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From Farm to Roster: Potential Call-Ups For Week 4
Too Good To Be True? Buying/Selling Hot Pitching Starts
Last week, we dove into the hitters who were off to hot starts and tried to decide what was real and what wasn't as sustainable. Now we'll turn our attention to the arms. After two full weeks of baseball, we're over 20% done with the season, more FAAB dollars are being spent than ever before, and... Read More
Deeper Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4
The 2020 season continues to move along and with it, more challenges to find deep league sleepers. Playing time situations are still a little shaky for some teams, and lineups are anything but stable as the season crosses the quarter mark. There are still some intriguing names who are being a little underlooked that can... Read More
Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 3
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?" Each week, we look at lower-owned starting pitchers who have performed unexpectedly well in their last outing(s). This week we're looking at a trio of pitchers who put up surprising strikeout numbers over the weekend. Nathan Eovaldi dominated the baby Blue Jays, while Framber Valdez put up nine... Read More
Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity (Week 4)
We're off and running on our Statcast Hitter Studs/Duds series! 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 we do for pitchers, this weekly series will examine a handful of hitters who are performing surprisingly well or... Read More
Hot Prospects To Watch: Next In Line and Hot Starters
Perhaps there's nothing more tantalizing in fantasy baseball than drafting an up-and-coming prospect or rushing to the waiver wire to bid on a Triple-A call-up. With no minor leagues this year, our favorite prospects are now playing on taxi squads, making it difficult for us to fantasize about since we can't get eyes on their... Read More
Josh James Should Close for the Astros
The pitching woes in Houston continue to stack upon one another. Consider it bad luck, karma for cheating, or whatever you want, the fact of the matter is that this pitching staff is dealing with a litany of issues and cannot afford to make more mistakes throughout the rest of this shortened season. The Astros... Read More
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4
As week four approaches, the season is starting to take shape. Sample sizes for all statistics and analytics are getting larger, therefore becoming more indicative of future outcomes. Both pitchers and hitters are starting to show their true colors, making it easier to identify good matchups. With that being said let’s delve into the waiver... Read More
Hitter Streamers for Fantasy Baseball Week 4
Welcome back to another installment of the hitting streamers column! This edition is for August 10 through August 16. As will be the case every week, I will offer a couple of worthy streamers for each position (catcher, corner infield, middle infield, outfield) based on the number of games the players have for the upcoming... 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
Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 4 (8/10-8/16)
Welcome to RotoBaller's weekly article of two-start pitcher streamers for 2020! Successfully streaming pitchers can literally be a game-changer when it comes to fantasy baseball. When it comes to daily leagues, two-start streams aren't that important, since you can stream every day. But when it comes to weekly leagues, two-start streams become exponentially more important.... Read More
Plate Discipline Standouts for 2020
Last year, I unveiled a new weighted index statistic for hitters – mPDI, which mirrors a famous quote by Hall of Fame pitcher, Greg Maddux: “The key to pitching is to have the ability to throw a strike when they’re taking and throw a ball when the hitter is swinging.” If we consider the inverse... Read More
Kyle Tucker May Be Arriving
Coming into this season, Kyle Tucker was widely viewed as an intriguing outfielder due to his prospect pedigree and power-speed profile while hitting in a stacked Astros' lineup. Tucker slashed .266/.354/.555 with 34 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 536 plate appearances at Triple-A last season, leaving fantasy players drooling over his upside. Tucker... Read More
From Farm to Roster: Prospect Call-Ups For Week 3
Every Thursday for the duration of the Major League Baseball season, I'm going to be discussing players on a team's Taxi Squad or Alternate Site Camp who are worth keeping an eye on or stashing in hopes of reaping fantasy goodness. I'll list league sizes where the player could be relevant and give you information... 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
Is It Too Good To Be True? Buying and Selling Hot Starts
Normally, after only one full week of the fantasy baseball season, we're casually taking stock of our teams, seeing which guys are settling into lineup spots, which teams look like they might be surprising, and generally feeling pretty good about where we're at now. However, there is nothing normal about this season. After one full... Read More
