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Week 10 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Statcast Hitter Leaderboard: Rolling xSLG Risers
The final Statcast numbers for 2020 will undoubtedly reap some interesting data. Small sample sizes abound, so throw in scheduling quirks, numerous injuries, seven-inning doubleheaders and a universal DH and you have the recipe for statistical outliers galore. Fantasy baseball season has one glorious week remaining, so the best use of this space would be... Read More
The Cut List (Week 10) - Time to Let Go?
Welcome back to the Cut List, already perhaps the final one of the year with the season ending on September 27. Either way, it's crunch time. In recent weeks we switched up the format of this article a bit, to cover a larger pool of players and to discuss trends being seen by fantasy baseball... Read More
Week 9 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
2020 wRC+ Splits: Risers and Fallers
Baseball in 2020 is unlike any season that I can remember. The designated hitter is now present in the National League. You will not find any more LOOGYs with the institution of the three-batter minimum rule. Doubleheaders are now a combined 14 innings of baseball. Extra innings now start with a runner on second base.... Read More
Week 8 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
Archie and the Gang: Navigating the New-Look Cincinnati Bullpen
As of August 31st, the day of the 2020 MLB Trade Deadline, the Cincinnati Reds sat at a record of 15-19, placing them at fourth-place in the NL Central and well outside of the NL postseason picture in this year of the expanded playoff format. While the Cincinnati offense has been far from elite through... Read More
Week 7 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
Marlins Make Moves: Starling Marte In, Jonathan Villar Out
The Marlins are contenders! Well, at least they have a shot at one of the 16 playoff spots now available in 2020. What was expected to be a relatively quiet trade deadline based on the short season and a host of unknown factors throughout the year resulted in a last-minute flurry of activity. Typical buyers... Read More
A Robbie Ray Reclamation in Toronto?
Robbie Ray is in the midst of an awful season, posting a 7.84 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, and a hideous 20.1 BB%. Hitters have been able to pound his pitches, as he's allowed a 13.9 Barrel% and 2.61 HR/9. These type of numbers should have you ignoring his trade to the American League and Toronto Blue... Read More
Unexpected Dynasty Risers - Pitchers
Every year in dynasty league drafts fantasy managers will target young future stars, prospects which rank highly among all prospect rankings. There's a tendency to overdraft/overpay for these high-end prospects as fantasy folks are drawn to the new and shiny things much like kids get gooey-eyed for the newest toys each Christmas. While this is... Read More
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Week 7
We did it, everybody! We finally did it! We finally got Pablo Lopez’s ownership above 50%. After being included in the pre-season waiver wire article and every week thereafter he is finally where he belongs, in the tier of potential aces. In all seriousness, this is what playing the waiver wire is all about. Getting... Read More
Deep Dive: What's Wrong With Shohei Ohtani (The Hitter)
Shohei Ohtani is over a year removed from Tommy John surgery and on a short year, he may have pushed a bit hard to be ready to rock and roll. This has caused another injury and now he has been relegated to an everyday role as a hitter. This will be a deep dive into... Read More
Week 6 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
Deep Dive: Jake Cronenworth Every Penny
The kid has been on an absolute tear since getting the everyday job in San Diego. The 26-year-old Jake Cronenworth was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason. He has been worth every bit of it. He was a speed-first prospect prior to 2019. Cronenworth posted double-digit stolen bases every season from 2015 through... Read More
Week 5 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
What Is A 2020 Fantasy Championship Worth?
It feels like much longer, but it was only five months ago that the NBA and NHL suspended their seasons. MLB, in the midst of spring training and bearing down on Opening Day, wasn't far behind. We didn't know when - or even if - baseball would return. What we did know was that, assuming there... Read More
Week 4 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
Monitoring bullpens in 2020 will be a vital task each and every day. Because of this, we'll be publishing a weekly article at RotoBaller that tracks which bullpens are being taxed and which pitchers within that bullpen are being heavily used. The idea of this column is to help you gain an inside track into which... Read More
Meet The Replacement Mets
The New York Mets have been hit with a rash of injuries to begin the shortened 2020 season. Well before summer camp began, starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow requiring Tommy John surgery in late March. In addition, starting pitcher Marcus Stroman suffered a torn muscle in... Read More
Batting Stance Adjustments Leading to Early Breakouts
It has been a wild and crazy season, to say the least, to start 2020. With samples still very small, the numbers are off a lot of the time in one direction or the other. This is why diving in and finding tangible change can be the difference in the production sustaining or it being... Read More
Week 3 MLB Closers & Bullpen Usage Report
As this weird, altered season progresses, the imbalance in the schedule becomes a bigger and bigger issue. Some teams have already played double-figure games, while others have played just a single series. This imbalance is obviously troublesome for the standings with the playoffs not all that far off in the grand scheme. It is also... Read More
Week 2 Bullpen Usage Report for Fantasy Baseball
Less than a week into the 2020 Major League Baseball season, the future is uncertain. Bullpens are normally the most unreliable and volatile aspect of the sport. This year, the outside world has told baseball to hold its beer and showed it what unreliable and volatile really meant. As we see the Miami Marlins sit... Read More
Statcast Sleepers - Relief Pitchers to Target
This is the first edition of our weekly series on Statcast Pitcher Analysis. Normally, I will select a different sabermetric evaluation method to identify undervalued and/or overvalued pitchers. Since we have less than a week's worth of data under our belt for 2020, let's take one more look back at last year's Statcast data to find... Read More
Sauceda's Slants: Finding POWA in the Infield
We recently introduced our new hitter metric, POWA (which stands for Prediction of wOBA Attempt), to more appropriately align and weight new Statcast metrics to better predict future performance. You can read the introductory piece for the full details and a 2019 POWA leaderboard, but the gist of it is: POWA is nearly 10% more... Read More
Closer Conundrum: What Does Managing Like It's The Playoffs Mean?
"In a 60-game season, managers will approach every game like it's the playoffs." We've heard that refrain over and over again as we prepare for the 2020 fantasy baseball season. In fact, I think I've written that sentence, or something similar, close to ten times already. But that statement brings up a natural follow-up question: How... Read More
Historically Slow Starters to Avoid on Draft Day?
There is no telling how this 60-game jumble of a 2020 season will affect each MLB player individually. Some may relish the opportunity to have an outsized impact on the season. Others may feel uncomfortable playing at all, let alone be at full game speed in time for Opening Day. Regardless of the unknowns, however,... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: New ATC Projections for Hitters
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut are joined by Ariel Cohen to discuss his revised ATC projections for the 2020 MLB season. How should hitters be valued over a 60-game season and what can the projections tell us on draft day? Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: New ATC Projections for Starting Pitchers
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut are joined by Ariel Cohen to discuss his revised ATC projections for the 2020 MLB season. How should starting pitchers be valued over a 60-game season and what can the projections tell us on draft day? Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest... Read More
2019 Breakout Starters Who’ll Continue to Improve
Breakout starters are one of the great joys of fantasy baseball. There are few things more satisfying than adding or drafting a player who emerges as one of the season’s best values. Starting pitchers are particularly prone to come out of nowhere and propel a team to a championship. However, that volatility makes it difficult... Read More
Top DH Options for National League Teams
There is finally a plan for Major League Baseball in 2020! After months of negotiations and discussions, baseball is tentatively scheduled to open up in late July, and with it, a couple of new rules. The most notable new rule for 2020 is the implementation of the designated hitter in the National League, which certainly... Read More
