Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers - Hitters

Welcome to part two of my pre-season series on 2021 barrel rate risers and fallers. In the first part, I looked at the players who showed the biggest barrel rate improvement in 2021 and broke down whether or not we should believe that success will carry over into 2022. In this article, I'll look at […]

A Year To Forget: Pitchers Who Will Rebound In 2022

When you draft a pitcher onto your fantasy baseball team, you are hoping they can be a stable source of production. Unfortunately, for these five pitchers, that was not the case. All of them struggled mightily, with four of the five even being either demoted to the minor leagues or the bullpen at one point […]

Who's #1? Early Look at Picking First Overall

With the off-season fully underway and early drafts already taking place, it’s time to start looking at those players being selected first in drafts. This year offers a very different set of players than we’ve seen in recent memory. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr. have all fallen out of contention for first […]

Batter BABIP: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

The most accessible of the fantasy-relevant advanced stats is BABIP, or Batting Average on Balls In Play. It simply measures a player's batting average on balls in play, with outcomes such as strikeouts and home runs removed from consideration. In general, the league average hovers around .300, a nice round number to remember. Many know […]

Hitter Batted-Ball Distribution: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Fly balls can turn into home runs. Ground balls never do. It would seem as though fantasy owners want their batters to hit nothing but flies, yet this is not always the case. Why would this be? The answer, of course, comes down to batted ball distribution and how batters make contact. The league average […]

Bubba and Bat Flip 107 - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Review - Benched with Bubba (Episode 426)

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Bat Flip Crazy (@BatFlipCrazy). In tonight's episode, the guys begin their positional recaps with the outfield position. They go over the top 10-15 outfielders according to the RazzBall Player Rater. Discuss the good and the bad of the second base position as well as answer some awesome listener questions. Be […]

Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy with Zack Waxman - Benched with Bubba EP 427

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Zack Waxman (@mylesstrawmvp) of the Draft Champions Podcast. The guys will discuss differing strategies for NFBC leagues. How to attack Draft Champions Leagues, 12-team vs. 15-team leagues, and much more. Looking for statistical targets, positional scarcity, and much more to get ready for the 2022 fantasy baseball draft season. Be […]

Fantasy Baseball with Mike Kurland - Benched with Bubba EP 425

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) of SK PlayBook and RotoBaller. The guys will discuss their latest NFBC Draft Champions draft. Go over some strategies, reasoning from picks, and more. They also discuss some of the recent deep dives they've done on players like Frank Schwindel, Daulton Varsho, and more. Be sure to […]

Introduction to Advanced Stats - Sabermetrics Fantasy Baseball Analysis

Hello, fellow RotoBallers! Sabermetrics have become an integral tool for fantasy baseball draft prep, but a concise resource for understanding the basics can be difficult to find. This series will attempt to define and explain all of the metrics fantasy owners may find useful, citing examples of how to use them in the process. Multiple […]

Fantasy Baseball Risers Post-Free Agency

With all the free-agent signings and trades that happened prior to the lockout, plenty has changed ahead of the 2022 season where the fantasy landscape is concerned. The impact of new acquisitions will certainly be felt in fantasy drafts next spring. Corey Knebel, for instance, could see a significant number of save opportunities in Philadelphia next […]

Fantasy Baseball with Matt Goodwin - Benched with Bubba EP 424

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Matt Goodwin (@TheCorkedMatt) of PitcherList and Triple Play Fantasy. The guys will discuss plate appearance evaluations with Steamer projections, some ways to use early NFBC ADP, power profiles to target, and much more to get ready for the 2022 fantasy baseball season. Be sure to subscribe to the Benched With Bubba […]

Bubba and Bat Flip 106 - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Review - Benched with Bubba (Episode 423)

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Bat Flip Crazy (@BatFlipCrazy). In tonight's episode, the guys begin their positional recaps with the shortstop position. They go over the top 15-20 third basemen according to the RazzBall Player Rater. Discuss the good and the bad of the second base position as well as answer some awesome listener questions. […]

2022 Fantasy Breakout Candidates - NL West

We have already broken down the top breakout candidates from the National League Central, National League East, American League West, American League East, and American League Central. In this column, we'll run down players from the National League West, one from each team, who could fit the bill and have breakout campaigns next season. One […]

Marcus Stroman to Cubs - Fantasy Impact

The Chicago Cubs signed veteran Marcus Stroman to a three-year, $71 million deal to anchor a veteran pitching staff on a rebuilding team. This is a good time to look back to Marcus Stroman's 2021 season and look ahead to what the 2022 fantasy baseball season might bring. Read about other free agent moves and […]

Projecting Power in 2022: Increases in Air% Exit Velocities

Balls come and balls go but regardless of the current offensive environment in baseball, what hasn't changed is our fantasy love of power. But after the happy fun ball days of 2019 and 2020, the MLB went back to the lab in an attempt to deaden some of the bouncy ball hijinks. And deaden they […]

