Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021

I've been in the bold predictions game since 2015 and in that time I've had my share of successes. Befitting a premise that demands spicy takes, though, I've also wildly missed the mark a bunch of times (whither goest thou, Byung-Ho Park and Delino DeShields?) The format's been around long enough that you almost certainly know the […]

Nick Mariano's Top 140 Saves+Holds Rankings

To any reader who thinks they don't have a voice here at RotoBaller, let it be known that this article came from a simple Reddit comment about how those seeking Saves+Holds reliever ranks were often overlooked. Poof, and here we are. Allow me, Nick Mariano, 2018's most accurate draft expert (top-three for RPs in '18 […]

Taylor Hearn Has Uneven Performance On Sunday

Texas Rangers starter Taylor Hearn allowed four runs against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. Only one run was earned due to a poorly-timed error by second baseman Andy Ibanez. The southpaw struggled with his control and issued three walks and hit a batter. However, he allowed just two hits and struck out three batters. Opponents […]

Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 3 Lineup Trends

We are entering week four of Spring Training and week three gave us a lot to watch down the stretch. But of course, you can catch up by talking a look at week one and week two recaps. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and quotes […]

Wes Benjamin Roughed Up By Mariners

Texas Rangers pitcher Wes Benjamin hit his first rough patch of the spring on Saturday. The 27-year-old left-hander allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk over 3.1 innings. Prior to Saturday, he had allowed just one run in six innings over three appearances. Benjamin is coming off a 2020 season that saw him […]

Nate Lowe Breaks Out With Two Hits, Homer

Texas Rangers first baseman Nate Lowe broke out of his spring-long slump with two hits, which included a home run, on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays last year, he was hitting just .160 with a BB-K of 2-11 before Saturday's game. The homer was his first of the spring […]

Finding Hitter Clones At Cheaper ADPs

One of the most useful algorithms in the machine learning world is that of data clustering. Clustering, in this case, is defined as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups […]

Jon Anderson's 10 Bold Predictions For 2021

Today, I am honored to take my turn giving you my 10 bold predictions for the 2021 season here at RotoBaller. It's a thrill to be featured on this site, and I look forward to continuing to put out content for you all over the 2021 season and beyond. This was not an easy post […]

Multi-Position Assets For All Fantasy Leagues

With such a short season in 2020, many starting pitchers weren't able to throw more than 60 innings, so it's unlikely that they take the massive jump this season that would allow them to get to the 170-180 innings we usually expect. To work around this, many teams have discussed implementing six-man rotations and even […]

Josh Jung To Undergo Surgery For Stress Fracture In Foot

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (foot) will undergo surgery to have a screw placed after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Jung — the top ranked prospect in Texas' system according to MLBPipeline — is expected to miss six to eight weeks following surgery. […]

Kyle Cody Torched By Dodgers

Texas Rangers starter Kyle Cody allowed five runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The runs came after he allowed a walk and eight hits over just 2.1 innings. Six of the hits were doubles. Cody is attempting to win a spot in the Rangers' starting rotation to open the year but he now […]

Nick Mariano's H2H Points Leagues Targets (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 […]

H2H Points Leagues Draft Primer

We recognize that some of our readers may be new to fantasy baseball and interested in trying a points league for the first time. The goal here is to outline the traditional format scoring while offering up suggestions for draft strategy. Below is a pretty generic Head-To-Head Points Format scoring outline. You will need to […]

2021 Points League Rankings - Starting Pitcher

We had to take a brief hiatus but are getting back at it on the points front at RotoBaller, now just a few weeks from the start of spring training. We've already covered most of the hitters so we're moving over to pitchers. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from […]

2021 Points League Rankings - Outfield

February is finally here and that means that draft season is getting into full gear. And here at RotoBaller, we're about more than just roto leagues. We're here to cover your whole fantasy spectrum. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from last year, I have strong opinions on point leagues. […]

