Sorare MLB GW37 Breakdown | Fight Night
What if I told you that Jake Paul and Nate Diaz had a pay-per-view boxing match on Saturday, and it was the second-best fight of the night?
If you were on social media over the weekend, I’m guessing you saw the free clip from the superior fist fight.
It surprised me that Jose Ramirez was the one to deliver the knockout blow.
From what I know about him, he seems like a humble guy and a team player who wouldn’t initiate such a battle.
I’m not one to judge if the fight was warranted or not, but based on some of his post-game comments regarding Anderson’s disrespect to the game, I tend to side with JRam.
Casual baseball fans will always associate Ramirez with being the guy who knocked out Tim Anderson, but little do they know this guy has been the most underrated baseball player for the past decade.
But sometimes your career can be defined by one split-second moment.
And it’s pretty cool that that moment was a knockout punch.
Let’s dive into GW37!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
In his 6th start since returning from the IL, Max Fried delivered 6 scoreless innings and 8 strikeouts against the red-hot Cubs on Friday.
Fried currently sports a 2.79 xFIP and 26.8% strikeout rate.
Despite being profiled last week as one of the top options, Tyler Glasnow had his start scratched on Sunday due to back spasms.
I should note more often in here the risk associated with starting a pitcher who is scheduled for the last day in a GW (Thursday or Sunday).
Weather postponements and pushback due to injury appear to be happening more and more.
This leaderboard is wild.
Nationals relievers make up the top three spots, with closer Kyle Finnegan leading the way.
Washington currently has three of their bullpen arms on the IL which paved the way for all three of these guys to make appearances in every game in this series.
All three outscored Max Fried as well.
Speaking of Washington, Lane Thomas was a one-man wrecking machine this week as the Nats swept the Reds at Great American.
Lane delivered 7 hits, 3 homers, and 8 RBIs in the three-game series.
The other notable player here is rookie Davis Schneider of the Blue Jays.
He was the top scorer at the Corner Infield position with his first and second career home runs hit at Fenway.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Trevor Story - Eligible to return to Boston Thursday following right elbow surgery
Davis Schneider - Called up from AAA to Toronto, hit first two homers this weekend
Out:
Tyler Glasnow - Scratched from Sunday’s start with back spasms, day to day
Brandon Marsh - Placed on the 10-day IL with bruised left knee
Byron Buxton - Expected to be out two weeks with hamstring strain
Zach Neto - Placed on the 10-day IL with lower back inflammation
Josh Jung - Fractured thumb fielding a line drive, IL stint likely
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Braves, Pirates, Tigers, Phillies, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Nationals, Royals, Guardians, Twins, Red Sox, Rockies
Three Games:
Rangers, White Sox, Brewers, Astros, Angels, Cardinals, Padres, Giants, Cubs, Rays, Reds, Marlins, Orioles, Athletics, Yankees, Mets
Two Games:
Mariners, Diamondbacks
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Pablo Lopez at DET
Breakdown-favorite Pablo Lopez is back in our lives with an enticing matchup versus Detroit on tap.
Lopez is having an awesome season, ranking 15th in xFIP (3.42) and 11th in K% (29.9%).
It’s hard not to like any of these Twins pitchers facing the Tigers in this series.
Newly-acquired veteran Dallas Keuchel is the only one who won’t get a turn in GW37, along with Joe Ryan who was recently placed on the IL.
Detroit is bottom-five in ISO, wOBA, and wRC+ on the year.
Limited Price: ~$13
Gerrit Cole at CWS
The White Sox are in absolute shambles right now.
They traded away two of their veteran arms at the deadline, Tim Anderson got knocked out by Jose Ramirez over the weekend, and Eloy Jimenez injured his ankle defending his team in the brawl.
It appears only Luis Robert can save this team.
Over the last two weeks, Chicago ranks 28th in wRC+ (76), 29th in wOBA (.281), 27th in ISO (.131), and they have the 5th-highest strikeout rate (25.3%).
We know Gerrit Cole is elite. He ranks 12th in K% (27.5%) and 14th in xFIP (3.61).
He may have caught the ChiSox at just the right time.
Limited Price: ~$30
Other Starters Include:
~$104 Spencer Strider at PIT
~$19 Max Fried at PIT
~$7 Dylan Cease vs NYY
~$20 Framber Valdez at BAL
~$211 Shohei Ohtani vs SFG
~$12 Jesus Luzardo at CIN
~$13 Zack Wheeler vs WSH
~$12 Aaron Nola vs WSH
~$12 Max Scherzer at OAK
~$19 Kevin Gausman at CLE
📞 Call To The Bullpen
I will be focusing on closers the 12 teams playing four games in this game week to help maximize the chances of earning the 10 Sorare points for a save.
We can also target teams we project to be in close/competitive matchups to ensure the closer will be in a save situation.
Closer Options:
~$9 Raisel Iglesias
~$5 Kenley Jansen
~$2 Carlos Hernandez
~$2 Kyle Finnegan
~$13 Emmanuel Clase
~$6 Jhoan Duran
~$4 Craig Kimbrel
💰 Stacks
Red Sox
Boston just got swept at home against Toronto, but they should bounce-back in a big way against the bottom-ranked Royals pitching staff.
I mentioned it last week, but the Royals are down there with Colorado and Oakland when it comes to advanced pitching metrics.
The Sox will face Cole Ragans, Brady Singer, Jordan Lyles, and Alec Marsh in this four-game series at Fenway.
Ragans was recently moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation, Singer has the best numbers of the bunch (4.20 xFIP, 19.7% K-rate), Lyles has the highest xFIP amongst qualified pitchers (5.42), and Marsh gives up 3.33 homers per nine innings.
Those are just some of the surface numbers for this bunch. Load up on some BoSox with confidence this week.
~$10 Jarren Duran
~$39 Masataka Yoshida
~$10 Justin Turner
~$40 Rafael Devers
~$3 Adam Duvall
Twins
Minnesota draws Detroit for a four-game series at Comerica Park, and will face Joey Wentz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Reese Olson, and a TBD pitcher.
They will not face Tarik Skubal, who has been impressive since his return from the IL.
I don’t like the bottom half of this Twins lineup, but the top 4 or 5 guys make for a nice stack this week.
Over the last two weeks the Twins rank 8th in wRC+ (118), 4th in ISO (.219), and 8th in wOBA (.340).
~$6 Edouard Julien
~$6 Carlos Correa
~$2 Max Kepler
~$3 Jorge Polanco
Other Stacks to Consider:
Braves, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Royals
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infield:
~$13 CJ Abrams, ~$15 Christopher Morel, ~$9 Isaac Paredes, ~$7 Orlando Arcia
Corner Infield:
~$15 Jeimer Candelario, ~$13 Triston Casas, ~$9 Bryan Reynolds, ~$14 Ryan Mountcastle
Outfield:
~$18 Jarren Duran, ~$6 Max Kepler, ~$11 Steven Kwan, ~$11 Riley Greene
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 37.
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!