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Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 8/29/17

Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 8/29/17

Here's where you can find some recommendations for GPP stacks to target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here.

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COLORADO ROCKIES

The Rockies put up 13 hits last night, but still managed to disappoint, pushing across only three runs. While that hurt our bottom line last night, it could actually help us tonight if wide swaths of the field succumb to recency bias and decide to fade Colorado tonight. Regardless, ownership should be a little lower tonight, because Michael Fulmer is a better pitcher than Monday's foe, Jordan Zimmermann. But if we look beyond the surface stats, we see plenty of reasons to go right back to the Rockies. For starters, Fulmer's sinker is his primary pitch (38% usage), and something about the thin atmosphere in Colorado doesn't agree with sinkerballers. You'll need to get physicist to explain it further, but take it from Mike Hampton, the effect is real. Maybe equally relevant, Fulmer has been declining steadily throughout the season. Maybe it's related to the hand numbness that landed him on the DL earlier this month, but whatever the reason, there's no denying the trend of sagging Ks and a rising ERA. He's given up at least five runs in four of his last six starts and has a 4.48 ERA with 4.35 xFIP since the beginning of June. As for which Rockies to play, we're partial to the obvious guys (Blackmon, Arenado, Reynolds), but it's Coors Field and the Tigers have a terrible bullpen, so if things get sideways, anybody in the lineup is capable of going off.

MINNESOTA TWINS

James Shields is on the mound, so we're going to stack against him with at least one lineup. We're only human. He's actually only been blown up four times this season, but the next meltdown is always just one pitch away when you walk more than 4 and give up more than 2 HRs/9. Lefties are the first guys we want to look at here, because they're the one really doing the damage against Shields this season (3.38 HRs/9, 8.35 FIP, .422 wOBA). The Twins' left-handed bats aren't exactly the '27 Yankees, but Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Kennys Vargas all have a wOBA over .340 and ISO over .200 vs. RHP this season, and they're all definitely in play. After that, it gets interesting. Brian Dozier has to be considered any time you're stacking Twins -- he's got a .200 ISO vs. RHP, and Shields is yielding a .200 ISO to righties. Then there's the hot streak guys. Byron Buxton is burning down the league in August with a 8 HRs, 8 SBs, and a .330/.362/.649 triple slash. Now consider that one of the few guys who have been better than him is Jorge Polanco (.378/.411/.656), and you can understand how the Twins have moved into a Wild Card spot. Of course, they can't keep hitting this well over the long term, but to win a GPP we need to catch lightning in a bottle, and a scorching offense against James Shields seems like decent way to do just that.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Ok, so recommending the Rockies in Coors and anybody against James Shields feels a little like we've got it on autopilot, so here's a pick you won't see from us everyday. The Angels. In Anaheim. I know, it feels weird for me, too. Angel Stadium is one of baseball's toughest places to hit, and this isn't a lineup well-equipped to overcome that disadvantage on most nights. Enter: Chris Smith. The journeyman 36-year-old has been roughed up considerably this season, with a 5.56 ERA that actually could be worse. His FIP is sitting at 6.35 thanks to the fact that he doesn't strike anybody out (5.15 Ks/9) and his struggles with the long ball (2.27 HRs/9). Despite the fact that he's been hanging around the majors for over a decade, the book on Smith is still far too thin to get reliable data about his splits, but it's at least worth noting that righties are carrying a .374 wOBA against him and 10 of the 104 righties he's face this season have taken him deep. That's quite a pace. To put it into perspective, Mark McGwire holds the all-time record for HR% at 9.42. Right now, Smith's HR% vs. righties in 2017 is 9.62. Unfortunately, this lineup doesn't give us much to get excited about beyond Mike Trout, but that's OK. We'll build around him and use the savings in sexier bats or better pitching. One note: keep an eye on Kaleb Cowart. He's got a .227 ISO in limited action vs. RHP this season, so if he's in the No. 9 hole again, you might want to give some consideration to the wrap-around stack.