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Starters with Relief Pitcher Eligibility
Starters have scoring much more favorable to relievers, particularly since they are guaranteed to pitch. Thus, starting pitchers with reliever eligibility are practically locks when they show up even if they are unusual. The ones that are predicted to make 5+ starts this season are Connor Seabold, Sean Manaea, Josh Fleming, Dinelson Lamet, Yonny Chirinos, Jaime Barria, Dane Dunning, Ryan Yarbrough, Ronel Blanco, Matt Strahm, and Drey Jameson.
Nobody's Perfect
While not actual rarity downgrades, Paul Goldschmidt, Juan Soto, and Yordan Alvarez were widely expected to be promoted to perfect and were not. The next few days will be a good time to pick them up for PT Live play if you have not already, especially Juan Soto since he's the top LF.
Most Notable Rarity Shifts By Position
Catcher
Salvador Perez Silver > Gold
J.T. Realmuto Diamond > Gold
Willson Contreras Gold > Silver
The days of the Salvador Perez free square are over, though he remains a solid option at gold alongside Realmuto. Willson Contreras and MJ Melendez look quite reasonable as the new go-to low rarity options.
1st Base
Pete Alonso Diamond > Gold
Ryan Mountcastle Gold > Silver
Alonso and Mountcastle are now by far the top 1B in their rarities, and should see a good bulk of the action unless someone else has a good matchup.
2nd Base
Andres Gimenez Diamond > Gold
Matt McLain NEW Silver
Gimenez is much more playable as Gold even if he's unexciting. Matt McClain probably won't see a lot of action, but he's a decent rookie that plays in a hitter's ballpark so should be worth picking up once his price falls. Albies and Semien remain the go-to's here but really you'll mostly playing the matchups at 2B if you're tinkering frequently.
3rd Base
Rafael Devers Diamond > Gold
Austin Riley Diamond > Gold
Alex Bregman Diamond > Gold
The 3rd base spot (and your flex spots!) are suddenly looking very crowded since we have two of the best players in baseball available cheaply at Gold rarity. ABreg is a nice pickup as well for days with plus matchups.
Shortstop
Trea Turner Diamond > Gold
Xander Bogaerts Diamond > Gold
Willy Adames Gold > Silver
Trea Turner replaces Bobby Witt as the "set and forget" option at shortstop, while Adams looks to be a solid silver option once he takes the field again. Bogaerts is also very much worth picking up as a supplement to Turner.
Note that while Royce Lewis was just added, he isn't likely to see much use since the position is very crowded at gold and he doesn't project all that high on a per-game or rest of season basis.
Left Field
Teoscar Hernandez Gold > Silver
Corbin Carroll Gold > Diamond
Surprisingly quiet on this front. Teoscar joins Yelich as a cheap silver compliment to Schwarber (who is himself practically free now at Bronze). Carroll mostly falls out of viability at Diamond now that he's in direct competition with Juan Soto.
Center Field
Byron Buxton Perfect > Diamond
Michael Harris II Diamond > Gold
Brandon Nimmo Diamond > Gold
Not a ton of excitement here, as the trio of Trout, Julio Rodriguez, and Adolis Garcia still rule this position at their respective rarities. Still, these three will be much cheaper and a bit more useful as complementary options and are worth picking up.
Right Field
Anthony Santander Silver > Gold
Starling Marte Gold > Silver
Hunter Renfroe Gold > Silver
This position basically isn't affected at all, as it remains your Fernando Tatis/Ronald Acuna/Aaron Judge slot. Marte and Renfroe are the top "free" options now at RF but I imagine you will rarely be punting this position.
Starting Pitcher
Gerrit Cole Diamond > Gold
Framber Valdez Silver > Gold
Aaron Nola Diamond > Gold
Corbin Burnes Diamond > Gold
Sandy Alcanatra Diamond > Gold
Shane Bieber Gold > Silver
Zack Wheeler Gold > Diamond
Kevin Gausman Gold > Diamond
Dylan Cease Gold > Silver
Zac Gallen Gold > Diamond
Justin Verlander Perfect > Diamond
Since starters only pitch every 5 days, no single change is going to shift the meta a whole lot. However, with many top options falling in rarity, rostering good pitching will be cheaper than ever and you'll also have very slightly more high rarity spots for bats.
Closer
OOTP has been surprisingly hesitant to change reliever ratings. Alex Lange is a Gold now which makes him largely unplayable. Scott Barlow at silver gives him a slight price hike as a mega poverty option as well.
Conclusion
The new live update brings some serious shakeups to the Catcher and non-2B infield positions, but not a whole lot to the outfield positions. Be sure to take advantage of rarity drops to batters like Devers, Alonso, Riley, and Trea Turner and to starting pitchers including Gerrit Cole, Aaron Nola, Corbin Burnes, Sandy Alcanatra, and Shane Bieber!
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