X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Breakout Pitchers for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Finding breakout starting pitchers is one of the most important things we have to do in order to win fantasy baseball leagues every season. In most leagues, an individual starting pitcher has more of an impact on a fantasy team than an individual hitter since they are throwing a higher percentage of your team's total innings than a hitter is contributing in at-bats.

Most every team in your league will come out of the draft with 2-3 really good pitchers, and this year especially - every team is going to have an "ace" or two, at least to start with. Teams separate themselves in pitching by finding those breakout pitchers late in the draft or on waivers early in the season and letting those guys take their pitching staff to the next level.

Finding these breakouts ahead of time is a tough task. It's especially tough before we have seen anybody throw a pitch, which is when I am writing this. We can make it a little bit easier on ourselves by looking to the past and finding the breakouts that already happened and examining what happened there. Let's start there.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and weekly lineup resources:

 

Last Year's Fantasy Baseball SP Breakouts

It was a more quiet year for the breakout starting pitcher. Still, there were a handful of names that were surprising given their final season roto finish. Here are those names.

Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox

He finished as the #6 SP in standard rotisserie leagues. It wasn't shocking that he had a very good year because we did know prior that Cease had an upside - but he was drafted outside of the top 30 SPs and ended up a top 10 guy, so you can definitely call that a breakout.

The funny thing about the breakout is that he didn't really improve all that much in the underlying metrics. His K% was great in 2021 (31.9%) and stayed great in 2022 (30.5%), and his bad walk rate actually got worse (9.6% to 10.2%). The reason he put up better results was what was happening when contact was being made.

His GB% came up five points to 39.4% (still a pretty low number), and the xwOBA on contact against improved drastically (.313 down from a .383 mark). We know that pitchers don't have a ton of say in what happens with the contact they're allowing, but it's fair to surmise that some of Cease's gains were a result of him throwing his slider (his best pitch) more often. That percentage came up to 43% for 31% and it became his most commonly thrown pitch.

The takeaway here is that breakouts often benefit from good luck on things that are mostly out of their control, but they can also take a step forward by changing their pitch mix. Since it's February, we don't know what pitchers might change their pitch mix - so we'll have to wait until the season starts to get and use that kind of data.

Tony Gonsolin, Los Angeles Dodgers

Gonsolin's breakout really didn't make any sense. He did finally get a solidified spot in the rotation so that obviously helped. However, his K% came down drastically from 27% to 24%. He did lower the walk rate a bunch (14.2% to 6.8%) - so that's certainly helpful. The bottom line is that Gonsolin posted a 2.10 ERA with a 17% K-BB%, which doesn't make a lot of sense, so we can't really learn much from his breakout either (besides maybe saying hey - start a bunch of games for the Dodgers, that helps!).

Nestor Cortes, New York Yankees

This one was mostly about the opportunity. He shared time between the rotation and bullpen in 2021 and posted a very nice 20.3% K-BB%. He earned himself a job in the rotation in 2022 and took full advantage with a 2.44 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He did miss a handful of starts, starting 28 games, which kept his strikeout total down a bit at 163.

The lesson to learn here is that we should jump at any pitcher that showed us a 20% K-BB% the previous year and seems poised to have a shot at an established job in a rotation.

Kyle Wright, Atlanta Braves

We just hadn't seen much of Wright prior to 2022. He spent almost the whole 2021 season in AAA and didn't even pitch that well down there with middling numbers everywhere. He also wasn't all that fantastic for fantasy purposes after April, but he stayed in the rotation and pitched well enough to cross the finish line as a top 20 SP. That roto finish was certainly benefited by the 21 wins he put up, a number which led the league.

The lesson to learn here:

  • Wins are important in roto fantasy baseball
  • Pitchers with deeper pitch arsenals tend to get deeper into games, which helps in getting wins
  • Pitchers on good teams win more games

Obvious stuff, but we can definitely lean more toward pitchers with 4+ pitches belonging with strong offenses behind them when picking potential breakouts.

Okay, now we can move on. I'll use those lessons and some other more obvious (to me, at least) stuff to proceed and pick out some possible breakouts.

 

This Year's Starting Pitcher Breakouts

These aren't going to be in the order of how strongly I feel, but I will make that clear in the write-ups. I am starting with a trio of Dodger SPs to kick us off.

Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers

I really believe in this one, just so you know! May missed most of 2021 and then most of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2021. He made just 11 starts over those two years, so we don't have a ton of data to go off of.

What we do know is that, and let me say this very unscientifically, May is dive-bar floor level filthy.

