Ji-Man Choi Has Loose Bodies Removed From Knee

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi had loose bodies removed from his knee when he underwent arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday, according to beat writer Marc Topkin. He also had his meniscus "debrided," which means it was cleaned up. Topkin added that the team hopes he can start playing games in four to five weeks. […]

Later-Round Relief Pitchers and Closers - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft 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 playing time concerns. […]

Randy Arozarena In Discussion With Rays On Contract Extension

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena has had recent discussions with the team about a possible contract extension, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Over 42 games between 2019 and 2020, Arozarena has slashed .286/.384/.607 with eight home runs and six steals. However he rose to prominence during the postseason last year where he batted […]

2021 Outfielder Rankings (Part Two) - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

The outfielder position is deep enough that it warrants another look. Read about the first few tiers right here before diving into part two ahead. When you're done, read our rankings breakdowns at Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Shortstop. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have been updating 2021 Mixed […]

MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 4/1/21 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 4/1 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.   We will be releasing our premium MLB DFS pitching picks every single day of the week for the entire MLB and fantasy baseball season and postseason, at least a few hours before games begin that day. Below […]

Diego Castillo A Favorite For Saves But Whiffs Are Down

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Diego Castillo is set to see an increase in high-leverage opportunities with the injury to Nick Anderson (elbow). The right-hander will now be one of the favorites to acquire saves on a regular basis, although Pete Fairbanks, Ryan Thompson, and Chaz Roe could also see time in the later innings. Castillo […]

Later-Round Starting Pitchers - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft 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 playing time concerns. […]

Later-Round Shortstops - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft 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 playing time concerns. […]

Updated Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings

In just a few short days, the 2021 Major League Baseball season will get underway. Fans of Minor League Baseball will have to wait a little longer with clubs operating their alternate training sites for at least the first month of the 2021 season. As we saw in 2020, prospects can develop and thrive at […]

Dynasty Catcher Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Catchers are still a necessary evil in the fantasy realm. For that reason, we will finish our analysis of the dynasty positional rankings with those that wield the tools of ignorance. We've already reviewed the rest of the positions around the diamond. Check out analysis on my dynasty rankings with a look at first base, […]

Ji-Man Choi To Undergo Knee Surgery; Out Until May

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi (knee) will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be out until May, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin reports that Choi has been dealing with knee soreness since the beginning of Spring Training, and he had a reoccurence of soreness last […]

Pete Fairbanks In Line For High-Leverage Innings

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks' spring got off to a terrible start thanks to a nasty case of food poisoning but he's in line for some key innings out of the bullpen in 2021. He was limited to just three games in the spring due to the illness but the long-term injury to Nick […]

Rich Hill Makes Final Spring Start

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Rich Hill made his final start of the spring Monday and allowed three earned runs on five hits while walking two and striking out four in five innings of work. It has been a rough spring overall for Hill as he had pitched to the tune of a 6.94 ERA […]

Francisco Mejia Batting Fifth Monday

Tampa Bay Rays catcher Francisco Mejia is batting fifth for the Rays on Monday. Mejia has bounced around in the lineup this spring and often has been closer to the top and middle of the lineup. He was acquired via trade with the San Diego Padres this offseason and is expected to be the Rays' […]

Later-Round Second Basemen - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft 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 playing time concerns. […]

Late-Spring Closer Report: Unsettled American League Bullpens

"Spring stats don't matter." "Grapefruit and Cactus League games don't count." "Everyone is just working on something." These are all things we hear before baseball season, and they're mostly true. However, injuries certainly count, and there have been a few major ones already in March when baseball doesn't count. The National League seems to have […]

Which Batters Are Being Overlooked in 2021?

Pre-season analysis has achieved peak velocity, and at this point, we've started to hear certain names mentioned again and again: Jarred Kelenic, Andrew Vaughn, Randy Arozarena. Those three examples follow the expected pattern: young, exciting players whose potential outstrips the established knowledge. Put more simply, there are interesting things to say about Kelenic, Vaughn, and Arozarena. But […]

Finding Breakout Power Hitters Using Barrel Rates

In part one of this article, I explained how important Statcast is to determining surface stats and the usefulness of barrel rates. Before continuing, I would recommend checking out that article if you're interested in learning how Statcast metrics affect surface stats and player outcomes, and which Statcast metrics are the best predictors of success (hint: […]

Updated Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021

Opening day is just around the corner. So what better way to celebrate the occasion than to refresh the Top 50 prospects list for 2021 redraft leagues. If you're a habitual prospect watcher then you could have a leg up on your fantasy competition in 2021. Managers around baseball will heavily rely on rookies like […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Outfielders Using Expected Draft Values

Welcome to the FSWA-nominated Expected Draft Values series, where we look at historical data to identify both overvalued 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're onto the outfield now as we make our way through our 2021 draft prep. Today, […]

Randy Arozarena Goes 1-For-3 In Return To Lineup Saturday

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena (wrist) returned to the lineup on Saturday afternoon, finishing 1-for-3 against the Twins. Arozarena had been out for the past few days dealing with wrist soreness, but he didn't appear to be slowed down too much in his return, as Adam Berry of MLB.com reported that Arozarena made solid […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Pitcher Statcast

Statcast metrics such as Barrels and Brls/BBE are great ways to evaluate a batter's performance, so it is only natural to assume that the metrics would be predictive for pitchers as well. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is evidence […]

Deep Prospects to Stash in Dynasty

Chasing prospects is like playing the lottery. You're going to lose more times than you'll win, but if you win big it'll make up for all your losses. In dynasty leagues, managers are always going to try to be three steps ahead when it comes to identifying the next hot prospect. In this article, we're […]

Eric Samulski's Bold Predictions for 2021

It's bold prediction time! Everybody's favorite time of year. Last year I put out my bold prediction article, and it was a doozy. Obviously, publishing it before the shutdown which delayed the MLB season impacted some of the claims, but, actually, no, I'll just blame everything on that. Anyways, I'm back again to plant my […]

Advanced MLB DFS Strategy: Sneaky Stacks Against Reverse-Splits Pitchers

With Opening Day of the MLB season right around the corner, it's time to start getting your mind right and preparing for a full season of MLB DFS action. Last summer we missed out on several months of MLB games due to the COVID pandemic, but we are going to get 6 months worth of […]

Must-Have Pitchers for 2021: WPC+

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut name the pitchers they are targeting most in 2021 fantasy baseball drafts and explain why they could break out. 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 sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio […]

Nicklaus Gaut: Bold, Bolder, Boldest Predictions

Ahh, the time-honored tradition of making bold predictions is upon us. We hem and we haw; we make outrageous claims like Adalberto Mondesi invented the question mark, and bicker about the proper definition of "bold". In the NotBurtatorium (totally a real word), however, we worry not about this or that definition. Our goals are simple […]

Michael Wacha Strikes Out Five On Thursday

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Michael Wacha allowed one run on four hits and one walk, while striking out five in five innings of work on Thursday. Continuing what has been a dominant spring, Wacha has now allowed just one run on six hits and two walks while striking out 10 in 12 innings of […]

Nick Anderson To Miss First Half Of Season

Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Nick Anderson (elbow) will be out for at least the first half of the season with a partially torn ligament in his elbow, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The news comes after a rough outing from Anderson on Wednesday, in which his velocity was down by […]

Overcoming Recency Bias on Draft Day

With all the draft analysis and sabermetrics being thrown at fantasy managers these days, I think it's time we take a step back and focus on the most important thing to dissect before your draft - YOU. A few months ago, I covered some of these cognitive biases for fantasy football season. Now, I believe […]