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 RotoWire's MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Possible rain delay/postponement in Tigers at Twins game. Proceed with caution!
Tonight's large slate only brings us three starters priced over $9k with two elite pitchers in Framber Valdez and Jacob deGrom. Valdez is my preferred choice of the two to spend up on as he gets a far easier matchup against an Orioles offense that hasn't scored more than five runs all month.
We've also highlighted Sean Manaea, Noah Cameron and Joe Boyle in our optimizer. Boyle is our top point-per-dollar starter due to a massive $2,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Meanwhile, Manaea gets a great bounce-back opportunity against the Mariners at home. I will be avoiding Pierson Ohl and Landen Roupp due to likely being on limited pitch counts. Note that Yusei Kikuchi, Joey Cantillo and Jack Perkins all rank well in the metrics below.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Framber Valdez | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Jacob deGrom | 2 | 3 | 2 | 24 |
| Sean Manaea | 3 | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Yusei Kikuchi | 4 | 10 | 6 | 12 |
| Luis Gil | 5 |
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 RotoWire's MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Possible rain delay/postponement in Tigers at Twins game. Proceed with caution!
Tonight's large slate only brings us three starters priced over $9k with two elite pitchers in Framber Valdez and Jacob deGrom. Valdez is my preferred choice of the two to spend up on as he gets a far easier matchup against an Orioles offense that hasn't scored more than five runs all month.
We've also highlighted Sean Manaea, Noah Cameron and Joe Boyle in our optimizer. Boyle is our top point-per-dollar starter due to a massive $2,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Meanwhile, Manaea gets a great bounce-back opportunity against the Mariners at home. I will be avoiding Pierson Ohl and Landen Roupp due to likely being on limited pitch counts. Note that Yusei Kikuchi, Joey Cantillo and Jack Perkins all rank well in the metrics below.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Framber Valdez | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Jacob deGrom | 2 | 3 | 2 | 24 |
| Sean Manaea | 3 | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Yusei Kikuchi | 4 | 10 | 6 | 12 |
| Luis Gil | 5 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| Chris Bassitt | 6 | 12 | 10 | 13 |
| Noah Cameron | 7 | 5 | 13 | 8 |
| Charlie Morton | 8 | 19 | 8 | 14 |
| Joey Cantillo | 9 | 11 | 1 | 9 |
| Lucas Giolito | 10 | 15 | 14 | 18 |
| Brandon Pfaadt | 11 | 13 | 17 | 2 |
| Jack Perkins | 12 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Luis Castillo | 13 | 6 | 12 | 17 |
| Joe Boyle | 14 | 20 | 5 | 10 |
| Sandy Alcantara | 15 | 17 | 19 | 5 |
| Hurston Waldrep | 16 | 1 | 9 | 15 |
| Andre Pallante | 17 | 16 | 21 | 11 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 18 | 8 | 20 | 23 |
| Aaron Civale | 19 | 14 | 15 | 22 |
| Brandon Young | 20 | 22 | 16 | 19 |
| Landen Roupp | 21 | 4 | 11 | 7 |
| Randy Vasquez | 22 | 21 | 23 | 16 |
| Pierson Ohl | 23 | 23 | 18 | 3 |
| Tanner Gordon | 24 | 18 | 22 | 21 |
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 |
| Diamondbacks | 8.0 | 16 | High |
| Dodgers | 6.0 | 10 | Medium |
| Royals | 5.8 | 20 | High |
| Tigers | 5.6 | 7 | Low |
| Angels | 5.4 | 17 | High |
| Red Sox | 5.3 | 1 | Medium |
| Astros | 5.2 | 3 | High |
| Yankees | 5.2 | 13 | High |
| Athletics | 5.0 | 8 | High |
| Mets | 4.7 | 21 | Medium |
| Guardians | 4.6 | 24 | Medium |
| Rockies | 4.6 | 6 | High |
| Giants | 4.5 | 18 | Low |
| Twins | 4.5 | 19 | Medium |
| Braves | 4.3 | 12 | High |
| Cardinals | 4.2 | 9 | Low |
| Mariners | 4.2 | 14 | Low |
| Blue Jays | 4.0 | 4 | Low |
| Rangers | 3.9 | 22 | Medium |
| Padres | 3.9 | 11 | Medium |
| Rays | 3.9 | 2 | Low |
| White Sox | 3.6 | 23 | Medium |
| Marlins | 3.6 | 5 | Low |
| Orioles | 2.6 | 15 | Low |
My primary team stack targets
Padres vs. LHP Kershaw (3.79 FIP, 15.5 K%). Key pieces: Freddy Fermin, Manny Machado, Jose Iglesias, Fernando Tatis, Elias Diaz
Diamondbacks vs. RHP Gordon (8.37 ERA, 1.89 WHIP). Key pieces: Tyler Locklear, Ketel Marte, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Corbin Carroll
Royals vs. RHP Civale (4.91 ERA, 19.4 K%). Key pieces: Salvador Perez, Adam Frazier, Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt, Mike Yastrzemski
Angels vs. RHP Perkins (4.08 ERA). Key pieces: Nolan Schanuel, Jo Adell, Mike Trout, Zach Neto, Taylor Ward
Key Matchups and Batter vs. Pitcher Insights for DFS Success
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Andy Pages: 3-for-4, 2 HR; .750 BA, 3.000 OPS
- Jeff McNeil: 5-for-11, 2 HR; .455 BA, 1.591 OPS
- Fernando Tatis: 7-for-20, 4 HR; .350 BA, 1.359 OPS
- Brenton Doyle: 6-for-12, 3B; .500 BA, 1.167 OPS
- Adley Rutschman: 6-for-13, HR; .462 BA, 1.269 OPS
- Ryan Mountcastle: 5-for-12, HR; .417 BA, 1.083 OPS
- Elias Diaz: 6-for-15, HR; .400 BA, 1.171 OPS
- Juan Soto: 2-for-10, HR; .200 BA, 1.000 OPS
- Francisco Lindor: 5-for-12, 3 2B; .417 BA, 1.083 OPS
- Salvador Perez: 4-for-16, HR; .250 BA, .868 OPS
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to RotoWire's Fantasy Baseball News & Latest MLB Updates or follow @RotoWireMLB on X.