SwStr% GB%
Pitch May League May League
Sinker 8.1% 7.0% 66% 55%
Curveball 18.5% 13.0% 55% 46%
4-Seam 14.5% 10.6% 19% 34%
Cutter 17.8% 15.3% 46% 43%

Four pitches beating the league average SwStr% while being one of the best ground-ball pitchers in the league (54% GB% altogether). If he doesn't strike you out, you're most than likely putting a ball on the ground. That's a fantastic combination, and given this guy's age (25) and velocity (98.2 on the four-seam, 97.5 on the sinker), the sky seems to be the limit.

The downside, of course, is health concerns. Can he throw 180 innings this year after totaling just 109 Major League innings over the last three seasons? Probably not. Is it insane to think he could get somewhat close to that? I don't think so, and that's enough for me to take a risk on the potential there.

 

Noah Syndergaard, Los Angeles Dodgers

It is tough to believe in Thor as a useful fantasy pitcher right now given the 16.8% K% he posted last year across 134.2 innings. That's putrid. He has become a sinkerballer over the year (32% sinker last year, 5.6% SwStr% on the pitch), so I think we would have to see a shift away from that to see him break out with the Dodgers.

The good news is that the Dodgers may very well have this in mind. They are clearly one of the best-run organizations in baseball, and they jumped at the chance to sign Syndergaard - so maybe they see an opportunity here. It seems to me that it will take more than just a pitch usage change to do anything, as Syndergaard really doesn't have impressive whiff marks on any of his five offerings - so that's a downside, but maybe the Dodgers will have him change a pitch entirely.

You just never know, and a relatively young (he's 30) pitcher going to a new team always presents some opportunities for things to change for the better. Maybe Thor will add some velocity, tweak his arsenal, and excel in Los Angeles. The chance of that happening more than cancels out the (lack of) risk you get on him with his current ADP of 330.

 

Ryan Pepiot, Los Angeles Dodgers

This third Dodger does not currently have a spot in the rotation, WHICH WOULD MAKE IT PRETTY TOUGH FOR HIM TO BREAK OUT LOL!

He might not even really be their #6 option once the season gets rolling, with plenty of other guys to like in that organization. However, he got some runs in the Major League rotation last year, so they like him enough to do that.

The reason I would be interested in Pepiot if he does get a spot in the rotation is his strikeout ability. He had a sick 31% K% in the minors last year and a solid enough 26.3% mark in 36.1 Major League innings. Sticking with Major League numbers, his 12.1% SwStr% was slightly above the league average, another point in his favor. He used his four-seamer 56% of the time, a high number, but it got a whiff during a strong 12.3% of the time. His next two offerings are a changeup (11.1% SwStr% and a slider (12.7% SwStr%), so there is some work to be done.

Confidence is low here, but any time a 30% strikeout rate in the minors comes up to the Dodgers, you have to keep an eye on it.

 

Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds

Low-hanging fruit alert, this is not a bold prediction!!!

We can get into the nitty gritty of pitching stats all day long. I could point to a dozen different data points on Hunter Greene and use different things to make the case for him and the case against him. But I think we just need to keep it simple stupid and realize that this kid put up a 30.9% strikeout rate in his rookie year with the Reds.

Of all pitchers that have made at least 20 starts across 2021 and 2022, only 11 pitchers have a higher strikeout rate than that. Those names:

  1. Jacob deGrom
  2. Spencer Strider
  3. Carlos Rodon
  4. Gerrit Cole
  5. Corbin Burnes
  6. Max Scherzer
  7. Cristian Javier
  8. Blake Snell
  9. Shohei Ohtani
  10. Freddy Peralta
  11. Dylan Cease

All 11 of those names are quite good for fantasy purposes, and in fact, most of them are considered aces for 2023 with the exceptions of Snell and Peralta - and most of that is because of health concerns.

If we dove into other metrics, Greene would not compare so favorably. His 9% walk rate wasn't very encouraging, the Reds are terrible, and his home ballpark gives up the most homers of any park. The strikeout rate probably outweighs all of that, however, as it is incredibly valuable to be able to put away 30% of the hitters you face without allowing a ball in play. That gives you a lot of room for error, so it's hard not to believe that Greene can be one of the game's top fantasy pitchers in 2023.

 

Hunter Brown, Houston Astros

One more "good-teamer," if you will. Brown also does not have a job in the starting rotation right now, but it seems likely that he'll find his way in there at some point even if it's not right away out of camp.

Brown posted a sweet 2.55 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and a 31.5% K% in 14 starts in the Pacific Coast League (AAA) where it's very tough to pitch. He walked a bunch of hitters (10.6% BB%), but the extra strikeouts and ground ball rate (55%) mitigate that effect.

