Christian Yelich Should Bounce Back

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich's 34.6 percent swing rate last season was the second-lowest among qualified hitters in 2020. He had a 45.2 percent swing rate when he had his second straight MVP-caliber season, and the 10.6 percentage-point decrease was the largest among all hitters that qualified in 2019 and 2020. On the bright side, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Brewers In The Mix For Jackie Bradley Jr.

The Milwaukee Brewers are one of about half a dozen other teams that seem to be considering free-agent outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Bradley is reportedly seeking a contract of more than four years and $50 million. Bradley is now 31 years old and is not going to develop the […]

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 – […]

Corbin Burnes' Changeup Standing Out

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes drew praise from catcher Omar Narvaez in spring camp because of his improved changeup. "I think it's a big weapon for him this year," Narvaez said. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 2.11 ERA in his breakout in 2020, and it was backed up by a 2.99 xFIP and a […]

RotoBaller Mock Draft Review - Biggest Reaches and Regrets

As we steamroll into fantasy baseball draft season, the team here at RotoBaller continues to practice what we preach by partaking in mock drafts. It's the best way to test out plans, gather information to have a better idea of what to expect for the real thing and try out new ideas you've been working […]

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. […]

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 […]

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, […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Batter BABIP

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 […]

Travis Shaw Returning To Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers signed free-agent third baseman/first baseman Travis Shaw to a minor league deal on Tuesday. The 30-year-old had 30-plus home runs and a 3.5 fWAR in 2017 and 2018 with Milwaukee but slumped badly in 2019 and was sent to the minors for most of that season. The left-handed slugger posted a .717 […]

Brett Anderson Agrees To Terms With Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal to bring back free-agent left-hander Brett Anderson, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday. The club has not confirmed the deal, which is pending a physical. Anderson is 33 years old and returns to Milwaukee and can make an additional $1 million in incentives. Anderson […]

Derek Fisher Traded To Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers made a deal on Monday night, acquiring outfielder Derek Fisher from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Brewers agreed to send a player to be named and cash to Toronto to complete the swap. The Jays had designated Fisher for assignment last Thursday to clear a 40-man roster spot for former Brewers reliever […]

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 […]

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 […]

Deeper League Sleepers at Third Base

Fantasy managers are always on the lookout for the sleeper that can turn into a breakout performer. I've already reviewed the best deep sleepers at second base, so now let's turn to third base. When defining a breakout, I look at it as a player that can take a step forward to a level they […]

Outfield Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

We've already gone around the infield with a look at first base, second base, third base, and shortstop. Let's head to the outfield now to break down the long list of outfielders that have fantasy relevance in 2021 and beyond. All of the players listed have outfield eligibility, although several will be used at shallower […]

2021 Catcher 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, […]

2021 All-Value Team: Pouncing on ADP Fallers

One of the most common ways to get ahead in fantasy baseball is to be on the right side of small sample-size overreactions. After the 2020 season that saw just 60 regular-season games for each team, there is sure to be a lot of this as we approach draft season for 2021. Most hitters will suffer […]

2020 Schedule Outliers - NL and AL Central Starting Pitchers

One of the many weird things about the 2020 MLB season was how the schedule was re-done. In case you have forgotten, every team played all 60 of their regular-season games against teams in the same division or corresponding geographical division as them. That resulted in some natural advantages. It seemed pretty obvious at the […]

Jordan Zimmermann Joins Brewers On Minors Deal

The Milwaukee Brewers signed former All-Star right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training on Tuesday. Zimmermann will turn 35 years old on May 23 and pitched in just three games (7.94 ERA) for the Detroit Tigers in 2020 due to a forearm injury. He went 1-13 with a […]

Fantasy Baseball Preseason Injury Updates

Injuries remain commonplace in all sports. Baseball has seen the rate of injury continue to rise over the past few years. In fantasy, if someone is not in the medical field, it is hard to gauge how long a player will be out and whether they need to be replaced in a lineup. Sometimes this […]

Kolten Wong to Milwaukee - Fantasy Impact

Many baseball fans were surprised in late October when the St. Louis Cardinals declined the $12.5 million club option for Kolten Wong. Wong is one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball, has shown very nice on-base skills, and has been a threat on the basepaths. After a few months of waiting around, Wong […]

Top 750: Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings

What's up RotoBallers. Today we are bringing you our top 750 fantasy baseball dynasty rankings for the 2021 MLB season. Dynasty leagues, or keeper formats, continue to become more and more popular in the fantasy sports landscape. For those of you who are playing in dynasty formats, or are interested in long-term valuations of fantasy players, […]

Brewers Looking At Shin-Soo Choo At First Base

Free-agent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been working out at first base with the goal of increasing his versatility, and the Milwaukee Brewers are among the teams interested in him at the position. Choo has hit .289 with an .883 OPS against right-handed pitchers in his career, and a few National League teams are keeping tabs […]

Brewers To Move Keston Hiura To First Base

The Milwaukee Brewers plan to move second baseman Keston Hiura to first base this year after they signed Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong to a two-year, $18 million deal earlier this week. The 24-year-old Hiura hit just .212 with a National League-leading 85 strikeouts in 2020, but he hit .303 with a .938 OPS […]