Third Basemen Set to Bust in 2021
The hot corner is loaded with talent once again in 2021, and of the two classic infield power positions, third base is measurably deeper than its traditional slugger counterpart across the diamond. With such depth, it’s even more important to nail your third base pick on draft day, otherwise you’ll be fitting an uphill battle […]
Breakout Pitchers and Late-Round Draft Targets: WPC+
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut identify pitchers who could break out in 2021. Target these pitchers late in fantasy baseball drafts! 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 Sirius […]
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Plate Discipline
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 Chris Davis are potential drains on a fantasy team's batting average. Furthermore, players that whiff a lot tend to continue […]
Jon Anderson's Third Base Tiered Rankings and Projections
Welcome back to my own personal rankings series! Today we're covering third base, but you can check out the rest of the series at the links below: First Base Second Base Shortstop Third base may be the deepest position in terms of total statistical production that will come out of it, but that does not […]
Nick Senzel Will Be Everyday Center Fielder
Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell confirmed on Thursday that Nick Senzel will be the team's everyday center fielder heading into the 2021 season. Bell later added, "At one point, everyday may have meant 162 games, but that's not what I mean. We have four outfielders who need to play." With Senzel slated to see regular […]
Eugenio Suarez Wants To Hit 50 Home Runs
Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who had a down year in 2020 by hitting .202/.312/.470 with 15 home runs, 38 RBI and a 102 OPS+, said he wants to hit 50 home runs this year. Suarez hit .118 with two homers and 25 strikeouts in 82 plate appearances in his first 20 games, and […]
Jon Anderson's Second Base Tiered Rankings and Projections
Happy drafting season everybody! We are back with another tiered ranking look, this time at second base. You can read about first base here. The way I went about this was to use current projections for each player and then average out each player's percentile rank in each of the five standard rotisserie categories (R, […]
Eugenio Suarez Lost Weight Over Offseason
Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez will report to Spring Training in much better shape than he was in during the 2020 season. Suarez told reporters on Wednesday that he lost about 15 pounds during the offseason by concentrating on eating a better diet. He went on to state that he felt slow last season […]
2021 Third Base Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
We continue to move past the chaos of 2020 and onto a new baseball season full of promise. For fantasy baseball managers, draft season is already upon us. RotoBaller's rankers, Pierre Camus, Big Pick Nick Mariano, and I have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings as we now move on to evaluate the hot corner. […]
Injury To Blame For Eugenio Suarez's Down Season?
Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez had surgery in January of last year after a freak right shoulder injury, and it could've been largely responsible for his down 2020 season. He hit .118/.268/.235 with just four extra-base hits in his first 20 games. Suarez slashed a more respectable .246/.336/.592 with 19 extra-base hits and 13 […]
Digging Into BB% Leaders - Cavan Biggio
When looking at a player’s stats, what we really want to know is how skilled he is, not necessarily just how a particular year happened to pan out. An output stat like walks can give us some meaningful information, but there is a lot more going on that might help us better understand how and […]
Joey Votto Expects To Have A Better Season In 2021
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto told reporters that he expects to be better this year than he was in 2020. The veteran first baseman stated, "I refined last year. I'll be better than the back little bit of the season just because I've worked on it and I'll dedicate myself to it. I can't […]
Roster Construction Strategies from the Middle
Drafting a great roster is the vital base for a successful fantasy baseball season. In order to do that, you'll need to find an optimal draft position. All draft spots are not created equal. Finding the right spot for you is your first task. Everyone has their own preference on the best spot to start […]
Overvalued Pitcher Draft Targets: WPC+
Who are the most overvalued pitchers when comparing ADP to 2021 projections? Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut name five pitchers you may want to fade in fantasy baseball drafts. 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 […]
2021 Shortstop Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
Once upon a time, shortstop was one of the toughest positions to fill in fantasy baseball, just a small notch above catcher. 10 years ago, we were prioritizing Troy Tulowitzki and Hanley Ramirez near the top of drafts just because they filled that elusive shortstop spot. Sure, they were fantastic hitters – when healthy – […]
Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Part 3)
