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

Correlating Statcast to Outcomes: Why You Should Pay Attention to Barrels

Barrels are the keeper of life’s finer things. Beer, pickles, monkeys, the list is endless.

Barrels don’t just hold fermented vegetables and unruly simians these days, barrels may also hold the key to identifying the game’s best hitters and struggling hitters who may be due for brighter days.

In my mission to find just how important Statcast is to surface stats, and to find the “best” Statcast metric to judge hitters, I’ve landed firmly on barrel rate, and I’m going to explain why it’s the best and why you should be paying close attention to it when evaluating hitters.

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

 

What is a Barrel?

Webster’s dictionary defines a barrel as “a cylindrical container bulging out in the middle, traditionally made of wooden staves with metal hoops around them.” That's interesting, but that definition only provides moderate insight into the contemporary advanced baseball metric. In baseball, a barrel is essentially the ideal contact a batter can make. Like a Reese’s cup, a barrel has the perfect ratio of peanut butter and chocolate, with exit velocity acting as the peanut butter and launch angle acting as the chocolate. A barrel is the best possible way a batter can strike a ball.

Barrels are calculated on a slope depending on how hard the ball is struck. MLB’s example states “A ball traveling 99 mph always earns 'Barreled' status when struck between 25-31 degrees. Add one more mph -- to reach 100 -- and the range grows another three degrees, to 24-33.” Going back to our candy example, if we add more peanut butter (exit velocity) we’ve got to also increase our chocolate (launch angle) or we no longer have a peanut butter cup. We’ve probably still got something tasty, like a single, a double, or a Reese’s Easter Egg, but it’s not the ideal ratio.

Admittedly, when barrels were first introduced by MLB I didn’t pay them as much attention. Like many baseball nerds, I was enthralled by Statcast when it came out, and am still enthralled to this day, but barrels felt a bit abstract for me compared to the other metrics. That changed this offseason, when I decided it was time to stop merely trusting Statcast and actually testing the metrics against real outcomes, and what I found pointed me straight to barrels.

Since Statcast debuted I just kind of accepted the importance of these metrics. Logically, it makes sense. We’ve known harder hit balls are better, flyballs lead to home runs, and that Yadier Molina is really really slow long before Statcast quantified this for us. And the individual examples seemed to confirm the importance of Statcast metrics. To demonstrate this, let’s play a game. Below are the Statcast metrics for two centerfielders. One belongs to an MVP winner, and the other belongs to a player who’s never received an MVP vote. Can you guess which is which?

If you guessed the bottom entry belongs to the MVP, congratulations, you’ve identified Mike Trout. If you guessed the top entry (Billy Hamilton) belongs to the MVP, I’d encourage you to keep reading and check out all of the baseball articles on this site, as you’ve got lots more research to do before draft day.

Sure, those were two extreme examples, but the point stands. Individuals helped foster my trust for Statcast metrics. I mean, why question Statcast? It’s clearly doing its job if it identifies Mike Trout as a strong hitter and Billy Hamilton as a weak hitter. But there a lot of guys in between Mike Trout and Billy Hamilton, and I wanted to know how much these metrics meant for them too.

 

Testing Statcast Metrics

I began by downloading the 2020 qualified hitter leaderboards from the bible (AKA fangraphs.com), generating a custom report that would give me both Statcast data and surface stats for every qualified hitter. Then, I ran a function that produces the coefficient between any two metrics and tested the Statcast correlation against two outcomes: Batting Average (AVG), and Isolated Power (ISO).

Batting average was of course my first choice, as it can be influenced by so many outside factors such as ballpark, fielder position, sprint speed, etc. that I wanted to know if we could boil down any Statcast metric to help us predict AVG. ISO was my second choice because it is the best rate stat at capturing a hitter’s power, and I suspected that Statcast metrics would have a stronger correlation to a hitter’s power than a hitter’s batting average because power is more in a player’s control compared to batting average.

(The next few paragraphs reference a few mathematical concepts. All you need to know is that a coefficient of r >0 indicates a positive correlation, and a coefficient of r <0 indicates negative correlation. The closer those values are to 1 or -1 respectively, the stronger the relationship. A value of 1 is a perfect positive correlation, and -1 indicates perfect negative correlation)

When I ran the calculations I was pleasantly unsurprised to find that most of the metrics I believed to have an influence on a player’s power numbers actually did have influence. This was much less true for batting average, but that will be addressed in a moment. When it came to power, one metric stood out above the rest, and that was barrel rate. Most of the other metrics had weak to moderate correlation, but when I correlated barrel rate to ISO for 2020 hitters I got a coefficient of r = 0.79, indicating a strong correlation between the two.

