MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 7-7-17

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

A few starts ago for Carlos Martinez, I was very much off of him, as he had a tough matchup with the Diamondbacks. He still hasn't looked great lately, but I feel like he has a very strong matchup here. What is good about Martinez is that he always has potential to have a positive outing since he has such a high strikeout rate. His groundball rate is also very high, which helps limit damage. With that said, Martinez is coming off a poor start against the Nationals, where he gave up five earned runs and two homers. Against righties, the Mets rank in the bottom half of the league, compared to the Nats, who lead the league with most runs scored against righties. Needless to say, the matchup is definitely an easier one this time around. Another good thing about this matchup is that Martinez also owns just a 2.42 ERA at home this year.

Top GPP Hitters

After a short little break, I think Aaron Judge is finally back. He's now homered in back-to-back games, and double digits in three straight games on DraftKings. Judge also has been phenomenal at home, boasting a .471 ISO and .539 wOBA. I actually feel bad for Junior Guerra, as he could be in for a tough outing. Guerra owns a 6.19 ERA on the road this year. He's also allowing a 3.00 HR/9 against righties this year. I also like Judge because you might get slightly lower ownership since there is a Coors Field and Chase Field game on this slate. I might be wrong, but since they are lower in price, people may gravitate towards them.

Jordan Zimmermann gets to face the Indians for the second time in just as many starts. Typically, that is an advantage for a pitcher, but I don't see that here. Zimmermann is older and just doesn't have the stuff anymore to dominate hitters. Zimmermann still gave up four runs in his last start, and he might be in a lot of trouble again. This game is in Cleveland, which clearly benefits hitters, compared to Detroit. At home, Lindor owns a .342 wOBA with six home runs this season. Lindor also is a little cheaper than the plethora of shortstops who are higher priced tonight. He might garner high ownership, but you can definitely save some salary at the shortstop position.

You would think Trey Mancini is a lefty masher, but his numbers really don't agree. As you can see, he has a .409 wOBA and a .265 ISO, which extremely surpasses his splits against lefties. After going 0-for-16 in four games prior, Mancini now has seven hits in his past four games. It looks like he's heating up, despite not hitting a home run since the 25th of June. If Mancini was facing another starter who wasn't Felix Jorge, maybe I wouldn't be that excited for him, but since it is Jorge, there's a lot to like. Although Jorge does have a win in his lone Major League start, he did give up three runs and seven hits in just five innings. The righty only struck out two batters as well. With this game against the Orioles, instead of the Royals, he could be in a lot of trouble.

I'm going back to the well with Wilmer Difo. He's not great, but is at a good price, and is getting an opportunity with Trea Turner out. Although Difo's numbers look terrible, he does have hits in four straight games. In July, Difo has six hits in 11 at-bats so far. He's also a threat to steal a base. That threat increases with the knuckleballer on the mound too. Surprisingly, R.A Dickey owns a 0.90 ERA over his past three starts. Two of those games were at home, where he owns a 3.30 ERA this season. The other start came in Oakland, which is one of the best pitchers parks. Just four starts ago, Dickey gave up eight runs to this same Nationals team...in Washington. Surprise, surprise, this game is back in DC, which could spell trouble for Dickey and his 6.08 ERA on the road this year.