X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Where Do Elite Starters Come From?

Among expert drafts, starting pitchers are coming off the board earlier and more rapidly than in previous years. For instance, the LABR mixed league saw nine starters drafted in the first two rounds in comparison to just six in 2018 and five in 2017.

Pitcher selection in expert drafts has been somewhat more aggressive than general fantasy draft trends, and it is clearly more aggressive than industry-wide rankings. We seem to be shifting away from avoiding pitchers in the opening rounds. There’s a definite division between owners looking to acquire a top-tier starter in the first three rounds and owners continuing to eschew pitchers in favor of hitters. When I finished Part 1 in this series, it appeared that elite pitchers were becoming increasingly valuable because they are less subject to the trend of curtailing pitcher usage.

The problem, of course, is that trying to draft an elite starter and getting one are entirely different things. Additionally, that prompted the question, what even constitutes an elite starting pitcher and how can we identify pitchers likely to generate elite seasons?

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and weekly lineup resources:

 

Trying to Define an Elite Starter: Methodology

As part of my research for the previous article, I set out to chart the auction value of each starter for both from the last six seasons. If you’re not interested in an account of how I came up with my dollar values, skip down to the next section.

For this article, I’ve combined quality starts and wins by weighting them at 50% each. Other than that, I’ve used the same approach as my previous article: 12-team setup with 5x5 scoring, standard positions with a corner infield spot, middle infield spot, and a utility spot, five starters, three relievers, and a 70/30 offense/pitching split for a $260 league.

After looking at the data for six seasons, I defined an elite starter as a pitcher whose value is two standard deviations higher than the average fantasy starter. The average fantasy relevant pitcher averages around eight dollars in value. Depending on settings, league size, and year, there are usually 60 to 80 starting pitchers with neutral or positive value. Those starters were the population used to calculate the average and standard deviation. That approach gave me a definition of elite starters as pitchers who generated $26.88 or more in a single season. The average elite pitcher was worth $35.80, meaning that elite starting pitchers were worth about four times as much as the average starting pitcher in a 12-team league.

 

What Is an Elite Starter?

Based on my approach, there have been 22 elite pitching seasons since 2013. Twelve of those seasons have come from three pitchers: Clayton Kershaw (5), Max Scherzer (5), and Chris Sale (2). Some of the numbers below are traditional fantasy categories. Some of them are more advanced numbers generally used to gauge if a player’s performance is legitimate.

Year Value Name IP W QS ERA FIP WHIP K K%
2015 $45.30 Jake Arrieta 229 22 29 1.77 2.35 0.84 236 27.1%
2015 $41.90 Zack Greinke 222.2 19 30 1.66 2.76 0.84 200 33.8%
2015 $41.80 Clayton Kershaw 232.2 16 27 2.13 1.99 0.88 301 23.7%
2014 $41.40 Clayton Kershaw 198.1 21 24 1.77 1.81 0.86 239 31.9%
2017 $41.20 Corey Kluber 203.2 18 22 2.25 2.50 0.87 265 34.1%
2018 $40.70 Jacob deGrom 217 10 28 1.7 1.99 0.91 269 32.2%
2013 $39.10 Clayton Kershaw 236 16 27 1.83 2.39 0.92 232 25.6%
2017 $36.00 Max Scherzer 200.2 16 22 2.51 2.90 0.9 268 34.4%
2018 $35.90 Max Scherzer 220.2 18 28 2.53 2.65 0.91 300 34.6%
2018 $35.20 Justin Verlander 214 16 26 2.52 2.78 1.05 246 34.8%
2017 $34.90 Chris Sale 214.1 17 23 2.90 2.45 0.97 308 36.2%
2014 $34.50 Johnny Cueto 243.2 20 29 2.25 3.30 0.96 242 25.2%
2016 $34.30 Clayton Kershaw 149 12 17 1.69 1.80 0.72 172 31.6%
2014 $34.30 Felix Hernandez 236 15 27 2.14 2.56 0.92 248 27.2%
2018 $33.50 Blake Snell 180.2 21 19 1.89 2.95 0.97 221 31.6%
2016 $33.20 Max Scherzer 228.1 20 26 2.96 3.24 0.97 284 31.5%
2015 $31.70 Max Scherzer 228.2 14 23 2.79 2.77 0.92 276 30.7%
2017 $31.60 Clayton Kershaw 175 18 20 2.31 3.07 0.95 202 29.8%
2018 $31.10 Aaron Nola 212 17 25 2.37 3.01 0.97 224 27.0%
2018 $31.00 Chris Sale 158 12 17 2.11 1.98 0.86 237 38.4%
2013 $29.52 Max Scherzer 214.1 21 25 2.90 2.74 0.97 240 28.7%
2015 $28.90 Dallas Keuchel 232 20 27 2.48 2.91 1.02 216 23.7%

