MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 4-22-17

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.

Top GPP Pitcher

Tyler Skaggs has the potential to be the highest scoring pitcher on this slate. The Blue Jays have struggled to start the season, and without Donaldson, this lineup is pretty weak. Skaggs is the 10th highest pitcher salary-wise, and with many pitchers around him in the similar salary range, I think there is a chance he goes under owned. Everyone will be on Carrasco (and for good reason against the White Sox), so I'm looking elsewhere in GPP's to hopefully gain an edge on the field.

Top GPP Hitters

Nolan Arenado is the the top bat on this slate, and I don't think it's close. He has great numbers against Matt Moore, (6/11 with four extra base hits), and offers double-dong upside. He is the number one cash option tonight, but that doesn't mean you can't have him in tournaments. I'd like to really go into analysis here, but there's no need. He's the top option tonight, so throw him into every lineup, and watch him help you cash.

Jered Weaver hahahahahahaha.... alright now that I got that out, Christian Yelich is in a premier spot today. Weaver struggles against both sides of the plate, but really struggles against lefties, with a 1.78 HR/9 and a weak 17 percent soft-contact. Yelich is an all-around player for DFS, offering solid power and stolen base upside, and should have no problem getting on base against Weaver here.

Salvador Perez is the top catcher on the slate tonight. Nick Martinez struggles against both sides of the plate (0.428 wOBA to L, 0.352 to R), so Perez should have plenty of chances with RISP here tonight. I really like Perez to take Martinez deep here. Martinez does have an above average groundball rate against right-handed hitters (54 percent), but Perez has enough power and is in a good enough ballpark to go yard.

Chris Young against lefties has been a thing for as long as I can remember. His 165 wRC+ is elite, and something that should be taken advantage of on this slate. We don't know much about Aquino, but we do know that the entire offense is in a good spot here, so if we can get a cheap piece of that offense, why not a guy that has all the numbers we're looking for? I like Young in all formats tonight, as he offers high upside at a cheap price, and allows you to pay up for pitcher.