Sorare MLB GW44 Breakdown | Cobb Comes So Close
The Breakdown is out a bit early this week.
Tomorrow I am headed to Denver, Colorado to visit some family and attend Friday’s Blue Jays/Rockies game at Coors Field.
As long as Chris Flexen’s 2.35 HR/9 rate isn’t inflated due to small sample size, there should be some Blue Jay long balls hit in this one.
Also, due to the early publish, the Rewind doesn’t include the results from the four games on Thursday.
I’m hoping to find some time to write the GW45 Breakdown before Monday’s lock, but if not, I will catch you guys all in one week.
Let’s dive in to GW34!
⏪ Game Week Rewind
Alex Cobb leads the way in GW44 as the veteran was one out away from a no hitter, only for that to be broken up by a Spencer Steer double in the top of the ninth.
Giants’ rookie Kyle Harrison spun a gem in his home debut with 11 strikeouts and zero earned runs over 7 innings of work.
These two performances further prove how ice cold the Reds offense has been lately, and now they just placed NL Rookie of the Year candidate Matt McLain on the IL.
Cincinnati did just claim Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader off waivers which adds some solid outfield depth.
Cole Ragans is looking like quite the cheat code right now with his RP eligibility and his impressive K-rate.
He doesn’t have a Sorare card right now but the second-year pitcher should garner some attention from Sorare managers when his card does enter the marketplace.
Otherwise we can note that Emmanuel Clase had another good week and is now in sole possession of the major league lead in saves with 36.
The Phillies stack is looking pretty good this week with Trea Turner crossing the century mark and his teammate Bryce Harper continuing to tear it up.
Philly seems to have some momentum building down the stretch with both their pitching and hitting.
Gleyber Torres has homered in three straight and now sits with a solid 23 long balls on the season, ranking first among AL second basemen.
📋 Roster Movements
In:
Ryan Helsley - Hopeful to be activated off the IL this week
Cal Quantrill - Will return to Guardians’ rotation Friday
Out:
George Kirby - Scratched from start with illness (sorry to readers of the Breakdown)
Bo Bichette - Placed on the 10-day IL with right quad strain
Matt Chapman - Placed on 10-day IL with right middle finger sprain
Yu Darvish - Placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation
Matt McLain - Placed on the 10-day IL with right oblique strain
Chase Silseth - Placed on the 7-day IL after getting hit in head with throw from first
🔎 Multi Game Monitor
Four Games:
Cubs, Reds
Three Games:
Everyone else!
⚾️ Pitching Primer
Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler at MIL
Nola and Wheeler are coming off two huge outings that saw them finish as the second and third overall scorers in GW42.
Wheeler has been incredible this year, ranking 9th in xFIP (3.47), 11th in K% (27%), 7th in HR/9 (0.85), and 6th in BB% (4.6%).
Milwaukee’s offense hasn’t been great, striking out the 12th-highest rate (23.4%), and ranking bottom-7 in wOBA, ISO, and wRC+.
I’ll lean Wheeler here based on his advanced stats but both of these guys have shown the ability to flash upside this season.
Limited Prices: ~$12 Nola, ~$11 Wheeler
Blake Snell vs SFG
Snell is having an awesome season.
He’s shown an incredible floor all season and is coming off one of his best games against the Cardinals.
He demonstrated his lingering walk-issue in that start however, walking five Cardinals but still earning 9 K’s over 7 innings of work.
Snell leads all qualified pitchers in walk-rate (13.7%) but 2% but makes up for these base runners with strike outs.
The Giants strike out at the 4th-highest clip (24.9%) which bodes well for Snell’s 3rd-best 31.1% K-rate.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see double-digit K’s here for Snellzilla.
Limited Price: ~$16
Other Starters Include:
~$23 Zac Gallen vs BAL
~$9 Justin Verlander vs NYY
~$4 Chris Sale at KCR
~$17 Framber Valdez vs NYY
~$7 Joe Ryan at TEX
~$6 Carlos Rodon at HOU
~$20 Luis Castillo at NYM
~$12 Max Scherzer vs MIN
📞 Call To The Bullpen
With the Reds and Cubs each playing four games this game week, it immediately puts Alexis Diaz and Adbert Alzolay as the best two closer options on the slate.
Diaz is already one of the best closers in the league, ranking second in saves on the season (35), one shy of Emmanuel Clase who has 36.
I’ll put these two ahead of everyone else, but I will still list some solid closer options amongst those playing three games.
Closer Options:
~$14 Alexis Diaz
~$16 Adbert Alzolay
~$12 Emmanuel Clase
~$18 Camilo Doval
~$7 Jordan Romano
~$20 Devin Williams
💰 Stacks
Cubs/Reds
The Cubs and Reds will play a four game series against each other in this game week, including a doubleheader on Friday.
The Cubs will face Graham Ashcraft, Brett Kennedy, Andrew Abbott, and Brandon Williamson.
The Reds will face Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad, Jamison Taillon, and a TBD pitcher.
Taillon has been fine, but Andrew Abbott has hit the regression monster, and I’m not too afraid of anyone else in this series when targeting bats.
I prefer the Cubs a bit more here because Cincinnati has been ice cold over the last two weeks, ranking 29th in wRC+ (66) and almost getting no hit by Alex Cobb this week.
Cubs:
~$22 Nico Hoerner
~$10 Ian Happ
~$35Cody Bellinger
~$13 Dansby Swanson
~$9 Seiya Suzuki
Reds:
~$11 TJ Friedl
~$15 Spencer Steer
~$110 Elly De La Cruz
~$10 Christian Encarnacion-Strand
~$4 Hunter Renfroe
Blue Jays
Toronto will head to Coors Field and this author will be in attendance on Friday.
The Jays will face Chris Flexen, Ty Blach, and Austin Gomber whose numbers this year leave much to be desired.
All three have an xFIP north of 4.50, while Flexen gives up 2.35 homers per 9 innings (I’ll try to catch one), and Blach and Gomber both strike out less than 15% of the batters they face.
Toronto is recently crippled with Bichette and Chapman recently being placed in the IL, but this offense is still in the best spot of the week.
~$7 George Springer
~$50 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
~$8 Whit Merrifield
~$7 Daulton Varsho
~$1 Santiago Espinal
Other Stacks To Consider:
Red Sox, Marlins, Angels, White Sox
Value Options (Under $20):
Middle Infield:
~$11 Isaac Paredes, ~$8 Ezequiel Tovar, ~$5 Daulton Varsho, ~$10 JP Crawford
Corner Infield:
~$15 Teoscar Hernandez, ~$15 Spencer Torkelson, ~$16 Bryan Reynolds, ~$12 Ryan Mountcastle
Outfield:
~$10 Seiya Suzuki, ~$8 Adam Duvall, ~$12 Eddie Rosario, ~$11 Jorge Soler
There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 44.
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!