 

Sticking with the advanced stats, here’s how the average 2013-2018 elite starter stacked up against the average fantasy starter from 2018:

FIP xFIP K% K/B% IP IPS
Elite Starters 2.56 2.80 30.6 6.15 211 6.2
2018 Avg. Starter 3.63 3.74 24.2 3.66 164.1 5.2

Aside from improved performance, there were a few notable differences between fantasy relevant pitchers AND elite pitching seasons. Most elite pitchers generated additional value in the same way as elite leadoff or two-spot hitters: through high-quality volume. They tend to throw more innings in total, average more innings per start, and have a dramatically higher quality-start rate at 78.5% which helps lead to higher win totals. The exceptions were seasons like Chris Sale in 2018 or Clayton Kershaw in 2016 and 2017: seasons when the player generated outlier ratio stats that overcame the reduced number of innings.

In 2018, six starters fit that definition of an elite pitcher: Jacob deGrom ($40.70), Max Scherzer ($35.90), Justin Verlander ($35.20), Blake Snell ($33.50), Aaron Nola ($31.10), and Chris Sale ($31.00). Those are uninflated values based on a player’s Z-score. Sale’s value in this sequence is depressed by his lower number of innings and lower IPS. In my simulated league, deGrom’s calculated value would have ranked fourth overall. Sale would have been 15th.

Perhaps, it’s obvious, but 2018 was the only year to have six elite pitchers. Maybe fantasy baseball pitchers are becoming more stratified across the spectrum, but I haven’t done the research for that. For reference, 2015 had five elite-level pitchers plus another one who just barely missed the cutoff. For 2019, Steamer projects Sale, Scherzer, deGrom, and Verlander as the pitchers likely to have an elite season.

 

Where Do Elite Pitchers Come From?

The four pitchers above are familiar faces. For all of the discussion about pitchers being more volatile than hitters, the best indicator that a pitcher would have an elite season was if he was coming off an elite season the year before. At the very least, he needed to have already been quite good. In the numbers I examined, pitching an elite season before had the highest correlation to whether a pitcher would have an elite season the next year. While that’s not revolutionary information, it should reassure fantasy managers who have been taught that starter values are erratic. Pitchers may be more erratic than hitters, but elite starters tend to produce very good results as a floor. I’ll follow up on this in the final section.

Of the 22 elite seasons, only three pitchers had finished outside the top-100 in the previous season. Max Scherzer was ranked 126 in 2012 while suffering from bad luck on balls in play and managing only 5.2 innings per start. Johnny Cueto finished at 110 in 2013 after missing most of the season with a lat injury. Cueto had already provided two near-elite seasons in 2011 and 2012 before his injury. Blake Snell is the only true anomaly on the list: after finishing outside the top 300 in 2017, he threw 180 IP with a 2.95 FIP last season.

To some extent, the consistency made looking for markers for pre-elite pitchers easier. The patterns are what we might expect from a top-end starter: high strikeouts, weak contact, high-pitch count success, and consistent effectiveness on the third time through the batting order. There are outliers like Dallas Keuchel, but when pitchers strayed too far from the formula, their success was less sustainable. The combination has tended to allow pitchers to produce excellent to elite results.

To better identify where elite pitchers came from, I pulled discrete, focused statistics which were both descriptive (e.g., wOBA) and reliable (e.g., contact rate). I assembled bases and standard deviations from both the 22 elite pitching performances AND the seasons that preceded them. Then I summed the z-scores of those categories to see how last year’s pitchers compared. Here are the base results for the top five pitchers in baseball, plus a pair of pitchers for context.