2021 Points League Rankings - Shortstop

The ides of January are behind us and fantasy baseball draft season is officially in full swing. And considering that H2H point league players got ran over the most by a 60-game season in 2020, I'm guessing you're just as ready as I am to get things going. So it points ranks time, baby! If you've […]

2021 Points League Rankings - Second Base

With football finally behind us (the season is over, right?) we're entering the best time of the year...AKA fantasy baseball draft season. Many may be focused on roto but point players are chomping at the bit after 2020's shortened season basically torpedoed H2H point leagues. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've […]

Kolby Allard Roughed Up By Reds

Texas Rangers pitcher Kolby Allard allowed three runs in as many innings on Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds. The lefty gave up three hits and two walks. He also threw a wild pitch but struck out four batters. These were the first runs that Allard has allowed in four spring outings. Overall, he has a […]

Mike Foltynewicz Crushed By Reds

Texas Rangers starter Mike Foltynewicz allowed six runs (three earned) on nine hits and two walks sprinkled over two innings of work against the Reds on Thursday. Looking to secure a role on the Rangers after a rough 2020 season, he allowed two home runs which have been a reoccurring issue for him over the […]

Leody Taveras Triples on Thursday

Texas Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras had two hits, including a triple, during Thursday's 12-9 win against the Cincinnati Reds. He's looking to hold off veteran David Dahl for the starting job in center field. Taveras, 22, is now 7-for-28 (.250) with four extra-base hits and a stolen base this spring. Last season at the […]

Khris Davis Slugs Two Home Runs

Texas Rangers outfielder/designated hitter Khris Davis went deep twice on Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds. He also had a single and drove in four runs. The homers were Davis' first two dingers of the spring. Known for prodigious power that saw him hit more than 40 home runs in three straight seasons for the Oakland […]

2020 Breakout Outfielders Who'll Keep Improving

With hitters dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and related changes to the MLB season, it’s somewhat surprising that breakouts were unexceptional (if high) in their number. After 45 qualified batters improved their wOBA by at least 0.20 points between 2018 and 2019, 54 hitters managed to do so between 2019 and 2020. That’s not a […]

Later-Round Category Targets - Home Runs

Welcome back to my series of posts where I take us through a standard fantasy baseball category, break it down statistically and then locate some targets for 2021 to help you out in that category. We've already examined how to get an advantage in batting average. Today we will talk about home runs. You can also […]

Don't Overpay for Steals, Draft These Guys Instead

Steals are an increasingly precious commodity in roto leagues. If you don't grab a speedster early on, you are forced to find a modest source of steals in the middle and later rounds or just punt the category altogether. Since it's not advised to resign yourself to claiming last place in a category before the […]

Later-Round Category Targets - Batting Average

Of all of the fantasy sports, a baseball league using category scoring is the one most requiring manager strategy. You can draft a team full of players that overperform their draft cost but still not win your league if you don't fill up the categories correctly. If I had to give one piece of advice […]

Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Outfielder Prospects

When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect […]

Later-Round Category Targets - Stolen Bases

The stolen base is like no other category in the rotisserie game. It is correlated to no other category that is used in fantasy and is influenced by "specialists" (meaning players who only contribute in one category) way more than any other as well. Steal attempts have also been trending downward in recent MLB history, making […]

Undervalued Mixed League Draft Targets in 2021

Finding undervalued players during drafts can make or break your fantasy season. One of the ways we look for undervalued players is to utilize RotoBaller’s Expected Draft Value research developed by my colleague Nick Mariano.  We attempt to identify players who are forecast to return value in 2021 which is greater than the expected value […]

Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Infielder Prospects

When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect […]

AL Outfielders Ready to Break Out in 2021

In previous seasons, outfielder has been one of the deepest positions to find top-end talent as well as deeper talent. In 2021, this does not appear to be the case as there are so many question marks and risks in the current top 50 based on ADP and throughout the entirety of drafts. It becomes […]