Jameson Taillon Looking Good This Spring

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jameson Taillon threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Grapefruit League action on Friday against the Tigers. His command wasn't excellent, though, as he threw 28 of his 51 pitches for strikes while walking three. However, he allowed only two hits, struck out four and was clocked as high as 95.1 […]

Gleyber Torres Eyes Bounce-Back Campaign In 2021

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres saw his production crater during 2020. But checking out his Grapefruit League numbers through Friday, fantasy managers that have pressed pause for the past 365 days could be convinced that he hasn't missed a beat. Torres said that he feels "really well" this spring and he eyes potentially playing […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Batting Order

You may be wondering why there aren't any advanced stats aimed at predicting a player's counting stats like runs and RBI. The answer is simple: modern sabermetrics reject the idea of a "clutch RBI guy" and therefore do not bother inventing predictive metrics for it. Runs and RBI are team-dependent stats and are unhelpful in ascertaining […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/12) - Severino Beginning Build Up

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 officially through the first week of spring training games […]

2021 Outfielder Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

We now move on to the outfielder position in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Shortstop. 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. […]

Chad Green, Darren O'Day, Justin Wilson To Have Bigger Roles

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boon mentioned relievers Chad Green, Darren O'Day and Justin Wilson among those who are projected to have added responsibilities with Zach Britton (elbow) out for three to four months. Boone expects the assignments in the later innings to be fluid and matchup-based in front of closer Aroldis Chapman. With Chapman […]

Robinson Chirinos Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist

New York Yankees catcher Robinson Chirinos (wrist) was diagnosed with a fractured right wrist, ending his bid to make the Opening Day roster as Gary Sanchez's backup. Chirinos was hit by a pitch in the Grapefruit League game on Wednesday night. Wrist and hand specialists will be consulted in the coming days to determine the […]

Gerrit Cole Solid On Thursday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched well on Thursday, striking out five batters over three innings of one-run ball. Cole's 20% swinging-strike rate was characteristically excellent, and there's no reason to expect Cole to be anything other than an ace once again in 2021. For what it's worth, Kyle Higashioka was behind the […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/11) - Hiura Endures Spring Struggles

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 officially through the first week of spring training games […]

MLB DFS Advice: Picking Pitchers on DraftKings and FanDuel

Welcome back to RotoBaller, where we are taking you through some advanced DFS strategy and advice to prepare you for a full-length MLB season in 2021. Last spring, while baseball was not being played and I did not know what to do with myself, I wrote a big old script to go back and collect […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Second Basemen Using Expected Draft Values

Welcome to the FSWA-nominated Expected Draft Values series, where we look at historical data to identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Whether you're targeting power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, we've got you covered. We now head to second base as we make our way around the diamond for 2021. […]

Luke Voit’s Knee Issue Not Major

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (knee) has been dealing with a knee injury, and his knee appeared to bother him on the bases during Thursday's game. Manager Aaron Boone seems to view Voit's knee injury as a minor issue, and it doesn't seem like Boone expects Voit to be in any danger of […]

Luis Garcia Playing Middle Infield, Learning From Teammates

Washington Nationals infielder Luis Garcia has been playing both shortstop and second base this spring training, with fellow middle infielders Starlin Castro and Trea Turner guiding him along. Garcia entered 2020 as a top-100 prospect and got in 40 games of MLB action replacing an injured Castro, hitting .276/.302/.366 while mostly playing second base. Garcia, […]

Luis Severino Throws From Mound

New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (elbow) threw 20 pitches from a mound on Tuesday and looked great, according to manager Aaron Boone. It's been a little over a year since Severino underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL in his pitching elbow, and the 27-year-old has had a smooth recovery process […]

Domingo German Strong Again On Wednesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German pitched well again on Wednesday, shutting the Pirates out over three innings with three strikeouts. German is fending off fellow Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia for the team's fifth starting pitcher job, and German's strong spring performance so far (only two hits allowed over five innings with seven […]

Aroldis Chapman Excellent In Spring Debut

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman looked to be in midseason form for his spring debut on Wednesday, striking out two batters over a clean inning. Chapman's fastball narrowly missed touching triple digits, but there's no reason to expect the 33-year-old to be anything other than his flamethrowing self in 2021 even if he is […]

