Sorare MLB GW35 Breakdown | Pitching Piracy
What factors make for the best content?
For me, number one is authenticity. Who wants to consume content from someone who sounds like a politician?
Having a loyal fanbase means that people trust you because you make yourself vulnerable with honesty, and feel connected to you in a way that feels real.
Number two is entertainment. For me, entertainment value is just as important as delivering the stats.
Who wants to watch a show that is boring? We’re talking about sports at the end of the day.
Three, of course, is delivering actionable, quality content that will help people learn and/or succeed.
If you aren’t passionate about what you’re preaching, and you don’t put in the work to deliver content that has clear takeaways, then people will dismiss you as lazy and flock elsewhere.
One person who I think has perfected this balancing act is Adam Levitan. There is a reason why he has amassed over 180k followers and Establish The Run has had so much success.
These items are always at the forefront for me when it comes to writing or recording a show.
Also, the word “podcast” might be growing on me.
We’ll see.
Let’s dive into GW35!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
After writing him up in last week’s Breakdown, Zack Wheeler finished as the top overall pitcher with an 11-strikeout game agains the Pirates.
Yu Darvish also had a dominant game against Texas, delivering 9 punch outs over 6 innings of work.
The most surprising name to crack this leaderboard is Joey Wentz of the Tigers.
Wentz lasted only four innings but held Miami to zero runs.
Carlos Hernandez made an appearance in all three of the Royals’ games versus Minnesota.
The reliever earned two holds and one save during the Royals’ sweep of the Twins at home, earning him ten more points than Iglesias in second.
It’s interesting to note that both Hernandez and Iglesias both outscored Zack Wheeler this week.
Perhaps the “10 Sorare points for a Relief Appearance” that was added this offseason has made relievers carry more upside than starters on a week to week basis.
The Braves did what they do best and that is dominate the hitter leaderboard with their powerful offense.
This time it was Marcell Ozuna who finished at the top with four total homers and six RBIs.
Atlanta scored 10, 11, and 8 runs in their three-game series against Milwaukee.
Bobby Witt Jr. cracked the two spot with a walk-off grand slam on Friday to seal the win for Kansas City.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Starling Marte - Intends to travel with the Mets to KC and be activated off IL
Max Fried - Should be activated off IL for start of series vs. Cubs on Friday
Jazz Chisholm Jr. - Could be activated off IL for Marlins on Monday
Wade Miley - Ready to return from IL and start Wednesday vs. Nationals
Hyun Jin Ryu - Returning to Blue Jays Tuesday from Tommy John surgery
Out:
Nathan Eovaldi - Placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm strain
Taylor Ward - Out for the season with face fracture after being hit by pitch
Jonathan India - Placed on the 10-day IL with plantar fasciitis in left foot
Jordan Romano - Placed on the 15-day IL with lower back inflammation
Alex Kirilloff - Placed on the IL Sunday with right shoulder strain
Evan Longoria - Placed on the 10-day IL with lower back strain
Nolan Gorman - Day to day with lower back tightness, scratched Sunday
J.D. Martinez - Day to day with hamstring strain
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Brewers, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Blue Jays, Angels, Cubs, Phillies, Astros, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Reds
Three Games:
Rangers, Athletics, Rockies, Braves, Pirates, Padres, Mets, White Sox, Cardinals, Rays, Twins, Royals, Nationals, Guardians, Red Sox, Dodgers
Two Games:
Tigers
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Julio Urias vs OAK
Urias is scheduled to face Oakland on Thursday for what should be one of the best matchups of the week.
The A’s are coming off a series in Coors where they played well, particularly Brent Rooker and Ramon Laureano who each earned 37 Sorare points a piece.
Urias has put up a respectable 4.39 xFIP and 22.6% strikeout rate this season.
The issue I always have with him is with his pitch count, but he topped 104 and 93 pitches over his last two games, respectively.
Oakland ranks 27th in K% (24.7%), 27th in ISO (.137), and 29th in wOBA (.293) on the season.
