Zach Thompson gives his top teams to consider for MLB DFS stacks on Saturday’s daily fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings.

Offenses around Major League Baseball were shaken up a little bit at the trade deadline, and all 30 teams are back in action this Friday, headed into a brand new month. After four games start early, 11 games make up the Friday night slate, in what’s shaping up to be a good night for offense with favorable matchups and environments across the board. As you fill out your lineup card for Friday, some spots stand out as great targets for MLB DFS stacks. Let’s take a look at the best offensive matchups on the board.

Before we get to the picks, let’s define what exactly we’re talking about. Stacking is an MLB DFS strategy that relies on multiple players from the same MLB lineup. Ideally, MLB DFS stacks focus on players who are back-to-back or at least from the same part of the lineup to allow plenty of positive correlation if that team goes off and piles up runs and fantasy points. Since most run-scoring plays produce fantasy points for multiple players, stacking a high-scoring team can carry your entry to the top of the leaderboard. Stacking always increases the connectedness of your lineup, which raises both the risk and the ceiling of your team since they will either go off or get shut down all together. The key to MLB DFS stacks paying off is finding the perfect matchup to attack, so let’s take a look at this Monday’s top spots.

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1. Athletics

Nick Kurtz ($5,900)
Brent Rooker ($4,700)
Shea Langeliers ($4,300)
Lawrence Butler ($4,200)
Carlos Cortes ($2,600)

The Athletics are home for a second straight series to start the week as they welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were one of the biggest sellers at the trade deadline. (I highlighted one of the Dbacks’ new additions in my top MLB DFS value plays.). The A’s also moved some pitchers to bring in more offense, as they continue to put together a fun collection of young bats.

They’ll be at home at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park on Friday night as they take on Anthony DeSclafani ($6,000), who has worked mostly out of the bullpen this year, compiling a 3.86 ERA and 5.11 FIP but also giving up 1.93 HR/9.

Righties have posted a .341 wOBA against him this season, but lefties have had more success against him in his career with a .346 wOBA. Both sides of the splits make sense for the A’s, who will also probalby get plenty of at-bats against the Dbacks’ bullpen.

I highlighted Langeliers in my top MLB home run props of the day since he has been mashing coming out of the All-Star break and has double-digit fantasy points in five of his last six games. Rooker has double-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games as well, going hard in back-to-back wins over the Mariners.

Lefties Kurtz and Butler are also solid plays with high ceilings, while Cortes is a strong value option to round out the stack. Since joining the A’s on July 23, Cortes has hit safely in six of his last seven games, hitting .304 with a triple and four runs scored.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani ($6,500)
Will Smith ($5,000)
Freddie Freeman ($4,500)
Teoscar Hernandez ($4,400)
Mookie Betts ($4,200)

The Dodgers couldn’t quite finish a sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati but did manage to level their record on their current trip to 3-3 as they head to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. They’ll face Shane Baz ($8,000) at offense-friendly George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday night, in a matchup that isn’t as tough as Baz’s DFS salary indicates. While Baz is a good play for DFS since he brings a high strikeout ceiling, he has struggled lately and been especially homer-prone at home.

Baz is 0-4 with five homers allowed and a 5.40 ERA in his last five starts. He gave up two homers to the White Sox and two homers to the A’s in his two home starts during that span, and his home ERA has climbed to 6.33 compared to just a 2.97 road ERA. He has a .349 against him at home with righties posting a .376 wOBA at Steinbrenner Field.

Ohtani has six homers since the All-Star break and always brings a high ceiling regardless of who he is facing and what their splits are. Smith, Hernandez and Betts are on the stronger side of the splits against Baz, and Betts has a good history against the Rays. He also averaged 9.5 fantasy points in his last four games and has moved back to the leadoff spot in front of Ohtani, which gives him more run-scoring potential and should give him better pitches to hit as well.

3. Houston Astros

Jose Altuve ($4,800)
Jesus Sanchez ($3,700)
Carlos Correa ($3,500)
Victor Caratini ($3,300)
Yainer Diaz ($3,200)

The Astros upgraded their lineup by adding both Sanchez and Correa at the trade deadline, and they’ll give their new look a shot against Cooper Criswell ($6,400) and the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday night. Criswell has a 5.06 ERA and 5.44 FIP in his six games this season but will be making his first major league start of the season. In Triple-A, he has gone 2-1 in his last six starts but had an ugly 5.88 ERA and 4.60 FIP over that span. Even though Criswell is a righty, righty hitters have fared well against him in his career, hitting .290 with 13 homers and a .346 wOBA.

Altuve moved back to the leadoff spot for the Astros on Wednesday and went 4-for-4 with a homer and 31 fantasy points. He could stay there or drop back to lower in the order but remains a solid play either way as the anchor of this very affordable stack. Sanchez will be a very interesting power addition, especially if he hits high in the order. He hit .289 in July with three doubles, three homers, and two triples, boosting him to a .349 wOBA during that span.

Caratini and Diaz both offer good power production and are eligible at catcher. Diaz homered in each of his last two games and has three games of at least 17 fantasy points in his last eight.