Despite the minor league dominance, the Astros' stacked rotation in the bigs limited him to just two starts and 20.3 total innings at the highest level (where he pitched well, giving up just two earned runs with a 27.5% K%, an 8.8% BB%, and a 65% GB% in that time). The downside here is that it's a small Major League sample, and we should be quite underwhelmed by his 10.4% SwStr% there. That said, the minor league track record of strikeouts is there, and the high ground ball rate isn't going anywhere. I think Brown will be must-own if and when he gets into the rotation, so you might as well just draft him ahead of time in deep leagues.

 

Framber Valdez, Houston Astros

This is another "low-hanging fruit" pick. Valdez is being drafted as an SP2 right now after putting together the best season of his career as he ripped off a 2.77 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 201.1 innings. The strikeout rate went up to a career-best 23.5% and the walk came down to a career-best 8.1%. All of that while maintaining his elite 67% GB%.

With this newfound ADP of his, there's not a ton of room for a real "breakout," but I did want to mention Valdez here because there just might be another level for him to reach.

He added a cutter last season and used it more at the end of the year than at the beginning.

 

He posted a really nice 17.8% SwStr% on the cutter with a 58% GB% across 310 offerings in the regular season. In the playoffs, he used the pitch 10% of the time with a 13.5% SwStr% and a 67% GB%.

This is a significant addition. After he upped that cutter usage seemingly for good on August 30, here are the numbers that followed:

  • 1,079 pitches thrown
  • 14.1% SwStr%
  • 29.5% K%
  • 6.6% BB%

So that is a 22.9% K-BB% - an elite figure- and about 7-10 points higher than what we had previously seen from him.

I think that proves that Framber has some upside in the tank, and I don't really think there's a ton of downside by picking him either. The Astros are a fantastic team to pitch for, and his reliably elite ground-ball rate keeps his floor quite high. The downside, I suppose, is that the cutter regresses or disappears next year and maybe he stays as a 21-23% K% guy while the walk rate comes back up above 9%. That would make him a bad pick where he's going right now, but I think the better bet is that he pitches as well or better next year - so I'm in. I love Framber as an SP2 this year.

 

Jeffrey Springs, Tampa Bay Rays

Another cheap one here. Springs pretty much had his breakout season last year when he made 25 starts and put up an elite 2.46 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP on a 26.2% K% and a 5.6% BB%. Picking up Springs early last season was one of the keys to success, so maybe that should exclude him from this write-up today. However, I make the choices, so I'm writing Springs up here as a symbol of affirmation!

The 14.9% SwStr% that Springs put up last year was right there with Cristian Javier (15.0%) and Shane Bieber (14.8%), so we have no issues there. He possesses one of the best individual pitches in the game - his changeup. On 35% usage (745 total pitches), he posted a 22.6% SwStr% and a 45.3% GB%. Those are fantastic, fantastic numbers. His primary weapon, the four-seamer, wasn't too bad either with a well above average 11.4% SwStr%. To top it all off, he put up a 5.6% BB% - a top 25 mark among starters with 25+ starts last year.

The Rays believe in Springs, giving him a four-year extension this offseason, and so do I. And he typically goes after pick 150 in drafts, so you're not breaking the bank to buy him.

 

Jordan Montgomery, St. Louis Cardinals

Much like the last couple of players I just talked about, I don't know if Montgomery fits the "breakout" archetype. He's a veteran pitcher with a history of success in the Majors, and I don't think his ceiling is all that high because of it.

However, I do really like what Montgomery did last year - and we saw an approach change after he joined the Cardinals. Any time a pitcher changes teams and then changes their pitch mix-up - there is an opportunity for quick and sudden growth (or decline, I guess). Here's how Montgomery changed after the trade:

Pitch NYY STL
Sinker 39.4% 26.2%
Changeup 24.3% 18.5%
Curveball 21.8% 23.1%
Four-Seam 8.5% 31.6%
Cutter 6.0% 0.6%

With the Yankees: 21 GS, 114.2 IP, 3.69 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 20.7% K%, 4.9% BB%
With the Cardinals: 11 GS, 63.2 IP, 3.11 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 23.9% K%, 5.1% BB%

Things are a bit strange from here, as his four-seamer actually had a worse SwStr% (6.9%) on the year than his sinker (8.7%). The league-wide SwStr% on four-seamers (10.6%) is much higher than the sinker (7.0%), so Montgomery isn't following normal patterns here.

These are all things to consider, and it's probably the reason for a little bit of hesitancy here. However, Montgomery has long posted strong SwStr% rates, and that happened again last year as he went for a 13.9% SwStr% overall. That typically plays to a strikeout rate in the mid-twenties, as we talked about with Kirby. It's quite possible that Montgomery has been working on the four-seamer over the offseason and will improve the SwStr% on that pitch - which would go a long way to continued success, especially given his low walk rate.

