Sorare MLB GW33 Breakdown | Sermon on the Mound
Life is all about taking risks.
It’s those moments of vulnerability that keep so many of us stuck in place, afraid to venture out into the unknown for the risk of being embarrassed, humiliated, or downright rejected.
But it’s also the payoffs that come from those rewards that can have a major impact on the trajectory of your life.
One of my dream guests for my new Youtube show is Sorare CEO Nicholas Julia, and I took the risk of reaching out to him with an open invite to the show.
I was unaware that it was his birthday when I reached out, potentially adding more to the plate of the already super-busy CEO of a billion dollar company.
I haven’t received a response yet, but one day I will have the honor of sitting down and picking his brain on all things Sorare.
And I wouldn’t have the chance at all if I never reached out in the first place.
Take big risks, win big rewards.
Sounds a lot like fantasy baseball too.
Let’s dive in to GW33!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
After being highlighted in this newsletter last week, Jesús Luzardo did what he was supposed to do and struck out 13 Rockies over 7 innings.
It was a season-high in K’s for the Venezuelan-born left hander, who could carry some momentum into his next scheduled start versus Detroit.
Zach Eflin also delivered a big game against Baltimore with 7 shutout innings and 8 strikeouts.
The best part about Eflin is that his 2022 cards can be used in the RP slot.
Several familiar faces popped up on this week’s RP leaderboard, including Orioles’ closer Felix Bautista who is third in the league in saves with 28.
In fact, three of these players (Bautista, Clase, and Estevez) all rank within the top-10 in saves on the year.
The only thing I would note is that Bautista made an appearance in the last two games which could potentially mean rest for the closer today.
Dodgers stacks would have done well this weekend with team totals of 11, 16, and 4 in their three-game series versus Texas.
Otherwise we should note that Cody Bellinger remains hotter than the sun and Kyle Tucker is starting to heat up after a somewhat disappointing start to the season.
It also helps when you hit three homers in one game against Oakland pitching.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Yordan Alvarez - “Possibility” that he returns from the IL Monday
Hyun Jin Ryu - Should return to Dodgers rotation from Tommy John surgery
Nick Madrigal - Hopeful to rejoin Cubs for their series on Tuesday
Out:
Corey Seager - Placed on the 10-day IL Saturday with right thumb sprain
Adolis Garcia - Day to day after being hit by pitch on his right hand on Saturday
CJ Cron - Day to day with low back stiffness, out Sunday
Gabriel Moreno - Placed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation Sunday
Willson Contreras - Day to day with right hip tightness, out Sunday
Joey Gallo - Day to day with conjunctivitis
Willi Castro - Day to day with conjunctivitis
AJ Pollock - Placed on the 10-day IL Saturday with left hamstring strain
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Cardinals, Nationals, Guardians, Tigers
Three Games:
Mets, White Sox, Pirates, Mariners, Angels, Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Rangers, Royals, Blue Jays, Astros, Reds, Diamondbacks, Orioles, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Rockies, Padres
Two Games:
Braves, Rays, Athletics, Marlins, Red Sox, Yankees
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan at SEA
The battle between the two teams who strike out the most meet again in Minnesota after playing a four-games series in Seattle just four days ago.
Ryan was the odd man out in that series but Pablo delivered a respectable performance with 7 strikeouts over 5 innings while surrendering just 2 runs.
Kenta Maeda tied his season-high in K’s in that series with 9 and is scheduled to toe the rubber Monday, however, I still have him slightly behind Lopez and Ryan here.
Both of these guys are top-7 in K% and top-16 in xFIP. Ryan also has the 5th-lowest walk-rate in the league (4.6%).
Limited Prices: ~$9 Lopez/ ~$13 Ryan
Alex Cobb vs OAK
Cobb looks like a sneaky-strong options this week at home against the A’s offense.
Cobb rarely makes headlines, but he was an All-Star for the Giants this year and quietly ranks 7th in xFIP (3.42).
The strikeout-rate is just a tick above 21% for the 35-year old, but his Sorare Limited card can be bought for under $5 in the Marketplace.
The ballpark is elite for run-prevention and Oakland ranks 28th in K% (24.8%), 29th in wOBA (.291), and 25th in wRC+ (89).
Limited Price: ~$5
Other Starters Include:
~$17 Tyler Glasnow vs MIA
~$19 Zac Gallen vs STL
~$95 Spencer Strider at BOS
~$22 Framber Valdez vs TEX
~$20 Corbin Burnes vs CIN
~$17 Kodai Senga vs WSH
~$14 Blake Snell vs PIT
~$17 Luis Castillo vs MIN
~$14 George Kirby vs MIN
~$3 Kenta Maeda at SEA
📞 Call To The Bullpen
This might sound crazy but Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan might be my favorite closer options of the week.
The Nats are one of the four teams playing four games in GW33 and they will draw three games at home against Colorado, followed by one on the road against the Mets on Thursday.
Emmanuel Clase is my second favorite, as the Guardians will play three games against the Royals at home, followed by a game against the White Sox.
Closer Options:
~$1 Kyle Finnegan
~$17 Emmanuel Clase
~$3 Alex Lange
~$3 Jordan Hicks
~$27 Felix Bautista
~$17 Devin Williams
~$9 Jhoan Duran
💰 Stacks
Guardians
The Guardians pop up quite a bit as the top stack this week for similar reasons as to why Emmanuel Clase is a top bullpen arm.
Cleveland will face Ryan Yarbrough, Zack Greinke, Alec Marsh, and the White Sox’ 5th starter.
The Guardians offense isn’t overly exciting. They rank last in ISO (.129), 25th in wOBA (.303), and 23rd in wRC+ (92).
The being said, the name of the game is at bats and Cleveland should get several of them with beatable pitching to boot.
~$10 Steven Kwan
~$50 Jose Ramirez
~$19 Josh Naylor
~$3 Josh Bell
~$8 Andres Gimenez
Brewers
I can’t recommend the Nationals offense with a straight face so I will be rolling with the Brewers who will play three games at home against Graham Ashcraft, Andrew Abbott, and Ben Lively of the Reds.
These two NL Central rivals have had some fun battles against each other recently with both these teams’ ballparks being great for offense and both lineups capable of packing a punch.
I like the Brew Crew slightly more as they won’t be facing Corbin Burnes or Freddy Peralta here.
~$21 Christian Yelich
~$5 William Contreras
~$10 Willy Adames
~$1 Jesse Winker 👀
Other Stacks to Consider:
Nationals, Tigers, Cardinals, Reds, Dodgers, Orioles
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infield:
~$19 CJ Abrams, ~$13 Edouard Julien, ~$11 Willy Adames, ~$10 Andres Gimenez, ~$12 Xander Bogaerts, ~$16 Ketel Marte, ~$12 Carlos Correa
Corner Infield:
~$19 Josh Naylor, ~$13 Justin Turner, ~$11 Max Muncy, ~$9 Triston Casas, ~$19 Alex Bregman, ~$5 William Contreras, ~$10 Isaac Paredes
Outfield:
~$11 Jarren Duran, ~$12 Steven Kwan, ~$12 James Outman, ~$12 Lars Nootbaar, ~$15 Jorge Soler, ~$12 George Springer, ~$15 Lane Thomas
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 33.
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!