With 2020 giving us a wonky season, I widened my data set to include every qualified hitter between 2015-2020, and was able to reproduce the results with essentially the same outcome (r = 0.82). Because including only qualified hitters may lead to survivor bias (hitters that produce better outcomes will be more likely earn enough plate appearances to qualify, skewing it towards the best hitters) I widened my data set one more time to include every hitter with at least 150 PAs between 2015-2020, which included a total of 714 unique players. And? Numbers don’t lie, as I reproduced the results and got r = 0.81. There is a strong relationship between barrel rate and ISO, stronger than any other metrics by a good measure. I ran a linear regression and got  p<0.0001, which means we'd get the same outcome in 9,999 of 10,000 MLB seasons.

As I said before, I didn’t find as strong of correlation with other Statcast metrics to ISO, and found weak or no correlation with Statcast metrics to batting average. See the chart below (the value is the coefficient between the metric and the outcome):

ISO AVG
Barrel Rate 0.812767 0.029294
Max Exit Velo 0.522001 0.109035
Average Exit Velo 0.613493 0.174133
Hard Hit Rate 0.662493 0.156718
Line Drive Rate -0.10563 0.345165
Flyball Rate 0.543557 -0.25638
Average Launch Angle 0.45844 -0.19038
K Rate 0.240587 -0.48534
BB Rate 0.322577 -0.07739
Groundball Rate -0.49552 0.094206

And here's a graph to help visualize the relationship:

Not much scatter to that plot, eh? It symbolizes a near-perfect linear relationship between ISO and barrel rate. These results make sense, because if a barrel is indeed ideal contact, then extra-base hits or home runs are the ideal outcome. Barrels have the privilege of precision not afforded to other raw metrics like exit velocity or launch angle. It was designed by humans to identify the best-struck balls, and those humans did a pretty good job.

Even after getting confirmation that Statcast and barrels specifically are great for analyzing hitters, a few questions remain. How much variance is there in a player’s barrel rate? How do we predict if a hitter will see a spike or drop in barrel rate? And, most importantly, how can we use this to win at fantasy baseball?

 

How Much Does Barrel Rate Vary by Player?

First, let’s tackle how much variance an individual player might have in their barrel rate. I calculated the average barrel rate of all 714 players in my data set and compared it against the players MIN and MAX barrel rate for their career. This should help give us an idea of much swing we could expect in barrel rate on a year-to-year basis. I’d like you to look at the table below:

It’s stained maple. I’m thinking of getting one for my kitchen, but hit me up on Twitter or Reddit if you have other suggestions. Now that that’s out of the way, check out this table below:

