Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - xERA For Week 10
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. There are many ERA skill indicator metrics that fantasy managers can use to understand how […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 10 - Injured Players Edition
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Brls/BBE% For Week 9
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. With two months in the books, fantasy managers can start building more accurate profiles of […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - xSLG for Week 9
Rolling windows are one of the most effective ways to discern who the biggest risers and fallers are in a given area. Since power is at a premium this year, it seems only natural to examine expected slugging. For reference, here's the official definition according to MLB.com: "Expected Slugging Percentage (xSLG) is formulated using exit […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 9
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Catcher Waiver Wire Targets for Fantasy Baseball: ROS Strategy and Landscape
Every year we hear about how awful the catcher landscape is in fantasy baseball. People bemoan having to roster one and laugh at those who play in leagues where they have to carry two. However, catchers are people too. OK, we're actually not going to go down that road this time. Instead, we're going to […]
Will These Big-Name Hitters Turn it Around? Curse of the 2022 Free Agent Class
The 2022 offseason gave us one of the biggest free-agent classes in recent memory. So many big names moved around and gave us so many questions as to what these moves meant for fantasy. Unfortunately, for the most part, those moves have led to pretty underwhelming starts to the 2022 season. For whatever reason, a […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - K-BB% For Week 8
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. This week, I will take a look at a metric that is not as complex […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - FB/LD Exit Velocity for Week 8
In order to get to stats like barrels and hard-hit rate, you have to start with exit velocity. Exit velocity begins to stabilize after 45 batted-ball events. We're going to get more specific in this edition by focusing on exit velocity for fly balls and line drives because that's where power is found. You could […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 8
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - xBA for Week 7
Last week, we dove into xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average) to see who is really maximizing their time at the plate. It's time we look at xBA (expected batting average) but with a twist. Some players are experiencing better batted-ball fortunes than others and it's bound to turn around at some point. Rather than examining […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - SIERA For Week 7
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. With about a month and a half of data, I think it's time to take […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 7
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Identifying Last Year’s Hitting Outliers for Fantasy Baseball - Was It Just A Fluke?
I consider one of my greatest skills as a fantasy manager to be my ability to make the “unsexy pick.” When youngsters with tantalizing upside are gradually floating up the draft board, I typically stray away from the temptation and grab myself a more trusty, high-floor veteran to help keep my team afloat. As a […]
Preseason Hitter Sleepers Who Haven't Woken Up for Fantasy Baseball
The highs of sleeper hunting during draft season can quickly be brought low when our favorite later picks fizzle and sputter out of the gate instead of blowing the roof off from the word go. But should we be patient, grasshoppers? Or is it time to be proactive, revoking their sleeper status and confiscating official […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - xwOBA Leaders for Week 6
We're far enough into the season that we can dive into expected stats with some sense of reliability. Let's begin with everyone's favorite - xwOBA! Its given name is expected weighted on-base average and what it represents is the quality of each at-bat by a hitter. Statcast uses a combination of exit velocity, launch angle, […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - BABIP For Week 6
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. Over the last two weeks, I took a look at different components of pitchers' batted-ball […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 6
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 5
Making the right trades can be crucial to championship success in fantasy baseball, almost as much as the draft, if not more. While most trades can have a significant impact on your fantasy team, it’s the deals where you acquire undervalued players and then see their production improve that can really tip the scales in […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Swing & Take Leaders for Week 5
Admittedly, it's as exciting to measure 'swing and take' metrics as it would be to look at something like Barrels. One of them often results in a long fly ball that leaves the ballpark and puts runs on the scoreboard. The other can be a player staring at the umpire after watching a pitch hit […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Launch Angle For Week 5
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. Last week I took a look at exit velocity, and this week I will analyze […]
Baseball's Oldest Batters - Busts or Buy Low Candidates? Joey Votto, Nelson Cruz, Justin Turner, Yuli Gurriel
The first month-plus of the season has not been particularly kind to a few of baseball’s oldest hitters. That includes players who put together monster years in 2021 despite their already-advanced age. This article takes a look at a group of four old bats, to recalibrate expectations on their rest-of-season output. When evaluating the biggest […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 5
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]
Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 4
Making the right trades can be crucial to championship success in fantasy baseball, almost as much as the draft, if not more. While most trades can have a significant impact on your fantasy team, it’s the deals where you acquire undervalued players and then see their production improve that can really tip the scales in […]
Finding Breakout Hitters for Fantasy Baseball: Chase Rate Early-Season Metrics
In an earlier article on Blast Rate, I mentioned that this was the time of year that some hitting metrics start to stabilize. While many of us want to focus on exit velocity and hard-hit rate because they lead to more exciting outcomes, I think focusing on plate discipline metrics can be just as important. […]
Jarred Kelenic Still Isn't Ready for Prime Time
Jarred Kelenic was one of the most exciting prospects we had seen in a long time. The hype was right up there with the likes of anybody over the last decade and fantasy managers couldn't wait to jump on him when he was called up toward the end of 2021. But that excitement has not […]
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity Changes For Week 4
Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. Statcast has a cool year-to-year change feature for a host of metrics, and this week […]
Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Average Exit Velocity for Week 4
We can finally start extrapolating something from one of the easiest Statcast metrics to decipher - exit velocity. This stat stabilizes after approximately 70 plate appearances or 45 batted-ball events. Last week, we looked at early leaders in maximum exit velocity because it doesn't take long to take something away from that metric. Keep in […]
The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 4
Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat […]