RADIO
The Cut List (Week 4) - Time to Let Go?
Buying and Selling the Young Friars
As a sport, baseball’s greatest cultural advantage might be its roots as a game which begins with the thaw of winter and the arrival of spring. There is nothing more generally inspiring for all fans than the promise of Spring Training and the potential growth of young players. That’s especially true when those prospects play... Read More
Red Alert - Analyzing Cincinnati's Offensive Woes
Entering the 2019 season the Cincinnati Reds offense was shaping up to be a lineup that could regain the “Big Red Machine” moniker resemblant of the prolific teams from the 1970s. After acquiring corner outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp from the Dodgers, it brought depth to a batting order that already featured a pair... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 3 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 3! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Thursday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline. Contact rate can foretell a... Read More
Red Flag Warnings - Bad Starts to Keep an Eye On
We are nearly a month into the 2019 season and bust labels are in hand ready to get slapped on particular sets of players. This piece is not here to do that whatsoever. The goal here is to inform owners with some early-season observations regarding struggling players that I have chosen to highlight. These players... Read More
Champ or Chump - Fernando Tatis Jr. and Yoan Moncada
It can be incredibly easy to overreact to your team's performance thus far, but remember that it is still very early. You shouldn't even be thinking about dropping big names like Aaron Nola or Mookie Betts, nor should you count on Daniel Vogelbach or Jay Bruce continuing their home run binge. That said, you don't... Read More
The Mystery of Aaron Nola's 2019 Campaign
As we creep towards the end of the first month of the season, questions are starting to arise for fantasy baseball owners. Hitters are getting closer to having 100 plate appearances, and pitchers are now making their fourth starts of the season. We now have enough data where we can start looking for signs of... Read More
Pitcher Studs and Duds - BABIP for Week 3
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s pitchers risers and fallers article series! Each week we will select an advanced stat, choose two risers and two fallers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. The next stat we will use is BABIP, or batting average on balls in play. BABIP is rooted in three... Read More
Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers - Buy or Sell for Week 3
Welcome back to the pitching strikeout rate risers and fallers article series! Each week, we will take a look at two K% risers and two fallers among pitchers, analyze what is behind those changes, and then decide if they are actionable. This exercise is particularly useful for fantasy players because K% holds direct fantasy value... Read More
Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - xwOBA (Week 3)
Welcome back to our weekly Statcast Hitter Analysis series. Each week, I will select a different metric to evaluate surprising names at the top and bottom of the Statcast Leaderboards. Many fantasy baseball owners are starting to see the value of MLB's Statcast advanced stats in order to help identify potential risers and sleepers. Just as... Read More
The Cut List (Week 3) - Time to Let Go?
We're now midway through April, and your trigger finger may be getting a bit itchy. The baseball season is only a couple weeks old, however, and with more than 90% of the season to go it is still really early. Most teams had played about eight games through last weekend, and now that number is... Read More
Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 3
Week three is upon us and madness has officially ensued. Daniel Vogelbach is a hot waiver add and the Yankees are starting a Triple-A roster. Left is right and down is west. The early season struggles to hop on the train before it leaves a particular station is always interesting to watch. Everyone wants the... Read More
Waiver Wire Strategy - Recycling Post-Hype Draft Sleepers
Fantasy baseball is very much a “what have you done for me lately” environment. If players are playing poorly, fantasy managers will give up on them. All too often players are getting dropped that have no business being on the waiver wire. Some guys are just down on their luck and end up tossed into... Read More
Contact Rate Risers & Fallers for Week 2 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 2! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Thursday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline. Contact rate can foretell a... Read More
Champ or Chump - Corbin Burnes and Trent Thornton
By this point of the season, you probably have some injuries, under-performances, or squandered sleeper picks cluttering your roster. You're also probably intrigued by a few potential breakouts on the waiver wire. Who should you keep moving forward, and who should you pick up with any newfound roster spots? This column seeks to answer that... Read More
Take Advantage of Your Competitors' Early Season Panic Attack
You are a savvy fantasy manager. You’re committed. Patient. You have the gumption to see a task to the end. You don’t have shaky nerves. You don’t run at the first sign of controversy. You lean in and charge forward. Unfortunately, or maybe I should say fortunately, not all fantasy players are created equal. How... Read More
Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity for Week 2
Welcome to this year's first iteration of Statcast Hitter Analysis. Each week, I will select a different metric to evaluate unexpected names at the top and bottom of the Statcast Leaderboards. Even if you aren't well-versed in Statcast, you know exit velocity. Even the crustiest of old-school baseball announcers have incorporated this term in his... Read More
Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - xwOBA for Week 2
Welcome to the first edition of Statcast pitchers analysis this season! Statcast provides a ton of interesting and insightful advanced metrics that we can use to predict future fantasy performance. Each week we will select one of these stats and choose two risers and two fallers to analyze and ultimately determine what those stats could... Read More
Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers - Buy or Sell for Week 2
Welcome to the first edition of pitching strikeout rate risers and fallers this season! As fantasy players and analysts, we have many different advanced stats at our disposal, but some are more helpful than others for fantasy purposes. One of the more useful stats for analyzing pitchers is K%. Strikeout percentage holds direct fantasy value... Read More
Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 2
The first official week of fantasy baseball is coming to an end and many of you are celebrating your draft hits and lamenting the misses. Realistically, there is no way to definitively know whether you made the correct decision or not for at least another month. It's a tormenting feeling at times because you may... Read More
The Cut List (Week 2) - Time to Let Go?
