Rowan Wick Throws 25 Pitches On Sunday

Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Rowan Wick (intercostal) recently threw a 25-pitch bullpen session according to manager David Ross. Wick has been a nice piece of the Cubs bullpen over the last two seasons and there is no reason to believe that he won't continue that success when he is fully healthy. With Craig Kimbrel entrenched […]

Lucas Sims Expected To Share Closer Duties

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Lucas Sims threw a scoreless inning in a 7-1 Cactus League loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Sims is expected to share the closer role with Amir Garrett and possibly Sean Doolittle this season. The veteran reliever got a late start to the spring due to an elbow issue but he […]

Updated Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021

Opening day is just around the corner. So what better way to celebrate the occasion than to refresh the Top 50 prospects list for 2021 redraft leagues. If you're a habitual prospect watcher then you could have a leg up on your fantasy competition in 2021. Managers around baseball will heavily rely on rookies like […]

Mychal Givens Takes The Loss On Sunday

Colorado Rockies reliever Mychal Givens blew a save and took the loss in Sunday's Cactus League game vs. the Kansas City Royals. It was an ugly outing for Givens, who allowed two runs on two hits while walking three over just 2/3 innings. Givens entered the game in top of the sixth inning with the […]

Giovanny Gallegos Pitching Poorly This Spring

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Giovanny Gallegos hasn't pitched much this spring, but he hasn't been great when he has. In seven appearances, he's pitched 6 2/3 innings, putting up an 8.10 ERA and 2.25 WHIP. He's still missing bats, as evidenced by his eight strikeouts, but when he's getting hit, he's getting hit hard. […]

Cleveland Indians Could Use Closer-By-Committee To Start Year

Cleveland Indians relief pitchers James Karinchak, Nick Wittgren and Emmanuel Clase could all be used equally in save situations early on in the year, according to MLB.com's Mandy Bell. Bell reports that manager Terry Francona also said he told the trio they could be brought in for non-save situations as well to make sure they […]

Yimi Garcia Allows Another Run On Sunday

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Yimi Garcia allowed another run on Sunday while recording the final two outs of a 10-2 Grapefruit League win over the New York Mets. Garcia ended up pitching 2/3 of an inning, giving up a run on a solo home run and recording one strikeout. Garcia struggled in the playoffs last […]

Adam Cimber Records Four Outs In Sunday's Game

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Adam Cimber recorded four outs in Sunday's Grapefruit League finale against the New York Mets. Cimber's 1 1/3 innings included one walk and two strikeouts. He wraps up spring training with a strong 1.13 ERA and should be a key member of a much-improved Marlins bullpen. He'll likely begin the season […]

Richard Bleier Contributes A Perfect Inning On Sunday

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Richard Bleier pitched in with a perfect inning in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the New York Mets. Bleier pitched the seventh inning, needing just eight pitches (seven strikes) to retire the side in order. He wraps up Grapefruit League play with a 2.35 ERA and should have a significant role […]

John Curtiss Gets Four Outs On Sunday

Miami Marlins relief pitcher John Curtiss worked 1 1/3 innings in relief in Sunday's Grapefruit League finale against the New York Mets. Curtiss came in to pitch with two outs in the fifth inning, then handled the sixth inning himself. He allowed a walk and notched a strikeout without allowing any hits. Curtiss wrapped up […]

Daniel Castano Pitches Well On Sunday

Miami Marlins left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano pitched well in a Grapefruit League game against the New York Mets on Sunday. He tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits without issuing a walk and striking out five. Some reports had him touching 95 mph on the radar gun, which would be impressive for […]

Scott Oberg Placed On The 60-Day Injured List

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Scott Oberg has been placed on the 60-day injured list with blood clot issues. The 31-year-old RHP experienced some discomfort in his arm on Thursday morning after pitching in a "B" Game on Wednesday. He was then sent to the hospital where he underwent surgery in his right elbow to remove […]

Trent Thornton, Tim Mayza Make Jays Roster

Toronto Blue Jays pitchers Trent Thornton (elbow) and Tim Mayza (elbow) were informed that they will be with the club on opening day. Both players are returning from surgeries and were on the outside looking in when camp began. Thornton had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow last fall while Mayza underwent Tommy […]

Engel's Insider Angles: Front Office Views On Dylan Moore, Musgrove, Ohtani And More

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller.com! Every year during fantasy baseball draft season, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts and media members provide their unfiltered insights on key players and […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - RotoBaller Staff Picks

As the 2021 MLB season approaches, it's time for the RotoBaller staff to once again reveal their favorite preseason draft sleepers. We recently asked some of our top fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are targeting the most in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. While you've likely […]

