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About Rick Lucks - RotoBaller
Hello fellow Rotoballers!
I'm a guy that was reading fantasy baseball magazines before I was old enough to legally play. Now that I am, lets win some leagues together!
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Rick Lucks - RotoBaller has written 501 articles so far, you can find them below.
Triston Casas: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
September call-ups might not be as extensive as they once were, but that hasn't stopped a variety of prospects from being called up in the past few days. The latest debut is first baseman Triston Casas of the Boston Red Sox, a name that Boston fans have been screaming for since Bobby Dalbec proved he... Read More
Corbin Carroll: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
With September on the horizon, fantasy managers have officially entered the stretch run. This is the time of year when your standings page should be dictating the moves you're making, as it often makes sense to drop a more talented player for one who contributes in key areas you can gain points. Your rivals are... Read More
Brett Baty: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
The Braves (and fantasy managers) are enjoying the production of Vaughn Grissom following injuries to Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia, so the Mets decided to try the same trick by promoting top prospect Brett Baty in the wake of injuries to Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme. Like Grissom, Baty has relatively little experience in the... Read More
Vaughn Grissom: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball
When it comes to prospects, there are two camps that fantasy managers can fall into. Some have severe FOMO and attempt to roster every player called up with even a moderate pedigree, often wasting roster spots that could have been better used on older breakout players or consistent veterans. Others need a reason to roster... Read More
Andrew Benintendi: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Now that all of the real baseball trades are in the books, it's time to assess who won and who lost. In this author's estimation, the Mariners won by acquiring the big pitcher they needed in Luis Castillo, hopefully ending the longest postseason drought in North American sports. The Padres are being credited as a... Read More
Tyler Anderson: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
With the MLB trade deadline rapidly approaching, fantasy managers are also under the gun to make the last-minute moves that will set them up for a successful stretch run. Everybody says that you should "buy low" and "sell high," but your rivals are likely to follow the same philosophy. The trick, therefore, becomes letting a... Read More
Oneil Cruz: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Plenty of top-rated prospects have debuted in recent years, but very few have offered the raw tools of Oneil Cruz. Cruz is the tallest man to ever start an MLB game at shortstop and set a record for hardest infield throw in his first game of the season. Scouts believe he'll stick at short for... Read More
Leody Taveras: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
With the All-Star Break upon us, now is a great time to look at your league's standings page and formulate a plan of attack for the rest of the season. If you're in first, try to proactively identify and address any weaknesses that could be exploited by your rivals. If you're in contention, identify where... Read More
Ramon Laureano: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Fantasy managers knew that Ramon Laureano would miss the first 27 games of the 2022 season due to his 2021 PED suspension, but he was still seen as a solid late-round pick for the category juice he provides. In 2019, he slashed .288/.340/.521 with 24 homers and 13 steals over just 481 PAs. That regressed... Read More
Jonathan Villar: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Every fantasy manager has a weakness for a particular player or even player type. Perhaps you've rostered Nomar Mazara for the last five years because you just know that breakout is coming. Maybe you always spend a draft pick on Eduardo Rodriguez because this is the year he finally pitches up to his peripherals. You... Read More
Jeremy Pena: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Jeremy Pena was one of the biggest stories of the offseason. The contending Astros expressed minimal interest in retaining the services of star shortstop Carlos Correa and even less in the countless other names available at the position, instead anointing the 24-year-old Pena as their shortstop of the present and future. Pena's role in a... Read More
Riley Greene: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
The big-time prospects keep coming up from the minor leagues with 21-year-old Riley Greene surfacing for the Detroit Tigers. Greene was originally slated to break camp with the club but a broken right foot in Spring Training delayed his debut. Still, he singled in his first PA and currently has a BB% above 40 at... Read More
Gabriel Moreno: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
When a consensus top-10 prospect is summoned to the major league level, the fantasy community always takes notice. As such, many were scrambling to the waiver wire once the Toronto Blue Jays announced that Gabriel Moreno was being called up to replace the injured Danny Jansen on their roster. To say that Moreno is a... Read More
Christopher Morel: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
There's always a flavor of the week in fantasy baseball, some of whom have staying power while others are banished to the waiver wire never to be heard from again. If you play in a keeper league or a shallow format, the trick is identifying which camp a particular player belongs to so you know... Read More
Anthony Santander: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
The fantasy baseball community has a nasty habit of ignoring players who don't play for the best teams, especially if they lose whatever might have made them appealing. For example, the Baltimore Orioles have been terrible for a while now and their hitters were rostered only because Camden Yards was a good ballpark for power.... Read More
Roansy Contreras: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball
The next big prospect in fantasy land comes by way of Pittsburgh, as the Pirates are summoning 22-year-old Roansy Contreras to join their rotation. He has already logged MLB time this season with a 3.52 ERA and 10 punchouts over 7 2/3 IP of relief work, but the role wasn't conducive to fantasy value. He... Read More
Gleyber Torres: Fantasy Baseball Champ or Chump?