ADP Elite Z-Score
Jacob deGrom 11 20.7
Chris Sale 15 15.6
Max Scherzer 4 15.3
Justin Verlander 22 9.4
Corey Kluber 24 9.1
Luis Severino 34 -1.0
Jameson Taillon 56 -1.9

I chose Taillon and Severino for comparison because I wanted a pitcher currently being drafted in the third round and one being drafted in the fifth round. They aren’t necessarily bad options for owners hunting for an ace, but they illustrate the difference between the peripherals of those five players at the top and strong candidates available a round or two later. On some level, all these players are pitchers primed to have an elite season in 2019. The primary difference between Jacob deGrom and Jameson Taillon is that Taillon’s 2018 statistics are closer to the pre-elite levels rather than deGrom who was legitimately elite in 2018. I’ll cover those pitchers available after Kluber in the final article for this series. For now, let’s look at the top five arms.

Jacob deGrom has every mark of a pitcher who will generate another elite performance in 2019. He forces batters to swing and miss, keeps the ball on the ground when hitters do make contact, limits hitters to weak contact, and provided enough volume to maximize on those abilities. By my account, Jacob deGrom is a no doubt top-five pick. I’ll be taking him at number three in a standard 5x5. Before I started my research, I’d had Max Scherzer and Chris Sale as my top two pitchers. Disclaimer: This writer currently owns no stock in Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, or Chris Sale. However, he is hoping to buy quite a bit by the end of draft season.

Chris Sale’s big drawback is the number of innings he is expected to throw. However, his 15.6 score would match deGrom in terms of overall dominance except that he lacks the volume and the ability to go deep into ball games. Sale’s fastball-slider combination is one of the most potent in all of baseball, and it generates swinging strikes, bad contact, and ground balls.

The formula’s major issue with Scherzer was based on balls in play. Scherzer’s tendency to give up fly balls (47.6%) and his modest ground ball rate (34.3%) positions him outside the norm for elite starters. Those factors don’t make Scherzer less likely to repeat as an elite starter, but tendencies like that eat into the margin of error. If a few more of those outfield flies carry another 15 feet, Scherzer’s ERA could slip along with his win total and innings. Based on his ability to get swings and misses last year (16.2%), that doesn’t seem likely to happen, but it is a factor to consider.

Verlander has the same basic pattern as Scherzer but with slightly more pronounced numbers. The Astros ace owned a 51.4% fly-ball rate and a mere 29.1% ground-ball rate. Those numbers have become more exaggerated in recent years, but Verlander’s .236 xwOBA and 14.6% infield-flyball rate should reassure owners. One point of concern is that consistency in the two prior years was a significant indicator for elite seasons, so Verlander’s rocky 2017 season suggests that he is more susceptible to falling outside the top-fifty player than the other names on this list. He’s also 36 years old, and there are signs of struggling to pitch later into games. Since 2013, there have been only ten pitchers to throw more than 200 innings after they turned 36 years old. None of them generated an elite season.

Kluber’s score is still excellent, but he gave up a little too much hard contact in 2018, and his pitches seemed to be less effective at inducing swinging strikes and poor contact. However, those concerns did not make it difficult for him to get deep into games. Furthermore, Kluber had the best wOBA of any starter on the third time through the batting order, and his ability to get hitters to swing at bad pitches should provide him a high floor.

 

What You Get For Your Money: The Season After an Elite Performance

The two major arguments against increasing the target values or draft slots for deGrom, Sale, and Scherzer is pitcher volatility and the ability to find value among pitchers later in the draft. To some extent, I dealt with the difference between getting mid-round profit in the last article and with the issue that elite seasons are likely to come from pitchers who have had an elite season previously. The idea here isn’t about pitcher versus pitcher value. It’s about where the elite pitchers belong on the draft board.

Pitcher volatility is its own concern. No manager wants to draft a pitcher in the first or second round and have him peter out into mediocrity, so I went and pulled the data for what happened after a pitcher delivered an elite season. I used the standard scoring data instead of more advanced metrics because at this point we don’t care about predictive measures. Predictive numbers might be more accurate for future performance, but what matters is what actually happened.

W QS ERA WHIP K Value
Average Post-Elite Season 15.5 21 2.86 1.00 220 $28.2
20th Percentile Post-Elite 12 17 3.44 1.13 176  $12.3
2018 Average Pitcher 12.4 17.1 3.68 1.19 181  $8.1

There are three samples above: the average post-elite season, which is itself another elite season, the 20th percentile outcome, which means that 80% of elite pitchers performed better than the season after their elite performance, and the 2018 Average Pitcher, which was the average performance of positive or neutral-value starters last season.