Limited Price: ~$9
Zac Gallen at SFG
Gallen hasn’t quite been making the headlines that he was in the first half of the season, but he still has the 13th-lowest xFIP (3.55) and the 18th-highest K% (26.2%).
He also has the 19th-best HR/9 (0.92) on the year, which should be affected even less with this matchup at Oracle park, the most pitcher-friendly ballpark in the majors.
Gallen will face the Giants who are still very much contending for the NL Central, but whose offense punches out at the third-highest rate in the league (25.1%)
Pitching has mostly gotten San Fran to 10 games over .500, as their ISO and wOBA numbers are both below average.
Limited Price: ~$22
Other Starters Include:
~$19 Tyler Glasnow at NYY
~$21 Corbin Burnes at WSH
~$4 Charlie Morton vs LAA
~$95 Spencer Strider vs LAA
~$220 Shohei Ohtani vs SEA
~$8 Pablo Lopez at STL
~$9 Joe Ryan at STL
~$14 Zack Wheeler at MIA
~$7 Brayan Bello at SEA
📞 Call To The Bullpen
Here we want to target closers on the 13 teams playing four games this week to maximize our chances for relief appearances.
We also want to choose series that think can stay close so that our closer has a higher likelihood of earning a save.
Series’ I’m targeting:
BAL/TOR, CIN/CHC, PHI/MIA, ARI/SFG
Closer Options:
~$27 Felix Bautista
~$2 Jordan Hicks (Romano on IL, Toronto just acquired Hicks)
~$11 Alexis Diaz
~$5 Adbert Alzolay
~$4 Craig Kimbrel
~$2 David Robertson
~$2 Kevin Ginkel (Apparently the closer for Arizona now)
~$14 Camilo Doval
💰 Stacks
Cubs
The Cubs have been en fuego lately, and will face the first-place Reds for a four game series that has the potential to shift the standings of the NL Central. The Cubs are only 4 games out of first place.
Chicago will face Andrew Abbott, Ben Lively, Brandon Williamson, and Luke Weaver at Wrigley.
Abbott has been frustrating for those who stack against Cincinnati, but his 4.30 xFIP show that his 1.90 ERA is unsustainable and should soon regress.
Abbott actually has a higher xFIP than Lively (4.18), and Williamson and Weaver are both north of 5.00.
Over the last two weeks, Chicago ranks 7th in ISO (.198), first in wOBA (.383) and first in wRC+ (142).
~$14 Nico Hoerner
~$6 Seiya Suzuki
~$5 Ian Happ
~$22 Cody Bellinger
~$11 Christopher Morel
Brewers
Milwaukee will play a three game series in Washington against Jake Irvin, Josiah Gray, and Mackenzie Gore before heading home to face Pittsburgh to face a TBD pitcher.
This Brewers lineup has dealt with some injuries lately and there is a considerable drop off in talent at the latter half of their lineup, but they did just trade for Carlos Santana and draw one of the best pitching matchups of the week.
Here are the stats for these Nats starters to give you an idea of what the Brew Crew will be dealing with:
Irvin: 5.36 xFIP, 1.57 HR/9, 18.3% K%
Gray: 4.96 xFIP, 1.14 HR/9, 19.9% K%
Gore: 3.91 xFIP, 1.44 HR/9, 27.1% K%
Gore has put up respectable strikeout numbers this year but he has shown some vulnerability in the home run department
~$24 Christian Yelich
~$2 Carlos Santana
~$4 William Contreras
~$7 Willy Adames
Other Stacks to Consider:
Padres, Blue Jays, Phillies, Braves
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infield:
~$17 CJ Abrams, ~$14 Nico Hoerner, ~$13 Edouard Julien, ~$11 Francisco Alvarez, ~$17 Adley Rutschman
Corner Infield:
~$14 Nolan Gorman, ~$13 Triston Casas, ~$19 Josh Naylor, ~$16 Christian Walker, ~$17 Ketel Marte
Outfield:
~$13 Steven Kwan, ~$10 Eloy Jimenez, ~$14 Anthony Santander, ~$15 James Outman, ~$6 Teoscar Hernandez
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 35.
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!