Sorare MLB GW31 Breakdown | The Burnes Inferno
I’m slowly learning that there’s so much more to this game than I knew.
Last week, we had Alex Hooper join us for a special episode of Off Bas3, where we talked general Sorare strategy and about Alex’s new Sorare FP app.
Alex has a deep knowledge of the product, and the conversation surrounding building an app, prize structures, and ways to popularize the game challenged the way that I had viewed Sorare.
Between Off Bas3 and my new show Tweet Talk, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to some awesome people from the internet and It’s been a ton of fun.
I had someone call me an extrovert the other day. I’m actually one of the most introverted people you’ll meet.
I must be fooling people.
Anyways, let’s jump into Game Week 31!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
Corbin Burnes looked dominant in his first start back from the All Star break against the Reds.
He made Cincy look inept with a 13 strikeout performance in just 6 innings of work.
Other noteworthy pitchers here include Kyle Bradish, who dominated the cold Marlins lineup yesterday, and Gerrit Cole who finished in third this week despite pitching in Coors.
Devin Williams is looking like the best closer in the league right now with back-to back number-1 finishes amongst relievers.
As long as Milwaukee continues to keep their games close, we should see a lot more of Williams going forward.
His Limited floor price is approaching $20.
Chas McCormick had a strong weekend with three total home runs in the later two games of the Astros’ series in Anaheim.
McCormick and the Stros’ head to Colorado this GW for what should be another great offensive performance, but he may be a solid sell-high in the near future.
I also want to note CJ Abrams who has sneakily been outstanding over the past several weeks.
You might want to pick up one of his cards after taking a peek at his recent game log.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Christian Encarnacion-Strand - Recalled from AAA by the Reds
Oswald Peraza - Called up from AAA to Yankees following Donaldson’s injury
Shane McClanahan - Expected to return from IL and start vs. Rangers Monday
Jordan Montgomery - Healed hamstring over All Star break, should start Tuesday
Out:
Josh Donaldson - Placed on the 10-day IL with right calf strain
Salvador Perez - Day to day with left hamstring strain
Kevin Gausman - Scratched from Saturday’s start with left side discomfort, day to day
Cedric Mullins - Day to day with right quadriceps injury, out Sunday
Eloy Jimenez - Expected to miss several days with left groin injury
Shane Bieber - Placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation
Brian Anderson - Placed on the 10-day IL with lower back strain
AJ Minter - Placed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation
Jose Miranda - Placed on the 10-day IL with right shoulder impingement
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Mariners, Cardinals, Giants, Cubs, Royals, Rays, Reds, Orioles, Twins, Athletics, Tigers
Three Games:
Braves, Mets, Rangers, White Sox, Angels, Padres, Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers, Pirates, Yankees, Astros, Blue Jays, Nationals, Marlins, Guardians, Red Sox, Diamondbacks
Two Games:
Rockies
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Pablo Lopez at SEA
Crashing back to earth against Oakland after his 12-K complete game shutout, Pablo Lopez will look for redemption against the Mariners who possess a powerful lineup, but one that also strikes out at the second-highest clip in the league (25.9%).
Lopez still has the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the majors (30.2%) to go along with the 12th-best xFIP (3.46).
He’s my favorite option for the game week but the next two guys are pretty close.
Limited Price: ~$11
Aaron Nola vs MIL
The Brewers actually mirror the Mariners offense quite a bit, striking out at the third-highest clip (24.9%) and possessing middling ISO and wOBA numbers.
Nola on the other hand has not quite mirrored Pablo Lopez with his advanced stats, but he is still having a respectable season.
He currently has the 28th-best xFIP (3.84) and 28th-best K% (24.9) on the season.
The Brewers have been playing better baseball lately which has coincided with the return of players such as Willy Adames and Luis Urias, however they will still be without Rowdy Tellez for a few weeks.
Limited Price: ~$16
Luis Castillo vs MIN
A third option I’m looking at this week is Luis Castillo who draws another strikeout-heavy lineup in the Twins.
Minnesota now holds the top spot in that department with a 26.8% whiff rate.
The Twins are coming off a sweep of the A’s this weekend (not hard to do) and their offense put up some runs, but this is one of the most brutal starting lineups to face.
Gilbert and Kirby look great here too, but I’m gonna side with Castillo’s 16th-best 26.9% strikeout rate in this one.
Limited Price: ~$17
Other Starters Include:
~$117 Spencer Strider vs ARI
~$10 Brayan Bello at OAK
~$30 Andrew Abbott vs SF
~$17 Corbin Burnes at PHI
~$9 Joe Musgrove at TOR
~$9 Logan Gilbert vs MIN
~$17 Tyler Glasnow vs BAL
📞 Call To The Bullpen
I’m going to be focusing on the 11 teams playing four games this week to maximize chances for save opportunities and holds.
It also makes sense to target series’ that can stay close amongst these teams.
Games I’m focusing on for closers:
SF/CIN, DET/KC, MIN/SEA
Closer Options:
~$17 Camilo Doval
~$17 Alexis Diaz
~$2 Alex Lange
~$1 Scott Barlow
~$9 Jhoan Duran
~$5 Andres Munoz
💰 Stacks
None of the teams playing four games this week stand out as great plays this week.
The Cubs and Royals have favorable pitching matchups but neither team’s offense is anything to get excited about.
The Giants play four games at Great American but again, can their offense do enough damage to warrant stacking?
To be honest I’m focusing on the teams playing three games this week, starting with…
Astros
Houston will play two games at Coors Field and face Austin Gomber and a TBD pitcher, then head to the A’s Coliseum to face Hogan Harris.
We know by now that playing in Colorado is a huge boost to an offense, but the Stros’ also draw a great matchup against Harris and his 5.47 xFIP through 21 innings in the big leagues.
We still don’t have Yordan Alvarez or Jose Altuve but the rest of this lineup can do some damage.
~$3 Mauricio Dubon
~$17 Alex Bregman
~$61 Kyle Tucker
~$5 Jose Abreu
~$5 Chas McCormick
Padres
San Diego also plays just three games this week, but they will draw a favorable pitching matchup and opposing ballpark this week against Toronto.
They will face Alek Manoah, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt at the Rogers Centre.
The Padres rank 10th in ISO (.170), 14th in wOBA (.319), and 11th in wRC+ (103) on the season.
This team is at full strength and I can see them doing some damage this week with a park upgrade to their offense.
~$125 Fernando Tatis Jr.
~$66 Juan Soto
~$42 Manny Machado
~$6 Jake Cronenworth
~$3 Gary Sanchez
Other Stacks to Consider:
Giants, Reds, Royals, Red Sox, Braves
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infield:
~$11 CJ Abrams, ~$18 Sean Murphy, ~$13 Willy Adames, ~$8 Ezequiel Tovar, ~$11 Andres Gimenez, ~$14 Xander Bogaerts, ~$3 Tommy Edman
Corner Infield:
~$13 Josh Naylor, ~$10 Spencer Torkelson, ~$6 Jose Abreu, ~$19 Anthony Santander, ~$9 Lourdes Gurriel Jr., ~$18 Alex Bregman, ~$18 Jorge Soler
Outfield:
~$19 Kyle Schwarber, ~$12 Eloy Jimenez, ~$8 Steven Kwan, ~$11 TJ Friedl, ~$8 Michael Conforto, ~$12 Brendan Donovan, ~$13 Jarren Duran
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 31.
All statistics referenced in this newsletter were pulled from Fangraphs.
All prices references were pulled from the Limited tier.
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.
Also, follow me on Twitter @Hunter_Himself!
Thanks for reading!