Early One-Man Mock (Round 1) - 2022 Fantasy Baseball

There is no such thing as too early when it comes to draft prep. The calendar won't flip to 2022 for another few weeks but we at RotoBaller aren't ones to sit around and wait. Mock drafts take time, so I took matters into my own hands to complete a one-man mock. For the most […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Later Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level and are older than when players typically have their best seasons. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, post-prime breakouts can be excellent draft […]

Early Positional Breakdowns: Second Base - Bases Loaded Pod

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) and Jorge Montanez (@Roto_Nino) get an early start on the 2021 positional outlooks. 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 […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Squaring It Up: 2020's Biggest Brl/BBE% Gainers

Often when it comes to fantasy baseball, we get overloaded with statistics and it becomes hard to sort out what's useful from what's misleading. Many experts can write pages about why they swear by certain stats as being the most predictive for future success or accurate in reflecting who had a good season. In the […]

Statcast Review - Noteworthy xBA/xSLG Hitting Leaders

Thanks to its abbreviated schedule, the 2020 MLB season resulted in some unusual outcomes. Michael Conforto posted the highest full-season BABIP since Ty Cobb in 1913, Luke Voit was on pace for 60 home runs, and Robbie Ray walked a ridiculous 18% of the batters he faced. xStats were not immune to that weirdness, xBA […]

Early-Round Fades and Overvalued Studs

Entering 2021, there is a bit of recency bias in the early ADP as well as an overall sense of unknown entering 2021 as a whole in terms of what rules are in place, where players are going to hit in the lineup or even where many players will play and how that could affect […]

Yasiel Puig: Ready to Rise in 2021

Yasiel Puig signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2020 but due to having COVID, the signing never went through and he never got his chance to play. Now we enter 2021 and we get to play this waiting game again as we hope to see him sign sooner rather than later. We tend to look […]

MLB's Best Pitches by the Numbers

One of the most-often used algorithms in the data science world is called clustering. Clustering is defined, by Wikipedia, as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters) In baseball […]

Biggest Fallers of 2020 – Relief Pitchers

In an abbreviated 60-game season, a large number of relievers previously considered to be lockdown closers or dominant set-up men struggled consistently, ultimately resulting in a negative impact on their fantasy value. As we previously did with RP risers, we will now look at the biggest fallers of the 2020 season as we gear up […]

Statcast Review - Hard Hit/Exit Velocity Pitching Leaders

Pitcher contact quality can be a tricky attribute for fantasy managers to incorporate into their analysis. On one hand, pitchers are more at the whim of hitters when it comes to contact quality than the other way around. On the other hand, it certainly seems as though pitchers can exert meaningful control over their contact […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Early ADP Air% Exit Velocity

Looking at average exit velocity to project future power is not very useful compared to looking only at balls hit in the air. Because who cares how hard ground balls are hit? However, it can be even more useful to parse out those velocities into more refined bins and cast a more critical eye to […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects for 2021

The 2020 baseball season was unlike any year we’ve ever seen with its shortened season and schedule that can perhaps be best described as organized chaos. The absence of a minor league season played havoc with prospect prognosticators. The 2021 season — and perhaps beyond — will continue to present unique challenges as the pandemic […]

Biggest Risers of 2020 – Relief Pitchers

In 2020, we saw a large number of relief pitchers, previously not in the upper tier of fantasy rankings, breakout or bounce back from 2019 decrepitude. Below we will take a look at a few of the biggest relief pitcher risers of the 2020 season as we gear up for 2021 drafts in the spring. […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings

The 2021 MLB season isn't guaranteed to be normal but I have hope that next spring will be much healthier. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much weight do we give 2020? How […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings

The upcoming 2021 season may not be normal -- going from 2020 to 2021 doesn't wave a magic wand -- but there's still comfort in baseball. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much […]

