This article is part of our DFS MLB series.
In this article, I'm going to take a deeper dive into pitching and stacking options. Let's take a look at our optimizer's rankings of the pitchers for the DraftKings main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
We don't have a true ace on the slate, with Spencer Schwellenbach coming in as the highest salaried pitcher at $9,500. He's one of the highlighted top plays in our optimizer as he ranks second on the slate in projected points and is expected to be the most popular pitcher in GPPs on about one-third of teams. The Cardinals have the lowest implied run total on the slate and have five players in their projected lineup with an OPS under .700.
We've also highlighted Robbie Ray, Aaron Nola and Randy Vasquez in our optimizer. Ray is our top point-per-dollar value, playing in his pitcher-friendly home ballpark against a hit-or-miss Brewers lineup. Nola is an interesting option in the mid-range if he can dodge the bats of Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. And if you're looking to save some salary, Vasquez gets a Tigers lineup that strikes out at a high percentage and has really struggled at the bottom of their order.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Robbie Ray | 1 | 11 | 5 | 8 |
| Spencer Schwellenbach | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Nick Lodolo | 3 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Aaron Nola | 4 | 9 | 4 | 10 |
| Hunter Brown | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
In this article, I'm going to take a deeper dive into pitching and stacking options. Let's take a look at our optimizer's rankings of the pitchers for the DraftKings main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
We don't have a true ace on the slate, with Spencer Schwellenbach coming in as the highest salaried pitcher at $9,500. He's one of the highlighted top plays in our optimizer as he ranks second on the slate in projected points and is expected to be the most popular pitcher in GPPs on about one-third of teams. The Cardinals have the lowest implied run total on the slate and have five players in their projected lineup with an OPS under .700.
We've also highlighted Robbie Ray, Aaron Nola and Randy Vasquez in our optimizer. Ray is our top point-per-dollar value, playing in his pitcher-friendly home ballpark against a hit-or-miss Brewers lineup. Nola is an interesting option in the mid-range if he can dodge the bats of Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. And if you're looking to save some salary, Vasquez gets a Tigers lineup that strikes out at a high percentage and has really struggled at the bottom of their order.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Robbie Ray | 1 | 11 | 5 | 8 |
| Spencer Schwellenbach | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Nick Lodolo | 3 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Aaron Nola | 4 | 9 | 4 | 10 |
| Hunter Brown | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Kevin Gausman | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Max Meyer | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Tylor Megill | 8 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| Erick Fedde | 9 | 10 | 11 | 2 |
| Quinn Priester | 10 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| Keider Montero | 11 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| Randy Vasquez | 12 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
Hitting Stacks
Here's how each team ranks in implied runs, home run rate and how popular we expect each team to be stacked in GPPs:
| Team | Implied Runs | HR Rate | Stack Likelihood |
| Braves | 5.7 | 1 | High |
| Tigers | 5.1 | 6 | Medium |
| Mets | 4.4 | 8 | High |
| Reds | 4.4 | 2 | High |
| Astros | 4.4 | 10 | Medium |
| Giants | 4.3 | 3 | Medium |
| Marlins | 4.0 | 11 | Low |
| Phillies | 3.9 | 9 | Low |
| Padres | 3.8 | 4 | High |
| Brewers | 3.5 | 5 | Medium |
| Blue Jays | 3.4 | 12 | Low |
| Cardinals | 3.2 | 7 | Low |
The Braves will be a certainly be a popular choice considering they are projected to score the most runs on the slate. Opposing starter Erick Fedde gave up six runs to the Red Sox earlier this month and has a career 4.77 ERA. Key pieces: Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, Michael Harris and Jarred Kelenic.
There are plenty of teams that are projected for more runs than the Padres tonight, but they are a difficult team to overlook. Keider Montero gave up five runs in his season debut last week and has an ugly 1.9 HR/9 rate. Key pieces: Elias Diaz, Jose Iglesias, Xander Bogaerts, Tirso Ornelas and Fernando Tatis Jr.
The Astros are an intriguing option considering they won't be the most popular team stack with their lack of offensive firepower thus far. However, Kevin Gausman gave up two homers in his last start and his FIP is over a run higher than his 2.49 ERA. Key pieces: Yainer Diaz, Christian Walker, Jeremy Pena, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez.
Finally, we can't ignore the Tigers as one of only teams projected to score over five runs tonight. Your best to pay up for the top of the lineup unless you want to be contrarian, considering the aforemention lack of production from the bottom of their order. Key pieces: Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry, Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, Spencer Torkelson.
Batter vs. Pitcher
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Alec Burleson: 4-for-5, 1 HR; .800 BA, 2.400 OPS
- Marcell Ozuna: 7-for-12, 2 HR; .583 BA, 1.956 OPS
- Juan Soto: 9-for-35, 3 HR; .257 BA, 1.051 OPS
- Pete Alonso: 16-for-50, 5 HR; 320 BA, 1.050 OPS
- Jose Altuve: 4-for-12, 1 HR; .333 BA, 1.000 OPS
- Tyrone Taylor: 4-for-10, 2 2B, .400 BA, 1.100 OPS
- Isaac Paredes: 2-for-10, 1 HR; .200 BA, .933 OPS
- Brandon Nimmo: 13-for-52, 2 HR; .250 BA, .794 OPS
- Starling Marte: 11-for-31, 1 HR; .355 BA, .871 OPS
- J.T. Realmuto: 4-for-14, 1 HR; .286 BA, .857 OPS
