Outfielders Who'll Continue to Break Out in 2019

"The rookie phenom" is almost a cliche at this point in fantasy baseball. Every year there are at least a few absolute studs that break out--think Ronald Acuna, Juan Soto, Kris Bryant, those types. The A1 prospects who follow through on their pedigree. It's not all that difficult to predict that they'll likely keep up […]

Is It Legit? Mike Foltynewicz's Breakout

We're still going strong with another preseason edition of "Is It Legit?" to discuss a surprising breakout performer from the 2018 MLB season in order to assess his value heading into 2019. With so many players seemingly becoming fantasy baseball darlings overnight, it can be challenging to sift through the multiple hype trains and determine […]

RotoBaller H2H Draft Strategy Primer

Fantasy baseball, much like the sport itself, it is one of the more complex to follow closely. Compared to fantasy football, in which nearly every league was head-to-head before the advent of best-ball, fantasy baseball comes in a variety of formats. Many leagues are roto-style, 5x5 category-scoring, with cumulative season-long stats. While that is the […]

Stephen Strasburg Throws Four Scoreless Innings

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg held the Mets to one hit and one walk with five strikeouts in his second spring appearance on Wednesday. Since 2015, Strasburg has only started between 22 and 28 games every season, and in the 22-start season last year, he posted career worsts of a 3.74 ERA and 3.62 […]

Platoon Watch - Five Players On A Short Leash

One of the most commonly overlooked aspects when drafting a player in fantasy baseball is projecting how their season could play out. We sometimes don’t see the possible outcomes of playing time factors that a player can see during the course of a season. With our minds present in spring training battles and on players […]

Howie Kendrick Has Mild Hammy Strain

Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick's MRI exam confirmed a mild left hamstring strain. The team will be cautious with him for now, but manager Dave Martinez thinks Kendrick will be ready for Opening Day. The veteran infielder missed most of the year in 2018 due to a lower-body injury and is strictly infield depth for […]

Expert Mock Draft Reactions - RotoBaller Friends & Family

On February 13, 2019, we assembled a group of industry experts to take part in the second annual RotoBaller Friends and Family Expert Mock Draft. Our participants represented multiple sites, including: CBS Sports (Heath Cummings) The Athletic (Nando Di Fino) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) RotoWire (Tim Heaney) Mastersball/ESPN (Todd Zola) GuruElite (Ray […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 11 - Pitch Info

One of the most fundamental questions in fantasy sports is if a player's current performance is sustainable. More than any other sport, baseball has a slew of statistical measures that can be dissected in numerous ways to analyze player performance. Pitch Info is a publicly available pitch tracking system that provides a lot of different data […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Nathan Eovaldi and Dallas Keuchel

Somewhere Dallas Keuchel is looking at Nathan Eovaldi’s four-year contract for $67.5 million and is wondering how he remains unsigned. He might be having similar thoughts about Patrick Corbin’s six-year, $140 million contract, but at least Corbin will be 29 to start the season and is coming off a Cy Young-caliber season. By contrast, Keuchel […]

Are Elite Pitchers Undervalued?

After San Francisco Giants’ president Farhan Zaidi announced that the team might use an opener this season, Madison Bumgarner messaged Bruce Bochy: “If you use an opener in my game I’m walking right out of the ballpark.” In addition to giving us the most Madison Bumgarner quote of all time, the news prompted me to […]

Later-Round Outfielders - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the later rounds of drafts, you start thinking about upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. These are the rounds to take risks on more unknown commodities like prospects, forgotten-about veterans, players returning from injuries or players that have previously showed promise but haven't put it all together yet. […]

Top 10 Outfield Prospects - 2019 Redraft Rankings

We're back with another list of 2019 impact prospects. Today the focus is on the outfield. With a whole host of candidates ready to make the jump to regular roles, this might be the deepest prospect position heading into 2019. With the growth of five-outfielder leagues as well, the need to know who will be […]

Max Scherzer Allows Five Runs

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer had a rough fourth inning on Tuesday in which he allowed five runs to the Boston Red Sox. Scherzer was more himself in the first three innings, where he retired all nine batters faced with three strikeouts. That perfect start is much closer to what you should expect in 2019 […]

Jeremy Hellickson Working on Slider

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson is practicing a quick pitch and a slider this spring training. "I just think nowadays a slider is a big strikeout pitch and I've just never had one...It's a tough pitch to throw, been trying to throw one forever," Hellickson said. He also revealed that he's talked to Patrick […]

Howie Kendrick Injured Tuesday

Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick left the game on Tuesday against the Red Sox after limping past first base on an RBI infield single in the third inning. He immediately took himself out of the game and slammed his helmet down in frustration. The 35-year-old tore his right Achilles last May. It doesn't look to […]

The King's Insider Report - Machado a Bust? Buehler Being Overdrafted?