It's a good ballpark and division to pitch in as well, so the move to the Cardinals seems like it will end up being a big positive for his fantasy value - I'm excited to draft Montgomery this year.

 

Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox

I was pumped to add Bello last year when he got the call-up to the Majors, and it went pretty terribly for me. That doesn't take away anything from his minor league dominance where he put up a beautiful 34% K%, a 9.4% BB%, and a 61% GB% between AA and AAA. I thought he could afford to drop to a 25% K%, a 10% BB%, and a 55% GB% and still have success in the Majors, but that didn't happen.

He turned in 11 starts in the Majors with a 20.6% K%, a 10% BB%, and a 55% GB%, and it was a 4.71 ERA with a 1.78 WHIP - not good stuff. The good news was that he was improving when the season was closing out. In September, he made six starts with a 22% K%, an 8.6% BB%, and a 52% GB%. Those still aren't fantastic marks, but the improvement was noticeable as he allowed zero or one earned runs in four of his last six starts.

There is good news on the "stuff" front as well. His changeup is amazing and fared well at the Major League level with a sick 22.5% and a 2.7% Brl%. The issue was that he didn't have much else to set it up with, as he didn't earn a ton of strikes with his sinker (27.6% CSW%), and his slider just isn't where it needs to be (9% SwStr%).

A big step forward with the command of his sinker will go a long way to facilitating the breakout, and the slider certainly has plenty of room for improvement as well. I love guys with potential for a 25%+ K% and a 55%+ GB%, and I see that being pretty likely for Bello in 2023.

 

George Kirby, Seattle Mariners

The Mariners rotation is shaping up to be one of the best in baseball, and I think Kirby is going to be the main reason that expectation is met.

The Good:

  • Kirby's 4.1% BB% was the sixth-best mark in the league for pitchers with at least 15 starts (Corey Kluber, Aaron Nola, Lance Lynn, Ross Stripling, Kevin Gausman).
  • Kirby's 46% GB% beat the league average by more than two points.
  • Kirby's four-seamer had the third-best SwStr% in the league for any four-seamer thrown more than 800 times (Luis Castillo, Lance Lynn).
  • Kirby threw 156.7 innings between AAA and MLB last year.

He throws strikes, he has a great fastball, and he's in a spot to push over 170 innings this year.

The Bad:

  • There's not much of a discount (ADP 102, max pick right now at 123).
  • He doesn't have a great secondary strikeout weapon (6% SwStr% on the curveball and a 7% mark on the slider).
  • He gave up a high barrel rate last year (9%).

I don't really care about that third bullet point, since we know that pitchers don't have much control over their barrel rates allowed. You could almost take that as a positive since there's a good chance that improves just due to variance - but it's also possible that he's telegraphing some pitches or just doesn't have enough movement on the breaking balls to avoid the barrel.

Talent is certainly not an issue here. Kirby was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball until he graduated, and he has huge velocity (98.7 mph max on the fastball, 95.4 average). One thing he doesn't have are high spin rates (his slider came in at 2,188 rpm compared to a league average of 2,431 on sliders - yikes!). That's not something we like to see, but it's also something that is very possible to improve on.

We should expect improvement in Kirby's second year in the Majors, and any improvement in the curveball and slider could really take him to the next level - I expect a higher K% and a solid WHIP from Kirby in 2023 at the very least. I think he has a strong floor with true bust-out, league-winning potential, and I've already drafted him several times.

 

Aaron Civale, Cleveland Guardians

He still hasn't quite been able to put together a full season. He made 20 starts in 2022 as a follow-up to the 21 he made in 2021. His career-high in innings pitched was in 2021 with just 124.1, so we haven't had a season where Civale was a good fantasy player overall.

We did see the best performance of his career by the underlying numbers last year, here's the career progression on that front:

We still see a bad SwStr% at 11.4%, and an underwhelming K% of 24% - but both marks were big increases from what we saw in 2021. What we also love to see is the walk rate being great every single year.

We saw a pitch mix change in 2022 as well, as Civale threw more cutters (35%) and curveballs (27.5%) while dropping the four-seamer, splitter, and slider.

Those two pitches turn out to be his best offerings with a solid 11.6% SwStr% on the cutter and a really great 21.3% mark on the curveball. His curve has long been his best pitch, and the key for him might just be to find one of those fastball variations that best set it up. You can see that he still had six arrows in his quiver last year, which gives him all kinds of different ways to go and raises his per-start floor a bit, too.

I'm not so big on splitting the season into pieces and then offering stats in that fashion - but Civale did do his best work late.

You can see the SwStr% trending upwards there. Over his final nine starts, about half of his season, he went for a 27.3% K% and a 4.1% BB% - the vaunted 20%+ K-BB%! Hitters hit just .193 off of him over that time and the GB% was strong enough at 46%.

