Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - Early 2019 Sleepers and Fades (Week 26)

Welcome back to Rotoballer’s series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series utilizes the myriad tools and information provided by Statcast to pinpoint encouraging and worrying trends underneath the hood of headline numbers. Well, we’ve reached the endgame. Week 26 marks the last of the […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 26)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we saw the revitalization of another veteran pitcher that was once left for dead. We also saw a young fireballer […]

Aaron Hicks Leaves Game Early

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (hamstring) left the game early on Monday with a tight left hamstring. Hicks was hitless in two plate appearances before leaving the game. He also fouled a ball off his ankle on Saturday night and sat out on Sunday. Hicks is beat up as the season winds to a […]

Didi Gregorius Likely To Play Before Regular Season Ends

New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius (wrist) has made a big step in his recovery process and believes he will be ready to play before the regular season ends. This comes as a huge relief as his injury could've been as bad as missing the rest of the season with playoffs. With exactly a week […]

Jonathan Holder To Start Monday

New York Yankees relief pitcher Jonathan Holder will serve as the opener against the Rays on Monday. Holder is 1-3 and has a nice 2.97 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 58 strikeouts over 63 2/3 innings in 57 outings. It'll be the 25-year-old's first career major league start, and he's unlikely to go more than a […]

Champ or Chump: Gary Sanchez and Mookie Betts

We continue our 2019 fantasy baseball preview with two names who could not have had more different seasons in 2018. Gary Sanchez entered last draft season as the consensus top catcher on the board. Unfortunately for his owners, he's been struggling with the Mendoza line all season. Meanwhile, Mookie Betts has gone nuts for the […]

Miguel Andujar Providing Consistent Returns

New York Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar collected two hits and an RBI in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Andujar provided an RBI single in the first inning then added his 43rd double later in the contest. The ascending 23-year-old rookie has remained a steady bat in New York’s lineup, rocking a .298/.331/.523 slash […]

Didi Gregorius' Season In Doubt

New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius (wrist) tore cartilage in his wrist while sliding into home plate on Saturday and might not be able to return the rest of the season, according to manager Aaron Boone. Gregorius sat out on Sunday, but it's unclear if he'll be able to return if the team advances past […]

Aaron Hicks Should Be Able To Return Tuesday

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (ankle) should be ready to return to the starting lineup on Tuesday against the Rays, according to manager Aaron Boone. Hicks fouled a ball off his ankle on Saturday and was rested on Sunday. As long as he's back in there on Tuesday, Hicks should be in all starting […]

X-Rays Negative On Aaron Hicks

X-rays turned up negative for New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (foot) after he fouled a ball off his foot on Saturday. Hicks was the hero on Saturday and avoided a serious injury. He's been excellent for his fantasy owners this year despite missing some time with injury, hitting .249/.369/.468 with 26 long balls, 76 […]

Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks Absent From Lineup

New York Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks and shortstop Didi Gregorius are all out of Sunday’s lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are likely just giving these guys a breather after clinching a Wild Card spot Saturday night. Giancarlo Stanton will man right field, with Andrew McCutchen in center and Adeiny Hechavarria […]

Aaron Hicks Out Of Lineup Sunday, Should Return Monday

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (ankle) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles. Hicks fouled a ball off his left ankle in Saturday's game and will use Sunday to rest, but manager Aaron Boone said he should be ready to play Monday against the Rays, per MLB's Bryan Hoch. Brett […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/23/18): MLB DFS Lineups

It's Week 3 of the NFL season, which means time to load up on baseball DFS! We've got an 11-game slate on the penultimate Sunday of the season. SEA @ TEX has the highest expected total at 10.5, with NYM @ WAS the next highest at 9.0. In this article, I will be providing you […]

Luke Voit Keeps Mashing

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit launched his 12th homer Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles. The revelation continues for Voit who now rocks a .314/.385/.648 slash with 11 bombs since joining the pinstripes in August. He’s collected four long balls in his last four contests. Voit should continue playing first every day for the […]

Aaron Hicks Plays Hero As Yankees Clinch

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks laced a walk-off double Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles to clinch his team a Wild Card spot. Hicks finished the evening 2-for-5 and also cracked his 26th homer. The streaky switch-hitter is now riding a six-game hitting streak, batting .375 (9-for-24) with five extra-base hits. Hicks also escaped an […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (9/23/18): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

