Diamondbacks Player Tests Positive For COVID-19

The Arizona Diamondbacks had a player test positive for COVID-19 in the last month in Arizona, according to general manager Mike Hazen. However, the player that tested positive wasn't using the team's spring training facilities, so it sounds as though no other players or staff members that were using the team's spring training facilities were […]

Outfielders Ready to Break Out Late

Finding value is crucial on draft day and finding just one or two players later in drafts that provide better numbers than projected can give you a significant edge on the competition as you bid for fantasy glory. All too often, we look for the new shiny object in drafts thinking they’ll come up to […]

Fantasy Value In a 50-Game Season: Starting Pitchers

Having now passed the ides of June, there is still no start date for the 2020 season and no guarantee that we'll even ever get one. MLB and the MLBPA continue to pass proposals back and forth, with each side taking their turn at rejection. This puts baseball in a situation where Commissioner Rob Manfred is […]

Off-The-Radar MLB Prospects and Dynasty Assets

Dynasty leagues are always a lot of foresight and mental math. Are you competing this year or in the future? Are you trying to stockpile pitching assets to balance against their heightened risk or take a lot of hitters because of their relative safety? What skills project the best for you? All of these questions […]

Rich Hill (SP, MIN) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~ 170 CURRENT ADP: ~190 overall ANALYSIS: Rich Hill has been somewhat of a conversation centerpiece lately. Originally, Hill was going to miss the first half of the season, but with the delay, we could be seeing a "full season" of Hill. The left-hander has essentially never been a bad pitcher. […]

Luke Weaver (SP, ARI) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~ 170 CURRENT ADP: ~200 overall ANALYSIS: Luke Weaver seemed to be in the middle of a breakout before an injury halted his 2019 season. On the season, he pitched 64.1 innings in 12 starts with a 2.94 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. To further dive into this potential breakout, let’s take […]

MLB Draft Review and More with Chris Welsh - Bases Loaded Podcast

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Chris Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) and they dive into the MLB draft. Subscribe to the Bases Loaded podcast, part of RotoBaller Radio's Podcast Network. 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 […]

Infielders Ready to Break Out Late

Finding value is crucial on draft day and finding just one or two players later in drafts that provide better numbers than projected can give you a significant edge on the competition as you bid for fantasy glory. All too often, we look for the new shiny object in drafts thinking they’ll come up to […]

D-Backs Add Undrafted Free-Agent Danny Oriente

The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to terms with Louisville outfielder Danny Oriente following the conclusion of the 2020 MLB draft last week. Due to the shortened draft this year, all 30 teams may sign an unlimited number of high school and college players who went undrafted for a maximum of $20,000 each. Oriente was one of […]

Overvalued and Undervalued First Basemen for Points Leagues

First base is bottom-heavy for fantasy purposes this year, with just one player drafted in the top-30 picks on average. As a result, there are relatively few first basemen who are excessively overvalued and several who can provide solid value in late rounds. Below are first basemen who are particularly poorly valued in drafts. These […]

D-Backs Take A.J. Vukovich Among Their Final Day 2 Picks

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Green Hope High School left-handed pitcher Liam Norris with the 90th overall pick in the third round in the 2020 MLB draft on Thursday. The Snakes then selected East Troy High School third baseman A.J. Vukovich in the fourth round and Bellarmine University pitcher Brandon Pfaadt in the fifth round. Norris […]

Zack Wheeler - 2020 Fantasy Baseball Bust

The Philadelphia Phillies finished the 2019 season with a record of 81-81, which was only good enough for a fourth-place finish in the NL East and was nowhere near good enough for a postseason birth. The team was not pleased with the finish and subsequently made a change at the helm with the addition of […]

Arizona Diamondbacks: Top 10 Dynasty Prospects

The Arizona Diamondbacks will be our next stop on the farm to evaluate the best prospects on each MLB team. Once the 2020 MLB season begins, it may turn out that Minor League systems will be more important than usual. Franchises are losing money during the pandemic layoff, so many teams will be looking for […]

