MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 5-1-17

Top GPP Pitcher

The Blue Jays have been terrible to start the year, and I don't see that changing here in this match up against Luis Severino. Severino has been inducing ground balls at a very high rate, and will see a watered-down lineup that continues to miss their best player in Josh Donaldson. With other popular names on the board (Kershaw, Cueto), he won't get as much ownership as he probably should, and can be used in cash games and GPP's tonight.

Top GPP Hitters

Jose Altuve is finally starting to see the ball better. After struggling the first few weeks, he has seemed to finally start hitting his stride. The Astros batters have been very disappointing to start the season outside of Springer, and may finally be able to break through tonight. I have the Astros as my top stack overall tonight, and I like Altuve to lead the charge offensively against a weak pitcher in Cashner.

Trevor Bauer has been a reverse splits pitcher over his career, and that fits perfectly with Nick Castellanos, who is a reverse splits hitter. Castellanos has moved from the 2-hole into the third spot in the lineup since the absence of Miguel Cabrera. I think the Tigers are sneaky given the fact that everyone will be on the Indians in this matchup. He's pretty cheap on both sites, and is a great way to get a low ownership with high upside third baseman.

I have the Reds as my sneaky team-stack of the night. His numbers don't seem very impressive (0.314 wOBA, 55 wRC+ vs. righties), and that's because they're not. We pick Billy Hamilton for one reason, and one reason only, and that is for his stolen base upside. Gerrit Cole struggles with holding runners on, and if Billy can get on base, you can count on him to steal at least one base tonight. I love picking Billy, because he could be the highest scoring OF on the night, and comes with a affordable price tag, due to his limited ability to hit for XBH. He's fine in all formats tonight.

Brandon Guyer has been a lefty masher over his career. He has a career 136 wRC+, and a 0.367 wOBA. He will be buried in this Cleveland lineup that has some potential to destroy Norris. Assuming he bats seventh, he shouldn't garner much ownership, and serves well as a salary reliever in your tournament lineups. There is some pinch-hit risk, as there always is with platoon guys, but in tournaments, it's a risk I'm willing to take.