Pedro Strop, Robert Stephenson Readying For Return

The Cincinnati Reds are close to getting a pair of right-handed relievers back as Pedro Strop and Robert Stephenson both faced batters Wednesday at the team’s alternate site with another session scheduled for Friday. Strop has been sidelined due to a groin ailment since Aug. 7, while Stephenson has been out of the mix since […]

Burch Smith Unlikely To Return For A’s In 2020

Oakland Athletics right-handed pitcher Burch Smith is not likely to be cleared to return for the club this season after having sustained a forearm strain last week. Manager Bob Melvin provided an update Thursday, saying that he believed that it would be tough for Smith to make it back this season. Smith had quickly become […]

Erik Swanson Hits 10-Day IL With Forearm Strain

Seattle Mariners right-handed pitcher Erik Swanson has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a forearm strain. He has struggled mightily thus far in 2020, yielding seven hits and nine runs -- including three home runs -- across his 5 ⅓ frames, having blown one save and collected two losses. Swanson has added […]

Pedro Baez Lands On IL With Groin Strain

Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Pedro Baez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right groin with righty Josh Sborz taking his place on the active roster. Coming off of an elite Statcast metric campaign in 2019, Baez has been unable to duplicate those numbers this year. While he has […]

Corey Knebel Lands On IL With Hamstring Ailment

Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Corey Knebel has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. The move doesn’t particularly threaten Knebel’s long-term health, as he will be able to continue throwing as he rehabs. The hard-throwing righty has been hit hard in 2020 thus far, allowing seven runs in 6 […]

Josh James Exits Early Thursday, Helped From Field

Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Josh James appeared to sustain a left leg injury during Thursday’s contest against the Rockies, which forced him to need help leaving the field. After allowing another run out of relief, James’ ERA has skyrocketed up to 10.97 across 10 ⅔ innings this year. After the team flirted with the idea […]

Yankees-Mets Contest Postponed Friday, Series In Doubt

The New York Yankees and New York Mets were set to meet Friday in the first Subway Series contest of 2020 at Citi Field. But due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Mets’ organization -- including at least one player and one member of the staff -- the first game has been postponed, with the […]

Mets-Marlins Game Postponed Thursday

The New York Mets and Miami Marlins have had their contest Thursday postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Mets’ organization. One player and one staff member with New York has tested positive so far, which likely means that there are more cancellations to come for the Mets over the weekend. The club’s starting […]

The Baller Ranks: Top 200 Hitters Weekly Rankings (Week 5)

When I started writing up the column for this week, it was going to focus on the esteemed gentlemen of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Bo Bichette as well as the broader shortstop landscape. Then I started looking at first base and DH and got fixated on what was happening with Cody Bellinger and Shohei Ohtani, […]

The Baller Ranks: Top 101 Relief Pitchers Weekly Rankings

It's already time for the Week 5 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take a weekly dive into where the top 101 RPs stand moving forward in this strange sprint season. You can check out my weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks as well. I've updated this piece through Aug. 18. David Emerick rolled out […]

Midseason Waiver Saviors at Every Position

With roughly 60 percent of the MLB season left to play, fantasy owners are understandably at their wits-end with some of their underperforming draft picks and "bigger" names that they are far too hesitant to drop. Do not let the fallacy of sunk-costs play you into holding onto a player that is dragging your team […]

Yankees Call Up Pitching Prospect Miguel Yajure

The New York Yankees made multiple roster moves on Thursday, including calling up pitcher Miguel Yajure from their alternate site. Yajure had a fantastic year in the minors last year, split between Double-A and High-A. Over 138.2 innings, he posted a 2.14 ERA and 1.075 WHIP with 8.6 K/9. Though he was primarily used as […]

Top 50 Prospects for Fantasy Baseball Redraft: Week 5 Rankings

The Top 50 redraft prospects list is back for another week and we continue to see a lot of movement on the list as teams rely heavily on young players in 2020. Rays' two-way player Brendan McKay has been removed from the list after news broke Tuesday afternoon that stated the prospect will be undergoing […]

Week 5 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report

Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which […]

Brandon Workman Earns Fourth Save Against Phillies

Boston Red Sox closer Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Wednesday's 6-3 victory against the Phillies to earn his fourth save of the season. The 32-year-old has gone four-for-four in save opportunities on the season but has only pitched 6 2/3 innings as a result of the Red Sox 7-18 record on the […]

Zach Britton Placed On Injured List

New York Yankees relief pitcher Zach Britton (hamstring) has been placed on the Injured List with a left hamstring strain. Britton was taken out of Wednesday's game and was holding his leg tenderly as he walked off the mound. He had an MRI exam Thursday morning that determined the nature of the injury and caused […]

