Sorare MLB GW25 Breakdown | Ketel Cooked
Welcome to the Sorare MLB Game Week 25 Breakdown!
My goal for these slate breakdowns is to create an all-in-one place for users to get an overview of each Game Week and use that information to pinpoint marketplace inefficiencies and construct a winning team.
I will be focusing on the Limited tier cards when referencing market prices as this is where the majority of Sorare users will be playing, and where there is the most liquid market.
Also, follow me on Twitter @Hunter_Himself!
Let’s dive in!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
Newsletter-favorite Joe Ryan finished first overall with a 9K, complete game shutout against Boston yesterday.
It was a season-best performance for Ryan, who surrendered just 3 hits over 112 pitches.
Also, is Blake Snell #good? In his last three starts he’s delivered 11,12, and 12 strikeouts while facing Colorado, Tampa Bay, and San Francisco.
His next start should come against Pittsburgh, who Braxton Garrett just torched for a season-high 13 strikeouts to earn third place this week.
Scott McGough? Never heard of him either. But he pitched 2.2 innings of relief for the Diamondbacks this week.
This goes to show the power of having four games, as both McGough and Huascar Brazoban (awesome name btw), are not closers but were able to reach this leaderboard by racking up innings.
Brazoban pitched 3.1 total innings against Toronto and Pittsburgh in GW24.
I had Arizona as my top stack for this week so it was nice to see a Diamondback atop the hitter leaderboard.
Fellow Dbacks Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Geraldo Perdomo all finished with 40 Sorare points or more, and made for an awesome stack in GW24.
Rookie Maikel Garcia proved the importance of steals with his three-steal performance yesterday, which boosted him up to third overall this week.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Kenta Maeda - returning from IL, will make start Friday vs. Detroit
Out:
Gio Urshela - Out for the season after fracturing his left pelvis
Corey Kluber - Placed on 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation
Alejandro Kirk - Placed on 10-day IL with left hand laceration and contusion
J.P. Crawford - Day to day with after colliding with Harrison Bader in the outfield
Dansby Swanson - Day to day after being struck on the right wrist/forearm by pitch
Willie Calhoun - Expects to be placed on IL with left quad injury
Ross Stripling - Placed on 15-day IL with Grade 1 lower back strain
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Two Games:
Cubs, Cardinals
Three Games:
Everyone else!
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Pablo Lopez at DET
Pitching looks rough at first glance this weekend.
My favorite option is Pablo Lopez, who will bring his 13th-best xFIP (3.53) and fifth-best K/9 (11.00) into a matchup against the weak Detroit lineup that ranks tenth-worst in K% (23.3%), fourth-worst in ISO (.135), and second-worst in wOBA (.294).
I will note that the Tigers have been a tad bit better of late. Over the last two weeks they rank seventh in ISO (.190), and 12th in wOBA (.331).
In the long run I still predict this team to regress back to being a bottom-tier offense, even though they were able to get to Spencer Strider last week.
Limited Price: ~$10
Tyler Glasnow vs KCR
Mr. Glasnow is coming off a poor outing against Baltimore where he surrendered 6 runs in just four innings of work, but prior to that he looked sharp even in tough matchups against Texas, Boston, and the Dodgers.
In the small sample size of 20 innings pitched, he ranks 8th in K/9 (11.72), and 23rd in xFIP (3.52).
His issues have been with walks (4.62 BB/9) and homers (1.78 HR/9), but he can make up for this issue with his elite strikeout numbers, and if he draws a solid matchup.
He’ll get Kansas City this week who strike out the sixth-highest (24.2%), and rank second to last in wRC+ (83). They also only rank behind Oakland in overall record this year (20-54).
Glasnow appears to be unaffected by last year’s midseason sticky substance crackdown, despite him blaming the rule change on his UCL tear one year ago.
Limited Price: ~$19
Other Starters Include:
~$17 Zach Eflin vs KCR
~$10 Jesus Luzardo vs PIT
~$11 Logan Gilbert at BAL
~$35 Gerrit Cole vs TEX
~$13 Merrill Kelly at SFG
~$7 Jose Berrios vs OAK
~$9 Michael Wacha vs WSH
~$20 Corbin Burnes at CLE
~$23 Eury Perez vs PIT
📞 Call To The Bullpen
We can safely avoid Cubs and Cardinals relief pitchers this weekend with both teams playing just three games in GW25.
Series’ I think can stay close this week:
NYM/PHI, TEX/NYY, MIL/CLE, HOU/LAD
Closer Options:
~$4 David Robertson
~$6 Jose Alvarado
~$9 Will Smith
~$5 Clay Holmes
~$8 Devin Williams
~$21 Emmanuel Clase
~$7 Ryan Pressly
~$4 Evan Phillips
💰 Stacks
Angels
Ladies and Gents, we get Mike Trout in Coors this week.
This whole Angels lineup gets a big boost as they travel to Colorado to face Kyle Freeland, Chase Anderson, and Austin Gomber.
The LA right-handed power bats look like great options this week, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play Ohtani as well.
The Angels rank 13th in ISO (.164) and 12th in wOBA (.329) against left-handed pitchers, who they will face in two of the three games this week.
~$11 Brandon Drury
~$72 Mike Trout
~$287 Shohei Ohtani
~$6 Hunter Renfroe
~$7 Taylor Ward
Braves/Reds
I was originally going to recommend just the Braves here, but the Reds offense has been awesome lately, and they will face the weaker part of the Atlanta rotation.
We just saw some fireworks in this ballpark in the Rockies three-game series this week, and I expect to see even more when the Braves come to town.
Atlanta and Cincinnati both rank in the top-10 in ISO and wOBA over the last two weeks.
Don’t look now but the Reds currently have an 11-game win streak and lead the NL Central with a 40-35 record.
Braves:
~$175 Ronald Acuña Jr.
~$45 Ozzie Albies
~$36 Austin Riley
~$36 Matt Olson
~$7 Marcell Ozuna
Reds:
~$6 TJ Friedl
~$23 Matt McLain
~$22 Jonathan India
~$119 Elly De La Cruz
~$9 Jake Fraley
Other Stacks to Consider:
Rays, Blue Jays, Padres, Twins
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infielder:
~$18 Thairo Estrada, ~$14 Orlando Arcia, ~$12 Ryan McMahon, ~$9 Geraldo Perdomo, ~$13 Carlos Correa, ~$13 Max Muncy
Corner Infielder:
~$11 Justin Turner, ~$19 Christian Walker, ~$19 Nick Castellanos, ~$16 Josh Naylor, ~$10 Isaac Paredes, ~$7 Marcell Ozuna, ~$19 Alex Bregman, ~$8 Triston Casas
Outfielder:
~$15 Eddie Rosario, ~$11 Jake Fraley, ~$7 TJ Friedl, ~$10 Taylor Ward, ~$13 Teoscar Hernandez, ~$15 Riley Greene, ~$18 Adam Duvall, ~$12 Jake McCarthy
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 25.
All statistics referenced in this newsletter were pulled from Fangraphs.
I release these every Monday and Friday prior to lineup lock to help you all with preparing for the slate and setting your teams.
I hope to see everyone at the top of the leaderboards.
Thanks for reading!