Statcast Hitter Leaderboard - Launch Angle

One of the most basic components of Statcast metrics is launch angle, which is incorporated in Sweet Spot% and Barrel rate among other things. While launch angle alone doesn't tell the entire tale of a batted ball, much less an entire season's worth of offensive stats, it can serve as an entry point to a […]

Michael Wacha Roughed Up In Sunday’s No-Decision

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Michael Wacha allowed five earned runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out two across five innings during Sunday's 9-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He did not factor into the decision. The 30-year-old was hurt by the long ball and served up two homers to Cedric Mullins and […]

Austin Meadows Launches Solo Home Run On Sunday

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Austin Meadows went 2-for-5 with a solo home run, a double, and a strikeout in Sunday's 9-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He blasted a solo shot off Jorge Lopez to deep right field to trim the Orioles lead 4-2. It was his 21st long ball of the season. The 26-year-old […]

Brett Phillips Homers Twice, Drives In Five Runs

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips went 2-for-4 with two home runs, five RBI, and a strikeout in Sunday's 9-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He took Orioles reliever Cole Sulsler deep in the seventh inning to trim Baltimore's lead 5-3. The 27-year-old later belted the go-ahead grand slam off Paul Frye to left-center field […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (8/9/21): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

While DraftKings chose to embrace those weird people in Ohio and including the game starting an hour earlier in their main slate, FanDuel told them to piss up a rope. That leaves us with a rather small four-game slate today. We still have some surprisingly good options for a slate this small. The only rain […]

Point League Pitchers: Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 20

We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best […]

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 20

The starting pitching pool is wavering (some pun intended!) a bit this week, as a lot of the names we've been talking about for weeks have finally been picked up in over 50% of leagues. There haven't been too many recent surges to take advantage of either, but it's not like there's nobody out there […]

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Week 20

Welcome to the top hitter streamers column for Week 20 of the MLB season (8/16 through 8/22). This weekly piece should be helpful for anyone looking to gain an edge in their league. If you need a fill-in for an injured player or want to exploit some matchups in order to gain an edge on […]

Point League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 20

We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best […]

MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 8/8 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 8/8 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.    High-Priced Aces These are your studs who are worth paying up for on this slate. It makes sense to deploy these guys as your cash game plays on FanDuel and as your SP1 on DraftKings […]

MLB DFS Cheat Sheet, Stacks and Avoids for 8/8/21 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Premium Cheatsheet for 8/8 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.      Top Tournament Stacks for 8/8/21 This section will highlight the top tournament lineup stacks of the day (depending on the size of the slate) and help you identify the pitchers that are best suited to pick […]

The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 20

Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat who […]

Bell's Best Bets - MLB Betting Picks for 8/8/21 (Premium Content)

Hey RotoBallers! Welcome to Week 19 of the MLB season. It's been one to forget for my handicapping thus far, but I've still learned a ton about my process and my optimal process for analyzing teams, finding value in lines, and reflecting on results from a day ago. I hope to continue providing sound analysis […]

Luis Arraez (2B/3B/OF, MIN) - Week 20 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 12+ teams ROSTERED IN: 17% of leagues ANALYSIS: Arraez was locked into the leadoff spot for the Twins from June 14 to July 20, slashing .343/.382/.461 with nine extra-base hits (six doubles, three triples) and nine RBI over 110 plate appearances during that span. He then hit the injured […]

FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks (8/8/21): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

Hello RotoBallers! We have a nice-sized Sunday main slate to dissect with lots of batting and pitching options for us to consider. We have some good pitching options on this slate so we will need to figure out which one can get us a few strikeouts and a win while also choosing between some great […]

Shane McClanahan Fans Eight In Saturday’s Win

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan (6-4) allowed three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out eight across seven innings to earn the win during Saturday's 12-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He limited the Orioles to three runs across a career-high seven frames to pick up his sixth win of […]