Fantasy owners are obviously trying to draft the average post-elite season, or better. If owners select Jacob deGrom with the sixth pick in the draft, and he produces that line, they’ve gotten their value out of that pick. As for the 20th percentile performance, that value is a comfortably top-100 player. We would all be disappointed in the performance, but it would not be a total loss that sinks a fantasy season.

 

Conclusion

Each league is different, and it’s important to account for not just league settings but also the habit and strategies of your league members. However, fantasy owners should feel more comfortable than ever drafting elite starters with the same aggressiveness as those fantasy experts who are snagging pitchers earlier and earlier this season.

More 2019 Fantasy Baseball Advice




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

CeeDee Lamb31 mins ago

Tagged As Week-To-Week, Optimism He Can Play In Week 10
Tyler Reddick38 mins ago

Not A Factor At Martinsville And Looks Ahead To Phoenix
Kyle Larson40 mins ago

Misses Advancing Through Playoffs Despite Top-Three Finish
Brad Keselowski42 mins ago

Has A Solid Top-10 Performance At Martinsville
Chase Elliott42 mins ago

Loses Out On Winning At Martinsville
Christian McCaffrey47 mins ago

49ers Open Christian McCaffrey's Practice Window
Zack Moss1 hour ago

No Timetable On Zack Moss' Return
Dak Prescott1 hour ago

Expected To Miss Multiple Weeks, IR Trip A Possibility
Nathan Eovaldi2 hours ago

Declines His Player Option
Devin Williams2 hours ago

Brewers Decline Option On Devin Williams
Michael Wacha2 hours ago

Royals Agree To Three-Year Deal
Reynaldo López2 hours ago

Braves Sign Reynaldo Lopez To Three-Year Deal
Daniel Jones2 hours ago

Remains Giants' Starting QB
Khris Middleton2 hours ago

Remains Sidelined Against Cavaliers
Josh Giddey2 hours ago

Added To Injury Report On Monday
Kevin Huerter2 hours ago

Leaves Shootaround Early, Remains Questionable
Immanuel Quickley2 hours ago

Draws Another Doubtful Status On Monday
Lauri Markkanen3 hours ago

Questionable To Face Bulls
Jakobi Meyers3 hours ago

Has Huge Day In Week 9
D'Angelo Russell3 hours ago

Listed As Probable On Monday
Austin Reaves3 hours ago

Deemed Probable On Monday
Drake London3 hours ago

Likely Dealing With Hip Pointer, Going For More Tests
Las Vegas Raiders3 hours ago

Antonio Pierce Hasn't Decided On Starting QB
De'Anthony Melton3 hours ago

Won't Suit Up On Monday
Caris LeVert3 hours ago

Questionable Against Bucks On Monday
A.J. Brown3 hours ago

Going For MRI Exam On Monday
Kyle Kuzma3 hours ago

Ruled Out Again With Groin Strain
Bucky Irving3 hours ago

Expected To Play On Monday Night
Andrew Wiggins3 hours ago

Probable On Monday Against Wizards
San Antonio Spurs3 hours ago

Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich Out With Health Issue
Keon Coleman5 hours ago

Undergoing Tests On His Wrist Monday
New Orleans Saints5 hours ago

Saints Fire Head Coach Dennis Allen
Rose Namajunas5 hours ago

Drops Decision Matchup
Erin Blanchfield6 hours ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Dustin Stoltzfus6 hours ago

