Stacking is an integral part of daily fantasy baseball. Correlation drives upside, giving your lineups a slate-winning ceiling when your stacks explode.

This piece will do the digging and the dirty work each day to determine which stacks are worth rostering on FanDuel's main slate. While we want upside, we also need to factor in game theory, especially in a sport as random as baseball.

The MLB DFS heat map at numberFire is a quick way to get a feel for the overall slate and which offenses are in a good spot. You can also check out numberFire's daily fantasy baseball projections to identify the slate's best bats.

Let's look at the top stacks for this small main slate.

New York Mets

Implied Total: 5.12 | Opposing Pitcher: Josiah Gray

Load up your lineup with the New York Mets tonight.

The Mets have a potent lineup filled with stars up and down it, but there's no doubt that 2023 hasn't been the year that they expected.

They carry the best implied total of the night at 5.12 and will get an opportunity to take advantage of Washington Nationals starter Josiah Gray.

Gray has had a good season on the surface (3.45 ERA), but when you dive into what he's done, it's not all that pretty -- or even remotely good. Gray's expected ERA (xERA) is 4.55 while his SIERA is a bloated 4.92. The 4.77 FIP isn't much better, even if it's an improvement over his first two seasons.

The right-hander's strikeout rate has dropped to 20.0% this year, as well, and his 10.4% walk rate remains an issue.

The top guys of the Mets certainly aren't cheap options, but with a slate of just three games tonight, it's tough to look past these guys.

Pete Alonso ($3,800) is likely your best option to lead off any stack you begin with just for his power alone (.283 ISO this season), but after that, picking from Francisco Lindor ($3,700), Brandon Nimmo ($3,400), Francisco Alvarez ($3,100), Tommy Pham ($2,800), and Jeff McNeil ($2,700) feels like your best bet for success.

Stack up the Mets' big-name lineup with big numbers possible across the board.

Chicago Cubs

Implied Total: 4.57 | Opposing Pitcher: Miles Mikolas

The Chicago Cubs have been a pretty middling team so far this year (50-51 record), but their lineup has been one of the best, making it a good one for a tasty stack tonight.

Chicago has the league's 11th-best wOBA and should provide a big spark against Miles Mikolas and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mikolas averages the least points per start among any starting pitcher on the slate tonight, which is only part of what plays into the favorable implied total (4.57) for the Cubbies.

Fantasy points or not, Mikolas has just been flat-out bad the majority of the season (4.79 SIERA). He's got the highest fly-ball rate since his return to MLB in 2018 at 36.9% and is barely missing bats either (15.8% strikeout rate; 6.8% swinging-strike rate). This makes for a good night for the Cubs.

When it comes to building the lineup of stacks, start off with the big dog of the lineup in Cody Bellinger ($4,200). Bellinger continues to have a red-hot July, boasting a .341 ISO while striking out just 10.0% of the time.

He's the got the highest salary on the slate, though, so if you want more from the middle of their order at less of a cap hit then Christopher Morel ($3,800), Nico Hoerner ($3,600), Dansby Swanson ($3,300), Mike Tauchman ($3,000), Ian Happ ($3,000), and Seiya Suzuki ($2,800) should all be considered. They have enough depth to make three or four stack up without much to worry about in terms of overall totals.

Guys like Tauchman and Hoerner are at the head of the lineup for the Cubs and should be at the top of your lists based on the opportunities alone. Mikolas struggles pretty equally against lefties and righties so there's no reason to steer away from either.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.