This article is part of our Sorare MLB series.
The final couple months of the MLB regular season are just over the horizon. Teams have hit the 100-game mark. This could be when the "marathon, not a sprint" aspect of the MLB campaign leaves some slacking. Not you, though. Here you are, checking in on my Sorare recommendations. You want Sorare success, and I want that for you as well. Thus, here are my Upgrades, Holds and Downgrades for the week.
Upgrades
Jackson Chourio, MIL ($33.08): Chourio was already likely to play a lot for the Brewers down the stretch. Now you can effectively pencil the 20-year-old rookie in as a starter for the Brew Crew day in and day out, as Christian Yelich might miss the rest of the season with a back issue. If he's able to return, you can count on him DHing exclusively. That leaves left field to the promising first-year player. Chourio has 10 homers and 12 stolen bases in 89 games, and he recently had over 20.0 Sorare points in both games of a two-game series against the Twins.
Taj Bradley, TAM ($14.82): Last year as a rookie, Bradley's robust fastball (96.2 mph) helped him tally 11.09 strikeouts per nine innings, but when a ball thrown that hard is squared up, it tends to travel. Bradley allowed 1.98 HR/9 and ended up with a 5.59 ERA. This year his fastball is just as hard (96.4 mph), but his HR/9 rate is down to 1.19 and his ERA is down to 2.63. What really stands out to me is that his fellow righties have batted a mere .160 against him. Bradley has tallied over 30.0 Sorare points in three of his last four starts, and if his fastball is now able to play at the MLB level, he looks the part of a future ace.
George Springer, TOR ($6.53): After starting the season ice cold (fitting for Toronto in April, but not ideal), Springer has turned things around. You may have set the former Astro aside in your mind, but he has a .969 OPS over the last three weeks. While his two games recent with over 40.0 Sorare points pop, between those two tentpoles he had several games in the 15-to-20-point range. The Blue Jays have noticed Springer's improvement. Over the last couple weeks, he's been back hitting leadoff in the majority of games.
Matt Wallner, MIN ($2.39): I looked at the RotoWire rest-of-season projections out of curiosity to see if any players stood out as somebody I'd like to recommend as an upgrade. Wallner, with his projected .857 OPS the rest of the way, definitely stood out. After starting the year with the Twins, Wallner was sent down to Triple-A, where he posted an .879 OPS and hit 19 home runs in 67 games. Since getting called back up, Wallner already has three games with over 15.0 Sorare points. Now, there is a caveat: the dude cannot hit his fellow lefties at all. However, in his career he has an .939 OPS versus righties at the MLB level. You have to keep an eye on matchups with Wallner, but if you do that, you can reap the benefits.
Holds
Ketel Marte, ARI ($19.70): Marte has played like an MVP even if the Diamondbacks are primed to miss the playoffs after their World Series run in 2023. The second baseman tends to lead off against lefties and hit second against righties. He has an .968 OPS over the last three weeks and he has five games with at least 18.0 Sorare points in that time. While the switch-hitter soars against lefties (1.093 OPS), his .761 OPS versus righties more than suffices.
Dylan Cease, SD ($11.23): It was expected that Cease would improve after a down year with the White Sox in 2023, and that's exactly what has happened. While he has a decent enough 3.76 ERA, his 3.08 FIP tells a more positive story. His 11.73 K/9 rate and 2.73 BB/9 rate would both be personal bests, and his fastball has ticked up from 95.6 mph last year to 97.0 this year. Plus, in three of his last five outings, he's gone over 40.0 Sorare points.
Downgrades
Steven Kwan, CLE ($24.84): Can you really keep hitting .345 and slugging .503 when you don't have a ton of power in your swing? Kwan has only barreled up five balls all season and has an average exit velocity of 86.0 mph. He's relied upon a .357 BABIP, a mark that will be hard to sustain. While he's had a few strong games recently, he also has plenty of games with zero or negative Sorare points in July. He's slugged .441 over the last three weeks, and even that modest figure is better than his career .408 slugging percentage.
Andres Gimenez, CLE ($5.58): Gimenez's average dropped down to .251 last year after he hit .297 in his breakthrough season, but he still managed 15 homers and 30 stolen bases. This year he has 15 stolen bases, but his power is gone, as he's slugged .331 with only five homers. Gimenez has only gotten worse as the season has progressed, posting a .515 OPS over the last three weeks. He hasn't had a game with double-digit Sorare points since late June. The second baseman also doesn't make things easy on himself, as he has a woeful 4.3 percent walk rate.
Ranger Suarez, PHI ($5.50): Is the bloom coming off the rose for Suarez? Over the first 16 starts of the season, Suarez posted an 1.83 ERA, earning an All-Star nod. Over his last four starts? A 7.71 ERA, with no start earning more than 16.0 Sorare points. Notably, Suarez's fastball has had one of the biggest dips among starters who didn't pitch in relief last year, going from 93.1 mph to 91.4 mph. He had a 3.88 ERA over the prior two seasons as a starter. Maybe dropping off was always in the cards.
