CJ Abrams Resumes Full Baseball Activity

San Diego Padres shortstop CJ Abrams (shoulder) has resumed full baseball activity, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Abrams, a top prospect, played in just 42 games at the Double-A level in 2021, slashing .296/.363/.420 with two homers and 13 steals in 183 plate appearances. The 20-year-old is expected to see plenty […]

HR/FB: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Using BABIP to predict a player's batting average is great. Batting average is a category in many league formats, and every hit is an opportunity to steal a base or score a run. Most fantasy managers find the long ball sexier. Every HR comes with a guaranteed run scored and at least one RBI. Many […]

Shortstop Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Although redraft season for fantasy baseball is not upon us yet, dynasty leagues are always active. Those crucial preseason cut/hold decisions are being weighed in order to assess the keeper value of each player on your roster. To help our readers make the most informed decisions, RotoBaller has updated dynasty baseball rankings, submitted by Brad […]

Batted Ball Data Analysis - How Consistent Are GB%, LD%, and FB% Year To Year

When we are evaluating hitters, we talk a lot about batted ball profile. When we're talking about this, things like launch angle and ground ball rate are cited quite often. I wanted to make a post to go over these things a bit more in-depth, giving our readers more complete knowledge of the subject at […]

Gordon Beckham Announces His Retirement

Infielder Gordon Beckham announced in a tweet on Wednesday that he is officially retiring. The eighth overall pick by the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 draft, Beckham made his Major League debut in 2009 and logged 3782 plate appearances in the Majors. In addition to playing for the White Sox, he also suited up […]

Early 2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues

Welcome back RotoBallers! In this article you'll find our team's early 2022 fantasy baseball rankings and tiers for 5x5 mixed roto leagues. The new year is always an exciting time, as it marks a period where interest in the approaching MLB and fantasy baseball season starts to pick up. Our team has been hard at […]

Using Launch Data to Search for Power Breakouts in Fantasy Baseball

Statcast data is such a beautiful thing. I start a ton of posts like this, but I want to say again - the quantity and richness of this data gives guys like me endless opportunities for statistical analysis. Today, we're going to dive into the hitting pool and focus on launch profiles, with the aim […]

Predicting Minor League Hitting Stats for the Majors: Searching for Stickiness in Fantasy Baseball

Of all the fantasy sports, baseball probably allows for the most amount of speculation. Given the nature of the game where players spend at least a couple of years in the minor leagues before getting to the highest level, there is a lot of analysis done on these minor leaguers with the hopes of figuring […]

Plate Discipline: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

No matter how high a particular player's BABIP may be, his average will be mediocre at best if he strikes out too much. This is why fantasy managers have known for years that players like Mike Zunino are potential drains on a fantasy team's batting average. Furthermore, players that whiff a lot tend to continue […]

Early 2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - Points Leagues and H2H Points Formats

Welcome RotoBallers to our early 2022 fantasy baseball points league rankings for points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) points leagues. We couldn't be more excited to be putting out various fantasy baseball rankings and fantasy baseball articles for the 2022 season -- it's always an exciting time of year. In general, points leagues and H2H points […]

MLB Makes First Labor Proposal Since Lockout Began

Major League Baseball made its first labor proposal on Thursday since locking out players on Dec. 2, but it did little to encourage players and raised the likelihood of spring training being postponed, according to sources familiar with the situation. MLB proposed changes to the arbitration system for players with two-plus years of service, tweaked […]

Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers - Hitters

Welcome to part two of my pre-season series on 2021 barrel rate risers and fallers. In the first part, I looked at the players who showed the biggest barrel rate improvement in 2021 and broke down whether or not we should believe that success will carry over into 2022. In this article, I'll look at […]

Who's #1? Early Look at Picking First Overall

With the off-season fully underway and early drafts already taking place, it’s time to start looking at those players being selected first in drafts. This year offers a very different set of players than we’ve seen in recent memory. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr. have all fallen out of contention for first […]

Batter BABIP: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

The most accessible of the fantasy-relevant advanced stats is BABIP, or Batting Average on Balls In Play. It simply measures a player's batting average on balls in play, with outcomes such as strikeouts and home runs removed from consideration. In general, the league average hovers around .300, a nice round number to remember. Many know […]

2022 Fantasy Breakout Candidates - NL West

We have already broken down the top breakout candidates from the National League Central, National League East, American League West, American League East, and American League Central. In this column, we'll run down players from the National League West, one from each team, who could fit the bill and have breakout campaigns next season. One […]

Projecting Power in 2022: Increases in Air% Exit Velocities

Balls come and balls go but regardless of the current offensive environment in baseball, what hasn't changed is our fantasy love of power. But after the happy fun ball days of 2019 and 2020, the MLB went back to the lab in an attempt to deaden some of the bouncy ball hijinks. And deaden they […]