The guy has been around for a handful of seasons now, but he started very young and is currently still just 27 years old. I'm a big fan of seeing what Civale can do on my fantasy teams this year, especially with an ADP currently at 320!

 

Ken Waldichuk, Oakland Athletics

The lefty got traded from the Yankees to the Athletics last year, which I suppose is unfortunate for him. To his credit, he took the change in stride and pitched very well.

He made 21 starts between AA and AAA (95 innings) and went for a sweet 2.84 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP on a sparkling 34.5%-9.1% BB% K-BB%. That earned him a call-up to the Majors where he made did not replicate the success with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP over his seven starts. His 22.6% K% also came down substantially, but some good news is that so did his walk rate down to 6.8%.

So we have a pitcher who put up bad ratios last year and will pitch on the league's worst team again this year. Not exactly a league-winning profile here, but bear with me.

Waldichuk's SwStr% was 13% - a nice number, as we've talked about over and over again in this post. His slider went for a 17.9% SwStr% and the four-seamer put up a good mark of 11.8% as well. Above-average SwStr% marks on his two main pitches as a young, talented arm - those are great signs. The team context certainly limits how many games he can win, and the A's might be careful with his innings as well - but the home ballpark is actually a big positive for him and I think the stuff is there to pitch well enough to well outpace his current ADP, which is near pick 400.

 

Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins

The tall guy probably lost his spot in the projected Major League rotation after the Pablo Lopez trade. That Twins rotation per Roster Resource right now:

  1. Pablo Lopez
  2. Sonny Gray
  3. Joe Ryan
  4. Tyler Mahle
  5. Kenta Maeda

None of those five guys are really on the fringe either. All of them but Ryan are established veterans with contracts that would make it really tough to demote them, and you would really think the Twins want to give Ryan a good long look in the rotation after the upside he showed in 2021, forgiving him of the injuries he suffered through in 2022.

However, if something would happen and Ober would enter the rotation - I want to jump at the opportunity. Across 2021-2022 in the Majors, Ober has started 31 games and has put up a strong 19.3% K-BB% (24.3% K%, 5.0% BB%). He has long limited the walks and has shown some real strikeout upside with a very strong 13.2% SwStr%.

He is huge (6'9''), which gives him a ridiculous amount of extension and gives hitters less time to pull the trigger.


He also has a proven slider that went for a beautiful 20% SwStr% and a 33.5% CSW% last year. The downside is that his fastball is slow (91.5 on average - although the extension and location helped him put up a strong 12.4% SwStr% with it), and he gives up a lot of fly balls (29.4% GB% in 2022). We probably aren't drafting Ober until something happens to put him in the rotation, but again - if he does get a shot at some starts, I will be excited to get him on my team for 2023.

 

Garrett Whitlock, Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox rotation might have the widest range of possible outcomes than any other team. We have already talked about Brayan Bello's talent but issues with the walk, and then there's that Chris Sale guy who could potentially win a Cy Young Award this year but could also have his season end by April. Next, we have Garrett Whitlock.

Whitlock spent the whole 2021 season in a reliever role, and much of the 2022 season in that same role - but he did have a go at a rotation spot in the middle of the year before some poor performance and an injury ended that after nine starts.

Reports out of Boston say they are committed to giving the 26-year-old another shot to be a starter, so he profiles to be in the rotation when the season begins, which makes him quite interesting for fantasy purposes this year.

As is the case with most pitchers, he put up better stats as a reliever than he did as a starter. Here's that breakdown:

You will almost always see higher strikeout rates from a player in a relief role. When you know you are only in there to get 3-6 outs, you can really let it rip and go with your best stuff. As a starter, you can't do this. We see that here with Whitlock with the big five-point gap between his reliever K% and starter K%. Even with that, the 17.7% K-BB% he posted as a starter is solid, and the 45% GB% is also a mark we like to see.

If we look for starters last year with a K-BB% and GB% around what Whitlock did, we find these starters:

No true fantasy studs there (save Gonsolin, I GUESS!), but a solid group of starters. Now, "solid" does not facilitate me calling him a BREAKOUT candidate - but my thinking here is that we could easily see gains for Whitlock since we know what he's able to do in a relief role.

It's likely that he'll pitch more as he did as a starter this year, but maybe given the bad results he got as a starter - he will focus on adding a little bit of velocity, spin, and attack more even in the starter role.

It's important to notice that the 13.3% SwStr% he posted as a starter is one of the better marks you'll see. Other starters that were in the 13-14% SwStr% range last season:

Admittedly, that's a curated list to make my point look better. Some other pitchers between 13% and 14%:

You need more than just a 13% SwStr% to be successful, but the point still remains that this is a good number to have.