Name '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 Grand Total Seasons w/ Data Avg. Rate Max. Rate Max. Avg. Min. Avg. Min.
A.J. Ellis 5.5% 2.8% 3.4% 4.2% 15.9% 4 3.98% 5.50% 1.52% 2.80% 1.17%
A.J. Pierzynski 2.9% 0.9% 3.8% 2 1.90% 2.90% 1.00% 0.90% 1.00%
A.J. Pollock 4.5% 5.4% 9.7% 7.6% 10.5% 37.7% 5 7.54% 10.50% 2.96% 4.50% 3.04%
Aaron Altherr 2.0% 3.1% 9.7% 9.7% 24.5% 4 6.13% 9.70% 3.57% 2.00% 4.12%
Aaron Hicks 2.8% 3.8% 7.1% 8.5% 7.9% 6.9% 37.0% 6 6.17% 8.50% 2.33% 2.80% 3.36%
Aaron Hill 1.9% 1.2% 3.1% 2 1.55% 1.90% 0.35% 1.20% 0.35%
Aaron Judge 24.9% 15.4% 19.7% 60% 3 20.00% 24.90% 4.90% 15.40% 4.60%
Abraham Almonte 5.9% 5.6% 4.7% 7.0% 23.2% 4 5.80% 7.00% 1.20% 4.70% 1.10%
Adalberto Mondesi 10.9% 7.2% 7.3% 25.4% 3 8.47% 10.90% 2.43% 7.20% 1.26%
Adam Duvall 11.1% 8.4% 9.7% 13.9% 43.1% 4 10.78% 13.90% 3.12% 8.40% 2.37%
Adam Eaton 2.9% 2.7% 3.1% 3.6% 4.6% 16.9% 5 3.38% 4.60% 1.22% 2.70% 0.68%
Adam Engel 3.6% 2.3% 4.7% 10.6% 3 3.53% 4.70% 1.16% 2.30% 1.23%
Adam Frazier 1.7% 2% 3% 1.9% 4% 12.6% 5 2.52% 4.00% 1.48% 1.70% 0.82%
Adam Haseley 3.1% 3.1% 1 3.10% 3.10% 0.00% 3.10% 0.00%
Adam Jones 8.7% 7% 5.7% 4.9% 5.7% 32.0% 5 6.40% 8.70% 2.30% 4.90% 1.50%
Adam LaRoche 7.4% 7.4% 1 7.40% 7.40% 0.00% 7.40% 0.00%
Adam Lind 6.2% 8% 7.1% 21.3% 3 7.10% 8.00% 0.90% 6.20% 0.90%
Adam Rosales 10.8% 3% 13.8% 2 6.90% 10.80% 3.90% 3.00% 3.90%
Addison Russell 4.6% 8.8% 5.0% 2.2% 6.3% 26.9% 5 5.38% 8.80% 3.42% 2.20% 3.18%
Adeiny Hechavarria 1% 0.7% 2.6% 1.6% 4.5% 10.4% 5 2.08% 4.50% 2.42% 0.70% 1.38%
Adonis Garcia 7% 4.5% 3.3% 14.8% 3 4.93% 7.00% 2.06% 3.30% 1.63%
Adrian Beltre 4.9% 7.9% 4.4% 6.1% 23.3% 4 5.83% 7.90% 2.07% 4.40% 1.42%
Adrian Gonzalez 7.7% 3.9% 3.6% 5.8% 21.0% 4 5.25% 7.70% 2.45% 3.60% 1.65%
Albert Almora Jr. 3.2% 1.1% 3.9% 8.2% 3 2.73% 3.90% 1.16% 1.10% 1.63%
Albert Pujols 7.1% 8.8% 4.8% 5.7% 5.3% 5.5% 37.2% 6 6.20% 8.80% 2.60% 4.80% 1.40%

Because the entire table has too many entries, I sampled a few names to give you an idea of my methodology. Mostly, players tend to stick around their average barrel rate every year. The mean difference between a player’s average barrel rate and max barrel rate (removing players with only one season of data) was 2.03%, and the difference was even smaller on the minimum side at just 1.83%. Only 29 of the 714 players deviated more than 5% higher than their average, and only 114 of the 714 players deviated 3% or higher than their average.

The results were even more extreme on the other side, as only 6 of the 714 players deviated 5% or more below their average barrel rate, and only 84 of the 714 deviated 3% or more below their average. The average barrel rate of the group was 5.89%, so a 3-5% swing would be pretty drastic.

So, we know barrel rate, like many metrics, can remain pretty predictable over a player’s career, but does anything help us predict a future improvement or reduction in barrel rate?

I tested the metrics available in my data set and found that outside of average and max exit velocity (they’re components of barrels, obviously they correlate), the strongest corollary was actually strikeout rate. Specifically, high strikeout rates. See the chart below (values represent coefficient between the two variables listed):

Barrel Rate
Line Drive Rate -0.08628
Flyball Rate 0.448431
Groundball Rate -0.40917
K Rate 0.5057
BB Rate 0.388879
Average Launch Angle 0.37576
Max Exit Velo 0.617153
Average Exit Velo 0.720367

I ran a linear regression and the results weren’t nearly as strong as barrel rate to power, and in fact, this relationship does not pass the scientific standard for statistical significance. As I analyzed some of the highest barrel rate hitters (Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton) I realized that the top was populated with strikeout kings. Perhaps this means barrels are best achieved by selling out for power. Or perhaps only the strongest players can consistently achieve high barrel rates, and the strongest players happen to go down on strikes a lot. The ball needs to be smoked for a barrel, after all, with a 98 MPH exit velocity being the minimum exit velocity to achieve a barrel.

Average exit velocity only has a weak correlation with a high strikeout rate, and I don’t think a player would necessarily improve his barrel rate by raising his strikeout rate. A player with a barrel rate above 20% is usually on the end of a few extremes, and it seems more likely that the extreme outliers mentioned earlier carry too much of an influence on the group when it comes to strikeouts.

