MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 4-23-17

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

I do not mind eating some chalk on the mound today. It is not an exciting day for arms, and Danny Salazar has the highest strikeout upside on the slate. Chicago is going to be a team to pick on all season long with opposing arms. We have seen the success from Cleveland already. The White Sox have a 25.1% strikeout rate against right-handers this year, and a very weak 24.9% hard-contact rate. They boast the second lowest second lowest wOBA (.256) and carry a bottom five ISO alongside it (.131). Salazar has 27 strikeouts in 17.2 innings so far this season, and his only rough outing coming against Texas. He has a 2.10 FIP and 2.53 xFIP, and the .385 BABIP is unsustainably high. Despite a decent 3.57 ERA, it should be lower, and will likely be lowered today. Cleveland is a strong road favorite again, and Salazar headlines the Main Slate for a top arm.

Top GPP Hitters

We have a meeting of two reverse splits players, and I am giving the edge to Mookie Betts. We saw the right-handed bat go off for quite a few multi home run games last season, which is what you want out of someone his price. Kevin Gausman is coming off of an absolute schalacking in Cincinnati. He is off to a bid of a rough start this season, with not many starts coming clean. He is allowing a .369 wOBA to right-handers, and last season allowed a .349 wOBA with a 1.63 HR/9. Betts had a .388 wOBA off righties last season, with a .208 ISO. One of the bonus stats to Betts' play is his strikeout rate. It was 11.2% last year, and he has a 3.9% strikeout rate against right-handers this season. In 2017 he is offering up a .390 wOBA off right-handers, with a 36% hard-contact rate. Betts has a nice history of teeing off on Baltimore pitchers.

Mike Leake is putting on a Cy Young season. Not really, but he is off to an efficient start. He has allowed two earned runs over 21.1 innings this season, and has yet to allow a home run. I am banking on that number to not be zero by the end of tomorrow. Leake is dependent on BABIP and does not miss bats on the left side, and hardly on the right as well. This Brewers lineup features three lefties to start the lineup off, and three that have power. Eric Thames has that tournament upside, but do not forget about Travis Shaw. He has shown some early power in Milwaukee, which was expected coming over from Boston. His 19.2% strikeout rate is low compared to everyone else on the team. Shaw is a mid-range price, and has a ton of upside.

Corey Dickerson is not your prototypical leadoff hitter. He has monster power from the left side, and strikes out a fair amount. Most of the Rays do, but as many strikeouts as you are going to get from this team, the homers will follow. Dickerson is showing off the power here early with a .234 ISO against right-handed pitching, and a 37% hard-contact rate. Dickerson and the rest of the Rays bats are never really priced up all that much, so guys like Logan Morrison, Kevin Miermaier, and Brad Miller all have home run potential at a cheap price tag. Joe Musgrove is off to a rough start, with over a five ERA. He hasn't been missing bats, and has allowed a career .326 wOBA to left-handers, with a 33% hard-contact rate.

We need some Beef Welington in our lives today. He had the day off last night, which is good for us not waiting around for lineups to come out. Early numbers above are not an indicator of Castillo's history against left-handed pitching. He had a .367 wOBA off southpaws last season, with a .243 ISO. We are waiting on the first home run of the season for Castillo, and I will be chasing today. Eduardo Rodriguez 1.14 HR/9 in his career against right-handers is a bit of an issue, alongside the low groundball rate. Camden Yards is friendly for righty power, with a 1.16 park factor for right-handers.