There are 15 total games today, and I'm going to be utilizing players from the "All Day" slate. The MLB season is coming to an end, so we're seeing a lot of new faces, as teams get their young players valuable innings in the MLB. That generally adds a bit of potential value to most […]

Hitter Streamers (Week 26) - Head-to-Head Leagues

Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 26, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week.  If someone jumps […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (9/22/18): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

We have a small three-game slate which starts at 4 pm and then the nine-game slate which starts at 7 pm. There are plenty of options on the slates you want to be paying up for and have some interesting matchups as we move closer to the end of the season. In this article, I […]

Gary Sanchez Sitting Out on Friday

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (rest) is out of the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. Sanchez will get a routine rest day on Friday, but should be back in the lineup on Saturday. Austin Romine will bat eighth and draw the start behind the plate versus righty Yefry Ramirez. Romine […]

Luke Voit (1B, NYY) - Week 26 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 31% of leagues ANALYSIS: Remember when everyone thought Greg Bird was going to be a fantasy stud? He's battled injury as usual, and been pretty terrible when he has played. Enter Luke Voit, a little-known 27-year-old who entered the season with 62 plate appearances in the majors. Since […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (9/21/18): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

The Cubs have returned to their regular schedule of playing in the afternoon on Fridays, so we're back to a 14 game Main slate - but it's an attractive one! We've got a number of household names on the bump and a lot of important baseball to be played still (tight division races!), so tonight […]

Mychal Givens (RP, BAL) - Week 26 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Mychal Givens has been getting the saves in Baltimore of late, making him a vital piece of a fantasy roster. Since the dealing of Zach Britton and Darren O'Day, Givens has a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings and has saved […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/21/18): MLB DFS Lineups

With the battle for Chicago taking place at 4:10pm EST, we won’t have a full 15-game slate on Friday night for DraftKings. However, 14 games is still a full player pool to work with when constructing a lineup. Three games have an over/under of at least nine total runs, with the SEA/TEX matchup leading the […]

Week 26 MLB Closers and Saves Report

Congrats on (probably) making it through the first week or two of the playoffs! I got knocked out in the first round because almost all of my hitters decided to pretty much take a week off from being on base. My closers did great though, so I'm still qualified to create this week's Closers and […]

Fantasy Baseball: #2EarlyMock, Rounds 1 - 10

As I mentioned last week, I'm one of more than 100 fantasy analysts participating in this year's #2EarlyMock. Before we get into the blow-by-blow, kudos to Justin Mason for putting the whole enterprise together. If you're curious as to how other analysts are approaching their drafts, another tip of the cap to Smada, who is […]

Rookie Report: Recent MLB Prospect Call-Ups (Week 25)

In this week's Rookie Report, we'll be taking a look at several catchers making an impact in fantasy this month. Francisco Mejia made a splash in his first start for the Padres, hitting his first and second career home runs while driving in four in the 6-2 win over the Reds. While Mejia may have […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 25: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 25 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. We have somehow blown by into mid-September, which means the homestretch of 2018 is upon us. Most fantasy baseball leagues have already had their trade […]

Justus Sheffield Escapes Jam In Debut

With the New York Yankees in command Wednesday night in the Bronx, manager Aaron Boone opted to call Justus Sheffield into the game. The 22-year-old, currently the highest-rated prospect in the New York Yankees organization, debuted against the archrival Boston Red Sox. Although his club held a nine-run lead, Sheffield clearly had some jitters, walking […]

Aaron Hicks Drives In Three Runs As Yankees Pummel Red Sox

The New York Yankees delayed the Boston Red Sox's divisional celebration at least for one more night as they pummeled their eternal rivals 10-1 on Wednesday in the Bronx. One of the star performers at the plate was outfielder Aaron Hicks, who recorded two hits and drove in three runs in the winning effort. The […]

Luke Voit Bashes Two Home Runs In Victory

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit's rise has been quite the surprise as he's earned the club's position as the primary first baseman. After sitting out the first game of New York's three-game set against the Boston Red Sox, the 27-year-old went perfect at the plate, recording four hits in four plate appearance. Additionally, […]