RADIO
Diamonds in the Pen - Deep Reliever Draft Targets
When it comes to building a pitching staff in fantasy, most managers focus solely on starting pitchers and closers. And that makes sense. In standard scoring, those pitchers are the ones who are going to make the greatest contributions to wins, strikeouts and saves. A guy that comes in and tosses a scoreless frame in […]
Power Sleepers - Noteworthy 2020 Barrel Leaders
As we've continued to progress in the MLB offseason, I've been looking at barrel rates from 2020 in the hopes of finding players whose breakouts during the shortened season were real or those who may still have breakouts looming. As I've mentioned previously, I'm a firm believer that finding the barrel regularly is an incredibly […]
Catcher Draft Targets for All Leagues
Enough with the catcher slander! As fantasy baseball drafts heat up, all I keep reading about is how we're "forced" to draft catchers and how they can tank your roster. Catchers are people too! I could use thousands of words writing about the value of catchers and how the grind of their defensive job and […]
Carlos Santana (1B/DH, KC) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 260 CURRENT ADP: ~292 overall ANALYSIS: Kansas City Royals first baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana gets overlooked every single season. The reason is because of rotisserie bias (Roto is the more popular format), but Santana is always such a value in points leagues, where hitters lose points for strikeouts but are awarded points […]
Salvador Perez Notches Eighth RBI Of Spring Against White Sox
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez continued his hot hitting in a 9-7 loss to the White Sox on Thursday. Perez went 1-for-2 with an RBI single and a run scored. The RBI was his eighth of the spring, to go along with a .458 average and three long-balls, as he's seemingly still on fire […]
MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/18) - Montgomery, Alcantara Surging
Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're into our third week of spring training games and […]
2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (Part 2)
We now move on to starting pitcher in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Outfield, and of course, Starting Pitcher Part One. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on […]
Andres Gimenez (2B/SS, CLE) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
Andres Gimenez burst onto the scene in the shortened 2020 season. Originally expected to spend the year at the alternate training site for the New York Mets, Gimenez worked his way into a roster spot in spring training with his baserunning instincts and highlight-reel defensive plays, and then soon overtook the slumping Amed Rosario to […]
Brad Keller Hit Hard By Mariners
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller had an outing to forget on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners. He pitched three innings and allowed six hits, three walks and six runs (five earned) while striking out two. He has now pitched 9.1 innings this spring and has a 5.79 ERA and 2.36 WHIP with six […]
2020 Breakout Infielders Who'll Keep Improving
In a recent article, I outlined a methodology to determine which breakout 2020 seasons from hitters would be built off of into 2021. Upon further reflection, however, I’m unconvinced that that methodology the best way to spot breakouts that will continue to improve, in large part because of its reliance on evaluating the stickiness of […]
Whit Merrifield Seeing The Ball Well This Spring
Kansas City Royals outfielder Whit Merrifield continues to see the ball well in Cactus League action. Merrifield collected another two hits in Monday's game to raise his spring average to .529, along with four doubles, four runs scored, and an RBI. The 32-year-old has been locked in at the plate and seems poised to deliver […]
Later-Round First Basemen - Targets and Avoids
Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have playing time concerns. […]
2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (Part 1)
We now move on to starting pitcher in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, and Outfield. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on early spring training action. You can […]
Simon Dice Talks TGFBI and Razzslam - Draft Champions Podcast
In today's episode, Zack (@zackroto) brings on Simon Dice (@HonRonBaseball) as a guest to his Draft Champions podcast (@draftchampagne). They discuss TGFBI, Razzslam and more. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, and Saturdays from 8-10 AM ET. You can also find new […]
Top 20 Outfielders - Dynasty Prospect Rankings
If you’ve played fantasy baseball for a while, you know how hard it can be to find enough quality outfielders to field a competitive team all year long. The good news for fantasy managers is that there are some big names on the way, thanks in part to the 2020 amateur draft which had a […]
Launch Angle Analysis - Potential HR Risers
With the onset of Statcast data, we can now better predict which hitters may be due for a power surge. Before recent years, we only had things like hard-hit rate and home runs per fly ball ratios to look to as predictors of future changes in home run rates. Now that we have launch angle, […]