Adam Duvall Non-Tendered By Braves

The Atlanta Braves declined to tender a contract to outfielder Adam Duvall on Wednesday, making him a free agent. Duvall was the team's only arbitration-eligible player not tendered a contract. The 32-year-old was second on the team with 16 homers during the shortened 2020 season. The power hitter is projected to receive between $4.4-$7.1 million […]

Braves, Johan Camargo Avoid Arbitration

The Atlanta Braves and infielder Johan Camargo agreed to a $1.36 million deal for the 2021 season on Wednesday to avoid salary arbitration. Camargo will turn 27 on Dec. 13 and helped the team win the first of their three straight division titles, serving as the starting third baseman for the majority of the 2018 […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Elite Levels of Air% Exit Velocity

Everyone wants more power, even more so when it comes relatively cheap. But even when pricey, you're going to need to draft a bomber or two. One of the best ways to see how a player's power is trending is to sift through their exit-velocities to see what they're saying. Most know by now that […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings

I think most of us would agree that looking forward to 2021 is a good idea. For me, that means immersing myself in the upcoming baseball season. While there's no guarantee COVID-19 won't affect the '21 season, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking […]

Faster and Furious: Pitchers With Rising Velocity

The shortened 2020 season resulted in some small sample size related caveats surrounding analysis heading into 2021, but fastball velocity is largely immune from that issue. Fastball velocity is extremely quick to stabilize, and even a few pitches can provide fantasy managers with a reasonably clear understanding of a pitcher’s velocity. Further supporting that notion […]

Braves Sign Charlie Morton To One-Year Deal

The Atlanta Braves signed right-hander Charlie Morton to a one-year, $15 million deal on Tuesday. The 37-year-old has developed a reputation as a big-game pitcher in the postseason after finishing Game 7 of the 2017 World Series with the Astros and winning Game 7 of the American League Championship Series this year with the Rays. […]

Mike Soroka Resumes Throwing

Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Soroka (Achilles) has resumed throwing nearly four months after he had surgery to fix a torn right Achilles. The 23-year-old suffered the injury on Aug. 3 against the Mets and had surgery several days later. In 2019, Soroka finished sixth in the National League Cy Young race and second in the […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings

As we begin to look towards the 2021 baseball season, we can only hope that COVID-19 will be handled well enough to let the season run as normal. Since this is a mere early ranking exercise and we have so much ahead of us, let's just close our eyes and chat as if a 162-game […]

Analyzing Fly Ball Metrics: Pitchers to Trust in 2021

Welcome back to some 2020-2021 offseason fantasy baseball analysis! I recently took a look at pitchers who could see a decrease in performance next season based on their fly-ball metrics from this season. Some of these metrics included home run-to-fly-ball ratio, fly-ball rate, and average launch angle. To reiterate the value of this type of […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings

Hope springs eternal for the 2021 baseball season, but it's hard to imagine we'll be completely past COVID-19 by then. Plus, we could see opening salvos for the CBA debates to come. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a perfect world and chat as if a 162-game season will come […]

Braves Sign Drew Smyly To One-Year Deal

The Atlanta Braves signed left-hander Drew Smyly to a one-year, $11 million deal on Monday. The 31-year-old went 0-1 with a 3.42 ERA in five starts and two relief outings for the Giants last season after San Francisco signed him to a one-year deal in January. He was released by the Rangers after going 4-7 […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings

As usual, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season may still be affected by COVID-19. Maybe even more labor disputes just for a curveball. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a perfect world and chat as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

Freddie Freeman Wins NL MVP

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman won the National League MVP award on Thursday. Freeman received 28 of the 30 first-place ballots. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts finished second and Padres third baseman Manny Machado came in third. The 31-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks before the delayed Opening Day in late July and had […]

Angels To Pursue Freddie Freeman?

The Los Angeles Angels hired Atlanta Braves assistant general manager Perry Minasian as their new general manager on Thursday, potentially making it more likely that the Southern California native Freddie Freeman will be targeted by the Angels next offseason. LA will also be clearing future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols' contract from their […]