Cole Irvin Making Bid For Rotation Spot

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Cole Irvin dazzled in his last spring outing striking out 10 Dodgers in six shutout innings. The 27-year-old lefty carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning as he makes a bid for the fifth rotation spot vacated by Mike Fiers (back) who will start the season on the injured list. A's […]

Matt Bush, Ian Kennedy Make 26-Man Roster

Texas Rangers pitchers Matt Bush and Ian Kennedy have been informed that they've made the opening day roster "provided no unforeseen circumstance" occurs. Texas has been inundated with injuries to the bullpen and has lost a long list of relievers including Jose Leclerc, Jonathan Hernandez, Brett Martin, and Joely Rodriguez. Bush, who hasn't pitched in […]

Anthony Bender Fires Another Scoreless Inning

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Bender tossed another scoreless inning in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Bender did allow two hits, but only needed 16 pitches to get through his inning of work. The 26-year-old fireballer has not allowed a run all spring and has 10 strikeouts through 8 1/3 innings […]

Adam Plutko Traded To Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles acquired pitcher Adam Plutko from the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations on Saturday, according to Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com. Coming off a down year in 2020 where he posted a 4.88 ERA and 12.9 percent strikeout rate in 27 2/3 innings, Plutko has looked slightly better this spring with a 26.8 percent […]

Bryan Abreu Makes Astros' Opening Day Roster

Houston Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu was informed on Saturday that he had made the Opening Day roster, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Abreu — one of the top prospects in Houston's system — had looked fairly solid before a rough appearance on Saturday, allowing four runs — three earned — on six hits […]

Matt Barnes Tests Positive For COVID-19

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Barnes (COVID-19) tested positive on Saturday for COVID-19, Tom Caron of NESN reports. Caron adds that the scheduled starter for Saturday's Grapefruit League game — Matt Andriese — has been scratched due to possible exposure. Barnes was Boston's closer last season, recording nine saves in 24 appearances while posting […]

Jamie Steed's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021

Bold predictions can be the key to fantasy seasons. Predicting players who will outperform or underperform expectations by extreme amounts can win leagues. Bold predictions can also be entirely unhelpful, speculative thoughts that are just fun to consider. With that in mind, I do think that each of these predictions has a legitimate chance of occurring […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Pitcher Statcast

Statcast metrics such as Barrels and Brls/BBE are great ways to evaluate a batter's performance, so it is only natural to assume that the metrics would be predictive for pitchers as well. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is evidence […]

Deep Prospects to Stash in Dynasty

Chasing prospects is like playing the lottery. You're going to lose more times than you'll win, but if you win big it'll make up for all your losses. In dynasty leagues, managers are always going to try to be three steps ahead when it comes to identifying the next hot prospect. In this article, we're […]

Eric Samulski's Bold Predictions for 2021

It's bold prediction time! Everybody's favorite time of year. Last year I put out my bold prediction article, and it was a doozy. Obviously, publishing it before the shutdown which delayed the MLB season impacted some of the claims, but, actually, no, I'll just blame everything on that. Anyways, I'm back again to plant my […]

Anthony Bass Finishes Friday's Win

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Bass pitched a perfect ninth inning in a 9-0 win over the Houston Astros in Grapefruit League play. Bass struck out two and got a fly out in his inning of work. He's lowered his spring ERA to 2.16 and despite no official announcement from manager Don Mattingly just yet, […]

Brandon Kintzler Makes Phillies Opening Day Roster

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Brandon Kintzler was told he made the Phillies Opening Day roster, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Kintzler has pitched to a sub-three ERA in two straight seasons and will provide depth at the back end of the bullpen in his first season in Philly. The 36-year-old has closing experience with the […]

Brad Boxberger Released By Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers released relief pitcher Brad Boxberger on Friday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. The 32-year-old was unable to secure a spot on the big-league roster to open the season, though Milwaukee apparently hopes to re-sign him on another minor-league deal. Boxberger had a 3.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and 18:8 K: BB over 18 […]

Bryan Shaw Makes Opening Day Roster

Cleveland Indians right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw, who signed a minor league deal with the team this offseason, was told earlier this week that he will make the Opening Day roster. He'll receive a one-year deal worth $1 million with a chance to earn $1.3 million in performance bonuses based on pitching appearances. Shaw was a […]

Garrett Whitlock Makes Opening Day Roster

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced on Friday morning that reliever Garrett Whitlock will make the team's Opening Day roster. Whitlock, who was acquired from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft this offseason, has been the team's feel-good story of the spring. He has allowed just one run in nine innings, striking out […]