This article is part of our Sorare MLB series.
Successful teams have a lot of successful players, and struggling teams have a lot of struggling players. It's self-evident, but it's true. However, no team is uniform in terms of production and performance. As such, for this week, I have decided to take a certain path for my Sorare MLB recommendations. My upgrades are going to be guys on bad teams having good seasons. The downgrades will be the players having rough years on strong squads. Also, there will be holds. This is more than just an organizational principle. It's easy to dismiss guys on bad teams and just assume guys on good teams are delivering the goods, right? Doing that would be less than ideal for your Sorare lineups. So, with that in mind, here are those upgrades, holds and downgrades.
The number in parentheses represents each player's last limited card sale price as of 6/11.
Upgrades
Nick Kurtz, ATH ($5.89): The Athletics have collapsed and now have a negative run differential in the triple digits. However, the pitching has been the primary culprit. There are some good hitters on this team, and we're starting to see how hitter-friendly the ballpark is Sacramento is playing. In terms of production at home, shortstop superstar Jacob Wilson has been the best, but he's well-venerated at this point. Kurtz, though, is one to keep an eye on. He was the fourth-overall pick in 2024. The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder's raison d'etre is mashing baseballs. He's still raw, but he's slugged .528 at home and hit four of his five homers there.
Shane Smith, CWS ($3.88): With Garrett Crochet now wearing different-colored socks, you may have assumed that the White Sox rotation is all weeping and gnashing of teeth. The rookie Smith, though, has made it such that not all hope is lost. Through 13 starts he has a 2.37 ERA. Though he has a 3.45 FIP, a 3.45 FIP is still quite good for a rookie pitcher. While he's had a couple poor outings, Smith has had over 20.0 Sorare points in each of his last two starts.
Jordan Beck, COL ($1.95): The Rockies are particularly bad. Seemingly as bad as the 2024 Chicago White Sox. Are there any silver linings? Perhaps Beck is one. He was very good in Triple-A last season, but he struggled in age-23 campaign at the MLB level, though he did steal seven bases in 55 games. This year, he's improved, even if he hasn't exploded. The speed is real, as he's stolen eight bases and has four triples. Beck has also added eight home runs through 57 games. Now, he only has three games with double-digit Sorare points in the last month, but Coors Field should pull through for him the rest of the way.
Holds
Logan Gilbert, SEA ($6.78): The Mariners have been a pretty average team, making them fitting for the holds section. This is to let you know that Gilbert has been rehabbing in Triple-A and should be back with the Mariners within the week. He had a 2.37 ERA through six starts before going down with an injury, and he had over 20.0 Sorare points in every game other than the one that resulted in said injury. Gilbert was really good last year, and great to start this year. If you've been patient with holding him, you should be rewarded soon.
Bo Bichette, TOR ($2.79): The Blue Jays have been average offensively, and Bichette has been solid in a way that reflects that. Last season was rough, but Bichette has rebounded to being sufficient at shortstop. He's hit .275 with eight homers and 17 doubles in 68 games. Of course, Bichette has played himself onto a spot on the trade block, should the Blue Jays become sellers at the deadline, and depending on how that goes the arrow may go up or down for him.
Downgrades
Tylor Megill, NYM ($3.60): The Mets have had the best pitching staff in MLB, and Megill has gone from being a key piece of that to being potentially squeezed out of the rotation. After five starts, he had a 1.09 ERA. After 13 starts, he has a 3.76 ERA. At his nadir he had 1.0 Sorare point, but that drop in production is not merely owing to one start. If it was just one start, Megill wouldn't be potentially on his way to the bullpen.
Ian Happ, CHC ($2.79): The Cubs have soared this year and have two guys in Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong who are viable MVP candidates. In the past, Happ has often been part of the solution for the Cubs offensively. Here in his age-30 campaign, though, things are concerning. With a .399 slugging percentage on the year, Happ is threatening to have a sub-.400 mark in that category for the first time in his career. In each of the last two seasons he's had over 30 doubles, 20 homers and 10 stolen bases. It seems like he won't hit any of those this year. On top of that, Happ has struck out 63 times in 59 games. At this point, we're deep enough into the year that this looks like a down season for the veteran.
Ben Rice, NYY ($1.68): I'm not looking to pile on New York's baseball teams, and it speaks to how good both of them have been that I am searching for flaws in this article. The Yankees have been great, especially offensively. Aaron Judge has been the star, of course, but others have contributed. Early on, Rice was one of those people, but I stress "early on." While he has 12 home runs, most of those came early in the year. He's hitting .239 on the season with 19 walks against 51 strikeouts. Over the last three weeks, Rice has slugged .327, and games with negative Sorare points have been popping up with greater frequency.
