First Impressions - MLB Opening Day 2020 Fantasy Notes

I can't remember being more excited for an Opening Day than this one. Although Thursday, July 23 was technically the first day of the 2020 MLB season, Friday is when 28 of the 32 teams took the field for the first time for regular-season play. Never have I been happier to fire up MLB Extra Innings […]

Jorge Alfaro Placed On The Injured List

Miami Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was scratched from the Opening Day lineup and placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday. No reason was given. Alfaro dealt with an oblique injury in the first part of spring training, but seemed fully recovered from it, blasting a home run in an exhibition game against the Atlanta […]

Jorge Alfaro Lands On Injured List To Open Year

Miami Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro will begin the 2020 season on the 10-day injured list, although the organization did not immediately announce the reason. To take his spot on the 30-man roster, infielder Sean Rodriguez had his contract selected. Alfaro had a stronghold on the team’s primary catching duties, looking to take the next step […]

Travis d’Arnaud, Tyler Flowers Not Available To Start Year

Atlanta Braves catchers Travis D'Arnaud and Tyler Flowers will both miss Opening Day on Friday after exhibiting symptoms, yet testing negative for COVID-19. As the only two catchers originally selected for the club’s Opening Day roster, the duo of Alex Jackson and William Contreras have been recalled to serve as backstops for Atlanta’s staff. d’Arnaud […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the July 24th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics […]

Daily MLB DFS Value Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings - July 24, 2020

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Below you will find our Premium DFS value plays for 7/24/2020. These picks will target low-priced players in the main slate. We have an 11-game slate on tap tonight with a lot of aces on the mound. It will open up a lot of potential […]

MLB DFS Cheat Sheet, Lineup Picks and Expert Lineups for July 24th, 2020 (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. We will be releasing our Premium MLB DFS picks every single day of the week for the entire MLB and fantasy baseball season and postseason, a few hours before games begin that day. Below you will find our Premium DFS cheat sheet and lineup picks […]

Postseason Expanded To 16 Teams For 2020

Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced on Thursday that the 2020 playoffs will expand to 16 teams, beginning with eight best-of-three wild-card series preceding the Division Series. The higher seeds in the wild-card series will host all three games, which will be scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29 through Friday, Oct. 2. The entire […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (7/24/20) - MLB DFS Lineups

WE ARE BACK! These are words that baseball fans have been waiting to hear for quite some time. After an opening night two-game slate, we've got 11 games to choose from on Friday night. Have fun playing around with the combinations but be sure to double-check the weather and starting lineups before finalizing your roster. […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (7/23/20) - MLB DFS Lineups

WE ARE BACK! These are words that baseball fans have been waiting to hear for quite some time. For the opening night schedule we will have two games to get things started. The defending World Series champs will face the Yankees starting at 7:08 PM EST, followed by the Giants and the Dodgers. Be sure […]

Roto Category Deflations for Hitters in 2020

Things are going to happen fast in 2020. You’ll want to click that add button on hitters who are in the midst of hot streaks quicker than most seasons as a 10-day hot streak this year makes up for over 15% of the full MLB season - as opposed to just 6% in a full […]

RotoBaller Experts League No. 2 Draft Recap

Here at RotoBaller, there is no such thing as being in too many fantasy baseball leagues. Some of the writers here are lucky enough to participate in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, which pits writers, analysts, and experts from all across the baseball community against each other. One RotoBaller writer even started a relievers-only bullpen […]

Young Blue Jays Lineup Set To Make Impact in 2020

In 2019, the Yankees and Marlins were tied for the youngest starting lineup in the Majors at 26.5 years of age. Heading into 2020, the average age of the Blue Jays' starting lineup in 25.5, with 30-year-old Travis Shaw projected to be their oldest starter. There is such a great deal of variance on how […]

Updated Points League Rankings Risers and Fallers (July)

Is it feasible to do a weekly H2H league in 2020? Sure. Is it a great idea? Not really. With just under 10 weeks of actual baseball, the whole "sprint" metaphor will become real in a hurry. Total points leagues aren't as popular but make a lot more sense over the course of a 60-game season. […]

Austin Nola To See An Increased Workload

Seattle Mariners catcher Austin Nola looks to be the primary catching option for Seattle following Tom Murphy's trip to the injured list to start 2020. Nola hit .269 with 10 home runs in 79 games for Seattle in 2019 and though he should see an increased role behind the plate, he doesn't offer much upside […]

Tom Murphy To Start Season On Injured List

Seattle Mariners catcher Tom Murphy has a fracture in the metatarsal of his left foot and will start the season on the injured list. The time frame for his return is unknown but missing any time this season is a huge hit to fantasy value considering it is only 60 games. Murphy was already in […]

