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

Cole Hamels (L), Rangers

FanDuelDraftKingsOppFIPK%GB%Opp Run TotalMoneyline
$8,600$9,300vs LAA4.6815%50.3%4.5-105

This isn't a super easy matchup for Cole Hamels, considering this game is in Texas, but Hamels has pitched well this season in Arlington. Hamels owns a 3.04 ERA at home this season while holding opponents to just a .286 wOBA. He is coming off of a woeful start against the Oakland Athletics, where he allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings, but that just means he should garner low ownership. In 21 2/3 innings against the Angels this year, Hamels has allowed just three total runs. Sure, they've added Justin Upton, but that only makes two hitters (including Mike Trout) that Hamels needs to work around. He has good numbers against Trout and is striking out Upton once for every three at-bats. I'm not super thrilled by Hamels low strikeout rate, but his flyball rate hopefully will be able to help limit damage. Hamels makes for a nice contrarian starter tonight.

Top GPP Hitters

Trea Turner (R), Nationals

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs RHPISO vs RHPwRC+ vs RHPBatting
Order
Team
Run Total
$4,100$4,900Jimmy Nelson - R.367.18312413.75

After last night, I believe Mr. Trea Turner is back. After collecting just one hit in nine at-bats in his first game, he clobbered three hits last night. This should be the start of things to come for him. Turner was really phenomenal early this year, that is until he got hurt. Even without Bryce Harper there to knock him in, he still has the ability to score runs since he is fast. He does have better power numbers on the road with a .157 ISO this year. It's also nice that he has a fantastic ballpark to hit in tonight. Miller Park is one of those gems of stadiums where you get a good amount of scoring on most nights. He gets to face Jimmy Nelson, who although owning a 3.39 ERA at home, he is allowing a .301 wOBA to righties. He has pitched well over his past three games, but did get rocked before that in a home start against Cincinnati. He gave up nine earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings pitched in that contest. It shows that Nelson is very susceptible to starts like that, and with Turner at the helm, he could be in line to do a bunch of damage against Nelson.

Gary Sanchez (R), Yankees

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs RHP



ISO vs RHPwRC+ vs RHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,600$4,600Doug Fister - R.367.24712935.25

Doug Fister *mic drop* . Okay, if I'm being serious, Fister really is an awful starting pitcher at this stage in his career, except for the Cleveland starts, which have definitely become an anomaly. If you take out those starts, Fister is a guy who gives up a lot of hits and sometimes hitters cash them in. Against a supposedly offensive juggernaut that is the Yankees, Fister is in line to really struggle. Sure, he's coming off two quality starts (one against Cleveland), but he can implode at any moment. He's worse off against lefties (think Brett Gardner to set the table), but righties can still give him fits. Gary Sanchez is a guy who has been heating up recently, and his tremendous power should scare Fister. Over his past ten games, Sanchez has gone deep five times. Sanchez also has a .364 wOBA and .266 ISO at home this year. On a side note, I will retire from DFS MLB chatter if Fister throws a gem like his last Cleveland game.

Chris Davis (L), Orioles

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs RHP



ISO vs RHPwRC+ vs RHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,700$3,800Joe Biagni - R.332.27110565.75

The Orioles have really turned things on recently as a whole, excluding the one time they faced Doug Fister (apparently I can't get enough Doug Fister banter in), Over the past week, the O's rank first in batting average with a whopping .346 and second with 15 home runs. One of the reasons for this has been the resurgence of Chris Davis. Since August 20, Davis has blasted four home runs as well as posting a .390 wOBA. Yes, these numbers aren't out of this world great, but the fact that Davis was a shell of himself for the better part of the second half, is very encouraging. Davis did go deep yesterday, and really likes hitting at Camden Yards. At home, Davis has hit 13 of his 22 ding dongs there. It also helps that this matchup is against Joe Biagni, who hasn't really fooled hitters recently. Biagni returned to the rotation after he had been demoted to the bullpen. Biagni allowed seven runs in that fateful start. In his start last time out, Biagni didn't do much better, allowing five runs. He has seemed to have lost some magic he had early on in the year. He's also allowing a .344 wOBA to lefties on the year.

Ryan Braun (R), Brewers

FanDuelDraftKingsOpp Pitcher
& Handedness
wOBA vs LHP



ISO vs LHP



wRC+ vs LHP



Batting
Order
Team
Run Total
$3,000$3,200Tanner Roark - R.344.21610735.25

There are two factors why I really like Ryan Braun tonight. The first factor is that he gets the benefit of hitting at Miller Park. Like Turner, this ballpark should benefit Braun, despite Braun hitting less than half of his home runs there this year. However, Braun is hitting .291 at Miller Park, which is a good sign. The second reason I like Braun here is his price tag. Yes, he's not the same smashing Braun we've all known, but he's an absolute steal at that price tag. Sure, I think Tanner Roark is actually a decent pitcher, but this game does have a high run total for the Brew Crew. Hitting third in that order could give Braun plenty of opportunities to drive in runs and score as well. At this price tag, he doesn't need to do that much to really pay it off. The second half of August was brutal for Braun, but he is now on a three game hit streak, so hopefully he's turning things around.



Comments
No comments.