Cardinals Not Expected To Name Closer Soon

The St. Louis Cardinals aren't expected to name a closer anytime soon, even if reliever Jordan Hicks is likely to get the bulk of the ninth-inning opportunities. Lefty Andrew Miller will also factor into the ninth inning. Alex Reyes and Carlos Martinez are wild cards if they find fits in the bullpen as well. Hicks […]

Nick Mariano's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019

2018 was a banner season for baseball's Marianos, as Mariano Rivera was headed full steam ahead towards a unanimous Hall of Fame entry and yours truly was cruising with the most accurate fantasy baseball ranks of the season per FantasyPros, unbeknownst to me until recently. I'm still riding high off of that and you're all […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 12 - Spin Rate

Spin rate has become one of the most recognizable Statcast metrics, with supporters of a given pitcher highlighting his spin rates to make their case. Unfortunately, the baseball world has done a lousy job conveying what spin rate really means. The result has been a ton of owners who know that spin rate exists, but […]

Carlos Martinez Expected to Start the Season on the Injured List

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez (shoulder) is expected to begin the season on the injured list. There isn't much clarity on how the Cardinals will use Martinez this season, but given his injury, he's likely to at least begin in the bullpen before perhaps working his way back into the rotation in the […]

Hunter Strickland On Track For Japan Series

The top closing option for the Seattle Mariners, Hunter Strickland, threw a successful bullpen session on Tuesday and appears to be on track for the team’s two-game series in Japan on March 20. Strickland was experiencing tightness in his lower back last week and hasn't appeared in game action in ten days. The 30-year-old will […]

Could Craig Kimbrel Hold Out Until Midseason?

There is a possibility that free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel and his agent, David Meter, consider holding out until after the MLB draft in June. Kimbrel would then shed the draft-pick compensation attached to him after he rejected the Red Sox's one-year, $17.9 million qualifying offer last fall. Contenders might be more interested in giving Kimbrel […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019

2018 was a season to forget for yours truly, both in terms of fantasy performance and hit rate on bold predictions. In the first three years as a participant in this feature, I connected on three per article, with a few others in the realm of respectable. Last year? An 0-fer, and most of them […]

Matt Strahm's Growing Sleeper Appeal

San Diego Padres reliever Matt Strahm continued his dominant spring training on Sunday, fanning eight batters in four frames. Through three appearances and nine innings, Strahm holds a 0.67 WHIP and has not allowed a run. After returning from major knee surgery in 2017, Strahm worked almost exclusively as a reliever in 2018 with an […]

After Hours With RotoBaller Radio: Outfield Preview Show

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 […]

The King's Insider Report - New York Mets

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, with an in-depth look at the New York Mets from the perspective of a former player and current broadcaster who works for a major media outlet in the area, On the condition of anonymity, he […]

Gavin Lux Headlines Cuts By Dodgers On Sunday

The Los Angeles Dodgers optioned pitchers Yadier Alvarez, Donnie Hart and Josh Sborz to the minor-league camp on Sunday, and they also reassigned infielders Omar Estevez and Gavin Lux, as well as pitcher Mitchell White. Lux was the headliner of the group, as he had an adventure in the infield during Cactus League spring play, […]

Gerson Bautista Appears To Injure Shoulder

Seattle Mariners prospect pitcher Gerson Bautista (shoulder) suffered an apparent right shoulder injury in his Cactus League spring appearance against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Bautista delivered a pitch, and immediately crumpled to the ground in a crouch, shaking off his glove and grabbing the area around his arm pit with his non-pitching arm. […]

Breakout Relievers Due for Regression In 2019

One of the hardest positions to pinpoint fantasy value for each season is a relief pitcher. You have your handful of dominant closers who are fantasy staples, but the remainder of fantasy value usually comes from surprise players who step into the closer role or are starters with reliever eligibility. With the progressing shift towards […]

Miguel Castro Continues Strikeout Binge

Miguel Castro is one of the Orioles most valuable young arms, and he's been their best pitcher in spring training. In fact, Castro has eight strikeouts in five scoreless innings, and he's allowed three hits and zero walks. While he may not be in consideration to close for this club early on, there's a chance […]