Sauceda's Slants: Finding POWA in the Infield

We recently introduced our new hitter metric, POWA (which stands for Prediction of wOBA Attempt), to more appropriately align and weight new Statcast metrics to better predict future performance. You can read the introductory piece for the full details and a 2019 POWA leaderboard, but the gist of it is: POWA is nearly 10% more […]

Kevan Smith To Serve As Third Catcher

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said the team is expected to carry three catchers on their Opening Day roster. The Rays selected the contract of catcher Kevan Smith and added him to the 40-man roster on Tuesday, so the team will carry Mike Zunino, Michael Perez and Smith on the roster. Chris Herrmann asked […]

Francisco Mejia, Austin Hedges To Split Time Evenly

San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler confirmed catchers Francisco Mejia and Austin Hedges will play equally this season. The even timeshare negatively impacts fantasy prospects for both players, especially Mejia as the more attractive signal-caller. The 24-year-old has notched a .714 OPS in 320 plate appearances across three seasons. A former top prospect with hitting […]

Wilson Ramos Returns To Camp

New York Mets catcher Wilson Ramos returned to Mets' camp on Tuesday after a three-day absence to deal with personal matters. Mets manager Luis Rojas was noncommittal when asked about whether Ramos would be ready by Opening Day. The Mets signed catcher Rene Rivera to their 40-man roster on Sunday as insurance in the event […]

John Ryan Murphy To Be Backup Catcher

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher John Ryan Murphy, who was added to the 40-man roster on Sunday, is primed to be the backup to Jacob Stallings after Luke Maile underwent season-ending surgery to fix a fractured right index finger last Friday. Murphy was a non-roster invitee at spring training on a minor league deal. The 29-year-old is […]

Nerlens Noel Able To Scrimmage on Tuesday

Oklahoma City Thunder center Nerlens Noel (ankle) was able to get through Tuesday's scrimmage without any issues. He tweaked his ankle on Saturday and was unable to practice on Sunday. It sounds like a minor issue that isn't going to cost him any games. He should be fine for the restart, but his fantasy value […]

Fantasy Life Vests: Safe Hitters In A Season Of Chaos

Chaos is the name of the game when it comes to the 2020 Major League Baseball season. We've got a short season, a limited schedule, expanded rosters, universal DH, and the continuously looming threat of a global pandemic. In other words, we have a plethora of factors we've never had to deal with before as […]

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (C/3B, TEX) Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in two-catcher leagues OWNED IN: 5% of leagues ANALYSIS: Isiah Kiner-Falefa got pushed down the catcher rankings before a majority of drafts. That makes a lot of sense, as he only showed a meager ability to hit the long ball -- only five career home runs in 618 plate appearances is very underwhelming. Another […]

Wilson Ramos Dealing With Personal Matter

New York Mets catcher Wilson Ramos was not in Mets' camp on Saturday and Sunday and missed both exhibition games against the Yankees. Manager Luis Rojas stated that Ramos is dealing with a "personal matter" and no further reason for his absence was provided. In 2019, Ramos hit .288/.351/.416 with 14 home runs and 73 […]

Sidney Crosby Misses Penguins Practice

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby missed practice on Sunday, one day after leaving their scrimmage early for undisclosed reasons. Crosby left the bench Saturday about 10 minutes into the second period, walked toward the locker room and did not return for the rest of the scrimmage. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan declined to comment on Crosby's […]

Steven Stamkos Practices For Second Consecutive Day

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos participated in a full-team practice on Sunday for the second straight day at training camp. Stamkos is recovering from a lower-body injury sustained during voluntary workouts. "The plan is to ease him back in. The plan is to get him in as soon as we can, but it's when […]

Fantasy Baseball Strategies for a 60-Game Season

Host Michael Florio of RotoBaller Radio discusses the 2020 fantasy baseball season. In this episode, he brings you his approach in a 60 game fantasy baseball season. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into […]

Dorian Finney-Smith Getting Reps At Center

Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith spent time getting in reps at the center position during Sunday's practice, according to head coach Rick Carlisle. The Mavs are thin in the frontcourt with Willie Cauley-Stein opting out and Dwight Powell (Achilles) sidelined. Before the shutdown, Finney-Smith was averaging career highs in multiple categories. It's unclear if the […]

Deandre Ayton Improving From Beyond The Arc

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has been making strides with his perimeter shot, according to head coach Monty Williams. Ayton has only attempted three shots from beyond the arc this season. However, Ayton is working on improving his shot and it sounds like Williams is encouraging him to take more shots from beyond the arc. […]