Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Shortened Season Alters Strategies
The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with in-depth takes on the shortened season from a former MLB executive and current broadcaster. Every year, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and... Read More
Four Things I Wish I Knew Before My First "Only" Draft
If you're looking to liven up your fantasy experience, trying your hand at an Only league could be a great way to bring a fresh perspective to one of your favorite pastimes. While standard mixed leagues are largely a race to accumulate as many elite performers as possible, Only leagues allow owners to demonstrate their... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: SIERA Underachievers and SP Targets
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review SIERA as an evaluator for starting pitchers and discuss SP who underachieved on their ERA in 2019. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel... Read More
Making Sense of ADP
ADP, or Average Draft Position, is one of the most commonly cited statistics in fantasy baseball discourse. It allows owners to look at a single number and quickly determine a player's market value, making it easier to identify potential value picks in a draft. Furthermore, fantasy analysts can use it to determine how a particular... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: SIERA Overachievers and SP Busts
Pierre Camus (@Roto_Chef) and Nicklaus Gaut (@Nt_BurtReynolds) discuss how to use SIERA when evaluating starting pitchers and review SP who overachieved on their ERA in 2019. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: New Draft Strategies for a Shortened Season
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review the draft board for RotoBaller's recent expert mock fantasy baseball draft and explain how their strategies have changed with the likelihood of a shortened MLB season in 2020. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and... Read More
Drafting First Overall In Rotisserie Formats
I really do believe there’s no such thing as too much draft strategy. There are a lot of factors that play into draft selections. I will be discussing topics ranging from positional scarcity to team construction and many things in between. The idea is to go into my strategy and targets through the first 10... Read More
Three Shortstops Set To Bust In 2020
Shortstop is a fairly deep fantasy position, with fifteen shortstops going before the 150th pick on average and plenty of value to be found even later in drafts. The top-end of the shortstop group is particularly strong, with three shortstops owning top-10 ADPs. No other infield position group has had as many different players drafted... Read More
Electronic Strike Zone: Who Benefits and Who Doesn't
Among the more high-profile MLB rule changes expected to take effect over the next few years is the usage of an electronic strike zone. The electronic strike zone was used in the Atlantic League in 2019, and the MLB Umpires Association has cleared the way for its introduction to the major leagues at some point... Read More
Deeper Draft Sleepers - NL Starting Pitchers
There are two main styles of player for fantasy owners in deep leagues as it pertains to starting pitching. One style leans cautious. These owners want starting pitchers who own spots in their team's rotation, thus accumulating counting stats for the long haul even if the peripherals aren't stupendous. The other style is for risk-takers.... Read More
Sizing Up The New York Mets Rotation
Even before New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the Mets were looking at fielding a much different starting rotation in 2020. Zack Wheeler departed for the Phillies as a free agent in the off-season. The Mets brought Marcus Stroman in from the Blue Jays... Read More
Stock Your Dynasty Farm: NL Central Top Prospect Sleepers
Continuing down the line, we've already explored the NL West and AL Central. Today, we’re covering the NL Central, home of maybe the most "blah" collection of farm systems and expected outcomes in baseball. That said, the group of prospects that I've pulled might be my favorite overall collection, despite there being two catchers. The systems... Read More
Stock Your Dynasty Farm: AL Central Top Prospect Sleepers
I've already covered the NL West previously in this series. Today, we’re covering the AL Central, which sports a couple of my favorite fantasy prospects in baseball. As with all prospect hunting, the variance on outcomes is all over the board with these guys, but the AL Central has me feeling, personally, quite confident. These... Read More
Failure to Launch? Decreasing Launch Angles
Earlier this week, I looked at the biggest launch angle changes in hopes of uncovering some players who made clear adjustments last season that could lead to sustained growth in 2020. However, for every story of positive growth and potential value, there are cases that cause some doubt or worry. Below is the bottom 15... Read More
2020 Keeper Value Rankings - Starting Pitchers
I've already revealed the 2020 Keeper Value Rankings for the hitters: First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Catcher, and Outfield. Now let's go to the rubber. Keeper Value 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... Read More
10 Deeper Prospect Sleepers for Dynasty Baseball Leagues
We are inching closer and closer to Opening Day for the 2020 MLB season. That means that the Minor League season is also just around the corner. With that comes exciting new breakout prospects, as they rise up from both likely, and unlikely, places. In the past few years, I’ve recommended a number of key... Read More
Riley Mrack's 10 Bold Predictions for 2020
Who doesn't love a good set of bold predictions? There's nothing like some biased analysis to persuade you to target or avoid the players that are featured in this specific article series. While I will present some factual data, I must admit my personal rooting interest has had some influence on a few of these... Read More
Late-Round Second Basemen - Targets and Avoids in 2020
Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have... Read More
Late-Round Shortstops - Targets and Avoids in 2020
Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, it would be smart to consider drafting some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have... Read More
Joining the Launch Angle Revolution: Potential Power Risers
Launch angle has become perhaps the trendiest stat in all of fantasy baseball. If you turn on any podcast, you hear analysts mentioning that "if a player could only increase his launch angle, he could be a stud" (cough - Yandy Diaz - cough). Often, I think this analysis is oversimplified. Launch angle is obviously... Read More
Breakouts Relievers Due for Regression in 2020
The closer role is one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball. They can lose their fantasy value with a couple of blow-up performances. Teams are also electing to utilize a committee approach, often using their best reliever in high-leverage situations rather than cementing them to the ninth inning. This makes it imperative to... Read More
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... Read More
ADP Showdown: Anthony Rendon vs. Rafael Devers
The first two rounds in your fantasy draft can be challenging because each available player is tremendously skilled with significant upside. Every pick looks desirable, so it’s important to try to determine which player has a greater likelihood of producing superior fantasy production. This can be accomplished by examining overall production and team context. This... Read More
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Spin Rate
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. Unfortunately, the baseball world has done a lousy job conveying what spin rate really means. The result has been a ton of owners who know that spin rate exists, but... Read More
2020 Relief Pitcher Rankings - H2H Points Leagues
Often regarded as an inferior fantasy baseball format, points leagues offer a different style of boasting over your friends or coworkers similar to that of fantasy football. These setups are typically head-to-head formats for a one-week stretch where the player with the most points gets a win. Easy right? While it's true that roster construction... Read More
2020 Keeper Value Rankings - First Base
Many years ago, I noticed the managers in my long-time keeper league were consistently making terrible keeper decisions year after year. I thought I would help them out instead of taking their money every year and find a good set of Keeper League Rankings to share with them. What I found was quite disturbing. There... Read More
Pitchers Most Impacted By Defense: OAA Fallers
Early in January, Statcast released a full fielding leaderboard of their Outs Above Average (OAA) metric, which had previously been limited to outfielders only. The metric takes into account fielder positioning, reaction time, throw difficulty, and batter speed in order to calculate how likely a play is to become an out. The more unlikely, the... Read More
Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: FIP and xFIP
The first advanced pitching stat most fantasy owners encounter is FIP. FIP stands for Fielding Independent Pitching, and attempts to measure a pitcher's actual skill instead of the effects of luck or his supporting cast. According to the DIPS theory, pitchers control only Ks, BBs, and home runs allowed. Therefore, Ks, walks, and dingers are... Read More
Sophomore Players Due for Regression in 2020
The 2019 season saw a significant number of rookie hitters debut with great success. But Major League Baseball’s history is littered with strong freshman debuts followed by disappointing sophomore campaigns. In other words, successful rookie seasons do not guarantee all-star careers or even another good performance. We can look back at 2016 for some examples... Read More