Dustin Pedroia Set To Play On Tuesday
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (knee) will appear in the team's final spring training game against the Cubs on Tuesday. Pedroia will start the year on the IL to get back to full strength at extended Spring Training. However, the 35-year-old has played in six Grapefruit League games so far. He's tallied five […]
Adalberto Mondesi Provides Tantalizing Spring
Kansas City Royals shortstop/second baseman Adalberto Mondesi gave fantasy owners a taste of his sky-high potential last season, but his spring training is making even more people drool. His basic counting stats weren't phenomenal with just two home runs and four stolen bases over the course of 48 at-bats, but his underlying numbers are the […]
David Fletcher Sits Over The Weekend
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim infielder David Fletcher (hamstring) was scratched from the lineup Saturday and he did not play in Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to tightness in his hamstring. However, manager Brad Ausmus didn't sounds terribly worried about Fletcher's status for the opener. "He's fine," Ausmus said. "It's still spring […]
Daniel Descalso Expected To Be Fine For Opening Day
Chicago Cubs utility man Daniel Descalso (shoulder) had a handful of at-bats and played multiple positions on the infield in a minor league game on Sunday. He'll likely play in one of the two upcoming games against the Red Sox and is expected to be fine for Opening Day. The 32-year-old veteran has proved to […]
Devon Travis Begins On 60-Day Injured List
The Toronto Blue Jays placed second baseman Devon Travis (knee) on the 60-day injured list on Monday, making room on the 40-man roster for newcomer Daniel Hudson, who will work out of the bullpen. Travis has been sidelined since early March due to inflammation in his left knee and he is reportedly sidelined indefinitely. While […]
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast Expected Stats
Statcast is a valuable tool for fantasy analysis, and it can be easy to look at a stat called "Expected Batting Average" and blindly use it as your projection moving forward. Of course, proper use of these metrics is a little bit more nuanced than that. Our series on how to make sabermetrics more accessible […]
Kike Hernandez To Man Keystone In L.A.
Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman/outfielder Kike Hernandez has nailed down the starting second baseman job for manager Dave Roberts. He started at the keystone in Sunday's Freeway Series exhibition against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and handled six chances without incident. Last season he had a career-high 43.9 percent fly-ball ratio which was great […]
Second Base Draft Sleepers for 2019
I've written before about my qualms with the term "sleeper." In an age where more information is available than ever before, the odds that you'll catch any of your rivals napping on a particular player are fairly low. Having said that, it's still useful to consider players whose average draft position comes in well below […]
Indians Sign Brad Miller
The Cleveland Indians signed free-agent infielder Brad Miller to a major league contract on Sunday. Miller signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers on Feb. 27 but opted out of his contract on March 21. He will start the season on the Opening Day roster with both shortstop Francisco Lindor (calf) and second baseman […]
Yankees Option Tyler Wade
The New York Yankees optioned infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday morning, meaning that outfielder Mike Tauchman appears to have made the Opening Day roster. Tauchman was acquired from the Rockies on Saturday. Manager Aaron Boone sees the 28-year-old Tauchman as being capable of playing all three outfield positions for depth. The team's […]
Updated Second Base Rankings - H2H Points Leagues
Continuing on our points league tiered rankings analysis we move over to the keystone position. Second base has the deepest talent pool that it's seen in recent years as it’s full of elite bats at the top and high-upside youngsters in the lower tiers. With two games in the regular season already in the books, […]
2019 Fantasy Baseball Busts - RotoBaller Staff Picks
As you get ready for last-minute drafts or reflect on recent results, we wanted to give our staff the chance to share their least favorite preseason ADP values. We recently polled some of our fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are likely to avoid in the early rounds of […]
Finding Under and Overvalued 2B Using Expected Draft Values
We've been rolling out our series on Expected Draft Values, an innovative new way to find under and overvalued players. Yesterday, we started with Nick Mariano's look into some undervalued players, we followed it up this morning with Nick's look at overvalued players and then Connelly Doan's look at some under and overvalued first basemen. This evening, we're […]
Intro: Finding Overvalued Players Using Expected Draft Values
Yesterday we introduced the concept of Expected Draft Values and looked at four undervalued players that are prime targets in 2019. Today, we'll look at four overvalued players. Stay tuned the next few days as we bring you a deeper look at undervalued and overvalued players from each position using Expected Draft Values. Generally, what […]
Infielders Who'll Continue to Break Out In 2019
2018 was a fantastic year for a number of MLB players. Breaking out and either surprising people or reaching your true potential must be a fantastic feeling for players who have put in years of work to get to where they are. Those breakout players are also a lot of fun for fantasy baseball owners. […]