Deeper Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 3
It is still the early portion of the season, where we still don't know enough about player performances to make a solid judgment, roles are still being figured out, and in some cases, teams are coming back from long layovers. It's definitely a crazy a season, but there is still some value to be found... Read More
Hot Prospects To Watch: Close Call-Ups and Hot Starters
Perhaps there's nothing more tantalizing in fantasy baseball than drafting an up-and-coming prospect or rushing to the waiver wire to bid on a Triple-A call-up. With no minor leagues this year, our favorite prospects are now playing on taxi squads, making it difficult for us to fantasize about since we can't get eyes on their... Read More
Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity
It's fair to say we have enough Statcast data now to dig into the numbers and start identifying early risers and fallers. Many starting pitchers have only taken two turns in the rotation, so the safest place to start is with average exit velocity numbers. In future installments, we'll get to barrels, expected stats, and... Read More
Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Barrels (Week 3)
We're off and running on our Statcast Hitter Studs/Duds series! 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 we do for pitchers, this weekly series will examine a handful of hitters who are performing surprisingly well or... Read More
Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 2
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?" Each week, we look at lower-owned starting pitchers who have performed unexpectedly well in their last outing(s). This week we're looking at a pair of pitchers who disappointed after signing big contracts, but both have shown a little something extra during their first couple starts of the season.... Read More
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire - Week 3
11 days of baseball down, hopefully another 58 to go. For all those who picked up Pablo Lopez, or Matt Shoemaker for two starts, it was a rough way to start the season. That’s just the reality of how this year is going to play out. The schedule will take completely unforeseen turns at a... Read More
Where Have the Steals Gone? (Hint: Not Your Fantasy Team)
A common refrain among baseball analysts and fantasy managers is that the 2020 MLB season is meaningless. We can't extrapolate anything useful from a 60-game season. The numerous injuries, illnesses, and opt-outs make for an unreliable data sample. If you chose to play season-long fantasy baseball, you don't care. You still want to win, asterisks... Read More
Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 3 (8/3-8/9)
Welcome to RotoBaller's weekly article of two-start pitcher streamers for 2020! Successfully streaming pitchers can literally be a game-changer when it comes to fantasy baseball. When it comes to daily leagues, two-start streams aren't that important, since you can stream every day. But when it comes to weekly leagues, two-start streams become exponentially more important.... Read More
Hitter Streamers for Fantasy Baseball Week 3
Welcome back to the second installment of the hitting streamers column! This edition is for August 3 through August 9. As will be the case every week, I will offer a couple of worthy streamers for each position (catcher, corner infield, middle infield, outfield) based on the number of games the players have for the... Read More
Early (Over/Under) Reactions for Fantasy Baseball
The first week of the shortened MLB season is officially over and we have several prominent fantasy storylines emerging. Some carry over from 2019 and others have come out of nowhere. My job here is to walk us through those which seem most notable. COVID-19 is one tough customer and has made not even hope... Read More
Farm to Roster: Potential Call-Ups for Week 2
Every Thursday for the duration of the Major League Baseball season, I'm going to be discussing players on a team's Taxi Squad or Alternate Site Camp who are worth keeping an eye on or stashing in hopes of reaping fantasy goodness. I'll list league sizes where the player could be relevant and give you information... Read More
Deeper Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2
The first week of the Major League season is in the books, and fingers crossed, we get to finish out the rest of the season. There aren't many takeaways from just a handful of games, but there are still a good amount of players that are sitting the depths of the free-agent pool that deserve... Read More
Early Week 1 Exit Velocity Hitter Studs and Duds
We're off and running on our 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 has incorporated this term in his vernacular... Read More
Exit Velocity Hitter Studs and Duds Heading Into 2020
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