Valuing Injured Players Returning In 2022

Last year's season-ending injury list is an All-Star team. It holds three of the best players in the game and plenty of other superstar adjacent players. Now, heading into the 2022 fantasy baseball season, we have to evaluate the value of these injured players. Should we be concerned about Ronald Acuna Jr? Is Jacob deGrom […]

Mark Kotsay A Candidate For A's Managerial Job

Third base coach Mark Kotsay is among the Oakland Athletics managerial candidates who have or are expected to interview soon, and the list also include Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Red Sox bench coach Will Venable, Astros bench coach Joe Espada, A's bullpen coach Marcus Jensen and A's hitting coach Darren Bush, according to sources. […]

Mets Interview Brad Ausmus For Manager Position

The New York Mets interviewed Brad Ausmus for their managerial opening on Monday, marking the first interview of what's expected to be an extensive search, according to sources familiar with the situation. The 52-year-old Ausmus served as the manager for the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels previously, and he has a long relationship with […]

Red Sox Have Checked In With Trevor Story

The Boston Red Sox have at least checked in with free-agent shortstop Trevor Story. There are at least three serious players for Story, plus others and one mystery team. MLB Network's Jon Heyman also mentioned the Houston Astros as a team to have expressed interest in Story this offseason. Boston recently reached out to Carlos […]

2022 Fantasy Breakout Candidates - NL Central 

Identifying potential fantasy breakout players in drafts each Spring can be crucial in building a championship-winning roster for fantasy managers. Often times the breakout players, if they do in fact break out, will significantly outperform their draft position and help you find success. It may be a late-round pick performing like a quality contributor who […]

Arizona Fall League 2021 Wrap Up

The Arizona Fall League wrapped up on November 20th with a Mesa Solar Sox championship over the Suprise Saguaros. In this space, we will review the 2021 Arizona Fall League by highlighting players who were the most notable risers and disappointments based on their performance from a fantasy baseball perspective. Many of these prospects won't […]

Marcus Semien and Corey Seager to Rangers - Fantasy Impact

The Texas Rangers made a big splash in free agency by signing Corey Seager (10 years, $350 million) and Marcus Semien (7 years, $175 million) to create their middle infield combination for years to come. This surprised a lot of baseball fans, as the Rangers traded Joey Gallo and Kyle Gibson at the trade deadline […]

Early One-Man Mock (Rounds 2-5) - 2022 Fantasy Baseball

I've already run through the first round of my one-man mock, which you can check out right here. Now, let's move on to the next few rounds with a look at how early drafts might shake out. I took roster construction into consideration so that a team didn't select three outfielders in the first three […]

Johan Camargo Signs With Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies signed infielder Johan Camargo to a one-year, $1.4 million deal on Wednesday night before MLB entered a lockout on Thursday. The deal includes $100,000 in incentives. Camargo became a free agent when the Atlanta Braves didn't tender him a contract for 2022. Right-hander Adonis Medina was designated for assignment to clear a […]

Javier Baez to Tigers - Fantasy Impact

The Tigers got in on the free-agent spending spree by adding infielder Javier Baez. He signed a six-year deal worth $140 million dollars and makes the type of statement that Detroit wants the rest of the baseball world to know. “It sends a message to the rest of baseball. The Tigers are here to compete.” […]

Carlos Correa Comfortable Waiting Through Lockout

Free-agent shortstop Carlos Correa has received plenty of interest and many offers on the open market as the top free agent available, but he is comfortable waiting through the coming lockout for the right offer. The usual big-spending teams have not spent big yet, and if the tax threshold rises with a new Collective Bargaining […]

MLB Owners Vote Unanimously For A Lockout

Major League Baseball owners have voted unanimously to institute a lockout, beginning at an unspecified time on Thursday. The Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire at 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday. The MLB Players Association hasn't moved away from its original proposal in May, which seeks a major overhaul of the sport's economic system, […]

Dodgers Reportedly Re-Sign Chris Taylor

According to a tweet from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly re-signed infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor to a four-year deal. Per Rosenthal, the contract is worth $60 million and includes an option for a fifth year, that if exercised, would take the contract's total value to $73 million. The 31-year-old hit .254 […]

Braves Non-Tender Johan Camargo, Richard Rodriguez

The Atlanta Braves have opted not to tender contracts to three players, including relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez and utilityman Johan Camargo. Jasseel De La Cruz will also be looking to link up with a new team. Rodriguez is the most notable name of the bunch, as he pitched to a 2.94 ERA and 0.93 WHIP […]