Stock Your Dynasty Farm: AL West Sleeper Prospects

If you've been following my series on sleeper prospects, you probably correctly noted that there are actually more than the four divisions I've already written about. Who knew?! No worries Rotoballers, a six-week gap isn't enough to keep me from tucking my tail firmly between my legs and returning to finish what we started. I […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Underachievers with SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin […]

Diamondbacks Select Slade Cecconi Wednesday Evening

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Miami pitcher Slade Cecconi with the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft on Wednesday. Cecconi, who wowed scouts with his size and live arm, was a 38th-round pick in 2018 out of high school. He's 6-foot-4 and has a durable frame that allows his fastball to get up to […]

Bryce Jarvis Selected By D-Backs

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Duke pitcher Bryce Jarvis with the 18th overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft on Wednesday. Jarvis opened eyes last year after getting stronger with better stuff in the ACC. The right-hander threw a perfect game this spring before the season was shut down and joins Marcus Stroman as the only […]

Major League Baseball 2020 Mock Draft

The 2020 MLB amateur draft takes place later tonight and it will be unlike any draft we’ve seen. With owners crying poor and minor league systems set to be permanently compressed, the draft has been slashed from the normal 40 rounds to just five — although teams will be able to sign undrafted players as […]

Diving Into Pitch Counts For a Shortened Season

Pitchers who produce a ton of innings are a rare commodity in today’s game, with those who consistently put up 200 or more innings becoming increasingly valuable. However, with a potential shortened 2020 season and no innings limits, will this playing field be leveled? At first thought, one might think that pitchers with assumed limits […]

How to Approach MLB Rookies in 2020 Re-draft Leagues

While the players and owners continue to trade demands for getting the 2020 season on its feet, we're going to turn our attention to fantasy. This article will specifically look at players who have yet to make their major league debut (or come up for more than the proverbial cup of coffee) and how fantasy […]

Fantasy Baseball ADP Risers - Head-Scratching Trends?

Welcome to Part Two of the ADP Risers and Fallers series, where I will examine key changes from March to the present day. If you missed Part One, where I evaluated injured players and prospects, you can read it right here. Those were the easy risers and fallers. In this article, we will delve into […]

Overvalued and Undervalued Starting Pitchers

Spring training is often the time when players start climbing up or freefalling down draft boards. This year, however, without a full spring training to draw from, there is less talk of a pitcher with a new and improved change-up, and fewer managers blowing smoke, influencing fantasy owners. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of value […]

Edwin Jackson, Travis Snider Among D-Backs Cuts

The Arizona Diamondbacks have released more than 60 minor league players over the last couple of weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, with veteran right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson and outfielder Travis Snider among them. Some of the other names include outfielder Dalton Pompey and pitchers Aaron Blair, Mauricio Cabrera, Damien Magnifico, Michael Tonkin and David Huff. […]

WPC+ Videocast: SIERA Underachievers and SP Targets

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review SIERA as an evaluator for starting pitchers and discuss SP who underachieved on their ERA in 2019. 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 RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 2)

Welcome back RotoBallers to my Lie Detector mini-series (you can read part one here). Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin […]

2020 Starting Pitcher Breakouts - National League

Fantasy baseball players spent much of this unique offseason speculating about the game they love. When is baseball coming back? What rule changes will be implemented and how will they affect the fantasy production of players selected in preseason drafts? Some of you may have drafted a bunch of teams this past winter and might […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 ERA Underachievers With SIERA

Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin a pitcher's ERA, albeit in a different manner. Although technically a backward-looking evaluator,  SIERA […]

WPC+ Videocast: SIERA Overachievers and SP Busts

Pierre Camus (@Roto_Chef) and Nicklaus Gaut (@Nt_BurtReynolds) discuss how to use SIERA when evaluating starting pitchers and review SP who overachieved on their ERA in 2019. 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 […]

Eliminating Park Factors: Which Hitters Will Benefit Most

As Major League Baseball seeks a way to open the season in early July, one proposal has teams starting or playing the entire season in warm-weather locations (Arizona and Florida) or hub cities. That leaves fantasy managers to re-evaluate hitters whose parks impact their performance and value. For hitters, it’s primarily a matter of considering […]

ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 1)

Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin a pitcher's ERA, albeit in a different manner. Although technically a backward-looking evaluator,  SIERA […]