Ian Happ Will Begin The Season In Triple-A
The Chicago Cubs have demoted infielder/outfielder Ian Happ to Triple-A Iowa. Happ, 24, is a former top prospect, but his best chance for everyday at-bats will be in Iowa. Happ has a good chance to be promoted at some point this season, but the Cubs will not force the issue as manager Joe Maddon said […]
Whit Merrifield Continues To Dial In
Kansas City Royals second baseman/utility man Whit Merrifield had a nice day on Friday as he smacked a pair of hits and scored two runs against the Giants in the team's win. Obviously, there's little to be made of spring stats, but both Merrifield's hits did come off Madison Bumgarner, who isn't exactly some Double-A […]
Joey Wendle (3B/2B/SS/OF, TB) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 185 CURRENT ADP: ~240 overall ANALYSIS: In 139 games in 2018, Joey Wendle slashed .300/.354/.435 with seven home runs and 16 stolen bases. After earning 11% of American League rookie of the year votes (fourth behind Ohtani, Andujar, and Torres), he is set to return as a main contributor for the Rays […]
Yulieski Gurriel (3B/2B/1B, HOU) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 200 ANALYSIS: In his second full season with the Houston Astros, Yuli Gurriel’s 2018 numbers were exactly as expected. He hit a cool .291 with 13 HR, 70 R, 85 RBI and he even chipped in five stolen bases. Other than superb contact skills, Gurriel is league average in all batted […]
Scooter Gennett To Injured List With Groin Strain
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett (groin) will be out eight to 12 weeks with a right groin strain, the team announced on Saturday. Gennett injured himself while fielding a ball during Friday's Cactus League game against Milwaukee and his MRI confirmed the severity of the injury. This is bad news for Gennett owners as […]
After Hours with RotoBaller Radio: Starting Pitcher Preview Part 4
Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and gets you warmed up for the MLB preseason. This radio show is sponsored by our good friends over at RT Sports. Be sure to check out their Best Ball leagues, drafting every day, and their awesome contest the RealTime Fantasy Sports Baseball Championship with a […]
Scooter Gennett Headed For An MRI
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett had to be helped off of the field on Friday after suffering what appeared to be a leg injury while playing in the field against the Milwaukee Brewers. The veteran second baseman is slated to go for an MRI to determine the severity of the injury but things did […]
Matt Duffy May Start Season On Injured List
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Matt Duffy (hamstring) was scratched from the lineup Saturday and could open the season on the injured list. Although Duffy can be left off of fantasy rosters, there are a few promising candidates for at-bats behind him. Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe have both impressed this spring training and could […]
2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - RotoBaller Staff Picks
As we get set for the 2019 MLB season, it's time for our crack staff to reveal their favorite preseason sleepers. We recently polled some of our fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are targeting the most in the mid-to-late rounds of fantasy drafts. While you've likely heard […]
Intro: Finding Undervalued Players Using Expected Draft Values
At RotoBaller, we are all about bringing you the best analysis in the fantasy sports universe. We’re proud to unveil a draft-season project that looks at the past 10 years of draft data to find undervalued and overvalued players based on Expected Draft Values. This series introduction will briefly break down our methodology and then […]
Howie Kendrick Sees Live Pitching Thursday
Washington Nationals second baseman Howie Kendrick (hamstring) saw live pitching from reliever Tony Sipp on Thursday for the first time since he strained his left hamstring earlier this spring. Manager Dave Martinez is optimistic that both Kendrick and Sipp could be ready for Opening Day, but both players still have hurdles to clear. Kendrick is […]
Jason Kipnis Out 7-10 Days With Calf Strain
Cleveland Indians second baseman/outfielder Jason Kipnis won't do any baseball activities for seven to 10 days after an MRI exam showed a low-grade right calf strain. He has battled tightness in his right calf for the last week and was taken out of Wednesday's spring game after the pain continued. Eric Stamets had some tightness […]
Jonathan Schoop Stays Hot This Spring
Minnesota Twins second baseman Jonathan Schoop went 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBI in a 6-5 spring training loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. The veteran second baseman is putting together an excellent spring, hitting .306 with two homers and four RBI. Schoop, who signed with the Twins as a free agent in […]
Ian Happ Has Impressed At Second Base
Chicago Cubs infielder/outfielder Ian Happ has impressed manager Joe Maddon with more chances at second base in spring training. Happ will still get more at-bats over the course of the season in the outfield, but he has reminded the team that he's a reasonable option at the keystone. After hitting 24 homers in his rookie […]
Harris Yudin's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019
Despite whiffing on more than half, my 2018 predictions were highlighted by the claim that Christian Yelich would return first-round value. I was also justifiably optimistic about Matt Chapman’s breakout and Khris Davis’ impending title of Home Run King. So, I figured, the best plan of attack for 2019 was to use the same template […]