MLB GPP Plays: Tuesday, August 23rd
Every Tuesday and Friday I am going to give you my top tournament plays for all Daily Fantasy Baseball GPPs (guaranteed prize pool). GPPs are a general term used across the industry for your big money tournaments.
GPPs are very different from your cash games and you use a different strategy with them. In our GPPs we are not interested in safe plays, since GPPs are all about UPSIDE. We want players who can explode, as all-or-nothing type players can become GPP gold, and your value players are just as important as your star players. You need your players to have huge nights in order to take down these big tournaments.
My goal is to provide players who will be under-owned and have that big game upside you are looking for. I will also try to find as much value as I possibly can. Now, let’s get to the MLB GPP plays!
STARTING PITCHERS
Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs – If you are playing cash games tonight, Jake Arrieta is by far your best option. If you are playing GPPs, Arrieta is still the top dog. The reigning Cy Young award winner has been dominant in 2016 and he gets to face a weak San Diego Padres team in pitcher-friendly Petco Park. The Padres are dead last in wOBA against right-handed pitching this season with a 24.5% strikeout rate, which is the second-most in Major League Baseball. He won’t come cheap, but he should be worth every penny.
Jon Gray, Colorado Rockies, $8,300 – Jon Gray has not been very good lately, but there is no questioning his upside. The Rockies’ young ace has shown the ability to post a monster game in the right matchup. The Milwaukee Brewers are a great team to attack in GPPs, thanks to a league leading 25.5% strikeout rate. Gray owns a 24.8% strikeout rate on the season and he is very reasonably priced, and throw in the matchup against the K-happy Brewers and we have a terrific high upside play in tournaments.
Anibal Sanchez, Detroit Tigers, $6,900 – In his four outings in August, Sanchez owns a .211 BAA, to go along with 24 Ks in 25 IP. The 32-year-old veteran has looked much better of late, pitching six or more innings in five of his last six starts, including two games where he hit double-digits in strikeouts, with one of those games coming against these same Minnesota Twins. He may not strikeout ten batters again tonight, but he still has big game upside at an inexpensive price.
Other Pitchers to Target – Madison Bumgarner, Chris Archer, Danny Salazar, Carlos Rodon
CATCHER
Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees – I keep rostering Gary Sanchez and he continues to pay off. The New York Yankees catcher had a multi-homer game last night and he now has 15 hits, including seven home runs in his last eight contests. Until he cools off, I plan on continuing to ride him. The matchup tonight versus Taijuan Walker is not ideal, which will hopefully keep his ownership down in large field tournaments.
Nick Hundley, Colorado Rockies – Chase Anderson has severe reverse splits and right-handed batters have clobbered him in 2016 (.403 wOBA, 40.5% hard-hit rate). Hundley is not a sexy name and with him batting lower in the order, he is unlikely to garner much attention in GPPs.
Other Catchers to Target – Russell Martin, Victor Martinez (where eligible), Jonathan Lucroy, Welington Castillo
FIRST BASE
Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox – Jake Thompson may be a fine pitcher one day, but he is certainly not there yet. The 23-year-old right-hander has been absolutely blasted at the big league level, and until he figures it out, I plan on attacking him. Abreu’s bat has started to come alive of late, homering in back-to-back games and I think we see him go yard again tonight.
Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs – Anthony Rizzo could very well fly under the radar tonight facing a lefty in Petco Park. Christian Friedrich got off to a nice start this year, but he has since shown his true colors. The 29-year-old southpaw owns an ERA over 5.00 since the All-Star break and lefties have hit him better than righties.
Other First Basemen to Target – Paul Goldschmidt, Edwin Encarnacion, Freddie Freeman, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Chris Davis
SECOND BASE
Devon Travis, Toronto Blue Jays – Devon Travis and the Toronto Blue Jays are in a great spot tonight at the Rogers Centre. After a solid start to the year, Tyler Skaggs has been lit up of late, allowing 15 earned runs and three home runs in his last three outings. Skaggs also happens to be backed up by the worst bullpen in baseball. Look for Travis to have a big night, as he leads the Blue Jays’ offensive attack.
Dee Gordon, Miami Marlins – I love to roster Dee Gordon when it seems very few are on him. The Miami Marlins’ speedster can dominate games with his ability to rake and wreak havoc on the base paths. Game in and game out, Gordon has multi-hit/run/SB upside.
Other Second Basemen to Target – Daniel Murphy, Jose Altuve, Brian Dozier, DJ LeMahieu, Matt Carpenter, Ben Zobrist, Jean Segura
THIRD BASE
Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies – It’s not Coors Field, but Miller Park is still a great park to hit in. Nolan Arenado has as much upside as anyone in baseball tonight facing Chase Anderson and his reverse splits (.403 wOBA, 40.5% hard-hit rate), and I will have plenty of exposure to him.
Jake Lamb, Arizona Diamondbacks – Lamb has now gone hitless in his last 14 at-bats and he only has two hits (both singles) since August 9th, a total of 46 at-bats. This my friends, is what we call a slump. Not only has Lamb been a beast against right-handed pitching at home this season (.409 wOBA), but we should also see a low ownership on him thanks to this rough stretch. It’s a roll of the dice worth taking.
Other Third Basemen to Target – Nolan Arenado, Josh Donaldson, Kris Bryant, Manny Machado, Adrian Beltre, Maikel Franco
SHORTSTOP
Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis Cardinals – Jonathan Niese has given up 10 earned runs and three home runs in his last two starts. On the season the New York Mets lefty now owns an ERA over 5.00 and he has been hit hard by hitters from the right side of the plate (.371 wOBA with 21 HRs surrendered). Jhonny Peralta is swinging a hot bat and he gives us homerun upside at an inexpensive price tag.
Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox – Jake Thompson has been a Gas Can in his brief Major League career (8.79 ERA). Leading off for the team with highest projected run total tonight, Anderson has multi-hit/run upside at a very reasonable price.
Other Shortstops to Target – Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, Troy Tulowitzki, Addison Russell
OUTFIELDERS
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels – You never know what you are going to get from a knuckleballer. However, what we do know is that Mike Trout is the best hitter in baseball and he has had plenty of success against R.A. Dickey. Trout will be on a ton of my tournament teams this evening and I am hoping his high salary will scare others off.
Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners – The ultimate notorious lefty-killer gets a crack at the struggling CC Sabathia tonight. The New York Yankees’ big lefty has been consistently pounded over the last two months and righties are doing dome serious damage to him. Cruz continues to mash southpaws (.414 wOBA) and he has double-dong potential in this one.
Stephen Piscotty, St. Louis Cardinals – Piscotty has absolutely crushed southpaws this season (.418 wOBA) and I love his upside tonight against a struggling Jonathan Niese. Even if you plan to avoid stacking the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, you will want a piece of Piscotty.
Other Outfielders to Target – Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Billy Hamilton, Rajai Davis, Adam Easton, Ryan Braun