The average K% of pitchers between 13% and 14% SwStr% over the last two seasons is 25.6%. The highest on the list is Aaron Nola (30%) and the lowest is Ian Anderson (19%).

Maybe the best part about Whitlock is that the walk rate was great no matter the role. I think we could be looking at a 26%-6% K-BB% rate here with an above-average GB% - and that would almost surely lead to a breakout season for the righty.

Since I took some liberties here, let me just go ahead and give my true "breakout" picks in list form here. All of these pitchers were talked about above, but I'll go ahead and plant my flag a bit here. My five top BREAKOUT PITCHER picks:

  1. Dustin May
  2. George Kirby
  3. Hunter Brown
  4. Hunter Greene
  5. Aaron Civale

We'll check on this at the end of the year, hope it helped - or at least I hope you enjoyed reading it!



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Fantasy Baseball Advice




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Hayden Hurst30 mins ago

Questionable, Will Dissly Ruled Out
Patrick Mahomes38 mins ago

Logs Second Straight Full Practice
Kenneth Walker III46 mins ago

Seahawks Optimistic Kenneth Walker III Will Return To Practice This Week
Geno Smith1 hour ago

Practices On Wednesday
George Pickens2 hours ago

Missing Another Practice On Wednesday
San Francisco 49ers2 hours ago

Trent Williams May Miss Rest Of Season
Isaac Guerendo2 hours ago

Dealing With New Injury, Missing Wednesday's Practice
Tony Pollard2 hours ago

Missing Wednesday's Practice
Devin Williams3 hours ago

Yankees Name Devin Williams As The Closer
Jaylen Waddle3 hours ago

Won't Practice On Wednesday, Considered Day-To-Day
Sincere McCormick3 hours ago

Raiders Put Sincere McCormick On Injured Reserve
Patrick Mahomes4 hours ago

Expected To Give It A Go In Week 16
Younghoe Koo4 hours ago

Going On IR, Riley Patterson Added To Active Roster
Drew Lock4 hours ago

Will Start In Week 16
David Njoku4 hours ago

Not In Line To Practice On Wednesday
Breece Hall5 hours ago

Braelon Allen Not Practicing On Wednesday
Malcolm Brogdon6 hours ago

Rejoins Practice
Kyle Kuzma6 hours ago

Ramping Up
Moses Moody7 hours ago

Doubtful For Thursday's Action
Christian Wood7 hours ago

Cleared For On-Court Workouts
Matisse Thybulle7 hours ago

Limited To Standstill Shooting
Deandre Ayton7 hours ago

Back At Practice
Linus Ullmark7 hours ago

Remains On Winning Path With A Shutout
Jake Guentzel7 hours ago

Pushes Goal Streak To Seven Games
Juuse Saros8 hours ago

Piles More Misery On Rangers With Shutout Performance
Pyotr Kochetkov8 hours ago

Stops Islanders From Scoring
Gabriel Vilardi8 hours ago

Delivers Three Assists In Tuesday's Win
Patrik Laine8 hours ago

Nets 11th Career Hat Trick
Quentin Johnston16 hours ago

Removed From Injury Report After Clerical Error
Justin Herbert19 hours ago

Expected To Play On Thursday
Jared McCain19 hours ago

Undergoes Successful Surgery
Joel Embiid19 hours ago

Current Injury "Not Nearly As Severe"
Michael Penix Jr.20 hours ago

Named Starting Quarterback
Andre Jackson Jr.21 hours ago

Starting Versus OKC
Damian Lillard21 hours ago

Cleared For Action On Tuesday Night
Giannis Antetokounmpo21 hours ago

Suiting Up Versus OKC
Khris Middleton21 hours ago

Ruled Out For NBA Cup Championship
Arizona Cardinals21 hours ago

Cardinals Agree With Budda Baker On Three-Year Extension
Patrick Mahomes22 hours ago

Practices In Full On Tuesday
Kirk Cousins22 hours ago

Falcons Non-Committal On Kirk Cousins Starting In Week 16
Cody Bellinger24 hours ago

