Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - BABIP (Week 3)

RotoBaller embarks on a new series this year using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performance. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and I enlighten myself on the information and tools at my disposal. This week we'll focus on a popular batted-ball metric, Batting […]

2018 Prospects: Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 3)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. It continues to be the waiting game for Atlanta to call up […]

Week 3 Points Leagues - Strategy, Pickups and Cuts

I hope you are coming off of a week two victory and flying high at 2-0 in your league. Whether you're crushing, or sitting at 0-2, I am here to help you notch that Week Three victory. This article is tailored to points leagues more than traditional 5x5 leagues. While every points league is different, […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 3)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we'll be going over a couple good starts from Padres hurlers Joey Lucchesi and Tyson Ross, as well as a […]

Hitter Streamers (Week 3) - Head-to-Head Leagues

Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 3, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week.  If someone jumps […]

Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 3

If your fantasy baseball team looks anything like most of mine, then you've got a couple of injured players occupying bench spots because your DL positions are already full. That didn't take long did it? The 10-day DL has been both a blessing and a curse for the fantasy world. On the one hand, it […]

How Superior Setup Men Provide Value to Closers - NL Focus

The era of the home run has been a bit of a double-edged sword for fantasy owners. On the one hand, the bench bat drafted in the 27th round can emerge as a 20+ HR hitter, adding value from an unexpected source. On the other side, pitcher ERAs are up, and the value of the […]

Dylan Bundy Has Been Unleashed, Is Kevin Gausman Next?

It has become a trend among starting pitchers with one dominant pitch to throw it earlier in counts and to throw it more often. This defies conventional baseball wisdom, but several starting pitchers have found or recaptured success by featuring breaking balls more heavily. Rich Hill, fighting for his baseball life, began using his curveball […]

2018 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 2)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top 30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. The Shohei Ohtani train keeps rolling along. He’s quickly become a […]

Relief Pitchers Deeper Dive - Week 2

Today and every Tuesday moving forward throughout the 2018 MLB season, we will take a deep dive into some of the lesser-owned relief pitchers on the market that are worth keeping tabs on. This can be a good tool for those in deeper holds leagues, although any pitcher in a position to make a move on […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 2)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we'll be going over Sean Newcomb's dominance at Coors Field, and great two-start performances from Reynaldo Lopez and Andrew Triggs. […]

Hitter Streamers (Week 2) - Head-to-Head Leagues

Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 2, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week.  If someone jumps […]

Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 2

The first week of the season is officially over, so it's time to start trading assets! That actually may not be the best idea since we've yet to get a firm grasp on trends or values, although the start of the season could be the best time to acquire assets cheaply in some cases. Cutting […]

Hot Starts to Watch from Traditionally Slow Starters

If the Major League season were to end today, two of the favorites for the World Series (Cleveland and Los Angeles) would not be making the playoffs, and Pittsburgh would be a top seed. Not that we can put much stock into six games, they still serve as the beginning of some insight into the […]

Could Your Pitching Staff Use a Jakob Junis?

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis raised some eyebrows at the end of the 2017 season, boasting an increased strikeout rate and a 3.61 ERA in the final two months. It wasn't enough to put him on many draft boards in shallow fantasy baseball leagues this past March, but his first start in 2018 […]

2018 Prospects - Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 1)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. What a debut for Shohei Ohtani? Aside from a rough second inning, […]

Are You For Real? A Look at Surprising SP Starts

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we’ll look at the debut performance of Shohei Ohtani, as well as Kyle Gibson’s domination of the Orioles and Ty […]

What to Make of Jose Martinez, Matt Davidson, and a Couple Other Quick Starts

Even though it's barely 50 degrees in Brooklyn, it feels like spring is finally nigh now that the 2018 MLB season is underway. As a Yankees fan, I'd been especially looking forward to opening day ever since Giancarlo Stanton was signed. He certainly didn't disappoint when he launched an opposite field home run at 117 […]

Week 1 Waiver Wire: 25-50% Owned Pickups

First, winter was here and the night was truly dark and full of terrors. But now, now it's Opening Day and the ills of the world are all invited to screw off. I love you all, what a great day! In light of this, let's give that free agent pool one last look over before […]

Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Preseason)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. This might be one of the most star studded prospect lists to […]

Post-Hype Middle Infielders Set to Break Out in 2018

Scouting prospects who will be future big-league stars is an inexact science. Middle infielders can be hard to project because defense often outweighs offense at those positions. For every player who went on to become a superstar right away like Corey Seager or Francisco Lindor, there’s another one who never panned out like Dustin Ackley […]

Deeper NL Starting Pitcher Sleepers - Undervalued ADPs

Nothing helps deepen a fantasy rotation like scooping up late-round values. Having a few sleepers in your back pocket allows for a heavier investment in hitting earlier in the draft, and gives you some names to target once the player pool gets thin. For those who love to do last-minute drafts, start their league a […]

Later-Age Fantasy Breakouts for 2018

Common wisdom used to suggest that a hitter’s true prime was his age-27 season, but in recent times that seems to have shifted to a younger age as more and more players break into the league earlier. That said, we’ve still seen our fair share of late breakouts over the last number of years, with […]

On the Rebound - Starters Coming Back from Injury in 2018

As owners prepare for draft day, one strategy many owners will use is drafting pitchers who are returning from significant injuries. These pitchers will likely be undervalued because of their injuries, and if they can return to their pre-injury norm they can end up being a steal in a draft. For the following starters working […]

Breakout Infielders Who’ll Continue To Improve in 2018

In this piece I highlight four infielders who will build off their 2017 breakouts. I want to clearly indicate how each player broke out and why they’ll continue to improve. Since most of these players broke out after their age-25 season, the fantasy community is rightfully proceeding with caution on some of these guys. Travis […]

2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - NL Starting Pitchers

If you've been following along with this series over the last week or so, you've heard my spiel about sleeper being a slippery term. "Values" feels more precise. It would come as a shock if you hadn't heard of any of the guys we're going to be discussing today. All we're trying to do here […]

Second Basemen Set to Breakout in 2018

Second base is one of the thinnest positions in fantasy baseball, but also one with a ton of promise. Whether it’s speed, power or both, the keystone is in a tremendously interesting state heading into 2018. Today I take a look at three second basemen who I expect to have strong seasons for fantasy baseball owners. […]

2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - AL Starting Pitchers

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm not big on the term "sleeper." When anybody with a computer and a working Internet connection can drill down deep into any player's performance with a few keystrokes and a couple of clicks, the odds of you catching any of your rivals truly sleeping […]

2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values - NL Outfielders

There are many paths to success in fantasy baseball, but one of the simplest is to nail your draft. To do that, you need to find productive players with low price tags. Doing so carries the added benefit of bragging rights. Who doesn't love paying peanuts for the next big star and then getting to […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - Closers

Where an owner drafts closers comes down to personal strategy and philosophy. Some owners are willing spend up for high-end closers like Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, while others are content to let closers fly off the board deep into the draft and scrounge for saves late. For those of us unwilling to invest in […]