Fantasy Baseball Strategies with THE GILDZ - Benched with Bubba EP 422

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by NFBC Veteran Andrew Geller (@the_Gildz). The guys chat all things draft strategy. Comparing 12-team league and 15-team league strategies, FAAB strategies, going for your guys, different game plans, and much much more. It's a great off-season draft primer to get ready for the 2022 fantasy baseball season. Be sure to […]

Valuing Injured Players Returning In 2022

Last year's season-ending injury list is an All-Star team. It holds three of the best players in the game and plenty of other superstar adjacent players. Now, heading into the 2022 fantasy baseball season, we have to evaluate the value of these injured players. Should we be concerned about Ronald Acuna Jr? Is Jacob deGrom […]

Bubba and Bat Flip 105 - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Review - Benched with Bubba (Episode 421)

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Bat Flip Crazy (@BatFlipCrazy). In tonight's episode, the guys begin their positional recaps with the shortstop position. They go over the top 15-20 second basemen according to the RazzBall Player Rater. Discuss the good and the bad of the second base position as well as answer some awesome listener questions. […]

Joey Votto 2021 Year-In-Review

"I want to get back to being dangerous." This is a real quote from Joey Votto prior to the 2021 season. Although never seen as a prodigious slugger, the 38-year-old Votto was still bankable for 25+ home runs in his prime. Thus, when he combined for just 27 home runs between 2018 and 2019, the […]

A Seam-Sifted Ranger Suárez Looks to Quantum Leap

He was a starter throughout his minor league career but Philadelphia's Ranger Suárez had only seen action from the bullpen in the big leagues before 2021 and again started this past year as a reliever. Suárez dominated from the jump, posting a 1.12 ERA (3.32 FIP) over 40.1 IP, starting as a multi-inning fireman role and […]

Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar to Mets - Fantasy Impact

The New York Mets have been major players in the free-agent market so far this offseason. Before the MLB lockout, they made two high-profile signings by acquiring starting pitcher Max Scherzer and outfielder Starling Marte. Not to be lost in the shuffle, the Mets also signed outfielder Mark Canha and infielder Eduardo Escobar. The acquisitions […]

Bubba and Bat Flip 104 - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Review - Benched with Bubba (Episode 420)

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Bat Flip Crazy (@BatFlipCrazy). In tonight's episode, the guys begin their positional recaps with the second base position. They go over the top 15-20 second basemen according to the RazzBall Player Rater. Discuss the good and the bad of the second base position as well as answer some awesome listener […]

K-BB% Fallers for Fantasy Baseball - Starting Pitchers to Watch in 2022

We opened up this two-part series in this post, where we went over the K-BB gainers in 2021. Now, it's time to look at the other side of the coin and some of the most notable fallers. In the first part, I reviewed why I believe this statistic to be the most important metric to […]

2022 Fantasy Breakout Candidates - NL Central 

Identifying potential fantasy breakout players in drafts each Spring can be crucial in building a championship-winning roster for fantasy managers. Often times the breakout players, if they do in fact break out, will significantly outperform their draft position and help you find success. It may be a late-round pick performing like a quality contributor who […]

Arizona Fall League 2021 Wrap Up

The Arizona Fall League wrapped up on November 20th with a Mesa Solar Sox championship over the Suprise Saguaros. In this space, we will review the 2021 Arizona Fall League by highlighting players who were the most notable risers and disappointments based on their performance from a fantasy baseball perspective. Many of these prospects won't […]

Starling Marte to Mets - Fantasy Impact

The New York Mets' disappointing 2021 season was followed by their delay in securing a new general manager, inability to re-sign starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, and failure to bring back starting pitcher Steven Matz from Toronto in the early part of the current offseason. This had many fans wondering whether the Mets were destined for […]

Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove with Ryan Venancio - Benched with Bubba EP 419

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Ryan Venancio (@ven_armbarn) of Fantrax and the Next on Deck Podcast. The MLB Hot Stove has been on fire in recent weeks, so the guys go over all the major moves and discuss the fantasy impacts. There may be a lockout, but do not worry as Benched with Bubba will […]

Marcus Semien and Corey Seager to Rangers - Fantasy Impact

The Texas Rangers made a big splash in free agency by signing Corey Seager (10 years, $350 million) and Marcus Semien (7 years, $175 million) to create their middle infield combination for years to come. This surprised a lot of baseball fans, as the Rangers traded Joey Gallo and Kyle Gibson at the trade deadline […]

Early One-Man Mock (Rounds 2-5) - 2022 Fantasy Baseball

I've already run through the first round of my one-man mock, which you can check out right here. Now, let's move on to the next few rounds with a look at how early drafts might shake out. I took roster construction into consideration so that a team didn't select three outfielders in the first three […]