Isn't it amazing how one strong fantasy season can keep a player on our radars for years? Gleyber Torres was fantastic in 2019, slashing .278/.337/.535 with 38 long balls. He was widely cited as a potential bust the next year given middling Statcast metrics and the fact that half of his production came against the... Read More
Alek Thomas Outlook: Fantasy Baseball Champ or Chump?
Two well-regarded prospects were called up over the weekend, but the response to their arrival couldn't be more different. George Kirby put in a scintillating effort in his big league debut for the Mariners, inspiring multiple fantasy-focused articles. Alek Thomas hit a double in his MLB debut for the Diamondbacks, but he hasn't seen as... Read More
Kyle Wright: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Starting pitching has been surprisingly deep so far this season, with multiple arms posting stellar numbers. Kyle Wright might be the most surprising for fantasy purposes. The 26-year-old pitched well in the 2021 World Series for the Atlanta Braves, but he wasn't even on the roster for the other postseason rounds and never did anything... Read More
Julio Rodriguez: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
When fantasy managers selected top prospect Julio Rodriguez at an ADP around 200 this year, they thought they were taking on a very particular type of risk. The 21-year-old was the second-ranked prospect in the game according to MLB.com and his game would translate well to fantasy with 60-grade speed and raw power. The only... Read More
Steven Kwan: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Steven Kwan was one of the biggest stories to come out of MLB's Opening Week, setting numerous records for most times on base over a player's first X games. Unsurprisingly, the 24-year-old has endured a couple of hitless games and likely won't hit .400. Now that the initial performance is in the rear-view mirror, it's... Read More
Carson Kelly: Champ or Chump for Fantasy Baseball?
Welcome to Champ or Chump! We take an extremely detailed look at a single player per piece, incorporating information from everywhere we can think of to determine whether the featured player is a champ or a chump in fantasy baseball. The biggest sources are Baseball Savant and FanGraphs, but we also look at ADP data... Read More
Statcast Pitch Tracking: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
When you're evaluating a pitcher by Pitch Info on FanGraphs, sometimes you see pitches that don't seem to accomplish anything. If Pitch X is seldom a strike, rarely chased outside of the zone, and not generating whiffs or a favorable batted line against, why doesn't the pitcher scrap it entirely? Some pitchers could improve by... Read More
Pitcher Statcast: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
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... Read More
Statcast xStats: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
Statcast is a valuable tool for fantasy analysis, and it can be easy to look at a stat called "Expected Batting Average" and blindly use it as your projection moving forward. Of course, proper use of these metrics is a little bit more nuanced than that. First, a disclaimer: This article is about the "Expected... Read More
Barrels and Brls/BBE: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
We've previously looked at how exit velocity is only one piece of the fantasy analysis puzzle. Baseball broadcasts will commonly cite Launch Angle (LA) to complement their EV figures, but it is given in terms of degrees. LA is basically a fancy way of saying things that the fantasy community has used for years. Am... Read More
Spin Rate: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
Spin rate has become one of the most recognizable Statcast metrics, with supporters of a given pitcher highlighting his spin rates to make their case. It has also become controversial as of late due to allegations of pitchers using foreign substances to increase their spin. Unfortunately, the baseball world has done a lousy job conveying... Read More
MiLB Stats: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
Once you've grown accustomed to having advanced tools to help make fantasy decisions, it can feel disorientating to be without them. Prospects are increasingly becoming a focal point in both real and fantasy baseball, but the minors simply do not have all of the data available for MLB players. For example, advanced plate discipline stats,... Read More
Statcast Exit Velocity: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
If you've watched a baseball broadcast in the Statcast Era, you have undoubtedly noticed the broadcasters commenting on a batted ball's exit velocity, or EV. Many have taken to using stats like Hard% and Soft% to forecast how a player should be performing, expecting larger Hard% rates to produce larger BABIP and HR/FB figures. There... Read More
Ballpark Factors: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball
If you have ever selected a streamable pitcher based on a home park or benched an otherwise must-start arm at Coors Field, you already know how much a stadium can impact a player's bottom line. Ballpark Factors quantify the influence each stadium has, allowing you to make the most of your fantasy team's real-life schedule.... Read More
