MLB GPP Tournament Picks: 8-11-17

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

In my DFS career, I've bashed Mike Foltynewicz every chance I get. It was easy when he was allowing a .401 wOBA to lefties a few years back. He's still not great against lefties (or righties) but he has improved a bit. Foltynewicz is a very streaky pitcher. Looking at his month-by-month ERA, he posted sub-3.00 ERA in April and June. However, in May and July, he posted a 6.12 and 4.88 respectively. In his one August start, he has looked good again, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run, which was a home run. He also did struggle against the Cardinals in his lone start against them this year. He gave up seven earned runs in four innings. Another downside that the Cardinals offense is arguably one of the best in August so far. They're also on a streak where they have scored at least eight runs in five straight games. Foltynewicz isn't getting them at a great time, but they had the day off, which sometimes, just sometimes, slows down hot offenses. In addition, even if Foltynewicz gives up a few runs, he's going up against Adam Wainwright, which means he could be in line for a win.

Top GPP Hitters

I've been a huge fan of Logan Forsythe against lefties, but he's struggled mightily this year, so I've moved on. Enter Chris Taylor. Taylor has been quite the surprise this year for the Dodgers. He's hit 16 home runs on the year, but only four against lefties. With that said, he's only had 100 at-bats against lefties, so those numbers make sense. Taylor has shown tremendous power lately, hitting four homers in just nine games in August.Clayton Richard is an extremely poor starting pitcher who is susceptible to give up a bunch of runs at any given time. Over his past five starts, Richard owns a 7.06 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP. If Richard doesn't last long, I'm not too concerned, as Taylor also has pretty good numbers against righties as well.

This guy Jake Lamb just keeps on mashing the ball. He's especially good at home. He's also very good against right handed batters. Hitting third, he also gets plenty of opportunities at the plate. In addition to his near .300 ISO, he's clobbered 20 home runs against righties this year. At home, he's hit 15 of his 25 home runs there. In his short time in August, he's gone deep two times with a .420 wOBA. As for the 38-year old John Lackey, he's owned a 3.33 ERA over his past five starts. Overall, Lackey is posting a 4.61 ERA on the season, his highest since 2012. He's also allowed a .378 wOBA and a 2.50 HR/9 to lefties on the year. Needless to say, Jake Lamb is in another superb spot tonight.

Justin Smoak is in a pretty good spot, and since he's struggled over the past few games, which has contributed to a low price tag tonight. Smoak is hitting just .212 in the month of August. He does get to hit back at home where he has a .284 ISO. Although he has a higher wOBA against lefties, the majority of Smoak's power comes against right handed pitchers. Although Jameson Taillon only allowed two runs his last start out, he allowed a total of 18 runs in his previous two starts. This means clearly Taillon could easily get knocked around a lot. If that happens, Smoak is one of those guys you'd think would join in on the fun. Taillon is allowing a .359 wOBA to lefties on the year. The one thing Taillon has going for him is that he's able to keep the ball in the park, allowing just seven home runs on the year. However, if you allow a lot of hits like Taillon, it really doesn't matter if he's allowing home runs or not.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this one, Chris Davis has been atrocious recently. On the same token, Paul Blackburn hasn't been that terrible, considering he's only been in the majors for only seven starts. Blackburn owns a 3-1 record and a 2.60 ERA. He's also holding lefties to a .243 wOBA but has a .208 BABIP. Blackburn does own a 3.93 ERA at Oakland Coliseum, which is one of the best ballparks for pitchers. Blackburn also allows a 2.92 BB/9 to lefties, which should benefit Davis, who typically has a good eye at the plate. Davis is hitting a dreadful .121 batting average this month. Believe it or not, Davis does have a career .534 slugging percentage and 16 home runs in 66 career games in Oakland. He started his career in Texas, so he is familiar with the ballpark. Overall, Davis has tremendous potential with the bat, and at a $3,000 and under price, he's hard to pass up on.