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 12-game main slate, sorted by projected fantasy points.
Visit RotoWire's MLB Daily Lineups to find out where the hitters slot in!
*No weather delays expected.
Even with a large 12-game slate, we only have one started priced over $10k, and my preference is to dip down to exactly $9,000 with David Peterson. The matchup against the Rockies away from Coors Field speaks for itself, and Peterson has a 2.87 ERA in 31 starts over the last two seasons. We expect him to be the chalkiest pitcher in GPPs on roughly a quarter of teams.
We've also highlighted Chris Bassitt, Grant Holmes and Luis L. Ortiz in our optimizer. Ortiz checks in as the top point-per-dollar pitcher, as he gets a whopping $2,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Meanwhile, Bassitt has held opponents to less than two runs in over half of his starts and the Athletics haven't been nearly as good away from their new ballpark. Bryan Woo, Nick Pivetta and Framber Valdez also rank well in a variety of metrics, giving DFS players a number of good options to choose from. Note that I didn't include Kyle Harrison or Zebby Matthews' stats in the table below due to their limited sample size.
Here's how each
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!
*No weather delays expected.
Even with a large 12-game slate, we only have one started priced over $10k, and my preference is to dip down to exactly $9,000 with David Peterson. The matchup against the Rockies away from Coors Field speaks for itself, and Peterson has a 2.87 ERA in 31 starts over the last two seasons. We expect him to be the chalkiest pitcher in GPPs on roughly a quarter of teams.
We've also highlighted Chris Bassitt, Grant Holmes and Luis L. Ortiz in our optimizer. Ortiz checks in as the top point-per-dollar pitcher, as he gets a whopping $2,300 discount compared to his FanDuel salary. Meanwhile, Bassitt has held opponents to less than two runs in over half of his starts and the Athletics haven't been nearly as good away from their new ballpark. Bryan Woo, Nick Pivetta and Framber Valdez also rank well in a variety of metrics, giving DFS players a number of good options to choose from. Note that I didn't include Kyle Harrison or Zebby Matthews' stats in the table below due to their limited sample size.
Here's how each pitcher ranks in key categories (stats are from 2025 season only):
| Pitcher | Fantasy Points | FIP | K% | Opponent K% |
| Bryan Woo | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Nick Pivetta | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| David Peterson | 3 | 9 | 10 | 2 |
| Framber Valdez | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 |
| Chris Bassitt | 5 | 6 | 6 | 17 |
| Grant Holmes | 6 | 22 | 8 | 4 |
| Max Fried | 7 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Luis L. Ortiz | 8 | 13 | 3 | 1 |
| Matthew Liberatore | 9 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
| Merrill Kelly | 10 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Kyle Harrison | 11 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| Seth Lugo | 12 | 18 | 16 | 3 |
| Zebby Matthews | 13 | N/A | N/A | 5 |
| Tony Gonsolin | 14 | 15 | 2 | 9 |
| Jose Soriano | 15 | 11 | 19 | 13 |
| Ryan Pepiot | 16 | 14 | 14 | 19 |
| Casey Mize | 17 | 12 | 11 | 22 |
| Lucas Giolito | 18 | 21 | 15 | 12 |
| Jeffrey Springs | 19 | 20 | 17 | 23 |
| Mitch Keller | 20 | 4 | 13 | 24 |
| Jack Leiter | 21 | 16 | 18 | 18 |
| Jake Irvin | 22 | 16 | 21 | 21 |
| Kyle Freeland | 23 | 10 | 20 | 20 |
| Cal Quantrill | 24 | 19 | 22 | 8 |
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 | 6.2 | 15 | High |
| Mets | 6.2 | 14 | High |
| Braves | 5.9 | 8 | High |
| Blue Jays | 5.8 | 13 | High |
| Giants | 5.3 | 21 | High |
| Guardians | 5.1 | 22 | Medium |
| Padres | 5.0 | 12 | Medium |
| Yankees | 5.0 | 6 | High |
| Cardinals | 4.8 | 1 | Low |
| Tigers | 4.7 | 2 | High |
| Astros | 4.6 | 7 | Medium |
| Dodgers | 4.5 | 5 | Medium |
| Royals | 4.2 | 11 | Medium |
| Mariners | 4.1 | 20 | Medium |
| Rangers | 4.0 | 24 | Low |
| Red Sox | 4.0 | 3 | High |
| Angels | 3.8 | 23 | Low |
| Athletics | 3.5 | 10 | Medium |
| Marlins | 3.5 | 4 | Medium |
| Rays | 3.3 | 9 | Low |
| Twins | 3.2 | 16 | Low |
| Nationals | 3.2 | 17 | Low |
| Pirates | 2.8 | 18 | Low |
| Rockies | 2.2 | 19 | Low |
My primary team stack targets
Blue Jays vs. LHP Springs (4.64 FIP, 18.8 K%). Key pieces: Alejandro Kirk, Vladimir Guerrero, Ernie Clement, Bo Bichette, George Springer
Mets vs. LHP Freeland (5.86 ERA, 1.68 WHIP). Key pieces: Mark Vientos, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo, Juan Soto
Red Sox vs. RHP Holmes (4.85 FIP, 1.5 HR/9). Key pieces: Carlos Narvaez, Marcelo Mayer, Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Wilyer Abreu
Tigers vs. Seth Lugo (4.51 FIP, 18.9 K%). Key pieces: Colt Keith, Kerry Carpenter, Javier Baez, Zach McKinstry, Spencer Torkelson
Key Matchups and Batter vs. Pitcher Insights for DFS Success
Notable hitter matchups against the opposing starter today:
- Matt Olson: 7-for-10, 4 HR; .700 BA, 2.650 OPS
- Jose Ramirez: 4-for-10, 3 HR; .400 BA, 1.700 OPS
- Bobby Witt: 5-for-11, 1 HR; .455 BA, 1.481 OPS
- Zach McKinstry: 4-for-11, 1 HR; .364 BA, 1.235 OPS
- Javier Baez: 6-for-17, 1 HR; .353 BA, 1.036 OPS
- Trent Grisham: 6-for-14, 1 HR; .429 BA, 1.143 OPS
- Salvador Perez: 12-for-28, 1 HR; .429 BA, 1.074 OPS
- Brandon Nimmo: 4-for-11, 1 HR; .364 BA, 1.091 OPS
- Manny Machado: 4-for-14, 1 HR; .286 BA, .912 OPS
- Jake Cronenworth: 3-for-11, 1 HR; .273 BA, .994 OPS
- Spencer Torkelson: 3-for-11, 1 HR; .273 BA, .879 OPS
- Bo Bichette: 5-for-12, 1 RBI; .417 BA, .833 OPS
- Luis Arraez: 5-for-12, 2 2B; .417 BA, 1.000 OPS
- Colt Keith: 2-for-10, 1 HR; .200 BA, .833 OPS
- Juan Soto: 5-for-28, 2 HR; .179 BA, .781 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.
