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Pocket Aces: Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups
First Impressions - MLB Opening Day 2020 Fantasy Notes
I can't remember being more excited for an Opening Day than this one. Although Thursday, July 23 was technically the first day of the 2020 MLB season, Friday is when 28 of the 32 teams took the field for the first time for regular-season play. Never have I been happier to fire up MLB Extra Innings... Read More
Roto Category Deflations for Hitters in 2020
Things are going to happen fast in 2020. You’ll want to click that add button on hitters who are in the midst of hot streaks quicker than most seasons as a 10-day hot streak this year makes up for over 15% of the full MLB season - as opposed to just 6% in a full... Read More
RotoBaller Experts League No. 2 Draft Recap
Here at RotoBaller, there is no such thing as being in too many fantasy baseball leagues. Some of the writers here are lucky enough to participate in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, which pits writers, analysts, and experts from all across the baseball community against each other. One RotoBaller writer even started a relievers-only bullpen... Read More
Updated Points League Rankings Risers and Fallers (July)
Is it feasible to do a weekly H2H league in 2020? Sure. Is it a great idea? Not really. With just under 10 weeks of actual baseball, the whole "sprint" metaphor will become real in a hurry. Total points leagues aren't as popular but make a lot more sense over the course of a 60-game season.... Read More
Fantasy Life Vests: Safe Hitters In A Season Of Chaos
Chaos is the name of the game when it comes to the 2020 Major League Baseball season. We've got a short season, a limited schedule, expanded rosters, universal DH, and the continuously looming threat of a global pandemic. In other words, we have a plethora of factors we've never had to deal with before as... Read More
10 Hitters Who Benefit from a Short Season
Baseball is finally back! After months of waiting, it’s time to get back to fantasy baseball. This year will look much different due to the short season as a 60-game sample size is going to make for some wacky stats. While fantasy baseball will never be more unpredictable, we can gain an advantage over our... Read More
MLB Injury Guide - Week of July 19th
Injuries are commonplace in all sports. Baseball has seen the rate of injury continue to rise over the past few years. In fantasy, if someone is not in the medical field, it is hard to gauge how long a player will be out and whether they need to be replaced in a lineup. Sometimes this... Read More
Universal DH Beneficiaries - RBI
With the advent of the designated hitter in the National League for 2020, NL lineup production will go up; it's inevitable. Pitchers will have a harder time of things in the NL, and hitters will produce more. It's what happens when a near-zero at the plate is replaced by a Major League hitter. Where that... Read More
The COVID Conundrum - To Drop or Not to Drop?
So….real, actual baseball games are almost upon us. Opening Day is July 23rd. And yet, we are still in the midst of a pandemic. At the time of my writing this, by my calculations, at least 90 players have had COVID-19 or have gone through the COVID Protocol due to players being traced back to... Read More
Attacking Offensive Categories with Z-Scores
The way to win at fantasy baseball is to generate the most aggregate value on your roster. One cannot win with just an average fantasy team; one must be better than the mean. To accomplish this, owners must spend their fantasy capital efficiently in acquiring talent. Finding and drafting undervalued players is the key. Of... Read More
One Last Mock! ADP Values and Reaches
As the sun prepares to rise on the 2020 MLB season (I'm all about hopeful metaphors these days), it also marks the end of draft season for fantasy baseball. This weekend will see a flurry of activity from fantasy league owners trying to figure out how to properly value players amid a global pandemic. Good... Read More
Underpriced Hitters According to ATC Projections
While nothing is guaranteed, we can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. Baseball is back, baby! Summer camp (I refuse to call it Spring Training 2.0) has now begun and Opening Day is set for July 23/24. Coming with the return are seismic changes; a universal DH, limited opponents, a... Read More
Introducing the MLB Baller Ranks
It’s my extraordinary pleasure to introduce The Baller Ranks, an up-to-date rankings sheet for player values. We wanted to roll this out back in March, but 2020 has had other ideas... Ideally, The Baller Ranks are not a set of pre-season rankings or draft recommendations. They are designed to be an in-season set of data-based... Read More
Schedule Factors - Hitters on the Rise
Now that MLB schedules are finally official, it's time we take a look at which hitters are going to be impacted the most. In order to fully breakdown the way in which a schedule may impact a hitter, we need to keep three things in mind: player talent, strength of schedule, and directional park factors.... Read More
Universal DH Beneficiaries - Runs Scored
For the first time in baseball history, the National League will employ the position of designated hitter. Besides making NL games more exciting to watch, this change should have two main effects. First, NL pitchers will see some level of decline in their ratios. It is inevitable when facing superior opposing lineups. The second change will... Read More
Rethinking DFS Strategies for a 60-Game MLB Season
The 2020 MLB season is going to be weird. In a 60-game season, previous in-season game performance holds limited value, making game-to-game projections unusually difficult across the entire season. Consider what some player production looked like 60 games into last season: David Dahl had a .457 BABIP Jose Ramirez had a .202/.303/.307 slash line Jake... Read More
WPC+ Videocast: New ATC Projections for Hitters
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut are joined by Ariel Cohen to discuss his revised ATC projections for the 2020 MLB season. How should hitters be valued over a 60-game season and what can the projections tell us on draft day? Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts... Read More
A Crash Course for MLB's Sprint Season
In true 2020-style, baseball is about to get funky. Maybe you’re excited about the idea of getting some strange baseball, or maybe the word “fluid” reminds you of the morning after your last visit to Taco Bell. Either way, it’s time to start sorting the chalupas from the chimichangas. Let’s acknowledge that we’re venturing into... Read More
Top DH Options for National League Teams
There is finally a plan for Major League Baseball in 2020! After months of negotiations and discussions, baseball is tentatively scheduled to open up in late July, and with it, a couple of new rules. The most notable new rule for 2020 is the implementation of the designated hitter in the National League, which certainly... Read More
The King's Insider Guide To the 60-Game MLB Season
Since the spring, I have been conducting interviews with many notable and well-informed MLB sources on the 2020 season. On the condition of anonymity, current and former players, scouts, executives, media members and others have shared their unfiltered insights, and I have supplied my in-depth fantasy baseball takes on the information they have shared. As... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: Shortened Season Alters Strategies
The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with in-depth takes on the shortened season from a former MLB executive and current broadcaster. Every year, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Insider Report: More Insights From an MLB Scout
The award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller, this time with more takes from a longtime Major League scout. Every year during fantasy baseball draft season, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts, media members and others... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Impact of the Universal DH
With each passing day, we are receiving more news that points to Major Leauge Baseball starting sooner rather than later. Most of the news hints at an 80-100 game season, with the locations of the games still up for debate. There are also some roster changes that are being proposed for this shortened season, one... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued Outfielders Using Expected Draft Values
A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four outfielders and our site projections for them. Stay tuned over the next... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued Shortstops Using Expected Draft Values
A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four shortstops and our site projections for them. Stay tuned over the next... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued Third Basemen Using Expected Draft Values
A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four third basemen and our site projections for them. Stay tuned over the... Read More
Edwin Encarnacion (1B/DH, CHW) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~150s CURRENT ADP: ~170 overall ANALYSIS: Edwin Encarnacion continued to defy Father Time during the 2019 season. While his .244 batting average and 21.2% K-rate were mediocre, the 37-year-old managed to blast 34 home runs and pick up 86 RBI in just 418 at-bats split between the Seattle Mariners and New... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued Second Basemen Using Expected Draft Values
A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four "power" hitters, as identified by our site projections. Stay tuned over the... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued First Basemen Using Expected Draft Values
A couple weeks ago, we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four "power" hitters, as identified by our site projections. Stay tuned over the... Read More