Top 10 Tips for Fantasy Baseball Snake Drafts
Before I begin, let me caveat everything I say with this: I don't consider myself to be some sort of expert master fantasy player. I've only been playing fantasy baseball for a little under a decade. But as soon as I started to immerse myself into this game we all love, my main focus was […]
Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 2 Lineup Trends
Welcome back RotoBallers! We are entering week three of Spring Training already, and with that came a lot of things we saw in week two. But of course, my week one review also still has very relevant information as well. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and […]
Catcher Preview: Fantasy Baseball 2021 ADP Analysis
Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller discusses 2021 fantasy baseball catcher rankings and catcher draft sleepers who can be sneaky later-round picks. He breaks down and compares the ADPs of five different MLB players at the catcher position. Fantasy players should consider picking up these players for their drafts this MLB Season. Be sure to also tune […]
Top 25 Starting Pitchers - Dynasty Prospects Rankings
Pitching is an important element of any successful Major League Baseball team — real or fantasy. Coming off a truncated season in 2020 and facing another unique season ahead, pitching prospects will be more important than ever in 2021. MLB managers will be faced with a full 2021 season and, after throwing reduced innings last […]
Nick Pratto Slugs Two Home Runs
Kansas City Royals first base prospect Nick Pratto slammed home runs in each of his two at-bats against the Cubs on Saturday. The Royals' first-round pick from the 2017 draft is having an excellent spring and is now 6-for-13 with two doubles and three home runs in 11 games. He spent the 2020 season at […]
Daniel Lynch Strikes Out Five Batters
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Daniel Lynch had his best appearance of the spring on Saturday. The southpaw struck out five batters without issuing a walk over three innings. He allowed two runs on two hits, including a home run. He now has a 9.45 ERA over three spring appearances. Last season, Lynch spent the […]
Michael Florio's Hitters to Target
Every year, one of the articles I look most forward to writing is about the players I am targeting in my drafts. It not only allows me to talk about the players I know I am high on and go into my drafts hoping to select, but it also forces me to look over my […]
2021 Keeper Value Rankings - Second Base
Many many years ago, I noticed the managers in my long-time keeper league were consistently making terrible keeper decisions year after year. Instead of taking their money every year thought I would help them out and find a good set of Keeper League Rankings to share with them. What I found was quite disturbing. There […]
Wade Davis Looking Good In Spring Action
Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wade Davis has pitched well so far this spring. He's made four appearances and has allowed two hits, two walks and no runs over four innings. He's yet to record his first strikeout. His velocity is up from last year, which is encouraging. Last year, he had an abysmal time […]
Josh Staumont Should Make Spring Debut Soon
Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Josh Staumont saw his arrival at camp delayed due to undisclosed reasons. However, he's with the team now and he threw one inning during a simulated game on Thursday. He should be able to make his Cactus League debut soon. The right-handed Staumont was a solid arm out of the […]
Hunter Dozier Struggling Through First Weeks Of Spring
Kansas City Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier has yet to settle in at the plate this spring. He's played in seven games and has gone 1-for-15 with six strikeouts and three walks. He's slashing just .067/.222/.267. His only hit was a home run this past Monday. Dozier signed a four-year extension with the Royals this […]
Bobby Witt Jr. Could Make Debut In 2021
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has been turning heads on a regular basis this spring. Over his 10 appearances, he's gone 8-for-24 with two home runs, six RBI and seven runs. He's slashing .333/.360/.583 and showing no sign of backing down against big league pitching. Despite his hot bat, Royals beat writer Anne […]
Royals Have Engaged Adalberto Mondesi About Extension
The Kansas City Royals have recently engaged shortstop Adalberto Mondesi about a long-term contract extension, according to sources familiar with the situation. However, one source cautioned that there is "a lot to work through." The 25-year-old is under team control for three more years, but the Royals might want to sign him to an extension […]
Best-Ball Late-Round Values - Infield
Fantasy Baseball draft season is in full swing, and that goes for more than just redraft leagues; we are talking best-ball formats. Best-ball leagues have been gaining traction in recent years and for good reason. Drafts start almost immediately after the previous season ends for those looking for an offseason fantasy fix. Best-ball drafts are […]