So, we can’t really use any traditional statistics to predict whether a player can improve his barrel rate, and players don’t tend to drastically increase or decrease their barrel rates on a yearly basis. Then how do we identify breakout candidates? I think it might be helpful to do a few case studies on fantasy-relevant players to try and reverse engineer their spike in barrel rates.

 

Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers

7.3% 2019 barrel rate-15.8% 2020 barrel rate

Corey Seager enjoyed a spectacular 2020, posting a monster .943 OPS and .278 ISO in 232 PA. His success was buoyed by a stark jump in barrel rate, as Seager maintained an impressive 15.8% barrel rate, a rate 6.45% higher than his career average and an 8.5% jump from 2019. It’s safe to say the catalyst behind Seager’s leap in barrel rate was not an increase in strikeouts, as young shortstop cut his strikeout rate to 15.9%, the second-lowest of his career. Interestingly, Seager did post a career-worst 13.4% SwStr rate, and the fact that he whiffed so much while maintaining a low strikeout rate speaks to one of the more important factors here, which is aggression.

Seager became more aggressive at the plate in 2020, increasing his swing rate by 4% and his zone swing rate by 5%, though his overall contact rate of 76% is in line with his career average. That coupled with an increase in average exit velocity to a blistering 93.3 MPH helped Seager improve his barrel rate. What most likely happened in Seager’s case is health paired with a change in approach. We already knew Seager was talented, but injuries caused his overall numbers and Statcast metrics to dip. Perhaps the best way to identify potential barrel rate risers would be to look at players with past success who’ve tumbled due to injury or other outside factors, but still possess the ability to light up a Statcast sheet. If Seager can keep this up he'll find himself an MVP contender in no time.

 

Matt Chapman, Oakland Athletics

12.1% 2019 barrel rate - 18% 2020 barrel rate

Chapman took an already strong power game to the next level in 2020, posting a career-high .303 ISO in 152 PA. That power can be attributed to an 18% barrel rate, roughly triple the league average. Unlike Corey Seager, Chapman did experience a sharp increase in strikeout rate. Chapman went down on strikeouts 35.5% of the time in 2020, a staggering 13.6% increase from 2019. It was a year of extremes indeed for Chapman, who also increased his flyball rate to 50.6% and increased his average launch angle to 24.6-degrees. Chapman’s case gives more credence to the high strikeouts=high barrel rate hypothesis, because Chapman took an extreme, and like Seager, a more aggressive approach at the plate.

While this approach will undoubtedly lead to more power, it may not be the best approach for Chapman from a real baseball perspective. He profiled very similarly to Miguel Sano last season, which is definitely an above-average bat, but Chapman seems capable of a more balanced approach based on past seasons. Another point Chapman’s case touches is the correlation between batting average and barrel rate, which is practically non-existent. A player like this might have a really high barrel rate because he struggles to make contact, leaving fewer batted ball events per plate appearance, but when he does the contact is exceptional. Chapman presents an intriguing option at NFBC ADP of 114. He isn’t a player I’ve explicitly targeted this draft season, but he’s an interesting player to watch in 2021 and is probably worth grabbing a share or two to see where he goes.

Ultimately, it seems like too many factors can influence a spike like both Seager and Chapman experienced, making it hard to predict. Trying to identify players who might experience a spike in barrel rate is probably overly complex and unnecessary, as there are easier ways to gain value from this information.

 

Applying the Knowledge

Now that we know definitively the positive correlation between barrels and power production, you’re probably wondering how this information can be used to help you win at fantasy baseball. It’s one thing to deep dive into the numbers for the heck of it, but there’s got to be something applicable here, right?

Check in for part two in order to find out which players could see a power surge in 2021 based on barrel-rate analysis!