Fantasy Baseball Injury Updates - Week 20

The second half of the baseball season is in full swing and the race to make the playoffs, whether your favorite MLB team or your fantasy team, is in full swing. Knowing injury timelines is now at a vital part of the fantasy baseball season. There are still many injury questions that have to be […]

Wander Franco Blasts Fourth Homer In Saturday’s Win

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Wander Franco went 1-for-5 with a solo home run during Saturday's 12-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. The rookie phenom took Orioles reliever Cesar Valdez deep in the eighth inning for the Rays fourth home run of the game. He's starting to heat up in August, hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a […]

Nelson Cruz Homers Again On Saturday

Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Nelson Cruz went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run during Saturday's 12-3 win over the Orioles. He took Orioles starter Spenser Watkins deep in the fifth inning for his 23rd long ball of the season. The Boomstick has now homered in back-to-back games. Cruz has been red hot in August, […]

Yandy Diaz Launches Solo Home Run In Saturday’s Win

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Yandy Diaz went 1-for-5 with a solo home run during Saturday's 12-3 win over the Orioles. He took Spenser Watkins deep in the second inning to put the Rays on the scoreboard 1-0. It was his eighth long ball of the season. The 30-year-old is slashing /253/.363/.372 with a .735 OPS […]

Brandon Lowe Belts Grand Slam, Records Five RBI

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Brandon Lowe went 2-for-5 with a grand slam, a double, a walk, and five RBI during Saturday's 12-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He blasted a grand slam off Orioles reliever Cesar Valdez in the eighth inning to extend the Rays lead 9-3. The 27-year-old drove in a season-high five runs […]

Kevin Kiermaier Dealing With A Sore Knee

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (knee) exited Saturday night's matchup against the Orioles. The 31-year-old began to experience right knee soreness and was replaced by Brett Phillips out in center. Kiermaier is batting .233 this season, with 56 hits, 32 runs, 23 RBI, and seven stolen bags. While he is considered day-to-day, a potential […]

Collin McHugh Activated From Injured List

Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Collin McHugh (arm) was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. To make room for him on the roster, the Rays optioned pitcher Louis Head to Triple-A Durham. McHugh landed on the injured list due to arm fatigue at the […]

MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 8/7 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 8/7 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.    High-Priced Aces These are your studs who are worth paying up for on this slate. It makes sense to deploy these guys as your cash game plays on FanDuel and as your SP1 on DraftKings […]

Fantasy Trade Deadline Advice - The Bigger Picture

The MLB trade deadline came and went like a category five hurricane (or typhoon, for those on the other side of the Pacific). We are still picking up the pieces, trying to make sense of what is left in the aftermath. This year, the rich got richer in L.A. and New York while non-contenders like […]

The Outsiders: Deeper Pitching Prospects to Know for Dynasty Leagues

Welcome the latest update of The Outsiders, where I highlight pitching prospects that should be on your radar in deep dynasty leagues. For "standard" dynasty leagues, we have RotoBaller's Premium Top 250 Dynasty Prospect Rankings, updated and maintained by our prospect guru Marc Hulet. But for you degenerates who participate in the deepest of dynasty […]

Hitter Analysis by Batted Ball Data

With all of the data that is captured for every event in MLB games, there are a lot of fun ways to dive in and see how hitters are truly performing. There is also an opportunity to find what statistical outputs we should generally expect with certain inputs. For this post, I'd like to revisit […]

Closers and Saves Report - Week 19 Waiver Wire

Well, that was a wild trade deadline, wasn't it? Some teams that needed to do a lot didn't do much. Some teams that didn't need to do much did the most. And then some teams did exactly what everyone expected. It seemed like a particularly hectic trade deadline day even though several teams started making […]

Hitter & Pitcher Splits Worth Exploring

We talk a lot in fantasy baseball about splits data, and for good reason. Some hitters are completely different players when facing a left-handed pitcher as compared to when they're facing a right-hander. Some of the differences you see in the data are huge. This is also true with pitchers, as some guys can be […]

Daily Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 7th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics […]