MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 6-6-17

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

On most nights, Archer really isn't strictly a GPP play, but the fact that Max Scherzer is the top dog on this slate, some ownership levels might be lower with Archer than you would expect. You get a nice discount by dropping down to Archer as well. The matchup is a pretty attractive one as well against the White Sox. Archer comes into this game allowing a .253 wOBA to righties on the year. While the White Sox do have lefties in their lineup, the majority of the power comes from the right side of the plate. Archer shouldn't have too much of an issue neutralizing guys like Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier. Archer will also be back at home for this game, where he holds a 3.15 ERA on the year. One reason Archer has good numbers at home is that he's only allowed two home runs there for a 0.45 HR/9 at Tropicana Field. With this information noted, it could be a huge struggle for Abreu and Frazier to go yard.

Top GPP Hitters

Jesse Chavez has had some good games this season, but the majority of those have come at Angels Stadium. Although Detroit isn't the best hitters park, I still feel Chavez is going to get hit hard, considering he owns a 5.46 ERA on the road this year. To make matters worse, Chavez is a reverse splits starter. He allows a .358 wOBA against righties. Chavez has also surrendered ten home runs to righties for a 2.65 HR/9. We all know how much power JD Martinez has, so it should be no surprise that he's in a good spot. His price tag has sort of skyrocketed, which makes me think he will be lower owned. But with six home runs in just 31 home at-bats for Martinez, I really like my chances. As ridiculous as you think this might sound, Martinez has a career ISO of .230 at Tiger Stadium compared to just .191 on the road.

With all the injuries that the Brewers have had, Hernan Perez has seen almost every day playing time recently. He's not an overwhelming DFS player, but he has enough power that makes him a good GPP play. Perez has nine hits over his past nine games with a home run. Perez has also hit five of his six home runs against righties on the year, while holding a .346 wOBA. But the reason I love Perez here is because of Matt Cain. Cain has strung together back-to-back good outings, but has an outrageous 8.28 ERA on the road this year. Against righties, Cain is allowing a .328 wOBA this season. Perez is 0-for-3 against Cain in his career, but that's clearly an extremely minuscule sample size.

Ian Happ has much better numbers against righties on the year, but he's also caught fire as of late. After being inserted in the leadoff role, Happ has hits in three straight games, including a two home run game on Sunday. It should also be noted that Jeff Locke may not go deep in this game, which means Happ could face a couple righties out of the pen. Against righties, Happ has blasted four home runs in just 54 at-bats against rightees on the year. As for Locke, he had a good game in his first outing for the Marlins, but only lasted five innings. Locke has a career wOBA of .328 against righties. I really see Locke struggling against this Cubs team. Definitely take a look at the wind direction at Wrigley Field before making any final decisions.

It's a really hard thing to recommend a player who bats eighth, but when you are digging down this low, you have to make some concessions. Aledmys Diaz used to bat second, but his abysmal start to the year really found him in Mike Matheny's dog house. He's collected hits in three straight games and has a .310 wOBA since the middle of May. This is a huge increase from his March/April wOBA of just .265. Diaz is slowly starting to come around and gets a great matchup tonight against Tim Adleman. Adleman is allowing a 4.91 ERA at home while allowing a .322 wOBA to righties on the year. Although Diaz isn't a huge threat to go deep, Adleman is allowing a 1.75 HR/9. Adleman threw eight innings of shutout ball two starts ago, Adleman still owned a 4.99 ERA in the month of May. Let's not forget that this game is at Cincinnati, which will definitely benefit Diaz.