
