Sorare MLB GW38 Breakdown | Rays Rotation Roulette
Football SZN is upon us.
I spent my Thursday night watching the Texans vs. Patriots preseason game.
Although preseason football isn’t particularly exciting, this game featured an impressive grab by Tyquan Thornton and an even more impressive touchdown catch by someone named Tank Dell.
And although Mac Jones didn’t sniff the field, I was able to see New England’s top draft picks Christian Gonzalez and Keion White demonstrate what made them first and second round selections.
Just because the NFL season is here doesn’t mean we get to ignore our friends on the baseball diamond.
As long as Sorare is hosting contests, there will be cards to win.
Don’t let the pigskin distract you.
Let’s dive into GW38!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
Freddy Peralta and Logan Gilbert tied for the lead this week with 50 Sorare points a piece.
Peralta had a fantastic matchup versus Colorado and struck out 13 Rockies over 7 innings of work.
It is interesting to see that these two were followed by three rookie pitchers in Williams, Liberatore, and Williamson.
Williamson’s numbers have been bad this year and he may have just found some luck against a soft Miami offense.
Kenley Jansen led the way with three relief appearances and two wins in Boston’s four-game series versus the Royals.
Raisel Iglesias matched both Peralta and Gilbert with a 50-spot, and he looks like another fantastic play in GW38 (We’ll talk about that later).
A couple of Marlins rounded out the top-5 here as Miami kept their series against the Reds close this week.
Polar Bear Alonso almost cracked the century-mark this week with three total home runs over just three games.
Alonso is now up to 35 homers on the year, five behind Ohtani and Olson who have 40 each.
I want to note Ke’Bryan Hayes here as well. He finished in second with 75 Sorare points and draws another great matchup against Reds pitching in GW38.
His Limited card can be bought for under $4.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Clayton Kershaw - “Very likely” that he will return this week
Emerson Hancock - Called up from double-A to Mariners, made debut Wednesday
Out:
Shane McClanahan - Unlikely to return this season due to left forearm injury
Ronald Acuña Jr. - Left Tuesday’s game after being hit on left elbow, day to day
Josh Jung - Will undergo surgery on left thumb, will be out for about 6 weeks
Carlos Rodon - Placed on the IL with left hamstring strain
Starling Marte - Placed on the IL with right groin strain
Zack Greinke - Placed on the IL with elbow soreness
Kevin Kiermaier - Placed on the IL after cutting elbow while leaping for a ball
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Mets, Braves
Three Games:
Tigers, Red Sox, Athletics, Nationals, Reds, Pirates, Twins, Phillies, Cubs, Blue Jays, Guardians, Rays, Yankees, Marlins, Angels, Astros, Brewers, White Sox, Rangers, Giants, Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks, Orioles, Mariners
Two Games:
Cardinals, Royals
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Corbin Burnes/Brandon Woodruff/Freddy Peralta at CHW
I stated last week some of the struggles the White Sox were having.
Chicago was able to get to Gerrit Cole a bit but then struggled against Clarke Schmidt a day later.
Burnes has been the definition of steady since the beginning of July, allowing no more than 2 earned runs in a game and pitching no less than 6 innings per game.
His 30.5% strikeout rate ranks 12th in the league and he has shrunk his xFIP down to a 9th-best 2.85 mark.
Woodruff quietly struck out nine Pirates in his first start back after a 4 month IL stint.
Just last year Woodruff finished 21st in the league with a 3.14 xFIP and 10th in the league with a 30.6% strikeout rate.
No one can be hotter than Freddy Peralta, who just struck out 13 Rockies over 7 innings on Monday.
Freddy sports an impressive 26.9% K-rate on the season.
Limited Prices: ~$20 Burnes, ~$12 Woodruff ~$9 Peralta
Blake Snell at ARI
After starting off the year hot, Arizona has been one of the worst teams in baseball over the past several weeks.
On July 1st the Dbacks were 16 games above .500 and now sit with an even 57-57 record.
Over the past two weeks, Arizona has struck out at the 7th-highest rate (25.6%) and rank bottom-ten in ISO, wOBA, and wRC+.
Snell has been having an impressive season, ranking 23rd in xFIP (3.21) and 8th in K% (32.0%).
Fire up Snellzilla against this cold offense.
Limited Price: ~$12
Other Starters Include:
~$13 Zac Gallen vs SDP
~$108 Spencer Strider at NYM
~$20 Framber Valdez vs LAA
~$3 Lance Lynn vs COL
~$8 Julio Urias vs COL
~$12 Jesus Luzardo vs NYY
~$26 Gerrit Cole at MIA
~$12 Luis Castillo vs BAL
~$6 Dylan Cease vs MIL
📞 Call To The Bullpen
The Mets and Braves have made our lives a bit easier this week with both teams playing four games due to a double-header on Saturday.
After trading away closer David Robertson to Miami not long ago, the Mets have a rotating cast of characters closing out games.
Their depth chart lists Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, and Adam Ottavino all as closers.
I think any of these guys are in play, but Raisel Iglesias on the Braves’ side is far and away the top option this week.
Do not play bullpen arms on either the Cardinals or Royals, as they each have two games this week.
Closer Options:
~$8 Raisel Iglesias
~$1 Brooks Raley
~$1 Drew Smith
~$1 Adam Ottavino
~$26 Felix Bautista
~$14 Camilo Doval
~$7 Andres Muñoz
~$14 Devin Williams
~$8 Jhoan Duran
💰 Stacks
Braves
It’s another Atlanta week.
The Braves were already the best offense in the league and now they have a clear edge over the rest of the teams with 4 games on tap.
Atlanta is slated to face Tylor Megill, Jose Quintana, Kodai Senga, and Carlos Carrasco.
The Mets proved they are waiving the white flag in 2023 by being one of the biggest sellers at the deadline, including a sale of their two top arms Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
Atlanta ranks 1st in ISO (.190), 3rd in wOBA (.330), and 7th in wRC+ (111) on the season.
~$191 Ronald Acuña Jr.
~$53 Ozzie Albies
~$54 Austin Riley
~$68 Matt Olson
~$7 Sean Murphy
Dodgers
I know what you’re thinking.
How brave of me to take such a contrarian stance on the Braves and the Dodgers.
It just so happens that Atlanta is the unquestioned top option and Los Angeles draws Colorado pitching over their three-game series.
They will face Austin Gomber, Paul Lambert, and Kyle Freeland.
The Dodgers rank 2nd in ISO (.185), 1st in wOBA (.337), and 1st in wRC+ (119).
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are expensive at the top, but if you have them in your gallery already then I recommend stacking them up in your top lineup.
~$92 Mookie Betts
~$77 Freddie Freeman
~$9 Will Smith
~$13 Max Muncy
~$1 David Peralta
With both of these stacks being expensive and highly-owned, it could be a solid strategy to do a three-man Braves or Dodgers stack alongside a two-man Athletics or two-man Pirates stack.
Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are both cheap and could compliment one of the bigger stacks nicely.
Other Stacks to Consider:
Red Sox, Nationals, Mets, Athletics, Pirates
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, ~$8 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 38.
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!