Aaron Nola against an LAD bullpen game. Ohtani is the 58%-owned mega-captain the whole field is on — here are my five best Captains (including the low-owned power seat) and the five flex plays to build around them.
👑 Top 5 Captains
CPT earns 1.5× points and costs 1.5× salary (shown below). Rank by ceiling and leverage, not raw ownership — and the winning single-game lineup almost always has a Captain the field under-owns.
| # | Captain | CPT Salary | Proj | Own | Why |
|---|
| 1 | Aaron Nola (PHI) | $17,100 | 12.1 | 39.7% | Highest projection on the slate. If he carves the LAD bullpen game, the Captain points pile up — the safest 1.5× on the board. |
| 2 | Trea Turner (PHI) | $12,300 | 10.6 | 30.3% | Best salary-adjusted Captain — leadoff, 10.6 proj at $8.2K util. Captaining him frees ~$3K vs Ohtani and keeps your five flex strong. |
| 3 | ⭐ Bryce Harper (PHI) | $13,500 | 8.3 | 9.5% | THE leverage seat — a sub-10%-owned superstar bat with a two-homer ceiling. When Harper captains a win, almost no one else has it. The tournament-winning branch. |
| 4 | Shohei Ohtani (LAD) | $15,900 | 10.7 | 58.2% | The mega-chalk. Elite and correct — but 58% owned means captaining him is a coin-flip with the field. Fine in cash, a chop in GPP. |
| 5 | Kyle Schwarber (PHI) | $14,400 | 9.4 | 24.5% | Pure power Captain — one swing changes the slate. Best HR-or-bust ceiling in the game at manageable ownership. |
The read: in cash, Ohtani or Nola. In GPP, Harper is the seat that wins it — a sub-10% power Captain in a game where the field is stacked on Ohtani. Nola-Captain is the "pitcher takes over" build; Harper/Schwarber-Captain is the "PHI bats erupt off the LAD bullpen" build. Pick your script and commit.
🔨 Top 5 Flex
| # | Flex | Salary | Proj | Own | Why |
|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani (LAD) | $10,600 | 10.7 | 58.2% | If you're not captaining him, you almost have to flex him — 10.7 proj leading off. The one piece of chalk you keep. |
| 2 | Trea Turner (PHI) | $8,200 | 10.6 | 30.3% | Elite flex value — nearly Ohtani's projection at $2.4K less. Core. |
| 3 | Edmundo Sosa (PHI) | $4,800 | 7.6 | 61.9% | The value that makes the math work — 7.6 for $4.8K. It's 62% owned for a reason; pair it with a low-owned Captain to stay unique. |
| 4 | Max Muncy (LAD) | $8,800 | 9.5 | 25.7% | The top LAD bat behind Ohtani — power in the 4-hole, correct even in a bullpen game. |
| 5 | Bryson Stott (PHI) | $6,000 | 7.3 | 10.3% | The leverage flex — 7.3 proj at 10% owned. Gets you off the Sosa/Bohm chalk without losing projection. |
Chalk to build around: Alec Bohm ($5,200, 53.2%), Edmundo Sosa ($4,800, 61.9%) and Bryan De La Cruz ($3,000, 42.4%) are the cheap PHI bats the whole field is using to afford Ohtani. They're fine — but if you play all three and Ohtani-Captain, you're building the field's exact lineup. The pivot: Bryson Stott ($6,000, 10.3%) or a Harper Captain gets you unique in the money.
The takeaway
Ohtani-and-the-PHI-value is the field. Cash players ride it. Tournament players get one thing right the field doesn't — captain Bryce Harper or slide to Bryson Stott — and let the LAD bullpen game do the rest. One swing in this park wins you the slate.
Every pick graded & posted — win or lose. Good luck. — James