Estevan Florial Having Nice Spring

New York Yankees outfielder Estevan Florial, the team's top prospect and No. 57 overall per MLB Pipeline, is hitting .345/.406/.517 with four steals in 12 Grapefruit League games this spring. The center fielder has above-average raw power, speed and arm strength but must improve on his swing-and-miss issues. He's only 21 years old and .283/.377/.422 […]

Where Do Elite Starters Come From?

Among expert drafts, starting pitchers are coming off the board earlier and more rapidly than in previous years. For instance, the LABR mixed league saw nine starters drafted in the first two rounds in comparison to just six in 2018 and five in 2017. Pitcher selection in expert drafts has been somewhat more aggressive than […]

Aaron Hicks Receives Cortisone Shot

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (back), who hasn't played since March 1, required a cortisone injection in his lower back on Monday, but he's "not really" concerned that the pain would delay his availability for Opening Day. Hicks continues to experience restrictions with his mobility, mainly while hitting and throwing. Manager Aaron Boone said […]

Jacoby Ellsbury To Report To Camp Sunday

New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (foot) is expected to report to camp on Sunday, and the team will re-introduce him to baseball activities. He's dealing with plantar fasciitis and hasn't appeared in a major league game since October of 2017 due to various injuries. Even if the oft-injured outfielder is healthy this year, he […]

Didi Gregorius Cleared For Non-Contact Swings

New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius (elbow) has been cleared to take dry non-contact swings with his regular bat. He thinks that after a week or two he could resume hitting balls off a tee and in soft toss. Gregorius underwent Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss around half of the season. For […]

CC Sabathia Throws BP

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (heart) faced hitters in live batting practice on Tuesday for the first time since his December angioplasty, tossing 20 pitches. The 38-year-old southpaw will throw a simulated game on Saturday and could pitch in a spring game after that. Sabathia also had right knee surgery in October and […]

Aaron Judge Working On Two-Strike Approach

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who hit his fourth spring homer on Tuesday, has been working on his two-strike approach in recent games to try and reduce his number of strikeouts. "For me, if there's any way I can simplify my already pretty simple swing, I feel like it's going to raise my contact […]

Nick Mariano's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019

2018 was a banner season for baseball's Marianos, as Mariano Rivera was headed full steam ahead towards a unanimous Hall of Fame entry and yours truly was cruising with the most accurate fantasy baseball ranks of the season per FantasyPros, unbeknownst to me until recently. I'm still riding high off of that and you're all […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019

2018 was a season to forget for yours truly, both in terms of fantasy performance and hit rate on bold predictions. In the first three years as a participant in this feature, I connected on three per article, with a few others in the realm of respectable. Last year? An 0-fer, and most of them […]

JB's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019

It is such an honor to have been selected to hit lead-off for the 2019 RotoBaller staff Bold Predictions. Sure, I asked for it due to time constraints but that's not how I will tell my story to the grand-kids. Bold predictions are everyone's favorite articles. They are fun, not always entirely plausible, while still […]

One Dollar Bids - Auction Draft Targets

Auction drafts are an interesting animal. This especially comes through at the end of drafts. In a snake draft, that sleeper you really wanted may get picked just before your turn, but if he does get to your spot, he's yours. In an auction draft, someone you had tabbed as a $1 sleeper can be […]

When and How Do You Target Sleepers on Draft Day?

If you're the type of fantasy baseball enthusiast who enjoys the preparation as much as the draft itself, chances are you've been filing away names as potential under-the-radar breakout candidates. Maybe you've got your eye on a young utility player who is one injury away from regular playing time (not that anyone should be rooting […]

Predicting the Top 10 Home Run Hitters of 2019

Last year 14 players hit over 35 or more home runs; the year before that it was 18. The point is, narrowing such an impressive pool of players down to 10 is challenging. The list is realistic but I wanted to be slightly bold as well. It wouldn’t be much of a prediction if we […]

2018 Breakout Infielders Due for Regression in 2019

Nothing sinks a fantasy season quite like a bust, and the last thing we want to do as fantasy owners is deal with one of those headaches all season. Last year players like Brian Dozier, Marcell Ozuna, and Jonathan Schoop drove us mad, The goal of this article is to identify an infielder at every […]

Nick Mariano's Early-Round Avoids in H2H Points Leagues (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) are almost all about finding the next superstar and unearthing talent late, but we can't forget that surrendering value by over-drafting can be just as crucial. There's insight out there for most anything, but coverage of points leagues […]