Traded To The Yankees
Nick Foligno24 hours ago

Available Tuesday
Taylor Hall24 hours ago

A Game-Time Decision For Tuesday
Artemi Panarin1 day ago

To Remain Out On Tuesday
Bo Horvat1 day ago

A Game-Time Call Tuesday
Victor Hedman1 day ago

On Track To Return Tuesday
Anthony Stolarz1 day ago

To Miss 4-6 Weeks Following Knee Surgery
Trevor Moore1 day ago

Remains Sidelined Tuesday
Jaylin Williams1 day ago

Remains Out On Tuesday
Khris Middleton1 day ago

Likely To Play On Tuesday
Damian Lillard1 day ago

Listed As Probable For Cup Final
Trendon Watford1 day ago

Limited By Hamstring Injury Monday
Jakob Poeltl1 day ago

Suffers Groin Injury Monday
Jaden Ivey1 day ago

A Late Scratch On Monday Because Of Knee Pain
Connor McDavid1 day ago

Extends Point Streak With Three Assists
Carter Verhaeghe1 day ago

Nets Game-Winner In High-Scoring Finals Rematch
Jake Oettinger1 day ago

Rock-Solid Versus Capitals
Roope Hintz1 day ago

Hits Two Goals In Monday's Win
Valeri Nichushkin1 day ago

Pots Lone Avalanche Goal In Monday's Defeat
Kiefer Sherwood1 day ago

Celebrates First Career Hat Trick Against Avalanche
Josh Giddey2 days ago

Exits Early With Ankle Injury, Won't Return On Monday
Brandon Miller2 days ago

Exits Early With Ankle Injury, Won't Return
Christian Braun2 days ago

Officially Ruled Out For Monday, Will Miss First Game Of Season
Stuart Skinner2 days ago

Looks To Extend Winning Streak In Stanley Cup Finals Rematch
Mackenzie Blackwood2 days ago

Makes Second Avalanche Start Monday
Joaquin Buckley2 days ago

Extends Win Streak To Six
Colby Covington2 days ago

Gets Outclassed At UFC Tampa
Manel Kape2 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Bruno Silva2 days ago

Gets TKO'd At UFC Tampa
Tuco Tokkos2 days ago

Remains Winless In The UFC
Navajo Stirling2 days ago

Wins His UFC Debut
Adrian Yanez3 days ago

Falls Short At UFC Tampa
Daniel Marcos3 days ago

Remains Undefeated After UFC Tampa
Vitor Petrino3 days ago

Gets Finished Again At UFC Tampa
Dustin Jacoby3 days ago

Pulls Off Stunning Knockout At UFC Tampa
Billy Quarantillo3 days ago

Gets KO'd At UFC Tampa
Cub Swanson3 days ago

Pulls Off Upset At UFC Tampa
Jack Flaherty3 days ago

Viewed As "Fallback" Option For Baltimore
Jesús Luzardo4 days ago

Cubs Showing Interest In Jesus Luzardo
Nolan Arenado4 days ago

Astros Serious About Trading For Nolan Arenado
Jeffrey Springs4 days ago

A's Acquire Jeffrey Springs From Rays
Christian Walker5 days ago

Seattle Would "Love" To Sign Christian Walker
Carson Kelly5 days ago

Agrees To Two-Year Contract With Cubs
Houston Astros5 days ago

Cam Smith Traded To Houston
Hayden Wesneski5 days ago

Shipped To Houston
Isaac Paredes5 days ago

Shipped To Houston
Kyle Tucker5 days ago

Cubs Acquire Kyle Tucker From The Astros
Kyle Tucker5 days ago

Cubs Close To Acquiring Kyle Tucker From The Astros
Nestor Cortes5 days ago

Traded To The Brewers
Adrian Yanez5 days ago

An Underdog At UFC Tampa
Daniel Marcos5 days ago

Looks To Remain Undefeated At UFC Tampa
Vitor Petrino5 days ago

Looks To Return To Win Column At UFC Tampa
Dustin Jacoby5 days ago

A Big Underdog At UFC Tampa
Cub Swanson5 days ago

Searching For 30th Career Win At UFC Tampa
Billy Quarantillo5 days ago

Faces A Legend At UFC Tampa
Devin Williams5 days ago

Traded To The Yankees
Joaquin Buckley5 days ago

Looks For His Sixth Win In A Row
Colby Covington5 days ago

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Bruno Silva5 days ago

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Kyle Bradish6 days ago

Begins Throwing Program
Nolan Arenado6 days ago

Would Approve Of Trade To The Bronx

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 

Video: Week 16 Must-Start Wide Receivers - 2024 Fantasy Football Playoff Streamers, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Analysis

We're in the thick of the fantasy football playoffs, meaning each decision is crucial in the quest for a title for fantasy managers. Let us help with those "championship choices" by checking out our favorite 2024 fantasy football must-start wide receivers for Week 16! RotoBaller's Matt Donnelly discusses his top "Must Start" WRs that will […]


Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 16 Updates for David Montgomery, Alvin Kamara, Kenneth Walker III, Sincere McCormick, Jaleel McLaughlin

Below is our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 16, as of December 18. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 16, including David Montgomery, Alvin Kamara, Kenneth Walker III, Sincere McCormick, and Jaleel McLaughlin. As the fantasy football season continues, every decision, transaction, […]