More Later-Round Closer Candidates - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the later rounds of drafts, you start thinking about upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. These are the rounds to take risks on more unknown commodities like prospects, forgotten-about veterans, players returning from injuries or players that have previously showed promise but haven't put it all together yet. […]

RotoBaller's Weekend Warrior Show: National League Central Preview

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discusses 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 […]

Hunter Strickland Out With Minor Back Issue

Seattle Mariners reliever Hunter Strickland hasn’t pitched in a week due to tightness in his lower back. Manager Scott Servais doesn’t believe it to be serious, and he should return to action early this week. Strickland is the favorite for picking up saves in the M’s bullpen this season although Servais mentioned earlier this spring […]

A.J. Minter Should Be Ready For Opening Day

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher A.J. Minter said he's no longer bothered by left shoulder tightness after he was in a fender bender last week. The left-hander hasn't been cleared to resume throwing off a mound, but manager Brian Snitker thinks the reliever will be ready by Opening Day. Minter was great last year (3.23 ERA, […]

Trevor May Continues To Impress In Push To Be Named Closer

Minnesota Twins reliever Trevor May continued his excellent spring on Thursday. May pitched a perfect inning against the Boston Red Sox, striking out one. While the Twins have yet to name a closer for 2019, May is making a strong case. He has allowed just one run over his five innings of work while posting […]

The Winning Way to Draft Relief Pitchers

We've gone through each division, team by team. We've talked about the top setup men you should know about this season. We've looked at handcuffs and which closers you should have a backup for on draft day. It's a lot of information, but how does it apply to your league? Most people play in standard 5x5 […]

Spring Training Notes from the Field - Early Reactions

Finally, baseball is back. There might be no better feeling than being able to turn on the television and see a live game, even if it does not count for anything in the win column. While some of the players are new to fans, and some players even lack names on their jerseys, the energy […]

RotoBaller H2H Draft Strategy Primer

Fantasy baseball, much like the sport itself, it is one of the more complex to follow closely. Compared to fantasy football, in which nearly every league was head-to-head before the advent of best-ball, fantasy baseball comes in a variety of formats. Many leagues are roto-style, 5x5 category-scoring, with cumulative season-long stats. While that is the […]

After Hours With RotoBaller Radio: Third Base Preview Show

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 […]

The King's Insider Report - Boston Red Sox

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues with a trip inside the Boston Red Sox spring training press box. The King spoke to a long-time Red Sox media member about individual outlooks for members of the defending champions. As always, the quotes were provided […]

Later-Round Closer Candidates - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the later rounds of drafts, you start thinking about upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. These are the rounds to take risks on more unknown commodities like prospects, forgotten-about veterans, players returning from injuries or players that have previously showed promise but haven't put it all together yet. […]

Platoon Watch - Five Players On A Short Leash

One of the most commonly overlooked aspects when drafting a player in fantasy baseball is projecting how their season could play out. We sometimes don’t see the possible outcomes of playing time factors that a player can see during the course of a season. With our minds present in spring training battles and on players […]

Ryan Brasier To Throw Bullpen Thursday

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Ryan Brasier, who has been dealing with an infected right pinkie toe for two weeks, will throw a bullpen session on Thursday. Brasier had a 1.60 ERA, 2.83 FIP and 0.77 WHIP in 34 outings (33 2/3 innings) last year. Both he and Matt Barnes are the top two candidates […]

Expert Mock Draft Reactions - RotoBaller Friends & Family

On February 13, 2019, we assembled a group of industry experts to take part in the second annual RotoBaller Friends and Family Expert Mock Draft. Our participants represented multiple sites, including: CBS Sports (Heath Cummings) The Athletic (Nando Di Fino) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) RotoWire (Tim Heaney) Mastersball/ESPN (Todd Zola) GuruElite (Ray […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 11 - Pitch Info

One of the most fundamental questions in fantasy sports is if a player's current performance is sustainable. More than any other sport, baseball has a slew of statistical measures that can be dissected in numerous ways to analyze player performance. Pitch Info is a publicly available pitch tracking system that provides a lot of different data […]

Best-Ball Targets and Sleepers For 2019

One of the biggest challenges that fantasy baseball owners face is that they literally have to follow it every day. Unlike fantasy football, where you only need to check lineups once a week, baseball is on every single day and if you don’t pay attention your season will be in jeopardy. Most leagues are won […]