This article is part of our Sorare MLB series.
We're past Memorial Day, the classic check-in point for team and player alike. As we head into June, what should you be doing with your Sorare lineups? Well, let's take a look. It's time for another check in when it comes to the MLB players who I see as Upgrades, Holds and Downgrades for Sorare purposes. Beyond what's gone on all season, what has been happening recently that may be worth paying attention to? Let's dive in!
Note: the number in parentheses is each player's last Limited Card sale price as of May 29.
Upgrades
Masyn Winn, STL ($19.58): You may be familiar with the idea of a post-hype sleeper. Usually, what happens is a top prospect gets called up, struggles in their first foray into MLB, and then a lot of people just move on. Winn is such a player. In 2023, he had a .468 OPS in 37 games for the Cardinals. Now? He's the starting shortstop for St. Louis. Winn has a .938 OPS over the last three weeks, and his resume over that stretch is dotted with several games netting double-digit Sorare points. He's only 22. Future stardom could still be in the, ahem, cards.
JJ Bleday, OAK ($10.87): Bleday is not a "set it and forget it" type addition to your Sorare roster. The southpaw has struggled versus lefties in his career (though he has a .788 OPS in those matchups in 2024) and he's proven to be much better at home. That's a surprise, given Oakland's ballpark, but it seems to play to his strengths. Bleday has eight homers, but all that space in Oakland has probably helped him drive his 15 doubles and three triples into the gaps. He had three games with double-digit Sorare points in a recent six-game home streak. Keep an eye on the schedule, and the probable starting pitchers, and Bleday could prove a great upgrade for you.
Adam Duvall, ATL ($4.51): Upgrades don't always come from good news. Ronald Acuna, one of the most enjoyable MLB players to watch, is done for the year with a torn ACL. Atlanta has to place somebody in the lineup in his spot. Duvall is a guy you sign to play off-and-on against lefties, because the veteran does show some real power in those matchups. All five of his homers, and therefore a healthy portion of his Sorare points, have come against southpaws. Acuna's loss is nobody's "gain," such as it is, but it offers Duvall, and Sorare players, a real opportunity.
Jason Adam, TAM ($1.94): One thing I have noticed when it comes to Sorare is the lofty values that highly-performing closers net. Thus, the idea of finding a reliever who is pitching well, and specifically better than his team's first-choice closer at the moment, offers the opportunity for a major uptick in Sorare points. Adam is a veteran, but over the last three seasons with the Rays he has a 2.16 ERA. He only has three saves this season, all games that have yielded at least 17.0 Sorare points, but they have all come in the last month. Pete Fairbanks was the closer for the Rays last year, but this season he only has five saves with a 4.20 ERA. Lefties have hit .212 against him since 2022 as well. For a starter, that's good, but for a closer, anything over the Mendoza line is a concern.
Holds
Logan Gilbert, SEA ($13.69): Gilbert has had one of the rare starts with negative Sorare points in 2024, but that came after a stretch of five games in a row with over 30.0 Sorare points. He's racked up the starts for the Mariners the last couple years, and he's been a successful, steady presence this season as well. The righty has made nine quality starts out of his 11 outings. That kind of consistency is rare, and worth keeping around.
Ezequiel Tovar, COL ($9.81): Tovar is doing a fine impression of Anthony Volpe, but since he plays for the Rockies and not the Yankees, he isn't getting nearly as much attention. As a rookie shortstop, Tovar had a sub-.300 OBP like Volpe, but with the counting stats (15 homers, 11 stolen bases) that his Bronx counterpart also offers up. This season, Tovar has seven home runs and four swiped bags, but with a .286 average. He also gets to enjoy Coors Field as his home park, though his last two games with over 20.0 Sorare points came in Oakland and San Diego, two pitcher's parks, so Tovar is more than a product of his environment.
Downgrades
Starling Marte, NYM ($3.79): Marte has brought some counting stats this season, tallying six homers and eight stolen bases, but he's also primed to slug under .400 for the second season in a row. Additionally, he has a .646 OPS over the last three weeks, with a litany of games with negative or single-digit Sorare points. In fact, Marte is also starting to lose playing time, sitting four times in the last two weeks. It's hard to add Sorare points when you aren't starting.
Gavin Stone, LAD ($16.61): After pitching seven innings of shutout ball against the Mets, Stone's ERA is down to 3.16. Prior to that, he allowed only one run in four of his first starts, but three of those runs came on homers. Stone has only struck out 6.47 batters per nine innings across 10 starts, and his line-drive rate is 23.6 percent. Coming off his start with the most Sorare points he's generated, it might be time for the proverbial "sell high" when it comes to Stone.
Nolan Arenado, STL ($7.12): If you were waiting on Arenado to turn things around, I'd stop waiting. Over the last three weeks, he's posted a .539 OPS. Not only does he have four outings over the last two weeks with negative-four Sorare points (the norm for a 0-for-4 day at the plate), he even has a negative-five day in the mix as well. Arenado has also only barreled up three balls all season, which is the same number of barrels slap hitter Luis Arraez has, but at least Arraez is an elite slap hitter. Arenado looks washed up.