Nick Mariano's Players to Target in H2H Points Leagues (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Fantasy baseball drafts (and their articles) usually cater to the biggest stars or the deepest sleepers, but there are very few articles that simply discuss the mid-round targets that deserve a boost in points league formats (even if points veterans will laugh at some […]

DJ LeMahieu To Get Time At First Base

New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu is working on expanding his skill set and is set to play first base in a spring game early next week. LeMahieu is expected to be the backup to either Greg Bird or Luke Voit at first this year, even though the 30-year-old has only played 13 innings at […]

Luis Severino Receives Injection Friday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (shoulder) received a pain-killing injection on Friday and said he no longer has pain when lifting his arm. Severino has been shut down from throwing for the time being and is now likely to begin the year on the disabled list. It hurts his fantasy value slightly, but […]

Masahiro Tanaka The Front-Runner To Start Opening Day

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is likely to be the team's Opening Day starter with Luis Severino (shoulder) injured. It would be Tanaka's fourth career Opening Day assignment. The right-hander went 12-6 with a 3.75 ERA and a complete game in 27 starts for the Yankees last year, ranking seventh among American League […]

Aaron Hicks Still Has Lower Back Pain

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the team will keep outfielder Aaron Hicks (back) out through the March 11 off day, as the outfielder is still experiencing lower back pain. The Yankees are being cautious, but it's another reminder that Hicks is a big injury risk despite all of the things that make him […]

Aaron Hicks Is a Cheaper Version of Tommy Pham

Tommy Pham and Aaron Hicks have a lot in common. Both didn't truly break out until their late 20s. Neither has ever logged 600 plate appearances in a season, thanks to checkered injury histories. They also produced remarkably similar numbers last season. With all that in mind, it's a bit surprising to see such a […]

The Winning Way to Draft Relief Pitchers

We've gone through each division, team by team. We've talked about the top setup men you should know about this season. We've looked at handcuffs and which closers you should have a backup for on draft day. It's a lot of information, but how does it apply to your league? Most people play in standard 5x5 […]

Outfielders Who'll Continue to Break Out in 2019

"The rookie phenom" is almost a cliche at this point in fantasy baseball. Every year there are at least a few absolute studs that break out--think Ronald Acuna, Juan Soto, Kris Bryant, those types. The A1 prospects who follow through on their pedigree. It's not all that difficult to predict that they'll likely keep up […]

RotoBaller H2H Draft Strategy Primer

Fantasy baseball, much like the sport itself, it is one of the more complex to follow closely. Compared to fantasy football, in which nearly every league was head-to-head before the advent of best-ball, fantasy baseball comes in a variety of formats. Many leagues are roto-style, 5x5 category-scoring, with cumulative season-long stats. While that is the […]

The King's Insider Report - Boston Red Sox

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues with a trip inside the Boston Red Sox spring training press box. The King spoke to a long-time Red Sox media member about individual outlooks for members of the defending champions. As always, the quotes were provided […]

Platoon Watch - Five Players On A Short Leash

One of the most commonly overlooked aspects when drafting a player in fantasy baseball is projecting how their season could play out. We sometimes don’t see the possible outcomes of playing time factors that a player can see during the course of a season. With our minds present in spring training battles and on players […]

Yankees Won't Have Platoon At First Base

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said they won't have a platoon at first base this year, meaning it'll be either Luke Voit or Greg Bird at the position. "It's tough for me to envision us having two first basemen, especially when I feel like (DJ) LeMahieu would be that guy that gets backup reps […]

Aaron Hicks Aiming To Return This Weekend

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (back) has "significantly improved," according to manager Aaron Boone. Hicks will likely do some throwing and hitting on Thursday and is aiming to return to the spring lineup this weekend after dealing with lower back stiffness. Injuries are always a concern with Hicks, but he managed a career-high 27 […]

Expert Mock Draft Reactions - RotoBaller Friends & Family

On February 13, 2019, we assembled a group of industry experts to take part in the second annual RotoBaller Friends and Family Expert Mock Draft. Our participants represented multiple sites, including: CBS Sports (Heath Cummings) The Athletic (Nando Di Fino) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) RotoWire (Tim Heaney) Mastersball/ESPN (Todd Zola) GuruElite (Ray […]

CC Sabathia Expected To Begin On Disabled List

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (heart) is expected to begin the season on the disabled list, according to manager Aaron Boone. However, the team thinks Sabathia will make starts in April. Boone also thinks Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga could both be in the rotation to begin the year with Luis Severino (shoulder) […]