Welcome back RotoBallers to Part 3 of my dynasty prospects list, breaking down the 1-50 ranked prospects. You can also read Part 1 and Part 2 from a few days ago, looking at the 51-150 and 151-250 ranked prospects. RotoBaller's Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects list is back and refreshed for the 2021 season. Baseball has […]
Jon Anderson's First Base Tiered Rankings and Projections
One way to improve at drafting a fantasy baseball team is to shift your focus away from straight-ordered rankings and into tiered rankings. This helps you identify spots in the draft where you need to prioritize a certain position and times when you can wait. The difference between the #2 and #3 first baseman is […]
2021 Second Base Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
We continue to move past the chaos of 2020 and onto a new baseball season full of promise. For fantasy baseball managers, draft season is already upon us. RotoBaller's rankers, Pierre Camus, Big Pick Nick Mariano, and I have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings as we now move on to evaluate the keystone position. […]
Fastball Barrel Board - Bases Loaded Podcast
Carmen Maiorano (@CarmsClubHouse) joins the show discuss his newest bit of research, his fastball barrel board. 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 […]
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Hitter Batted Ball Distribution
Fly balls can turn into home runs. Ground balls never do. It would seem as though fantasy owners want their batters to hit nothing but flies, yet this is not always the case. Why would this be? The answer, of course, comes down to batted ball distribution and how batters make contact. The league average […]
Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Part 2)
Welcome back RotoBallers to Part 2 of my dynasty prospects list, breaking down the 51-150 ranked prospects. You can also read Part 1 and Part 3 from a few days ago, looking at the 1-50 and 151-250 ranked prospects. RotoBaller's Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects list is back and refreshed for the 2021 season. Baseball has […]
Playing For Keeps: Making Keeper Decisions for 2021
Spring training is officially underway, and with that comes the start of fantasy baseball draft season. While the majority of people participate in redraft leagues, keeper formats are also popular, and fantasy managers in those leagues are already weighing their decisions on which players to retain and which to toss back into the pool for […]
Trevor Bauer to the Dodgers - Fantasy Impact
The biggest domino in this year's free agent market has finally toppled, as Trevor Bauer is taking his talents to Los Angeles for the next three years with the Dodgers. It'll be a return to familiar territory for the reigning NL Cy Young winner, as he returns not only to where he grew up but […]
Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Part 1)
RotoBaller's Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects list is back and refreshed for the 2021 season. Baseball has undergone a lot of change over the past 12 months due to the pandemic and no area of the game has been more heavily impacted than the minor leagues. Since this time last year, Minor League Baseball has […]
2021 First Base Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
The chaotic, wild, and confusing 2020 COVID season is now thankfully behind us, am I right fellow Red Sox fans? But now is the hardest part in terms of fantasy implications from the pandemic as we try to decipher how much of 2020's statistics are actually viable data for 2021 projections. Small playing time samples, […]
Are We In or Are We Out? With SP Streamer - Bases Loaded Podcast
Michael Simione (@SpStreamer) returns to his stomping ground and joins the show! We discuss names you asked to hear more about via twitter and this time it is all the starting pitchers you wanted to know more about. We even got a few of his hitters he likes to target in drafts as well. We […]
Prospects to Know in 2021 - AL Central
The Super Bowl is over and we are officially on to baseball season! So what better way to celebrate the new baseball year than by talking about prospects? Last week, I took a look at the prospects to know in the NL Central. This week we're switching leagues and taking a look at five prospects […]
Michael Lorenzen Enters 2021 As Rotation Candidate
Cincinnati Reds right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen began his big league career making 21 starts during his rookie season. As he has continued to slots into multiple roles, he has become an integral part of the Reds' bullpen, having amassed a 3.48 ERA over the last four seasons. But heading into 2021, he'll have the chance […]
Exploiting Early Strength of Schedule for Starting Pitchers
It's important to have a strong starting rotation for your fantasy teams. If you rely on too many high-upside arms with wide ranges of outcomes, you could be struggling to keep up in pitching categories the rest of the season, especially ERA and WHIP. High-volume pitchers with elite strikeout rates are hard to find in the […]
Sneaky Starters - Deceptive Pitchers Who Could Be Draft Steals
Earlier this week, I was reading Michael Ajeto's article on PitcherList about Brady Singer. In the article, Michael touted Singer's deception and mentioned a sign of that being Singer's Zone Swing Rate (Z-Swing%) minus his Chase Rate (O-Swing%). The premise of the concept was simple but one that stood out to me immediately. Z-Swing% measures […]