Gleyber Torres Improving At Shortstop

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres has had a rough spring training defensively with five errors at shortstop so far but is confident that his fielding will improve significantly before the start of the season. Torres split time between second base and shortstop last season, but with infielder D.J. Lemahieu taking over the starting second […]

Zach Britton Suffers Bruised Right Wrist

Updating a previous report, New York Yankees relief pitcher Zach Britton (wrist) was hit by a line drive during live batting practice on Wednesday but got good news after undergoing tests. X-rays and a CT scan came back negative for Britton, and he was diagnosed with a bruised wrist. Since Britton avoided a fracture and […]

Giancarlo Stanton Takes Live Batting Practice On Wednesday

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (calf) took live batting practice on Wednesday as he continues to recover from a calf strain. Stanton has reported feeling good when hitting, and the real test for his calf will come when he runs. Stanton has been running on an anti-gravity treadmill and is expected to run on […]

James Paxton Feels Good, Resumes Playing Catch

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton (back) played catch for the first time since December and reported feeling good afterward. Paxton underwent surgery to remove a cyst in his back in early February and appears to be on track for his original three-to-four month timeline. Paxton said that a return in mid-May represents his […]

Zack Britton Hurt During Live Batting Practice

New York Yankees relief pitcher Zack Britton (chest) was hit in the chest or arm area with a line drive during live batting practice and left in discomfort. Britton is one of the most effective relievers in baseball when healthy. The 32-year-old owns a 1.83 ERA over the last six seasons and led the league […]

Break the League: The ESPN Points League Ranker

It might always be in fashion to go after the worldwide leader but this not just some critique de rigueur of their points game and coverage. I actually have a soft spot for ESPN as they were home to my original league for years and our scoring is somewhat similar to their default settings. When […]

Late-Round Starting Pitchers - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting 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 […]

Bases Loaded Podcast: Shortstop Rankings Risers, Fallers and Sleepers

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) is joined by Jorge Montanez of RotoBaller (@Roto_Nino). They get into their shortstop rankings risers, fallers and sleepers. 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 […]

Gary Sanchez Has The Flu

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (back) was diagnosed with the flu after being held out of batting practice on Tuesday. There had been some speculation that Sanchez would undergo testing for coronavirus, so this is a relatively positive outcome for Sanchez. It's unclear how long Sanchez will be sidelined with the flu, but the […]

Giancarlo Stanton To Start Running

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (calf) will reportedly begin running on the field in the next couple of days. Stanton has yet to see game action this spring but started running on an anti-gravity treadmill last week and seems to be progressing relatively well. The Yankees have not provided a clear update on Stanton's […]

Gary Sanchez Misses Batting Practice With Fever

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (back) had been scheduled to take batting practice on Tuesday but was held out with a fever. The Yankees are not aware if Sanchez is being tested for coronavirus, and it’s unclear what would happen if Sanchez has the virus. The Ivy League canceled their men’s basketball tournament due […]

Eric Samulski's 10 Bold Predictions for 2020

I've read these columns for years, so it's kind of surreal to be putting out my own. As somebody who constantly over-analyzes, I tend to be less risky in my fantasy decisions because a part of my brain always walks me back from the ledge. With that in mind, I tried to mix up the […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Second Basemen Using Expected Draft Values

A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four "power" hitters, as identified by our site projections. Stay tuned over the […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - Injuries, Risers, and Fallers (3/10/20)

Welcome to the Spring Training Notebook for March 10, 2020, where we'll dive into a few of the bigger stories around Major League Baseball's Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. As we head through the thick of Spring Training 2020, players are starting to separate themselves in the eyes of their organizations with hopes of making the […]

Gary Sanchez To Take Batting Practice On Monday

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (back) is on track to take batting practice on Monday. Sanchez felt back soreness last Saturday and had originally been expected to play in games two days later, but was instead held out through last week. The Athletic's Lindsey Adler reported that Sanchez will be held out from games […]

James Paxton Could Throw On Wednesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton (back) could start throwing again as soon as Wednesday as long as he doesn’t experience any setbacks. Paxton underwent surgery to remove a cyst in his back at the beginning of February, and the most optimistic timeline for Paxton’s return is around the beginning of May. When healthy, […]

