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Rolling xwOBA Risers/Fallers - Statcast Hitter Analysis (Week 20)
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 19 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 19! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Trent Grisham and Anthony Santander
With NFL training camps getting started, it can be easy to abandon an underperforming fantasy baseball roster and start looking toward different sports. Your rivals might also fall into this trap, giving you an opportunity to charge up the standings and salvage your fantasy baseball season. Owners who stopped paying attention are unlikely to have... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 18 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 18! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Bo Bichette and Yasiel Puig
The Trade Deadline has come and gone, leaving chaos in its wake. The Mets continue to prove why player agents should not be general managers, as Marcus Stroman's 2.96 ERA looks primed for regression (4.06 xFIP) and he never gets strikeouts (19.3 K% this season). While the Blue Jays appear to be on the rise... Read More
Trevor Bauer Trade - Fantasy Implications from the Deadline Deal
The Cleveland Indians have again made the most significant trade of the MLB deadline. Pending a formal announcement, Cleveland dealt Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati, Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes head to Cleveland, and top-20 prospect Taylor Trammell is headed to San Diego. Also in the deal are prospects Scott Moss, Logan Allen, and Victor Nova... Read More
xSLG Risers - Statcast Hitter Analysis (Week 18)
Two full weeks have now passed since the Midsummer Classic. It's not a big sample size but we can look at some early second-half trends to see who is turning it up a notch after the All-Star break. Expected stats don't tell the whole story of a player's success but they often are more revealing... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 17 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 17! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Tyler O'Neill and Ramon Laureano
This time of year, a lot of fantasy analysis is a simple reminder to look at your standings page. Trading Max Scherzer for Whit Merrifield and Mallex Smith is a terrible idea in terms of overall value, but if you stand to gain a lot of points in SB it could make sense for you.... Read More
Barrel Risers & Fallers - Statcast Hitter Analysis (Week 17)
It's been a while since we looked at the Barrel leaderboard, so let's go back to this telling metric. For a detailed explanation of what makes a Barrel so valuable, click here to revisit my first article on the matter. Many of the leaders have maintained their status, such as Gary Sanchez, Mike Trout, Joey Gallo,... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 16 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 16! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Lorenzo Cain
The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, both for real MLB clubs and most fantasy rosters. At this point, it can be a good idea to take a deep breath and assess what you currently have on your roster and what you might need to pursue your goals. Part of this process is evaluating whether the... Read More
Statcast First-Half Overachievers (Hitters)
The second half of the 2019 fantasy baseball season is upon us. Before we get too deep into pennant races, let's take this opportunity to reflect on some first-half performances that could be telling of future fortune, or in this case, misfortune. Last week, we looked at Expected Statistic Underachievers to try to find buy-low candidates.... Read More
Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2019: Midseason Review
This week is as good a time as any to pause and reflect on the 2019 baseball season thus far. Fortunately, it's been a much less challenging year than last for yours truly. Other than a hapless squad in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational (15-team industry leagues are tough, and weekly lineups and waivers are... Read More
First Half Contact Rate Risers and Fallers
Well, the first half of the season has absolutely flown by! We have seen some great hitting and a lot of runs scored so far, and there promises to be just as much excitement in the second half of the season. Contact rate can foretell a player's batting average and general hitting statistics, and any... Read More
Champ or Chump: David Dahl and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
With most of the All-Star festivities in the books, it's time to get back to managing our virtual fantasy baseball teams. While some owners may be starting to tune out, that only means that you can leverage their lack of focus to your own benefit. For example, maybe you can get a haul for "All-Star"... Read More
Statcast First-Half Underachievers (Hitters)
As the first half wraps up and we are left pondering who will flip the switch in the second half, it's only rational that we look at the players who have underachieved most. We've already seen examples of players who have started to turn their luck around (Danny Jansen anyone?), so there is definitely credence... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 14 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 13! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Brendan McKay
Major League Baseball has nearly a century and a half of games in the book, but we still see new things on a fairly regular basis. Shohei Ohtani's ability to both hit and pitch at an MLB standard is among the most amazing things that this author has ever seen, and Tampa Bay Rays prospect... Read More
xBA vs Shift - Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds (Week 14)
We've looked plenty at expected stats already, so let's switch things up a bit in this iteration of Statcast studs and duds. This time, we will examine the xBA of hitters who repeatedly face shifts or strategic defensive alignments. Typically, power hitters are subjected to the shift because of their high pull tendencies. Teams also... Read More
Champ or Chump: Bobby Bradley and Jordan Yamamoto
Last week, we looked at a couple of players who are likely to be on first division fantasy teams. This week, we're taking a closer look at players likely to appear toward the bottom of your league's standings. Bobby Bradley is a former third-round draft pick summoned by the Cleveland Indians in an effort to... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 13 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 13! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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
Exit Velocity Risers/Fallers - Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds (Week 13)
There's no need to explain exit velocity here, as you are likely well aware of its function and description by now. Followers of this weekly column will remember the Week 7 iteration where we first examined exit velocity leaders. We know that hitters who make hard contact are more apt to collect extra-base hits and it... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 12 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 10! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Max Kepler and Josh Bell
If you're in the top third or so of your league's standings, you've probably had more than a couple sleeper picks work out well. Good for you! Of course, sorting through all of those 2019 breakouts represents something of a first-world problem: who's for real, and who's extended hot streak is about to end in... Read More
xwOBA Leaders - Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds (Week 12)
Today, we will revisit xwOBA to find out who is putting together strong at-bats though Statcast's idea of contact quality as well as plate discipline. I will highlight players who are either vastly outperforming or underachieving on their wOBA compared to expected stats. As a reminder, xwOBA utilizes exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain... Read More
Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 11 - Buy or Sell?
Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 10! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, 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: Dallas Keuchel and Yordan Alvarez
If you've been following baseball news at all, you probably know that free agents Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel have finally signed with teams (the Braves and Cubs, respectively). You may have read a variety of conspiracy theories about how MLB owners were "cheap" or otherwise unscrupulous in dealing with each pitcher. In truth, teams... Read More
Hit Distance Leaders - Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds (Week 11)
We're taking another deep dive into the Statcast data this week to find hidden power and to determine whether certain power hitters are legit. In this edition of Statcast Hitter Analysis, we will examine the leaderboard for average hit distance. In this case, the data will interpret the distance of all batted ball events, not... Read More
Champ or Chump: Zach Plesac and Mallex Smith
The calendar has officially flipped to June, which means that your league's standings page now contains useful information. No, it's not time to give up on your sixth-place team. Instead, it's time to pinpoint your unique areas of need and then make trade proposals and waiver wire acquisitions accordingly. For example, maybe the league-wide dearth... Read More