Gets First-Round Knockout At UFC Edmonton
Dak Prescott6 hours ago

Will Undergo MRI On His Hamstring
A.J. Brown6 hours ago

Avoids Major Injury On Sunday
DeVonta Smith6 hours ago

Makes A Case For Catch Of The Year On Touchdown Grab
Zach Hyman6 hours ago

Records Two Points In Battle Of Alberta Win
Saquon Barkley6 hours ago

Goes For Nearly 200 Total Yards, Scores Twice
Marc-Andre Barriault6 hours ago

Knocked Out At UFC Edmonton
Matt Boldy6 hours ago

Hits Overtime Winner Versus Toronto
Jared Spurgeon7 hours ago

Delivers Two Assists In Sunday's Win
Trevin Giles7 hours ago

Losses Third Fight In A Row
Alex Ovechkin7 hours ago

Extends Goal Streak To Four Games
Dmitry Orlov7 hours ago

Nets Two Goals Against Capitals
Jeremy Swayman7 hours ago

Collects First Shutout Of The Season
Connor Bedard7 hours ago

Records Three Assists In Sunday's Win
Mike Malott7 hours ago

Wins Decision At UFC Edmonton
Rome Odunze10 hours ago

Shines With Impressive Performance Against Cardinals
Chuba Hubbard11 hours ago

Scores Two Touchdowns In Panthers Win
Demarcus Robinson11 hours ago

Catches Game-Winning TD
Cooper Kupp11 hours ago

Has 100-Yard Day Against Seattle
Alvin Kamara13 hours ago

Gets 38 Touches In Week 9
Jamal Murray16 hours ago

Listed As Out On Monday Against Toronto
Bradley Beal16 hours ago

Questionable Going Into Monday Night's Matchup Against Philadelphia
Rudy Gobert16 hours ago

Listed As Questionable For Monday Night
Zach LaVine16 hours ago

Listed As Questionable On Monday
NASCAR16 hours ago

Speeding Penalty Foils Martin Truex Jr.'s Last Realistic Shot At Winning
Denny Hamlin16 hours ago

Fails To Advance To Championship 4 But Runs Well
Shane Van Gisbergen16 hours ago

Shane van Gisbergen Earns Best Oval Finish at Martinsville
William Byron16 hours ago

Tentatively In Championship 4 Pending Ruling On Manufacturer Orders
Anthony Davis16 hours ago

Listed As Probable For Monday
Stephen Curry17 hours ago

Listed As Questionable For Monday Night
Jaylen Brown17 hours ago

Listed As Out For Monday Night's Matchup In Atlanta
Joel Embiid17 hours ago

Listed As Out For Monday Night's Game
Giannis Antetokounmpo17 hours ago

Listed As Questionable For Monday Night
MMA20 hours ago

Ariane Lipski Submitted At UFC Edmonton
Jasmine Jasudavicius20 hours ago

Gets Submission Win At UFC Edmonton
Caio Machado20 hours ago

Still Winless In The UFC
Brendson Ribeiro20 hours ago

Edges Out Split Decision At UFC Edmonton
Amir Albazi20 hours ago

Falls Short At UFC Edmonton
Brandon Moreno20 hours ago

Dominates At UFC Edmonton
Artturi Lehkonen21 hours ago

Activated From Injured Reserve
NJ22 hours ago

Nathan Bastian To Miss "Several Weeks"
Brayden Point22 hours ago

Exits With Injury Sunday
Dan Vladar22 hours ago

Set For Second Consecutive Start Sunday
Nicholas Robertson22 hours ago

Re-Enters Maple Leafs Lineup Sunday
Jakub Vrana22 hours ago

Scratched On Sunday
Austin Barnes1 day ago

Returning To Los Angeles
1 day ago

David Robertson To Test Free Agency
Wilmer Flores1 day ago

Giants Exercise Club Option On Wilmer Flores
Owen Miller1 day ago

Shipped To Colorado
Merrill Kelly1 day ago

Staying In Arizona
1 day ago

Eloy Jimenez Headed To Free Agency
Daniel Suarez1 day ago

Will Start 20th At Martinsville
Zane Smith1 day ago

Might Be An Underrated Value Play For Martinsville
Tyler Reddick1 day ago

Is A Top DFS Recommendation For Martinsville Lineups
Joey Logano1 day ago

Will Be One To Watch At Martinsville
Brad Keselowski1 day ago

Should DFS Players Rely On Brad Keselowski For Martinsville Lineups?
Carson Hocevar1 day ago

Is A Great DFS Option For All Martinsville DFS Lineups
Ty Gibbs1 day ago

Is Ty Gibbs Worth Rostering At Martinsville This Week For DFS?
Austin Cindric1 day ago

Could Have A Top-20 Performance At Martinsville
William Byron1 day ago

Might Be Usable Only In DFS Tournaments At Martinsville
Chris Buescher1 day ago

Should DFS Players Roster Chris Buescher At Martinsville?
Alex Bowman1 day ago

Expect A Solid Top-10 Performance From Alex Bowman At Martinsville
Josh Berry1 day ago