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

Chris Sale6 hours ago

Wins National League Cy Young Award
Tarik Skubal7 hours ago

Wins 2024 American League Cy Young Award
Paul George7 hours ago

Exits Game On Wednesday, Hyperextends Left Knee Again
Scoot Henderson8 hours ago

Leaves Game On Wednesday, Won't Return
Jalen Johnson8 hours ago

Active On Wednesday Night
Zach Collins8 hours ago

Uncertain To Play On Thursday
Austin Eckroat8 hours ago

Heads To The RSM Classic After Win
Harris English8 hours ago

Finding Form Heading To The RSM Classic
Ben Griffin8 hours ago

Continues Playing Well Heading To The RSM Classic
Denny McCarthy8 hours ago

Returns to The RSM Classic
Patrick Williams9 hours ago

Likely To Miss At Least One Week
Kyle Anderson9 hours ago

Available For Matchup With Hawks
Victor Wembanyama9 hours ago

Out Again On Thursday
Jusuf Nurkic9 hours ago

Available On Wednesday
Stephen Curry9 hours ago

Will Play Against Atlanta
De'Anthony Melton9 hours ago

To Undergo Season-Ending ACL Surgery
Tre Mann9 hours ago

Probable For Thursday Night Matchup Against Detroit
Mike Conley9 hours ago

Appears On Injury Report For Thursday With Toe Injury
Donte DiVincenzo9 hours ago

Questionable Heading Into Thursday
Josh Jacobs10 hours ago

Limited With Multiple Injuries
DeVonta Smith10 hours ago

Misses Practice On Wednesday
Isaiah Hartenstein10 hours ago

To Make Season Debut On Wednesday
Tyrese Maxey10 hours ago

Active On Wednesday
Jarace Walker10 hours ago

Available On Wednesday
Ben Sheppard10 hours ago

Ruled Out For Wednesday
Myles Turner10 hours ago

To Play On Wednesday
Jalen Green11 hours ago

Available On Wednesday
Vince Williams Jr.11 hours ago

Out Versus 76ers
Wendell Carter Jr.11 hours ago

Unavailable Versus Clippers
Seth Jones12 hours ago

Expected To Miss Four Weeks
Sam Darnold12 hours ago

Limited With Foot Injury
Max Domi12 hours ago

Placed On Injured Reserve
Jalen Hurts12 hours ago

Limited On Wednesday
Connor Ingram12 hours ago

Out Day-To-Day With An Upper-Body Injury
Jake Ferguson12 hours ago

Picks Up A DNP On Wednesday
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen12 hours ago

