Sorare MLB GW8 Breakdown | El Bombi Blasts Off

Welcome to the Sorare MLB Game Week 8 Breakdown!

My goal for these slate breakdowns is to create an all-in-one place for users to get an overview of each Game Week and use that information to pinpoint marketplace inefficiencies and construct a winning team.

I will be focusing on the Limited tier cards when referencing market prices as this is where the majority of Sorare users will be playing, and where there is the most liquid market.

You can find my slate breakdowns every Monday and Friday of the MLB season here on Lucky Trader, or subscribe to my newsletter to get them in your inbox.

Let’s dive in!

⏪ Game Week Rewind

Gallen is coming off three excellent outings and is definitely someone we want to monitor. I talk more about him in the Pitching Primer section below.

The Pirates/Reds series over the weekend stayed close throughout with final scores of 2-4, 2-1, and 2-0. With Pittsburgh winnings two games, their closer David Bednar was able to secure to appearances and earn two saves.

Carlos Estévez was the only pitcher here to record one hold and one save as opposed to two saves. Estevéz came in to close out game three after Jose Quijada blew the game the day before, giving up nine runs in the ninth inning.

Adolis García, aka El Bombi, powered his way to the top spot by going 5-5 with 3 homers, 5 runs, and 8 RBIs on Saturday. It was the highest score we have seen so far this season.

Other players to note here are Nico Hoerner who is tied for second in the league with 9 steals, and Max Muncy who is now leading the league in homers with 11.

📋 Roster Movements

Find some of the most notable roster movements below:

In:

• Zach Eflin - Was activated from IL/ started Sunday vs White Sox
• Logan Allen - Called up from AAA and made debut Sunday/ gave up 1 run to Marlins

Out:

• Logan O’Hoppe - Left Friday’s game with labrum tear/ will miss 4-6 months
• Kris Bubic - Out for the season/ will undergo Tommy John surgery
• Javier Baez - Injured middle finger on Saturday/ was not in lineup Sunday
• Kris Bryant - Left Saturday’s game with back soreness/ was not in lineup Sunday

🔎 Multi Game Monitor

Three Games:

Red Sox, Brewers, Rockies, Reds, Astros, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Pirates, Mariners, Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Cubs

Four Games:

Orioles, Rays, Rangers, White Sox, Marlins, Braves, Yankees, Twins, Tigers, Athletics, Angels, Royals, Cardinals, Giants

⚾️ Pitching Primer

Find top pitching options below:

Zac Gallen vs KCR

Would you believe me if I told you Zac Gallen was third in xFIP (2.65), seventh in BB% (4.2%), and fourth in K% (33.1%) this season?

It’s true, and he draws in Kansas City in GW8 who rank fifth-worst in K% (25.6%), fifth-worst in ISO (.120) and dead-last in wOBA (.265).

Over his last three starts Gallen has pitched 20 innings with 29 strikeouts and zero earned runs. He looks like a fantastic start in GW8 and currently has a $29 floor price on his Limited card.

Spencer Strider vs MIA

Strider currently leads the league in strikeout-rate (40.9%), is eleventh in xFIP (3.08), but continues to walk batters at a 12.5% clip, the seventh worst rate amongst qualified starters.

Miami is a league-average strikeout matchup and slightly above average when it comes to walks (7.5%). This is not an intimidating matchup whatsoever and Strider is arguably the top option on the board.

Shohei Ohtani vs OAK

I would be remiss if I didn’t include Ohtani as one of the top options this week, however it’s always difficult to recommend him as a play with his Limited floor price of $200.

Ohtani has the third-highest K% (36.2%), the 26th-lowest xFIP (3.75) and most surprisingly has yet to allow a home run through 28 innings pitched.

He struck out 11 A’s and gave up zero runs on opening day. If you have him in your Sorare collection, just plug him into your SP spot and move on.

Other Starters include:

• Taj Bradley vs HOU
• Nick Lodolo vs TEX
• Sonny Gray vs NYY
• Nestor Cortes at MIN
• Kodai Senga vs WSH

Notable Starting Pitchers NOT starting in Game Week 8:

Ross Stripling, Zack Wheeler, Eduardo Rodriguez, Vince Velazquez, Hunter Greene, Max Fried, Christian Javier, Kevin Gausman, Clarke Schmidt, Zach Eflin, Lucas Giolito, Jesus Luzardo, Bailey Ober, Clayton Kershaw, Marcus Stroman, Jacob deGrom, Jordan Lyles, Reid Detmers, Yu Darvish, Jack Flaherty, Chris Flexen

📞 Call To The Bullpen

As is always the case when picking relievers, we want to focus on picking closers who can have two starts and earn two saves to give us around 40 Sorare points. If we decide to pick a middle reliever instead, we’d be looking to get two relief appearances and earn a “hold” in each.

This is an easier feat to accomplish with a closer, however with several of them having restrictive Limited prices, there can be value found with finding cheap middle relievers.

We also want to pick closers in games where we think the series will stay competitive throughout. This way we can maximize our chances of our closer being needed for a save situation. We also want to avoid one of the 16 teams playing only three games this week.

Closer Options:

• Pete Fairbanks vs HOU and CHW
• Reynaldo Lopez vs TOR and TBR
• Jhoan Duran vs NYY and KCR
• Clay Holmes vs MIN and TEX

Middle Relief Options:

• Jason Adam and Garrett Cleavinger (TBR)
• Kendall Graveman and Aaron Bummer (CHW)
• Jorge Lopez and Griffin Jax (MIN)
• Michael King and Wandy Peralta (NYY)

💰 Stacks

Find some of the top stack options below:

Braves

The Braves look to be the top offensive target in GW8. They’re one of the sixteen teams playing all four games, and they draw a four-game series against the Marlins at home.

It’s interesting to note that other top stacks playing four games in GW8 such as the Rangers and Yankees, face tough matchups.

The Rangers get three games at Great American, but will face Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft in two of them. Then they will get one of the worst matchups possible versus Gerrit Cole on Thursday.

Meanwhile the Yankees draw the Twins starting rotation of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, and Kenta Maeda.

All this to say that the Braves were already one of the, if not the best offenses in the league, and they have the best four-game matchup on the board. They don’t come cheap, but fire up some Atlanta stacks this week.

• ~$148 Ronald Acuña Jr.

• ~$59 Matt Olson

• ~$49 Austin Riley

• ~$37 Ozzie Albies

• ~$2 Eddie Rosario

   

Other Stacks To Consider:

Value Options (Under $15):

On a budget? Try these hitters:

Middle Infielder:

• ~$10 Ketel Marte
• ~$10 MJ Melendez
• ~$14 Jorge Polanco

Corner Infielder:

• ~$13 Andrew Vaughn
• ~$12 CJ Cron
• ~$8 Josh Naylor
• ~$13 Jose Miranda

Outfielder:

• ~$2 Eddie Rosario
• ~$13 Anthony Santander
• ~$11 Andrew McCutchen
• ~$15 Teoscar Hernandez

There you have it, the Sorare MLB Slate Breakdown for Game Week 8.

I will be releasing 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.

Thanks for reading!