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.
It's certainly not the most star studded group of pitchers, with Taj Bradley as the lone pitcher priced at $9k or higher. He ranks first in projected points, expected rostered percentage, FIP and strikeout percentage. The downside is that he faces the Yankees, although their numbers aren't the same away from Yankee Stadium. Staying with the same game, we know that strikeouts are key in DFS and Will Warren has a career strikeout percentage over 26.
We've also highlighted Tanner Bibee and Reese Olson in our optimizer. The pair ranks 1-2 in points-per-dollar value, albeit with strikeout percentages under 20 percent early on. Bibee's stats thus far are skewed by getting shelled by the Angels, but he's given up zero runs in his other two starts and had a strikeout rate of 26.2 percent last year.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Player | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Taj Bradley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tanner Bibee | 2 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Reese Olson | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Will Warren | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Kumar Rocker | 5 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| Michael Lorenzen | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Griffin Canning | 7 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Andre Pallante | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Tomoyuki Sugano | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
| Jack Kochanowicz | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
Hitting Stacks
The Rangers are the most obvious stacking option in a matchup against the Angels' Kochanowicz. He ranks last in projected fantasy points, and third to last in FIP and strikeout percentage. The Angels are also last on the slate in bullpen ERA and WHIP. Texas has an implied run total of 5.75 - a full run over anyone else. Corey Seager and Joc Pederson both appear in our optimal lineup, and Marcus Semien will be one of the most popular hitters on the slate.
The Yankees are another team worth consideration even in a tough matchup on the small slate as they lead the league in team OPS. New York makes for a contrarian play as well considering we expect close to half of lineups to roster Bradley. He's been good early this season but has a career 1.6 HR/9 rate. Aaron Judge is our highest projected hitter and is a must-have in a Yankees stack. After that, Ben Rice has the platoon advantage in the leadoff spot and Jazz Chisholm is expensive but rosterable considering the value options at pitcher.
Tampa Bay has been one of the better offenses in the MLB early in the season, ranking third in team batting average and seventh in OPS. Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Kameron Misner have all had hot starts to the season. They'll face off against Warren, who does a good job of fanning batters, but has also given up seven homers in 36 MLB innings. Richie Palacios is in our optimal lineup as he was reinstated from the IL today and is expected to make his season debut.
Lastly, St. Louis is only projected for 3.5 runs, good for second fewest on the slate, which makes them an under-the-radar option. The Mets' bullpen has been one of the best in the league, but the Cardinals should be able to get to starter Canning and his career 4.77 ERA. Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan both appear in our optimal lineup, hitting in the heart of the Cardinals lineup. Although a small sample size, Lars Nootbaar is 3-for-6 with a double against Canning and will bat leadoff.
