This article is part of our DFS MLB series.
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 main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit RotoWire's MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Potential rainout for Padres @ Yankees. Proceed accordingly!
We only have three pitchers priced over $9k today, with the standout option being Cole Ragans, who we have projected with the most fantasy points by 3.6 over second. The southpaw has a high ceiling with a pair of 30 DK point performances over his last four starts, and a matchup against the White Sox certainly doesn't hurt matters.
We've also starred Ronel Blanco, Tobias Myers and Shane Smith in our optimizer. Myers gets a $1,400 discount compared to his FanDuel salary, as he's been priced down on DK after a slow start to the year, although he's only pitched eight innings after starting the year on the IL. Normally I'd be fine spending up on Nick Pivetta, but I'm not risking rostering anyone on the Padres or Yankees tonight due to a possible postponement.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Cole Ragans | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Nick Pivetta | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Matthew Boyd | 3 | 11 | 11 | 5 |
| Bryce Miller | 4 | 6 | 8 | 13 |
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 main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit RotoWire's MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*Potential rainout for Padres @ Yankees. Proceed accordingly!
We only have three pitchers priced over $9k today, with the standout option being Cole Ragans, who we have projected with the most fantasy points by 3.6 over second. The southpaw has a high ceiling with a pair of 30 DK point performances over his last four starts, and a matchup against the White Sox certainly doesn't hurt matters.
We've also starred Ronel Blanco, Tobias Myers and Shane Smith in our optimizer. Myers gets a $1,400 discount compared to his FanDuel salary, as he's been priced down on DK after a slow start to the year, although he's only pitched eight innings after starting the year on the IL. Normally I'd be fine spending up on Nick Pivetta, but I'm not risking rostering anyone on the Padres or Yankees tonight due to a possible postponement.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Cole Ragans | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Nick Pivetta | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Matthew Boyd | 3 | 11 | 11 | 5 |
| Bryce Miller | 4 | 6 | 8 | 13 |
| Carlos Rodon | 5 | 12 | 2 | 16 |
| Brady Singer | 6 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Luis Severino | 7 | 10 | 13 | 6 |
| Ronel Blanco | 8 | 15 | 10 | 10 |
| AJ Smith-Shawver | 9 | 14 | 7 | 2 |
| Landen Roupp | 10 | 13 | 6 | 8 |
| Tobias Myers | 11 | 16 | 15 | 9 |
| Ryne Nelson | 12 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| Shane Smith | 13 | 7 | 12 | 15 |
| Miles Mikolas | 14 | 4 | 16 | 4 |
| Carmen Mlodzinski | 15 | 8 | 14 | 12 |
| Griffin Canning | 16 | 5 | 9 | 11 |
Analyzing Team Stack Rankings for Maximum DFS Impact
Here is how each team ranks in implied runs, home run rate and how popular we expect each team stack to be in GPPs:
| Team | Implied Runs | HR Rate | Stack Popularity |
| Royals | 5.2 | 16 | High |
| Diamondbacks | 5.2 | 5 | High |
| Braves | 5.1 | 6 | Medium |
| Cardinals | 4.9 | 10 | Medium |
| Mets | 4.8 | 7 | High |
| Yankees | 4.6 | 1 | Low |
| Mariners | 4.5 | 3 | High |
| Brewers | 4.5 | 13 | Medium |
| Cubs | 4.5 | 2 | Medium |
| Astros | 4.4 | 11 | Medium |
| Athletics | 4.3 | 4 | Low |
| Pirates | 4.0 | 15 | Medium |
| Reds | 3.8 | 8 | High |
| Padres | 3.3 | 12 | Low |
| Giants | 2.9 | 9 | Low |
| White Sox | 2.6 | 14 | Low |
My primary team stack targets
Royals vs. RHP Shane Smith (19.5 strikeout percentage) Key pieces: Salvador Perez, Jonathan India, Drew Waters, Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino
Reds vs. RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (4.23 FIP, 1.68 WHIP) Key pieces: Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Gavin Lux, TJ Friedl
Pirates vs. RHP Miles Mikolas (4.66 ERA) Key pieces: Joey Bart, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Adam Frazier, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz
Cardinals vs. RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (6.58 ERA, 1.81 WHIP) Key pieces: Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado
Key Matchups and Batter vs. Pitcher Insights for DFS Success
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Juan Soto: 3-for-12, 2 HR; .250 BA, 1.387 OPS
- Aaron Judge: 5-for-18, 2 HR; .278 BA, 1.046 OPS
- Paul Goldschmidt: 4-for-11, 1 HR; .364 BA, 1.091 OPS
- Alex Verdugo: 3-for-10, 1 HR; .300 BA, 1.064 OPS
- Adam Frazier: 13-for-34, 6 XBH; .382 BA, 1.018 OPS
- Xander Bogaerts: 5-for-12; .417 BA, .917 OPS
- Ke'Bryan Hayes: 8-for-21; .381 BA, .905 OPS
- Bryan Reynolds: 14-for-39; .359 BA, .885 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.
