MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 5-27-17

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

When looking at all of the other pitchers on this slate, and all of the top offenses that people will be paying up for, it might actually be somewhat contrarian to play Dallas Keuchel tonight. It sounds crazy, given that he is the top pitcher, but i think the crowd will tend to be drawn toward Wheeler and Blach to fit in those bats. Not to mention, his return from the DL should scare off some people. Baltimore strikes out a ton against opposing left-handers, and I expect Keuchel to be the best pitcher on the slate.

Top GPP Hitters

Even though this is a lefty-lefty match up, I still like Carpenter here. Carpenter should have no problem teeing off on Freeland, and will go a little more overlooked than he should on this slate. The majority of people will be back on the Rockies, after their 10-run performance last night. You're not getting a discount here, because of Coors, but he should do plenty for your lineups, so paying up won't be a problem. In play in all formats for me.

Now I know some of you have been burned by George Springer in the past. It's okay, I have too. But tonight just seems like the perfect night to have him. With his recent struggles, and so many other hot OF's on this slate (Blackmon, Conforto), why would people play Springer. Springer has tons of upside given his power and speed. He's too cheap on FD, and is in play in all formats over there. He is my favorite OF on this slate, and that's saying a lot with all of the other options.

I love playing Tommy Pham against anyone, and he plays in Coors tonight, so you know I'm going to have him. He has massive upside given his raw power, and will go overlooked against a weak left-hander in Kyle Freeland. Everyone will love Colorado tonight, so a Cardinals stack could be a nice way to go. I'm hoping Pham will bat in the 2-hole, but if he bats sixth like projected, that will immensely lower his ownership. I really like Pham tonight.

I was thrilled to hear that Miguel Montero was going to be in the lineup tonight. Although some think that Brandon McCarthy is good, I am not one of those people. He is not bad by any means, but Miguel just makes sense here tonight. You need a cheap catcher to fit in all of the top stacks, and other expensive one-off's of the night, and he gives you plenty of salary relief here. I would not play him in cash, but fire away in tournaments. He is my second favorite catcher behind Evan Gattis tonight.