Returns To Action Versus Kings
CeeDee Lamb12 hours ago

Listed As Limited, Dealing With Two Injuries
Alex Tuch12 hours ago

Available Wednesday
Tage Thompson12 hours ago

Remains Out On Wednesday
Sam LaPorta12 hours ago

Practicing In Full
Jordan Eberle12 hours ago

To Remain Out On Wednesday
George Kittle13 hours ago

Will Play In Week 12
Ludvig Aberg13 hours ago

Looks To Defend RSM Classic Title
Ladd McConkey13 hours ago

Does Not Practice On Wednesday
Si Woo Kim13 hours ago

An Intriguing Option At RSM Classic
Maverick McNealy13 hours ago

In Solid Form Ahead Of RSM Classic
Eric Cole13 hours ago

Chasing First Tour Victory At RSM Classic
San Francisco 49ers13 hours ago

Nick Bosa Does Not Practice On Wednesday
Christian McCaffrey13 hours ago

Does Not Practice On Wednesday
George Kittle13 hours ago

Limited During Wednesday's Practice
Brock Purdy13 hours ago

Limited On Wednesday
Alexander Mattison14 hours ago

Zamir White Not Practicing On Wednesday
Sam LaPorta14 hours ago

Trending Towards Playing In Week 12
Calvin Ridley16 hours ago

Out Wednesday With Illness
Isiah Pacheco16 hours ago

To Practice On Wednesday
D'Andre Swift16 hours ago

Won't Practice On Wednesday
Brandin Cooks17 hours ago

Cowboys Open Brandin Cooks' Practice Window
Mike Evans17 hours ago

Practicing Again On Wednesday
Connor Bedard21 hours ago

Ends Drought With Two Assists
Sam Reinhart21 hours ago

Pushes Point Streak To 11 Games
Mark Scheifele21 hours ago

Celebrates Ninth Career Hat Trick
Evan Bouchard21 hours ago

Rocks Senators With Three-Point Period
Connor McDavid21 hours ago

Nets Two Goals During Three-Point Night
TB21 hours ago

Nicholas Paul Exits Early With Injury Tuesday
Zach Hyman21 hours ago

Sits Out Third Period Versus Senators
1 day ago

Guardians' Stephen Vogt Named AL Manager Of The Year
Milwaukee Brewers1 day ago

Pat Murphy Named NL Manager Of The Year
Jonas Brodin1 day ago

Returns To Action
Joel Eriksson Ek1 day ago

Returns To Wild Lineup
1 day ago

Nick Pivetta Declines Boston's Qualifying Offer
Robert Thomas1 day ago

Back For Blues Tuesday
Jose Siri1 day ago

Mets Acquire Jose Siri From The Rays
Alexander Romanov1 day ago

Rejoins Islanders Lineup
Brayden Point1 day ago

Ready To Return Versus Penguins
Conor Garland1 day ago

A Game-Time Call Tuesday
J.T. Miller2 days ago

Takes Indefinite Leave For Personal Reasons
Jake Ferguson2 days ago

"Will Be Hard-Pressed" To Play In Week 12
2 days ago

Phillies To Meet With Juan Soto
2 days ago

Luis Severino Rejects Qualifying Offer From Mets
2 days ago

Willy Adames Declines Brewers Qualifying Offer
2 days ago

Teoscar Hernandez Declines Qualifying Offer From Dodgers
2 days ago

Juan Soto Declines Yankees' Qualifying Offer
Luis Gil2 days ago

Wins AL Rookie Of The Year Award
Paul Skenes2 days ago

Named 2024 NL Rookie Of The Year
Brady Singer3 days ago

Reds, Royals Discussing Jonathan India, Brady Singer
3 days ago

Sean Manaea To Reject Mets' Qualifying Offer
3 days ago

Braves Have Interest In Walker Buehler
3 days ago

Astros Interested In Willy Adames
Charles Oliveira3 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Michael Chandler3 days ago

Gets Dominated At UFC 309
Karine Silva3 days ago

Suffers Her First UFC Loss
Viviane Araujo3 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Mauricio Ruffy3 days ago

Extends His Win Streak To Six
Nick Martinez4 days ago

Signs Qualifying Offer With Reds
4 days ago

Luis Severino Likely To Decline Qualifying Offer From Mets
James Llontop4 days ago

Loses Clear-Cut Decision In Thrilling Fight At UFC 309
Paul Craig4 days ago

Loses Decision At UFC 309
Bo Nickal4 days ago

Remains Undefeated With Lackluster Performance At UFC 309
Stipe Miocic4 days ago

Retires After UFC 309 Loss
Jon Jones4 days ago

Gets TKO Win At UFC 309 To Defend Heavyweight Title
Grayson Rodriguez5 days ago

Orioles Optimistic Grayson Rodriguez Will Have A Full Spring Training
6 days ago

Red Sox Have Productive Meeting With Juan Soto
Michael Chandler6 days ago

Set For A Rematch At UFC 309
Charles Oliveira6 days ago

A Favorite At UFC 309
Viviane Araujo6 days ago

An Underdog At UFC 309
Karine Silva6 days ago

Looks To Extend Her Win Streak
Mauricio Ruffy6 days ago

Looks For His Second UFC Win

RANKINGS

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

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Bo Nix - Fantasy Football Rankings, QB, NFL Rookies, Draft Sleepers

Fantasy Football Matchups We Love - Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks for Week 12 Include Bo Nix, De'Von Achane, Quentin Johnston, Calvin Ridley, more

It seems as though fantasy managers were either incredibly disappointed or incredibly excited in Week 11. The output was modest for most players. However, if you had a monopoly on a select few players such as Cooper Kupp, Taysom Hill, or the Detroit Lions, you likely won your week. With the fantasy playoffs roughly three weeks […]


Brian Thomas Jr - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Fantasy Football Rookie Report for Week 12 - Searching for League Winners

We're getting awfully close to the fantasy football playoffs, and it's been an interesting year for rookies. Unfortunately, even some that seemed cemented into league-winner status have had huge drop-offs in production, but yet others have emerged. Extracting value wherever you can is vitally important. Unfortunately, there's an upcoming squeeze. With trade deadlines nearing in […]


George Pickens - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL injury News

NFL DFS Lineup Picks For FanDuel, DraftKings - Steelers vs. Browns TNF Showdown (Week 12)

Welcome back, RotoBallers! This will be an interesting matchup between stout AFC North defenses. The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) are traveling to take on the Cleveland Browns (2-8). We have no players of significance on the injury report for this game, therefore everyone is on the table! We have been pretty successful so far with these […]


Jonnu Smith - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Jonnu Smith Fantasy Football Outlook - Was His Big Game Legit or a Fluke?

