Rougned Odor Hits Second Spring Home Run

Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor kick-started a six-run rally against the Colorado Rockies with a two-run home run on Wednesday. After striking out and grounding out in his first two at-bats, Odor hit Daniel Bard's pitch over the fences and drove in Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the bottom of the sixth inning. The second baseman […]

Lance Lynn Experiments With Offspeed Pitches

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Lance Lynn threw more offspeed pitches in his four-inning outing versus the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, and the results were mixed. Lynn gave up seven hits and four runs, but also struck out four Rockies and did not walk a batter. Lynn threw his fastball on over 70 percent of his […]

Danny Santana Still The Center Field Favorite

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward told reporters on Wednesday that outfielder Danny Santana is likely to get most of the playing time in center field to start the 2020 season. The team said earlier this year that they were hoping to get prospect Nick Solak comfortable at the position to maximize Santana's utility around the […]

Isiah Kiner-Falefa Belts Third Home Run On Tuesday

Texas Rangers infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit his third home run of the spring on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants. Kiner-Falefa took Logan Webb deep in the second inning and is now slashing .318/.348/.727 through nine Cactus League games. The utility infielder adjusted his stance in the offseason, and it looks to be paying off. […]

Jordan Lyles Gets Roughed Up In Spring Debut

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jordan Lyles pitched three innings on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants but gave up a three-run home run in the second inning to put a damper on his debut with his new team. Lyles’ three strikeouts in three innings continued a rising trend for the 10-year veteran. He averaged 6.2 […]

Auction Draft Dollar Day Targets

There are multiple strategies available to drafters in auctions. It is one of the reasons auctions are so much more interesting and fun than snake drafts. They award owners the ability to maneuver their roster the way they see fit. One of the most popular strategies is a stars-and-scrubs alignment, meaning owners pay up for […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2020

This will be my sixth season with RotoBaller, and consequently, my sixth time participating in this bold predictions series. Over that time, I've amassed a fairly strong record with bold predictions, generally clocking in with a success rate of 30 percent. I correctly predicted Bryce Harper's MVP campaign in 2015 and Kirby Yates leading the […]

Bases Loaded Podcast: Starting Pitcher Rankings Risers, Fallers and More!

Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland)and Sp Streamer revisit their starting pitcher ranks and discuss how their evaluations may have changed on a few players. Subscribe to the Bases Loaded podcast, part of RotoBaller Radio's Podcast Network. Like and Subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2020 Redraft Leagues (March Update)

The sun is shining in Florida and Arizona, and spring training games are underway. That means it’s time to update our redraft prospect rankings for 2020. We last looked at the key prospects for the coming season back in January when there was a lot of uncertainty around players' roles and potential playing time. As […]

Kyle Gibson Goes Two Innings In First Spring Start

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kyle Gibson made his spring training debut on Monday against the Cleveland Indians and got through the outing relatively unscathed. The former-Twins pitcher gave up a hit and a walk over two innings and finished his day with a strikeout to end the second inning with men on second and third […]

2020 Third Base Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

The pool of third basemen for the 2020 dynasty season is jam-packed with talent. From budding stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rafael Devers, to productive veterans like Justin Turner and Mike Moustakas, no one should have trouble finding a useful bat to hold down the hot corner. That said, depth can breed confusion and […]

Corey Kluber Strikes Out Four In First Spring Start

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Corey Kluber showed fantasy managers some good signs and bad signs in the first start with his new team on Sunday. Kluber struck out four Dodgers in three innings, but also gave up two hits, two walks, two earned runs, and one home run across 14 batters. The former-Cleveland star had […]

Evaluating OAA for Pitchers Changing Teams (AL and NL-Only)

Earlier this preseason, I looked deeper into Statcast’s new Outs Above Average (OAA) leaderboard, which identifies the best defensive infielders in the league. I used 2019 OAA to look at how a pitcher's new defense will affect his value in the 2020 season. The first article evaluated pitchers drafted inside the top 300 picks, so this […]

Elvis Andrus Steals First Bag Of Spring Training

Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus stole his first base of spring training on Saturday against the Chicago White Sox. Andrus finished the day 1-for-2 and is now batting .500 through three spring training games. The two-time All-Star has stolen at least 24 bases in five of the previous six seasons and cracked the 30 stolen […]

Lance Lynn Settles Down After Rough First Inning

In a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Texas Rangers starting pitcher Lance Lynn gave up four hits, one walk and two earned runs with three strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings. Most of the damage was done in the first inning when the righty gave up three hits and a walk to […]

