Sorare MLB GW1 Breakdown | Season 4 Begins
Breaking down Game Week 1 on Sorare MLB
Welcome to the Sorare MLB GW1 Breakdown!
I spent the offseason rebranding this newsletter from hunterlangille.substack.com to sidelinesportshub.substack.com.
This season there is a Premium version of this newsletter which contains everything from the last two seasons.
Free users will have access to everything except for the Weather Report, Call To The Bullpen, and Game Week Rewind sections.
I want to thank everyone who has already signed up as a Premium member.
We are up to 27 paid subs already and 314 total subs.
If you want to become a Premium member, you can upgrade here on Substack.
Then, I can invite you to the Sideline Sports discord and join the community!
I love the new gameplay mechanics for this year, and I can’t wait for another awesome Sorare MLB season!
If you missed it, check out the podcast with SorareFP owner KLamp, Community Manager Jon, and Product Manager Damien.
We covered everything you will need to know for this year.
Feel free to message me on X at @Hunter_Himself if you have any questions.
Let’s dive in!
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Mookie Betts - Missed most of Spring Training with stomach virus but should be available for Opening Day
Triston Casas - Injured his right hand Monday but should be ready to go
Out:
Shane McClanahan - Will begin season on the IL with left tricep tightness
Gunnar Henderson - Will begin season on IL with right intercostal strain
Ranger Suarez - Will begin season on IL with sore back
Jordan Montgomery - Will miss all of 2025, getting Tommy John surgery
Giancarlo Stanton - Dealing with elbow and calf injuries, unlikely ready for Opening Day
Yu Darvish - Will miss the start of the season with right elbow inflammation
Royce Lewis - Will miss Opening Day with left hamstring strain
George Kirby - Will miss beginning of season with right shoulder inflammation
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Athletics, Diamondbacks, Braves, Orioles, Red Sox, Cubs, Pirates, Padres, Mariners, Rangers, Blue Jays, Marlins
Three Games:
White Sox, Reds, Guardians, Rockies, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Angels, Dodgers, Brewers, Twins, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Giants, Cardinals, Nationals, Rays
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Blake Snell/Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs DET
This Dodgers rotation is the best I’ve ever seen.
They basically have five aces.
They will be recommended often in this newsletter, especially in good matchups like this one against Detroit.
Detroit squeaked their way to the ALDS last October, but this is still a very young offense that strikes out a lot.
Snell is a veteran arm that can put up a big game here, and we saw Yamamoto dominate last season, his first in MLB.
Detroit had the 8th-highest K% (23.8%) as a team last season.
Paul Skenes at MIA
Skenes is arguably the best play on the board in GW1
He’s the clear favorite to win NL Cy Young (+250 at some books) and he’s facing the Marlins in a pitcher’s park.
The fish finished 24th or worse in wOBA, ISO, and wRC+ last season.
Skenes led the NL with an incredible 33.1% last season.
Don’t overthink this one.
Logan Gilbert vs ATH
The Athletics now got by ATH instead of OAK after moving from Oakland.
That is going to take some getting used to.
Gilbert ranked fifth in xFIP (3.33) amongst qualified pitchers last season and 14th in K% (27.4%).
The Athletics ranked second in K% (26.6%) last season and their offense isn’t too threatening, particularly against righties.
Also, Seattle-native Blake Meyer, has informed me that there is a rare Tornado watch surrounding the city which could lead to an even more exaggerated marine layer. #bootsontheground
This would give a boost to pitching as well.
Other Starters Include:
Chris Sale at SDP
Garrett Crochet at TEX
Framber Valdez vs NYM
Cole Ragans vs CLE
Pablo Lopez at STL
Zach Wheeler at WSH
Aaron Nola at WSH
Tarik Skubal at LAD
💰 Stacks
For a slate with 12 teams playing four games, there isn’t much to love from a ballpark/opposing pitching matchup
With this being Opening Day, every team will be rolling out their best pitcher on Thursday, and many “bad” teams still have one solid pitcher at the front of their rotation.
My favorite stack is actually a team with three games…
Rays
The Rays check two out of three crucial boxes here.
They’re facing Rockies pitching, which was the worst in MLB last season
They will be playing this game at George M. Steinbrenner Field because Tropicana Field was destroyed by Hurricane Milton
The missing piece for them is that they are only playing three games.
The dimensions of Steinbrenner Field are no larger than an MLB stadium, but the hitting conditions in Florida without a roof will immediately be better than the rest of the country.
The Rays aren’t super exciting as an offense. Last year they finished 22nd in wOBA (.306), 19th in ISO (.141), and 20th in wRC+ (95).
Colorado pitching ranked 29th in xFIP (4.62) last year and we picked on the often in Sorare MLB.
Pirates
The Pirates do not get me very excited, but on paper, they have the best opposing pitching matchup on the board.
Sandy Alcantara missed all of last season after he underwent Tommy John surgery, and may not come out with Cy-Young stuff right out the gate this year.
He’s still much better than the other three pitchers Miami is rolling out here.
The Marlins were ranked 22nd in team xFIP (4.36) last season and we can keep picking on them once again this year.
These teams are in good spots, but none of their individual pieces stand out all that much.
Perhaps this could mean that stacking isn’t necessarily the way to go in GW1.
I don’t think it’s likely that any individual team will put up a bunch of runs over the four days in this Game Week.
The Rays would be the most likely to do so, but having just three games puts them at a disadvantage over the 12 teams with four games.
Other Stacks Include:
Mariners, Red Sox, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Orioles