May Be Set For Long-Run Struggles At Martinsville
Dylan Larkin1 day ago

Scores Twice On Saturday
Cam Talbot1 day ago

Stops 31 Shots In Saturday's Victory
Cale Makar1 day ago

Tallies Goal, Assist On Saturday
Anton Forsberg1 day ago

Records Shutout Victory On Saturday
Philip Broberg1 day ago

Leaves Saturday Early With Lower-Body Injury
Sidney Crosby1 day ago

Nets Two More Goals In Saturday's Victory
Chase Elliott1 day ago

Will Be Tough To Beat At Martinsville
2 days ago

Joc Pederson To Test Free Agency
2 days ago

Anthony Rizzo Headed To Free Agency
Freddy Peralta2 days ago

Milwaukee Picking Up Option On Freddy Peralta
2 days ago

Ha-Seong Kim Headed To Free Agency
Adam Pelech2 days ago

To Miss At Least Four Weeks
Mathew Barzal2 days ago

Ruled Out For 4-6 Weeks
Robbie Ray2 days ago

Doesn't Opt Out Of Contract, Stays With Giants
2 days ago

Yankees Could Make Play For Pete Alonso This Offseason
2 days ago

Sean Manaea Opts Out Of Contract, Becomes Free Agent
Cody Bellinger2 days ago

Picks Up $27.5 Million Player Option With Cubs
Gerrit Cole2 days ago

Opts Out Of Contract With Yankees
Rhys Hoskins2 days ago

Staying In Milwaukee
2 days ago

Seattle Declines Club Option On Jorge Polanco
Rose Namajunas3 days ago

An Underdog At UFC Edmonton
Erin Blanchfield3 days ago

Returns At UFC Edmonton
Marc-Andre Barriault3 days ago

Dustin Stoltzfus Set To Face Marc-Andre Barriault At UFC Edmonton
Marc-Andre Barriault3 days ago

A Favorite At UFC Edmonton
Trevin Giles3 days ago

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Mike Malott3 days ago

Opens Up UFC Edmonton Main Card
Brendson Ribeiro4 days ago

Searching For 1st UFC Win At UFC Edmonton
Caio Machado4 days ago

Drops Down To Light Heavyweight At UFC Edmonton
Jhonata Diniz4 days ago

Gets Big Step-Up At UFC Edmonton

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 

Video: MUST ADD Waiver Wire Pickups For Week 10! Fantasy Football 2024

Our top 2024 fantasy football Week 10 waiver wire pickups for RB, WR, TE, and QB. This week's must-add fantasy football free agents -- potential waiver wire winners heading into Week 9 for running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and quarterbacks. Be sure to tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (SiriusXM channel 87) - every […]


Rachaad White - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Who Should I Start for Fantasy Football Week 9 MNF? Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, Baker Mayfield, Jalen McMillan, Kareem Hunt, Xavier Worthy, Patrick Mahomes, DeAndre Hopkins, Sterling Shepard, more

Who Should I Start for MNF? Who Should I Sit for MNF? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions for Monday Night Football are regarding players like Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, Baker Mayfield, Jalen McMillan, Kareem Hunt, Xavier Worthy, Patrick Mahomes, DeAndre Hopkins, Sterling Shepard, more. But not to worry, we […]


Marvin Harrison Jr. - Fantasy Football Rankings, WR, Waiver Wire, NFL DFS, Rookies

Biggest Fantasy Football Busts Of The Week - Fantasy Outlooks For C.J. Stroud, Tank Bigsby, Marvin Harrison, Brian Thomas, Kyle Pitts, Nick Chubb, more

The ninth Sunday of the 2024 NFL season has come and gone. Hopefully, you woke up on Monday morning feeling very good about how your matchup went. However, this week's slate of games was certainly stress-inducing for many fantasy football managers. Part of that stress was caused by a group of players who drastically underachieved […]


Quentin Johnston - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups (QB, RB, WR, TE): Free Agent Adds Include Justin Herbert, Isaac Guerendo, Quentin Johnston, Demarcus Robinson, Taysom Hill