Although we are only one week into the baseball season, some of the players you may have drafted in the mid-to-late rounds of standard 10 and 12-teamers are probably not quite working out. Because you didn't spend too much draft capital on them, you don't have to worry about sunk costs and you can, if... Read More
Engel's Angles - Darvish's Struggles, Alcantara's Breakout and More
Each week, I will be bringing you my latest insights from around the Fantasy world. For now, I will be gathering storylines from around Major League Baseball. This week, we look at very early results and how some intangibles and health issues can factor in overall outlooks for spotlighted players. Is it too early to... Read More
Opening Day Observations
When are we going to finally get around to making MLB Opening Day a national holiday? I can tell you the only thing that kept me from calling in sick was the fact that technology allows me to stream live games in HD on my cell phone while I sit at my desk waiting until... Read More
Kev's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019
That's GOLD, Jerry! GOLD! RotoSurgeon here with my first ever "gold predictions" piece. Many of you may not be familiar with my work because I have not been with RotoBaller as long as some of my esteemed colleagues. It is reasonable to not trust nor care about what I say because of my lack of... Read More
Finding Under and Overvalued OF Using Expected Draft Values
We've been rolling out our Expected Draft Values series, starting with Nick Mariano's look into some undervalued players and overvalued players. As draft season winds down today, we're going to give you some undervalued and overvalued players who qualify at outfield. As a quick primer, Expected Draft Value is the value you would historically expect, on average,... Read More
Finding Under and Overvalued SS Using Expected Draft Values
We've been rolling out our Expected Draft Values series, starting with Nick Mariano's look into some undervalued players and overvalued players.As draft season winds down today, we're going to give you some undervalued and overvalued players who qualify at shortstop. As a quick primer, Expected Draft Value is the value you would historically expect, on average, from... Read More
Finding Under and Overvalued 3B Using Expected Draft Values
We've been rolling out our Expected Draft Values series, starting with Nick Mariano's look into some undervalued players and overvalued players. Today, we're going to give you some undervalued and overvalued players who qualify at third base. As a quick primer, Expected Draft Value is the value you would historically expect, on average, from a given draft slot. In... Read More
Man vs. Machine: Nick Mariano and THE BAT's Undervalued and Overvalued Players
What do I, Nick Mariano, have in common with great minds such as Ken Jennings, Gary Kasparov, and Lee Sedot? Before, I wouldn’t have had an answer, but now I can say that we’ve all had the honor of challenging incredible Artificial Intelligence minds! Nevermind that those other three guys got crushed in their “Man... Read More
March ADP Musings - Overvalued / Undervalued Shortstops
It's full steam ahead for fantasy baseball draft season before Opening Day hits. Depending on how many leagues you are in, you may already have a pretty good handle on what to expect as far as where and when certain players or position groups are going in drafts. On the other hand, maybe you're only... Read More
H2H Points League Pitchers - Overvalued & Undervalued
If a rotisserie fantasy baseball league had a younger brother, it would be the points league. Not that it’s necessarily inferior, but the points format is trying to make a name for itself after the roto leagues have paved the way for decades. It’s a setup that’s gaining some popularity as it pits you against... Read More