Miami Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith had his first big game in Week 7, but he broke out in an even bigger way in Week 11 in a win against the Las Vegas Raiders. He caught six of his eight targets for 101 yards and a touchdown in the 34-19 win. His biggest play came […]


Patrick Mahomes - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL Pick'em Pool Picks (Week 12) - Targets, Avoids, Predictions for Pick'em Contests (2024)

There will be six teams on a bye for Week 12. The good news is, we still have some great matchups. That includes the Chargers hosting the Ravens and the Rams taking on the Eagles. Each week of the NFL season, I’ll share my picks for each game and rank their selections for those who […]


Jake Bates - Fantasy Football Rankings, Kicker Waiver Wire Pickups, Streamers

Week 12 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings: Kicker Updates Include Justin Tucker, Chris Boswell, Austin Siebert, Cameron Dicker, Wil Lutz, Chase McLaughlin

If you're one of the many fantasy managers who have struggled to get production out of your fantasy kicker spot, be sure to use our Week 12 fantasy football kicker rankings for 2024 to guide you in setting optimal lineups. The kicker position has always been challenging to predict and project, so we're here to […]


Isiah Pacheco - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Running Backs

Week 12 Fantasy Football Projections: Running Backs (Half-PPR) - Chubba Hubbard, Isiah Pacheco, Tyrone Tracy, JK Dobbins, Kareem Hunt, Tony Pollard

Somehow, only three weeks of the fantasy football regular season remain in most leagues. Whether you're hoping to hold onto a top seed or need to stack a few wins together to qualify for the playoffs, our initial Week 12 fantasy football running back projections for the 2024 NFL season will help you understand where […]


Xavier Worthy - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Week 12 Fantasy Football Projections: Wide Receivers (Half-PPR) - Xavier Worthy, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jayden Reed, DeAndre Hopkins, Tank Dell

The fantasy football playoffs begin in Week 15, so needless to say, time is running out if you need wins to qualify. If you're in a must-win spot down the stretch, it's critical to read our Week 12 fantasy football wide receiver projections for the 2024 NFL season. Ahead of the all-important slate, let's dig […]


David Njoku - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire

Week 12 Fantasy Football Projections: Tight Ends (Half-PPR) - George Kittle, Hunter Henry, Zach Ertz, David Njoku, Tucker Kraft, Mark Andrews, more

We're back for another week of fantasy football coverage, and while rankings are a great place to start your weekly start-or-sit preparation, you can use our Week 12 fantasy football tight end projections for the 2024 NFL season for further assistance. Ahead of the Week 12 slate, let's navigate the numbers and see the projected […]


Bo Nix - Fantasy Football Rankings, QB, NFL Rookies, Draft Sleepers

Week 12 Fantasy Football Projections Quarterbacks: Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Russell Wilson, Jared Goff, C.J. Stroud, Sam Darnold, Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels

It's make-or-break time for many fantasy managers, so it's time to lock in and set optimal lineups. Our Week 12 fantasy football quarterback projections for the 2024 NFL season are here to assist. Check the projections below to see how key Week 12 QBs such as Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Patrick Mahomes, Jordan Love, Jared […]


Houston Texans Defense D/ST Streamers, Rankings, Waiver Wire - Derek Stingley Fantasy Football IDP

D/ST Strength of Schedule: Best Fantasy Football Defense Streamers and Matchups (Weeks 12-17)

Ahh, the good old Defense/Special Teams (DST) position in fantasy football. It is a controversial inclusion in fantasy lineups for some fantasy players, but strategizing around DSTs is one of my favorite aspects of the in-season fantasy football experience. In the article below, I will present the strength of schedule (SOS) for the fantasy Defense/Special […]


Video: Week 12 Must-Start Defense (D/ST) Streamers - 2024 Fantasy Football Start/Sit Analysis

We're back and dropping fire content for Week 12! Check out our top 2024 fantasy football must-start Defenses (D/ST) and be prepared to dominate your matchups! LaQuan Jones discusses his top "Must Start" Defense (D/ST) streamers that have the potential to be game-changers in Week 12, as well as some defenses that you might want […]


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injuries

Fantasy Football Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 12 Including Josh Downs, T.J. Hockenson, Bucky Irving, D'Andre Swift

For many fantasy football gamers, the end of Week 11 marked the last opportunity to make trades ahead of the fantasy playoffs. However, there are plenty of leagues that have a later deadline and some that have no deadline at all. This is especially true of dynasty leagues, and while this week's column will still […]