MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 5-13-17

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

Trevor Cahill has been very impressive since slotting into the starting rotation this season. After filling in as the seventh inning man for the Cubs last season, Cahill has found his way into this Padres rotation, and has had success. Pitching on this slate tonight is atrocious, so I'm looking for the possible "safe spots". Cahill has recorded 16 or more points on DraftKings this season in five out of six starts, with the one bad start being in Chase Field. He seems the safe way to go, and we'll take that cash-game route even in tournaments on this slate.

Top GPP Hitters

The Nationals have been on a tear to start the season, and a lot of that success can be credited to Daniel Murphy. The Nationals are one of the top, if not the top stack of the night against righty Nick Pivetta, and Murphy should have no problem racking up points on the way to a big night. Second base is pretty weak on this slate, so I want to lock in Murphy as much as I can, using him in my one offs and in my Nationals stacks.

Nick Castellanos has a great match up to exploit tonight. Opposing pitcher Ricky Nolasco is a reverse-splits pitcher, and Castellanos is a reverse-splits hitter, so this should play right into his strengths. The Tigers are one of the more sneakier teams on this slate, and Castellanos can provide a big game. He will garner little-to-no ownership with all of the options at 3B, making him a great play in GPP's tonight.

Wil Myers is a stud, and there's not much else to it. He hits any kind of pitcher, and should have a huge night against the struggling Dylan Covey. Covey has yet to show any kind of success, and is getting absolutely demolished against opposing right-handed hitters, to a tune of a 0.536 wOBA. That's a massive number, and I look forward to seeing Myers tee-off against him. Myers is in play in all formats.

I am actually a believer in Tanner Roark, but I just like this spot too much for Michael Saunders. Roark does a good job limiting the amount of baserunners he allows, and is pretty safe for a quality start every time out on the rubber, but I really like the upside Saunders brings here. Nationals Park actually is a mid-tier hitting park, and I really like Saunders' chances to get at least an XBH here. His ownership will be nothing, and his salary is too low, making him a great GPP play on this slate.