Jahmyr Gibbs - Fantasy Football, Rankings, Draft, Sleeper, DFS, Running Back

Fantasy Football Playoff Risers and Fallers - Week 16

Week 15 is in the books, which means that the 2024 fantasy football season has come to an end for many fantasy managers. If you are reading this, it very likely means that you are still fighting for a fantasy football championship. Congratulations if that's the case! You certainly don't need me to tell you […]


Jerry Jeudy - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 16 Including Rico Dowdle, Travis Etienne Jr., Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley

It's semifinals week! With just two playoff rounds remaining in most fantasy leagues, there is limited time to take advantage of the in-season dynasty market. Player values are sure to change drastically the moment Week 17 is in the books and will continue to fluctuate throughout the offseason. At this point in the season, I […]


Courtland Sutton - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Broncos vs. Chargers TNF Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Bo Nix, Courtland Sutton, Javonte Williams, Justin Herbert, Gus Edwards, Kimani Vidal, Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston

While it's impossible to predict what will happen on Thursday Night Football between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, I can almost guarantee that there will be more points scored than last week. Fantasy football was blessed by many incredible Thursday Night Football games this season, but last week was far and away the […]


Jaxon Smith-Njigba - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL DFS Picks

Fantasy Football WR Sleepers: Smash Spots for Week 16 Include Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jameson Williams, Calvin Austin III, Brenton Strange

It’s finally fantasy semifinal week! With the holiday season and the fantasy championship on the horizon, it’s hard not to love this time of year.  I hope you all made it through last week. With some star players putting up their first duds of the year (Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry), and others dropping massive […]


James Conner - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Fantasy Football Matchups to Target, Avoid (Week 16) - Offensive Line Champs and Chumps

The fantasy season is close to ending. If you’re reading this article, you were likely able to navigate a slew of injuries and underwhelming performances from typically consistent fantasy players. Or, you earned a bye during the regular week. Aiming for upside is crucial at this point in the season. Only two games are between […]


Jaylen Waddle - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Fantasy Football WR Injury Reports: Week 16 Updates For George Pickens, Jaylen Waddle, Xavier Legette, Marquise Brown

As we approach the second week of the fantasy football postseason, health is of the utmost importance. Managers need a full-strength roster to compete for a championship. To keep close tabs on all of the news across the NFL, make sure to favorite or bookmark the fantasy football player news page. Also, download the free […]


Ja'Marr Chase - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS and Betting Picks

Fantasy Football Matchups We Love - Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks for Week 16 Include James Conner, Ja'Marr Chase, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, more

If you are reading this, then the odds are you made it through to the next round of your fantasy playoffs. Whether you dominated your matchup or squeaked by, a win is a win. Fantasy is a weekly game and anything can happen. With championship week around the corner for single-elimination leagues and here for […]


Jahmyr Gibbs - Fantasy Football, Rankings, Draft, Sleeper, DFS, Running Back

Rest-of-Season Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 16 Updates for Top 200 (2024)

Let's celebrate those of you still in the fantasy football playoff fight with an updated rest-of-season rankings sheet. While you can't afford to orient your strategy beyond this week, that doesn't mean it isn't wise to consider the handful of remaining games. We're here to weigh up the bigger picture for your championship weeks with […]


Justice Hill - Fantasy Football Rankings, Injury Report

Fact or Fiction: Fantasy Football Outlooks for Mac Jones, Tyjae Spears, Justice Hill, Jalen Coker, Brenton Strange

Weird things happen every week in the NFL, but honestly, Week 15 was largely not that weird when talking about who the top performers were. In this article about surprise performances, only two of these players finished top five at their positions. Are players like Tyjae Spears and Brenton Strange going to be fantasy values […]


Andrew Van Ginkel - IDP, Minnesota Vikings, DST, Defense, Fantasy Football Def

Week 16 IDP Rankings for Fantasy Football (2024) - Defense Positional Rankings for LB, DL, DB

The 2024 fantasy playoffs got off to an auspicious start with the Rams vs. 49ers contest. While anyone who has played fantasy for some time has undoubtedly suffered disappointment in the playoffs, this game was the precursor to a truly painful week for many. Unfortunately, it was a dud that few saw coming. Both the […]


Jalen Hurts - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

High-Value Touches and Opportunities - Fantasy Football Underperformers, Overperformers (Week 16)

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to my weekly series, "High-Value Touches and Opportunities," for Week 16 of the 2024 fantasy football season. We're in the fantasy football playoffs, hoping we survive through Week 17 or 18. It's crunch time, and we'll want to pay attention to the news, noise, and trends, especially in the high-value opportunities.  Touchdowns […]