ADP Champ or Chump: Kole Calhoun and Rafael Devers

Welcome! This column takes a deep dive into two player profiles to determine if they represent value at their current draft day cost or if you would be better off looking at similarly-priced options. We incorporate every grain of relevant data we can, including info from Baseball Savant, Roster Resource, FanGraphs, FantasyPros, and Baseball Prospectus. […]

ESPN ADP Comparison - Overpriced / Underpriced Players

Average Draft Position (ADP) is a must-have piece of information when it comes to drafting. While every league is different and may have a particularly aggressive or conservative group of owners when it comes to certain players, it’s the best tool we have when analyzing players’ value. Now, instead of just talking about total ADP […]

Introducing the RotoBaller Points League Ranker Tool

Its time to shine some love down on point league players and help you crush your leagues with easy to understand and easy to leverage information that will put you streets ahead of the average competition. That's right, you over there who was thrilled last year to draft Ronald Acuna Jr. in the first round […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - Injuries, Risers, and Fallers (3/9/20)

Welcome to the Spring Training Notebook for March 9, 2020, where we'll dive into a few of the bigger stories around Major League Baseball's Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. As we head through the thick of Spring Training 2020, players are starting to separate themselves in the eyes of their organizations with hopes of making the […]

Late-Round Shortstops - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting 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 […]

Nine NL Rookies Ready to Leap Into Starting Lineups

Every year, there are those rookies who we expect to make a splash right away; think Kris Bryant, Ronald Acuna, Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge -- those guys. Once we make it through all the service time manipulation shenanigans, there are always youngsters ready to snatch roster spots immediately, and 2020 is no exception. Earlier this week […]

Joining the Launch Angle Revolution: Potential Power Risers

Launch angle has become perhaps the trendiest stat in all of fantasy baseball. If you turn on any podcast, you hear analysts mentioning that "if a player could only increase his launch angle, he could be a stud" (cough - Yandy Diaz - cough). Often, I think this analysis is oversimplified. Launch angle is obviously […]

Gary Sanchez Misses Batting Practice With Sore Back

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (back) was held out of batting practice on Saturday as he deals with a sore back. The Yankees are optimistic about Sanchez’s injury and don’t expect him to miss any time, but the catcher’s health bears monitoring as the season approaches. Sanchez has played in more than 120 games just once […]

Luke Voit (1B, NYY) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~170 CURRENT ADP: ~193 overall ANALYSIS: Voit was never going to sustain his .322/.398/.671 small-sample slash line from 2018, but he remained productive when healthy in 2019. Prior to suffering a sports hernia in late July, he hit 19 homers in 94 games with a .278/.392/.493 line. After returning, he hit […]

Aroldis Chapman Makes Spring Debut

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman made his spring debut on Friday, tossing a scoreless inning with a strikeout. Chapman had been scheduled to pitch on Wednesday but unexpectedly had his debut pushed back with little explanation from the Yankees. Fortunately, the adjustment does not appear to have been related to Chapman’s health, as the […]

Giancarlo Stanton Resumes Running

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (calf) has started running on a treadmill for the first time since straining his calf earlier this spring. Stanton is still on track to miss Opening Day, but the Yankees are encouraged by his progress so far and hope for the outfielder to be back in the lineup in […]

ADP Reflections: American League Starting Pitchers

The draft season is in full swing. The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational (TGFBI) is wrapping up on the NFBC site, and more and more draft data is filtering through to the masses. We’re now at the point where draft data is shaping draft strategies as people look for value against ADP. There are lots of […]

Late-Round First Basemen - Targets and Avoids in 2020

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting 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 […]

Predicting the Top-10 Finishers in ERA for 2020

Earned Run Average (ERA) is one of the most important stats when it comes to pitching. The best pitchers in the league have the lowest ERA, because, quite simply, if a pitcher doesn’t let up runs, they are inherently more valuable. Determining the top ERA leaders for the upcoming season can be extremely useful, because […]