RotoBaller's Week 10 fantasy football waiver wire pickups article for 2024 will cover everyone you need to know that could help your team find replacements for injured players, fill in for players you want to drop, or even help you win a championship. Every week, new players are breaking out. From bench stashes in the […]


Ray Davis - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Waiver Wire Express - Week 10 Lightning Round Including Quentin Johnston, Xavier Legette, Ray-Ray McCloud III, Ray Davis, Jauan Jennings, Cedric Tillman, Bo Nix

October is in the past and many of you are here with shifted clocks, seeking help at wide receiver. Amidst the usual chaos of Sunday's football, we absorbed several high-profile losses at wideout. We're all doing our best to stay hot in November with our fantasy football waiver wire pickups lightning round heading into Week […]


Tyler Allgeier - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Week 10 Waiver Wire Rankings - Fantasy Football Pickups Include Quentin Johnston, Jalen Tolbert, Ricky Pearsall, Ray Davis, Tyler Allgeier, Mike Gesicki

Week 10 will be here in a few days, and it's time to start bolstering those rosters for the fantasy football playoff push. At RotoBaller HQ, we are back with more waiver wire advice to help build those fantasy rosters with our Week 10 fantasy football waiver wire rankings for 2024. There were more crucial […]


Justin Herbert - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Top Week 10 Quarterback Pickups - Best Fantasy QB Adds, Streamers Include Russell Wilson, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, and more

It was not a banner week for the quarterback position in fantasy football. There wasn’t a single quarterback that surpassed 300 passing yards between Thursday and the main Sunday slate. We did get a five passing touchdown performance (Joe Burrow) and three quarterbacks with three passing touchdowns, but that was it. Four teams have a […]


DeVon Achane - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Picks, Injury News

Top 10 Running Back Studs - Best Fantasy Football RB Performances Including Saquon Barkley, De'Von Achane, Alvin Kamara And More

The running back renaissance is truly upon us in 2024. While rushing touchdowns were down this week, matching the lowest number of the season thus far (23), the top-10 RBs had their best week yet. Week 9 was the first time all season that each athlete to be featured on this list all hit 21 […]


Mike Gesicki - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Unexpected Boom Performances: Fantasy Football Risers Include Mike Gesicki, Quentin Johnston, Ray Davis, Demarcus Robinson, Josh Oliver

Week 9 of the NFL regular season provided fans with some exciting action. The Bills defeated the Dolphins in an AFC East clash thanks to Tyler Bass' game-winning 61-yard FG in the final moments. The Titans and Rams also contributed a pair of overtime victories that enthralled audiences. Many big names showed out for fantasy […]


Ray Davis - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Running Back Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 10: Top Free Agent Adds Include Ray Davis, Jaylen Warren, Tyler Allgeier, Justice Hill

As you read this week’s recommendations from the waiver wire, the planning process for Week 10 roster construction has begun. You have already navigated a collection of obstacles that have emerged through the first nine weeks of the regular season, and should now sustain your efforts to minimize the impact of additional injuries, underwhelming production, […]


AJ Brown - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Top Fantasy Football Injuries From Sunday's Games: Chris Olave, Drake London, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, More

The Week 9 injury report was pretty light compared to the rest of the season. Even still, some big names went down, and they will definitely affect fantasy rosters everywhere. We saw several wide receivers leave games early and had another injury to a starting quarterback. Let’s get into the injury report from yesterday's games […]


Patrick Mahomes - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Buccaneers vs. Chiefs MNF Start 'Em, Sit 'Em - Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, DeAndre Hopkins, Kareem Hunt, Rachaad White, Jalen McMillan, Cade Otton

Week 9 is already here, and setting optimal lineups has never been more crucial as the fantasy football playoffs near. Read our Monday Night Football matchups analysis article for the Buccaneers vs. Chiefs game to help make any fantasy football lineup decisions for both season-long and DFS. This week's MNF contest sees the undefeated Kansas […]


Travis Kelce - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

NFL DFS Lineup Picks For FanDuel, DraftKings - Buccaneers vs. Chiefs MNF Showdown (Week 9)

Welcome back, RotoBallers! We have a matchup between a pair of banged-up teams in this one, as Baker Mayfield and the shorthanded Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) head up to Kansas City to take on the final remaining undefeated team in the league in the Chiefs (7-0). Both teams are missing key offensive pieces, and let's […]