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 12-game main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit WagerKey’s MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Potential rain delay in Tigers @ White Sox game. Proceed accordingly!
It’s a top-heavy pitching day with six starters priced $9k or above, headlined by star pitcher Paul Skenes. He faces a Brewers team that is on a 10-game winning streak, so my preference is to pivot to the other side of this game in Freddy Peralta. He’s been a bit hit-or-miss but this is a good spot for a quality start at home as he posted 21 DK points against the Pirates in June.
We’ve also starred Jack Flaherty, Spencer Arrighetti and Jack Leiter in our optimizer. Arrighetti checks in as our top point-per-dollar starter in a matchup against a strikeout heavy Red Sox team, while Leiter is another value option given his $1,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Note that Jacob Lopez and Emmet Sheehan also rank well in the metrics below.
Victor Mederos and Travis Adams are both pitching on three-days rest and will have a limited pitch count, so I’m advising to avoid them both. There was also a late change as Javier Assad will start for Ben Brown.
Here’s how
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 12-game main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit WagerKey’s MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Potential rain delay in Tigers @ White Sox game. Proceed accordingly!
It’s a top-heavy pitching day with six starters priced $9k or above, headlined by star pitcher Paul Skenes. He faces a Brewers team that is on a 10-game winning streak, so my preference is to pivot to the other side of this game in Freddy Peralta. He’s been a bit hit-or-miss but this is a good spot for a quality start at home as he posted 21 DK points against the Pirates in June.
We’ve also starred Jack Flaherty, Spencer Arrighetti and Jack Leiter in our optimizer. Arrighetti checks in as our top point-per-dollar starter in a matchup against a strikeout heavy Red Sox team, while Leiter is another value option given his $1,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Note that Jacob Lopez and Emmet Sheehan also rank well in the metrics below.
Victor Mederos and Travis Adams are both pitching on three-days rest and will have a limited pitch count, so I’m advising to avoid them both. There was also a late change as Javier Assad will start for Ben Brown.
Here’s how each pitcher ranks in key categories (less than 10 IP marked as N/A):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Paul Skenes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| Freddy Peralta | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Carlos Rodon | 3 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| Jack Flaherty | 4 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| Spencer Strider | 5 | 9 | 4 | 15 |
| Spencer Arrighetti | 6 | 19 | 13 | 5 |
| Jacob Lopez | 7 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| Shane Baz | 8 | 15 | 9 | 12 |
| Nestor Cortes | 9 | 22 | 16 | 10 |
| Emmet Sheehan | 10 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Robbie Ray | 11 | 4 | 7 | 23 |
| Jack Leiter | 12 | 13 | 11 | 20 |
| Matthew Liberatore | 13 | 5 | 20 | 2 |
| Michael Wacha | 14 | 3 | 18 | 16 |
| Clay Holmes | 15 | 11 | 17 | 6 |
| Jose Berrios | 16 | 16 | 15 | 21 |
| Dustin May | 17 | 18 | 12 | 18 |
| Javier Assad | 18 | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| Travis Adams | 19 | 12 | 14 | 7 |
| Anthony DeSclafani | 20 | 21 | 10 | 11 |
| Kyle Freeland | 21 | 17 | 21 | 17 |
| Mitchell Parker | 22 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
| Mike Vasil | 23 | 14 | 19 | 3 |
| Victor Mederos | 24 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
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 | 6.6 | 10 | High |
| Yankees | 6.3 | 15 | High |
| Royals | 6.0 | 21 | High |
| Cardinals | 5.6 | 9 | High |
| Tigers | 5.5 | 6 | High |
| Rangers | 5.1 | 22 | High |
| Athletics | 5.0 | 8 | Low |
| Blue Jays | 5.0 | 3 | Medium |
| Rays | 4.9 | 5 | High |
| Mets | 4.7 | 23 | Low |
| Astros | 4.5 | 4 | High |
| Cubs | 4.4 | 16 | Medium |
| Red Sox | 4.4 | 1 | Medium |
| Giants | 4.1 | 19 | Low |
| Angels | 3.9 | 20 | Medium |
| Diamondbacks | 3.8 | 17 | Low |
| Padres | 3.8 | 12 | Low |
| Brewers | 3.7 | 2 | Low |
| Braves | 3.7 | 13 | Medium |
| Nationals | 3.4 | 14 | Medium |
| White Sox | 3.4 | 24 | Medium |
| Rockies | 3.3 | 7 | Medium |
| Pirates | 3.1 | 11 | Low |
| Twins | 3.1 | 18 | Low |
My primary team stack targets
Royals vs. LHP Parker (4.68 FIP, 1.48 WHIP). Key pieces: Salvador Perez, Maikel Garcia, Randal Grichuk, Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino
Cardinals vs. LHP Freeland (5.53 ERA, 1.52 WHIP). Key pieces: Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera
Astros vs. RHP May (4.67 FIP, 1.37 WHIP). Key pieces: Yainer Diaz, Carlos Correa, Jesus Sanchez, Christian Walker, Jose Altuve
Rays vs. LHP Lopez (3.99 FIP vs. 3.59 ERA). Key pieces: Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, Ha-Seong Kim, Christopher Morel, Everson Pereira
Key Matchups and Batter vs. Pitcher Insights for DFS Success
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Joc Pederson: 9-for-19, 4 HR; .474 BA, 1.661 OPS
- Brandon Nimmo: 9-for-22, 2 HR; .409 BA, 1.344 OPS
- Manny Machado: 4-for-16, 3 HR; .250 BA, 1.267 OPS
- Bryan Reynolds: 14-for-36, HR; .389 BA, 1.060 OPS
- Matt Chapman: 4-for-16, 2 HR; .250 BA, 1.044 OPS
- Andrew McCutchen: 6-for-18, HR; .333 BA, 1.011 OPS
- Kyle Tucker: 4-for-13, HR; .308 BA, .896 OPS
- Rafael Devers: 4-for-18, 2 HR; .222 BA, .944 OPS
- Xander Bogaerts: 4-for-15, HR; .267 BA, .922 OPS
- Josh Bell: 6-for-24, 2 HR; .250 BA, .808 OPS
- Christian Walker: 4-for-10, 2 RBI; .400 BA, .800 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.
