FanDuel MLB Strategy: Pitchers to Stack Against – AL Central

Posted on April 20, 2016

With daily fantasy baseball season inching closer, DFS players wanting to use FanDuel and DraftKings lineup optimizer everyday need quality information to get an edge. Knowing which players perform well against a lefty pitcher, or on a home stand, or in a pitcher’s park, is critical to making quality daily fantasy decisions. Here at the RotoQL blog we have made it our mission to prepare our users with a DFS MLB lineup advice for the start of the season and beyond.  

Consider Stacking Against these 3 Pitchers in the American League Central

Stacking is a key strategy in DFS. Finding and stacking a lineup that looks poised to put up big numbers is a great way to win some money. But there’s another side to stacking that often gets overlooked. Have a look at some of the pitchers you should look to stack against in the AL Central in DFS this season.

John Danks, Chicago White Sox – Danks was near the bottom of the barrel in a few categories for starting pitchers last year. His 4.71 ERA was the seventh worst among qualified starters in 2015. His 4.49 FIP was ninth worst among qualified starters. And his 1.22 HR/9 was 12th worst in the league. In other words, Danks is about as bad as a pitcher can be without being so bad that teams won’t let him pitch for them anymore. Stack against him.

Image via FanGraphs

 

Trevor Bauer, Cleveland Indians – Bauer is one of the most perplexing arms in all of baseball, but all we need to know is that when batters hit him – they hit him hard. Bauer’s stuff is good enough that he will strike a lot of batters out, but he’s yet to find consistency and command still eludes him so there’s a good chance that if you stack against him you’ll see some big points. Bauer sported a high ERA last year and gave up more than home run every 9 innings.

Mike Pelfrey, Detroit Tigers – Big Pelf is in Detroit and he’s bringing his career 1.482 WHIP with him. Pelfrey is about as mediocre as a pitcher could be thus far in his career. He doesn’t keep people off base, he gives up home runs, and he doesn’t fan many batters. In other words, if Mike Pelfrey is pitching for the Tigers, you should be thinking about stacking against him in DFS.

 Image via Baseball Reference

Our DFS MLB stacking strategy preview is just one part of our MLB lineup advice coverage for 2016.

Want to learn about building lineups from Saahil Sud fka Maxdalury? Check out ourRotoQL University videos on stacking MLB teams.