Top 10 Shortstops - Dynasty Prospects Rankings

The shortstop position is a bountiful one for fantasy players. In a 12-team league, most fantasy managers should have the opportunity to be happy with their starter at the position thanks to the depth and variety of skills available. In 2019, 16 shortstops that had at least 350 plate appearances produced a 100 wRC+ or […]

Deivi Garcia Shines On Tuesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia looked great on Tuesday, tossing three shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Tigers. Encouragingly, Garcia's average fastball velocity on Tuesday was up nearly two mph from last season's 91.9 mph average, and the 21-year-old's improved velocity is worth keeping an eye on going forward. Garcia still likely […]

Zach Britton Has A Bone Chip In His Elbow

New York Yankees relief pitcher Zach Britton (elbow) will undergo surgery on Wednesday after he was diagnosed with a bone chip in his pitching elbow on Tuesday. This kind of surgery can take around two months for pitchers to fully recover from, so fantasy managers should expect Britton to miss at least the first month […]

Clint Frazier Collides With Outfield Wall

New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier collided with an outfield wall while attempting to make a play during Tuesday's game against the Tigers, prompting manager Aaron Boone and trainers to check on the 26-year-old. Encouragingly, Frazier remained in the game, but he has an unfortunately long history with concussions, and another concussion could put his […]

Zach Britton Gets An MRI

New York Yankees relief pitcher Zach Britton got an MRI on Tuesday after experiencing soreness following a bullpen session. It's too early to say exactly what Britton's injury is, but fantasy managers should place him on "do not draft" lists until more details are revealed. An elite reliever for fantasy managers who value holds, Britton […]

JB's Bullpen Method Redux - Building FrankenAces

Last year, I finally published an article breaking down my favorite fantasy baseball strategy I have been using for years. It's really less of a strategy and more a state of mind. No, the Bullpen Method is a lifestyle. I always speak about the importance of balance on a fantasy team. For your pitching staff, I […]

Tout Wars 12-Team Mixed Draft Recap

The 2021 Tout Wars season kicked off this week with the 15-team Draft and Hold starting on Monday and then the NEW 12-team Mixed draft on Tuesday. The Draft and Hold is a slow draft, while the 12 team Mixed was live and rocking. I was fortunate enough to take part in the 12-team draft.  […]

Emmanuel Clase (RP, CLE) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 410 CURRENT ADP: ~444 overall ANALYSIS: Emmanuel Clase came over to Cleveland in the trade which sent Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers in 2019. Clase then got popped with an 80-game suspension in May of 2020 for using PEDs. Due to the shortened 2020 schedule, Clase’s suspension will bleed over into […]

Giancarlo Stanton Has Solid Day Sunday

Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton had a solid day Sunday as he went 2-for-3 with two doubles in the 4-0 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. The doubles marked the first hits of the spring for Stanton as he is now 2-for-7 through his first three games. Stanton had an injury-plagued 2019 and 2020 but is […]

Aaron Judge Goes 0-for-3 Sunday

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge continued to struggle in spring action as he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Sunday's 4-0 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Judge is now just 2-for-11 with zero home runs through his first five spring games. Judge started 2020 with a bang as he crushed nine home runs in […]

Lineup Takeaways - Week 1 Spring Training Lineups

Well, after a recent article highlighting the idea of what I was wanting to do with this Spring Training series, here is a first look at my Lineup Takeaway series I will be bringing you the rest of the 2021 season. We are focusing 100% on lineups, news and quotes - strictly about lineups and […]

Are We Overlooking Ha Seong Kim?

Earlier this year I, like most of us, was quarantined in my home with limited ability to go outside and no sports on television. I had already binged Tiger King, so I was looking for a new obsession; then ESPN started broadcasting KBO games. Hungry for sports, I started recording the games and writing DFS […]

Jordan Montgomery Pitches Well On Sunday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery pitched well against the Phillies on Sunday, tossing three shutout innings with two hits allowed. Mongomery is still clearly working to get back into mid-season form (as most pitchers are) as he only threw his curveball 7% of the time on Sunday (22% usage rate last season), but […]

Brett Gardner Hits A Grand Slam On Sunday

New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner went 1-for-1 with a walk and a grand slam against the Phillies on Sunday, his first home run of spring training this year. Never much of a power hitter, Gardner has only ever hit four regular-season grand slams, and fantasy managers shouldn't expect another in 2021. Gardner rejoined the […]