MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 7-10-15

There are some tricky pitching matchups in the field Friday. Cole Hamels and Madison Bumgarner, Gerrit Cole and Lance Lynn, and then even Clay Buchholz and Michael Pineda is a tough call. Bumgarner stands out above the crowd, but there is also an interesting twist and more to come there,

Pitchers

At 26, the former first-round pick and top prospect has finally arrived, and he has been delivering. Montgomery has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his seven starts, and he is an outing away from consecutive complete game shutouts. He was pulled early in his last start due to the previous hefty workloads, so don't fret on that front.

The Angels are a middle-of-the-road offense against southpaws, and Montgomery is riding a three game run with a 0.38 ERA and 19 punchouts over 23.2 innings. You can use the savings to load up your bats.

Santana is well rested and showed no rust in his eight-inning debut last time out. Expect the ownership percentage to be low against a potent Detroit lineup, but it is a lineup without its number-one cog. Similar to Montgomery, the price is low enough to fill out the remainder of your lineup with plenty of pop.

Santana lives and dies with his slider, and it was up to the task last time out. He threw it 40.7 percent of the time. Still, Santana is true dice roll.

Top Hitters

Since returning from injury June 23, Beltre has a .230/.250/.279 slash line with just six runs, three doubles and three RBI. He went 3-for-5 last time out, though, and there isn't anything wrong with the matchup. And, over the past week, Beltre has a .263 BABIP with a 36.8 percent hard-hit mark.

Kennedy is also allowing a .296/.355/.570 line and .397 wOBA to righties.

Turner sat out Thursday, so expect the righty killer back in the three-hole against the Brewers. Nelson has a 5.52 ERA and .841 OPS against over his past eight starts, and Turner is the best in the game over the past two seasons in OPS and wOBA against right-handed hurlers.

It is a small sample size, but Votto is heating up over his last three outings and against excellent starters. He has two doubles, a home run and a 1.214 OPS against Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Jose Fernandez. Enter Phelps, in his return to the rotation, and Votto staying hot is likely.

Votto has always been capable of piling on the stat-column tallies in a hurry.

Over the past two seasons, Puig has a 36.9 percent hard-hit mark against righties, and batting lower in the order should help his RBI opportunities. He homered Thursday, and while inconsistent of late, there is contest-winning upside, especially at his low cap hit.

Value and Platoon Plays

Danny Valencia (3B/OF - TOR) FD: $2,600 DK: $3,000

Look out for the weather, but Valencia loves facing lefties, and he'll find himself in a few spots to drive in runs Friday. He has a career .325/.365/.493 line with a .372 wOBA against southpaws.

Clint Robinson (OF - WAS) FD: $2,300 DK: $2,700

A real wildcard, but with opposing starter Chris Tillman reeling, Robinson boasts upside hitting in the middle of the order. He is in poor current form (3-for-19 over the past six games), though, so look for the day off Thursday to help him bounce back. Plus, his ownership will be low.

Mark Canha (1B/OF - OAK) FD: $2,800 DK: $3,100

Riding an active 7-for-17 run with three extra-base hits and six RBI, Canha is an upside source of cap relief Friday. He owns the handedness advantage against hit-or-miss Danny Salazar, too. Salazar has failed to pitch into the fifth inning in three of his last four starts.

Shin-Soo Choo (OF - TEX) FD: $2,600 DK: $4,300

While there is more value at FanDuel, Choo is a nice target with a .853 OPS and .371 wOBA against righties this season. He has five runs, two doubles, three home runs and six RBI over his past eight starts, too.

Philadelphia Phillies stack

Facing Madison Bumgarner could prove to be disastrous, but the Phillies have a slew of cheap bats who enjoy lefty tosses. They're also all cheap. Cameron Rupp, Darin Ruf, Maikel Franco and Ceasar Hernandez could all fill out a lineup in the endgame, too. Just note, there is huge risk.