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. The King returns with his award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series, an annual feature that takes you into the dugouts, locker rooms and press boxes to gain access to highly valuable nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, Scott "The King" Engel brings you […]

Predicting the Top 10 Finishers for Runs in 2019

Welcome to my never-ending journey through baseball numbers past, present and future. Today we are going to predict the 10 MLB players who will lead the league in runs scored for the 2019 season. Before we start, however, let's look back at a little bit of history in order to give ourselves an idea of […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 10 - Pitcher Batted Ball Distribution

The league average batted ball distribution in 2018 was 21.5% liners, 43.2% grounders and 35.4% flies. We have previously seen how pitchers may specialize in either grounders or fly balls. Fly ball pitchers have a BABIP advantage over their ground ball-inducing counterparts, since fly balls (.117 BABIP in 2018) consistently have lower BABIPs than worm […]

Ryan Zimmerman Makes Spring Debut

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman played his first game of the spring on Saturday, going three innings in the field and 0-2 at the plate. The news here is that Zimmerman, who was criticized for skipping last year's spring training, will play more often this spring, saying: "When things are good and my body is good, […]

Platoon Watch - Part-Time Outfielders To Target

The deepest position in fantasy baseball is undoubtedly the outfield spot. With such diverse talents ranging from elite speed to pure power, it seems like there’s always a handful of outfielders on the draft board that we’d take on any given pick. If you’re in shallow or three OF leagues, you may not need to […]

ADP Comparison - Overpriced / Underpriced Players on Yahoo

Average Draft Position (ADP) is a must-have piece of information when it comes to drafting. While every league is different and may have a particularly aggressive or conservative group of owners when it comes to certain players, it’s the best tool we have when analyzing players’ value. Now, instead of just talking about total ADP […]

ADP Comparison - Overpriced / Underpriced Players on CBS

Average Draft Position (ADP) is a must-have piece of information when it comes to drafting. While every league is different and may have a particularly aggressive or conservative group of owners when it comes to certain players, it’s the best tool we have when analyzing players’ value. Now, instead of just talking about total ADP […]

ADP Comparison - Overpriced / Underpriced Players on ESPN

Average Draft Position (ADP) is a must-have piece of information when it comes to drafting. While every league is different and may have a particularly aggressive or conservative group of owners when it comes to certain players, it’s the best tool we have when analyzing players’ value. Now, instead of just talking about total ADP […]

Winning Strategies For Your Dynasty League Startup Draft

Some people enjoy playing fantasy baseball one season at a time, drafting a new roster every year. Others are fascinated with drafting a team and managing it year after year towards multiple championship trophies. The latter individuals are best suited to play in dynasty leagues. For rosters to be competitive annually, they have to possess […]

RotoBaller Radio Presents: The King and Pocket Aces

Check out the newest podcast team here at RotoBaller HQ, featuring two of the best in the industry. We are thrilled to introduce the awesome duo of Scott "The King" Engel and Anthony "Pocket Aces" Aniano of RotoBaller Radio - tune in below as they discuss the fantasy baseball preseason and get you prepped for your upcoming drafts. […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara

This week, I am making the trip down to Texas, which has started to be treated like somewhat of a fantasy wasteland by some fantasy owners. However, despite the low expectations for team performance, there are some interesting names to be found in Arlington. The Rangers are in a self-confessed rebuild mode but they have […]

Is It Legit? Trevor Bauer's Breakout 2018 Season

We're back with another edition of "Is It Legit?" to discuss another surprising breakout performer from the 2018 MLB season in order to assess his value heading into 2019. With so many players seemingly becoming fantasy baseball darlings overnight, it can be challenging to sift through the multiple hype trains and determine which players are […]

Bryce Harper to Phillies - Fantasy Impact

Folks...it's about damn time. I've been waiting for almost four agonizing months to write these words: Bryce Harper is a Philadelphia Phillie. When it becomes official, his 13-year, $330 million deal will be the largest in MLB history. The signing puts an exclamation point on a busy winter for the Phillies, who also signed Andrew McCutchen […]

Bryce Harper Agrees To Terms With Phillies

According to multiple reports, free-agent outfielder Bryce Harper has agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Phillies. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that Harper will make $330 million over 13 years with no opt-out. That would make Harper’s deal the largest deal in the league. Harper, 26, will stay in the National League East and should […]

ADP Cost Analysis - Andrew McCutchen vs. Jesse Winker

Andrew McCutchen, now 32, is unlikely to ever regain his spectacular prime years from 2012-15, but after a disappointing 2016 campaign, he recovered with solid seasons in 2017 and 18, posting 20+ home runs and double-digit steals both years. He is being drafted 144th overall on average after signing with the Phillies this offseason. Jessie […]