The purpose of this column is to highlight some players with upside and well-suited for tournaments. While the majority of the hitter picks will likely have power upside, that's not necessarily the case for all the listed options. Other contextual factors such as batting order, ballpark, opposing pitcher, price, speed, etc also come into play, and you'll see these items sprinkled into the write-ups below. Along with that, we'll be gauging the ownership levels, giving you some plausible pivots from the popular choices in a given game slate.

Tournament Pitchers

Steven Matz - SP - New York Mets

FD: $7,800 / DK: $7,700

This isn't an ownership play, given I expect Steven Matz to be popular, especially on DK. He is cheap, Coors is on the slate, and recency bias will play in with his last start against Pittsburgh. Matz's road starts have been brutal, so that is something to note. But, PNC Park is a strong pitchers park, even in the summer. He faces a poor Pirates lineup against lefties, as the projected lineup had a .298 wOBA and .170 ISO against southpaws. The strikeout rate is at 22.4%. The points per dollar return is there for Matz.

Top GPP Hitters

Josh Donaldson - 3B - Atlanta Braves

FD: $3,800 / DK: $4,300

Alex Wood is finally pitching for the Reds this year, and he is running into a tough Braves team. I'm not sold on Wood coming back and being the guy he was the last few years. Josh Donaldson is a Braves bat I want to get exposure to. He has a .247 ISO and .367 wOBA off southpaws this season. The contact rate is lower this year, but he has a 49% hard-contact rate.

Scooter Gennett - 2B - San Francisco Giants

FD: $3,200 / DK: $3,500

Scooter Gennett was traded to San Francisco, and is expected to be in the lineup tonight. He is a cheap Coors bat who got skipped when they priced them all up. Gennett has a .360 wOBA and .177 ISO off right-handers dating back to last season. In that span, Lambert has allowed a .427 wOBA and .310 ISO to lefties. Gennett is too cheap to pass up in this spot, even with higher ownership.

Jake Lamb - 1B - Arizona Diamondbacks

FD: $2,700 / DK: $3,800

If you are looking for a single digit power threat, Jake Lamb is one of them. He is on the cheaper side. Lamb has a 51% hard-contact rate against right-handed pitching, and 36% groundball rate. He has a .381 xwOBA based on his prior stats, suggesting he should have had better numbers. Joe Ross has allowed over a .400 wOBA dating back to last season to left-handed hitters.

George Springer - OF - Houston Astros

FD: $4,400 / DK: $5,300

George Springer is always a threat against left-handed pitching. He is pricey, but in a great spot alongside the rest of the Astros righties. Kikuchi has allowed a .358 wOBA and .215 ISO to right-handed hitters. His xFIP over 5.00 and 16% strikeout rate is very below average. Springer has a .400 wOBA and .258 ISO off southpaws on the year.



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