Corey Kluber (SP, TEX) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~80 CURRENT ADP: ~95 overall ANALYSIS: Kluber came into 2019 as the ace of the Indians, having finished third in the AL Cy Young voting in 2018. He was coming off of his fifth consecutive season having thrown over 200 innings and striking out over 200 batters. Despite this consistent streak […]

Brock Burke Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

Texas Rangers pitcher Brock Burke (shoulder) underwent labrum surgery on Friday in Arlington. The pitching prospect made his major league debut in 2019, and was expected to be one of the first hurlers called up should one of the Rangers starting five go down. The news came down on Tuesday that Burke needed the surgery, […]

Mike Soroka Will Not Live Up to Draft Price Expectations

Every year there are polarizing players in fantasy baseball. These polarizing players leave no room for middle ground. They are the catalyst for Twitter debates, articles, videos, podcasts, and by the end of it you are forced to chose a side: are you in or are you out? For those of you thinking, surely there […]

Elite Starters and Pitching Trends Revisited

Last year I wrote a series [Part 1, Part 2, Part 3] on whether we were properly valuing elite starting pitchers. The basic premise was that we were likely to see fantasy-relevant starters (not openers) throw fewer innings again in 2019. I hypothesized that if there were fewer and fewer starting pitchers providing 200 innings […]

Evaluating OAA for Pitchers Changing Teams (12-Team Leagues)

Last week, I looked at Statcast’s new Outs Above Average (OAA) leaderboard, which they’ve used to identify the best defensive infielders in the league. My initial exploration of the metric was designed to identify pitchers who might have been lucky or unlucky last year as a way of mining for bounceback value or avoiding potential […]

Rougned Odor Smacks Grand Slam In Rout

Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor hit a first-inning grand slam in his team's 13-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. After Elvis Andrus, Nick Solak, and Joey Gallo all made it on base, Odor launched Colin Rea's 3-1 pitch over the right-field wall to clear the bases. Odor finished the day 3-for-3 with […]

Shin-Soo Choo Expected Back In Lineup On Friday

Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo (oblique) is recovering well from the muscle tightness that saw him scratched from Tuesday's game, and is expected to return to the lineup on Friday versus the Los Angeles Angels. The Rangers said that they were being extremely cautious with the injury as Choo is a veteran, and they could […]

RotoBaller Friends & Family Industry Mock Draft: What the Experts Were Thinking

The RotoBaller Friends & Family Mock Draft has become an annual tradition where we gather some of the biggest names from the fantasy baseball world and put together a mock draft just as spring training has commenced. Thanks to RT Sports for once again hosting and providing a custom draft site where readers could follow […]

H2H Points League Draft Strategy

Points leagues are essentially the rawest version of fantasy baseball. These are not players, these are stat-lines and you want to put up as many points per week as possible. Do not get too attached to underperforming players who have name-value and potential. There is a stark difference in draft strategy when it comes to […]

2020 Catcher Rankings - Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Leagues

Spring Training is upon us! Pitchers and catchers have reported and we finally have some box scores to desperately over-analyze. The catcher position can really be a headache for dynasty owners trying to plan for the future. Needless to say, it is not a position that many MLB teams count on for offense, leaving fantasy players […]

Kolby Allard Throws Two Clean Innings

Texas Rangers pitcher Kolby Allard threw two innings and gave up one hit against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. It was an encouraging performance for Allard, who is the pitcher most likely to be called up from the minors if any of the Rangers' starting five go down during the season. The 2015 first-round pick […]

2020 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers – Aaron Civale

With Mike Clevinger sidelined to start the year and Corey Kluber off to Texas, the Indians will rely on the emergence of Aaron Civale to bolster their typically-formidable rotation. Civale impressed in his rookie season with 10 starts, 57.2 innings pitched (IP), a 3-4 win-loss record, 2.34 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 46 Ks. Due to the […]

2020 Keeper Value Rankings - Shortstop

If you're keeping up with the Keeper Value Rankings, you know we've already covered First Base, Second Base, and Third Base. Today, we will address Shortstop. These rankings are intended for Keeper Leagues in which a fantasy owner must forfeit a designated draft pick in order to keep a player into the upcoming season. These rankings are based […]

Shin-Soo Choo Scratched Due To Muscle Tightness

Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo (oblique) was scratched from the starting lineup on Tuesday due to muscle tightness in his side. The 37-year old was slated to play in his second spring training game against the Kansas City Royals, but the club decided to sit him down as a precaution. TR Sullivan reported that the […]

Fantasy Insider Angles - Thor, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis and More (Premium Content)

Success in baseball isn’t always just about pure numbers. For those who play the game and are inside the clubhouse, it’s also about creating the right chemistry and environment. As the New York Mets opened spring training this season, there was a fresh air of optimism around the team. It also seemed to extend to […]