Who's #1? Early Look at Picking First Overall
With the off-season fully underway and early drafts already taking place, it’s time to start looking at those players being selected first in drafts. This year offers a very different set of players than we’ve seen in recent memory. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr. have all fallen out of contention for first... Read More
2022 Fantasy Breakout Candidates - NL Central
Identifying potential fantasy breakout players in drafts each Spring can be crucial in building a championship-winning roster for fantasy managers. Often times the breakout players, if they do in fact break out, will significantly outperform their draft position and help you find success. It may be a late-round pick performing like a quality contributor who... Read More
Early One-Man Mock (Rounds 2-5) - 2022 Fantasy Baseball
I've already run through the first round of my one-man mock, which you can check out right here. Now, let's move on to the next few rounds with a look at how early drafts might shake out. I took roster construction into consideration so that a team didn't select three outfielders in the first three... Read More
2021 Fantasy Baseball Batting Awards
We've put a bow on the 2021 season, with the Braves finishing off their surprising season with a World Series victory over the Astros. That leaves fantasy baseball managers to eagerly await an offseason of hot stove rumors and draft prep. Before all that takes place, it's only right to pay tribute to the players... Read More
2022 Fantasy Baseball Breakout Candidates - AL West
Even with the offseason now in full swing with players receiving qualifying offers, it’s never too early to start identifying the players who’ll help your team take the title next season. Of course, impact fantasy players taken near the top of drafts are crucial for fantasy contenders. But, finding breakout candidates late in the draft... Read More
2021 MLB Strength of Schedule - In Depth Analysis
Strength of schedule analysis is a common thing you'll see in fantasy football analysis. With just 16 (17 now, I guess) games on the schedule every year, the list of teams on your schedule can make a big difference in your final year metrics. If you get to face the league's worst offense twice while... Read More
2021 MLB Reflection and League Trends
Here at RotoBaller, we give you fantasy baseball coverage twelve months a year. The playoffs are still in full swing, which means it's probably not quite time to shift our focus to the 2022 season, but it won't be long before we're there. In the meantime, we want to spend some time reflecting on the 2021... Read More
Year in Review: Jon Anderson's Bold Predictions
After joining the RotoBaller team in late 2020, I was graciously allowed to write a "Bold Predictions" piece for the 2021 MLB season, you can read back on that here. It was a fantastically fun year covering fantasy baseball on this website, but now it's time to get the gavel out begin judging some of... Read More
Hitter Analysis by Batted Ball Data
With all of the data that is captured for every event in MLB games, there are a lot of fun ways to dive in and see how hitters are truly performing. There is also an opportunity to find what statistical outputs we should generally expect with certain inputs. For this post, I'd like to revisit... Read More
MLB Trade Deadline: Lineup Spot & Team Opportunity Impact
The trade deadline unofficially was kicked off on Sunday, when the Rays acquired Nelson Cruz and the Padres nabbed Adam Frazier. Fantasy managers will always be quick to scrutinize trades through the lens of fantasy - and that's good, we should be looking for any edge we can find. However, it's possible that we sometimes... Read More
Nelson Cruz to the Rays - Fantasy Impact
We're less than a week away from the Trade Deadline and the Hot Stove is officially on after the Minnesota Twins traded designated hitter Nelson Cruz to the Tampa Bay Rays. Here's how the deal broke down: Rays receive: DH Nelson Cruz Twins receive: RHP Drew Strotman, RHP Joe Ryan With Minnesota sitting 16 1/2 games... Read More
Three Up, Three Down: Home Run Outliers to Buy or Sell
A huge key to having success at the game of fantasy baseball is being able to spot outliers. The game of baseball, more than most other sports, is largely dictated by randomness, at least over the short term. Even with the pretty large three-month data sample we have, randomness can still rule the day. My... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 10 Lineup Trends
Week 10 of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Updated Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
Welcome back RotoBallers! Below you will find our staff's updated 2021 fantasy baseball tiered rankings (top 600) for 5x5 mixed roto leagues and May of the 2021 MLB season. Be sure to also check out our fantasy baseball rankings dashboard and bookmark that page. It's loaded up with tons more updated rankings including: Points league rankings AL/NL only league rankings... Read More
Hitters That Aren't Missing Their Pitches
One thing that the analytical world of fantasy baseball doesn't talk much about is the quality of pitches seen by hitters. We have numbers to quantify almost everything in the game, but when we are viewing those numbers we somewhat assume that hitters have all seen the same set of pitches. Everybody knows this isn't... Read More
Video: xwOBA Risers & Fallers (wPC+)
Pierre Camus and Nick Gaut review Statcast underachievers and overachievers for xwOBA. Which hitters are worthy waiver wire adds and who should fantasy baseball managers be concerned about? 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... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 8 Lineup Trends
Week eight of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Dynasty Baseball Risers and Fallers - Hitters
Baseball is a game where patience is rewarded. Identifying prospects with fantasy potential and seeing them develop over the course of years is the most rewarding feeling there is. Dynasty leagues provide fantasy baseball managers with this very sense of gratification. Of course, many times a player doesn't ever pan out. Aging stars on the... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 7 Lineup Trends
Week seven of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Blast Off: Which Batters Are Hitting the Most Impactful Barrels?
Last week I read a great article by John LaRue breaking down Alex Chamberlain's offensive stat known as Blast Rate. As John pointed out, Alex took the barrel stat we know and love and split it into a subset known as "Weak Barrels" and "Blasts." This may seem like a knit-picky exercise to some, but... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 6 Lineup Trends
Week six of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 5 Lineup Trends
Week five of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Franmil Reyes Is a League-Winner Hidden In Plain Sight
The San Diego Padres signed Franmil Reyes to their organization all the way back in November of 2011. It took the Padres almost eight years and a season-and-a-half of playing time to move on from him, as they opted to include him in the Trevor Bauer/Yasiel Puig/Taylor Trammell three-team trade that included the Indians and... Read More
Contact Rate Risers & Fallers (wPC+)
Pierre Camus and Nick Gaut review Statcast risers and fallers for contact rate. Which hitters are worthy waiver wire adds and who should fantasy baseball managers be concerned about? 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... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 4 Lineup Trends
Week four of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the... Read More
Sprint Speed - Hitter Risers & Fallers (wPC+)
Pierre Camus and Nick Gaut review Statcast risers and fallers for sprint speed. Which hitters are worthy waiver wire adds and who should fantasy baseball managers be concerned about? 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... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 3 Lineup Trends
Week three of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID IL, and much more that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the team breakdowns.... Read More
Lineup Takeaways - Week 2 Lineup Trends
Week two of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID IL and much more that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the team breakdowns.... Read More
Max Exit Velocity - Hitter Risers & Fallers (wPC+)
Pierre Camus and Nick Gaut review Statcast risers and fallers for maximum exit velocity. Which hitters are worthy waiver wire adds and who should fantasy baseball managers be concerned about? 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... Read More