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

Jose Berrios (R), Twins

FanDuelDraftKingsOppFIPK%GB%Opp Run TotalMoneyline
$9,100$8,600@CHW4.0021.538.74.25-170

On a 6-game slate with mostly all top end pitching options, ownership might be somewhat spread out. I do expect Jose Berrios to draw a majority of ownership, due to the fact he is the cheapest arm of the viable pitching options tonight. He offers a solid points-per-dollar return that some might not. Carlos Martinez facing the Padres at home might take all the cake, while Stephen Strasburg, Dallas Keuchel, and Chris Sale follow behind. Jose Berrios had one of his best game against Chicago, going eight innings allowing two earned, and striking out eight. Berrios has been matchup dependent so far this year, and this is a spot to use him. He is coming off of a strong home outing against Arizona, and will take on one of the weaker offenses in the league. Chicago ranks bottom ten in wOBA and K% against right-handed pitching this season, and the same goes over the last 30 days. Minnesota should give plenty of run support to Berrios, with Derek Holland on the other side of things.

Top GPP Hitters

Brian Dozier (R), Twins

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs LHPISO vs LHPwRC+ vs LHPBatting
Order
Team
Run Total
$4,200$5,400Derek Holland - L.443.29716715.75

Minnesota will be a core play for me tonight, and it starts with Brian Dozier. The right-hander has 13 home runs in the second half, already tying his number from the first half. Dozier has a .301/.385/.621 slashing line in the second half, and his hard-contact has jumped about 5%. Holland is the worst pitcher on the slate, and Minnesota brings a ton of viable bats to the plate against him. He has allowed a .406 wOBA to righties this season, with a .263 ISO. He has allowed 17 earned runs in his last three straight starts, and has an 18.9% HR/FB against righties. Dozier is my top pay up option on this slate.

Anthony Rendon (R), Nationals

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs LHP



ISO vs LHPwRC+ vs LHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,400$3,800Dallas Keuchel - L.463.3331835-63.5

Picking on Dallas Keuchel isn't ideal, given that he rolls a ton of groundballs and pitches deep into games, but Anthony Rendon will go overlooked in the matchup and is qualified as an elite lefty masher. His numbers above speak for themselves, and Rendon is really the only bat of concern in this lineup that's watered down due to injuries. Rendon is a flyball hitter, which helps him against a pitcher like Keuchel. His batted ball stats have been excellent against lefties, with just a 9.4% soft-contact rate, and a 53.1% flyball rate. Picking on the stud pitchers tonight is a decent strategy in large field tournaments.

Byron Buxton (R), Twins

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs LHP



ISO vs LHPwRC+ vs LHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,200$4,500Derek Holland - L.326.06010035.75

Byron Buxton has been considered a flop by many, and at just 23 years old, that seems crazy. Buxton has really figured things out in the second half, with a .369 wOBA and .244 ISO. His strikeout rate has been cut down by 6%, to a much more modest 24.7% by his standards. Buxton has also decreased his soft-contact by 12% and has a tick up in his line drive rate by 5%. There are a lot of positives to take away from his second half performance, and that should continue against Holland this evening.

Albert Pujols (R), Angels

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs LHP



ISO vs LHP



wRC+ vs LHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,300$3,800Martin Perez - L.258.0946035.5

The numbers above are a scary indicator of the season for Albert Pujols. The Machine is a bit over the hill, and the Angels will be calling for a new appliance from Best Buy at some point in the near future. While the .258 wOBA is poor, he does have an xwOBA of .313 against left-handers this season. Pujols has certainly taken a dip, but his BABIP is extremely low by his standards, and his K% is on par with the career norm. For a cheap first baseman taking on Martin Perez, Pujols is a solid late night target. Perez has allowed a .371 wOBA and .190 ISO to right-handed bats this season.



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