Liam Hendriks Pitches Clean-Ninth For Eighth Save

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Liam Hendriks pitched a clean-ninth vs the Diamondbacks Wednesday to earn the save. Hendriks is now tied with Zack Britton for the league lead in saves with eight on the season. The right-hander picked up where he left off after his impressive 2019 season as he's sporting a 1.46 ERA with […]

Dellin Betances Retires Just Two Of Six Batters Wednesday

New York Mets relief pitcher Dellin Betances struggled on Wednesday retiring just two of the six batters he faced in the Mets' 5-3 win over Miami. Betances worked 2/3 innings pitched and allowed two earned runs, walked one, hit one batter, and yielded two hits. Before Wednesday's disaster, Betances had worked six straight scoreless appearances […]

Despite Blown Save, Edwin Diaz Likely To Be Mets Primary Closer

New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz blew his second save of the season on Wednesday against the Marlins. Diaz was called on to get the final out in the eighth inning after Dellin Betances loaded the bases. Diaz promptly walked in the tying run before striking out Jonathan Villar to end the inning. Diaz […]

Miguel Castro (RP, BAL) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues/Saves+Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 2% of leagues ANALYSIS: Miguel Castro made his MLB debut back in 2015 for the Toronto Blue Jays, and in the five years since, Castro has had an up and down career as a bullpen prospect for the Jays, Rockies, and now the Baltimore Orioles (unfortunately bouncing […]

Seth Lugo To Start Thursday And Remain In Rotation

New York Mets pitcher Seth Lugo will start for the Mets on Thursday against the Miami Marlins and remain in the starting rotation indefinitely. Manager Luis Rojas said the plan is to stretch Lugo out and keep him in the rotation following Thursday's start. Lugo has historically been much more effective out of the bullpen. […]

Rafael Montero Gives Up Game-Winning Grand Slam

Texas Rangers reliever Rafael Montero finally gave up an earned run, but unfortunately, gave up three of them on a Manny Machado grand slam to win the game on Wednesday night. Montero came into the game for the bottom of the ninth and kept the Padres in check to send the game to extra innings, […]

Taylor Williams Notches Fourth Save Wednesday

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Taylor Williams was called on to get the last four outs against the Dodgers on Wednesday and did so allowing one hit, two walks and striking out three hitters. Williams has been Seattle's best reliever so far in 2020 with four saves and 15 strikeouts through 10 innings. Though the Mariners […]

Brandon Kintzler Takes The Loss On Wednesday

Miami Marlins closer Brandon Kintzler took the loss in Wednesday's game against the New York Mets. Kintzler came into a tie game in the ninth inning, but allowed a two-run shot to Michael Conforto and the Marlins were unable to do anything in the bottom of the inning. Kintzler has been solid and actually didn't […]

Zach Britton Injures Leg

New York Yankees reliever Zach Britton (leg) left his appearance on Wednesday while grabbing his leg, and manager Aaron Boone announced after the game that Britton is being looked at. Britton had only recently been pushed back into a setup role with Aroldis Chapman’s return to the team, so Britton’s injury comes at a time […]

Craig Kimbrel Strikeout The Side For Save Number One

The Chicago Cubs elected to give reliever Craig Kimbrel another save opportunity on Wednesday and he delivered in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Kimbrel had good command and was throwing gas to the Cardinals lineup. He struck out the first two batters before hitting Tommy Edman and ended the game by striking out Kolten Wong. […]

Mets May Move Seth Lugo Into Rotation

New York Mets pitcher Seth Lugo may move into the starting rotation with the Mets struggling to fill the holes in their rotation. An extremely effective relief pitcher, Lugo has been considerably less effective as a starting pitcher over his MLB career. Lugo’s ERA rises from 2.53 as a reliever to 4.06 as a starter […]

Nationals-Braves Rained Out Wednesday; DH Set For September

The Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves have had their game Wednesday postponed due to inclement weather. Even with both clubs set for an off-day Thursday, the rained out game has been pushed to Sept. 4, where it will be a part of a doubleheader with both games set for seven innings. Neither club made it […]

A.J. Puk To Toss Bullpen Friday

Oakland Athletics left-handed pitcher A.J. Puk is in line to throw a bullpen session Friday, the latest step in his rehab from a shoulder strain. After that, facing live batters will be his next step. The A’s have reiterated that if Puk rejoins the big league roster this season, it will be as a reliever […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 19th 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 […]