Hitter Advanced Metrics Leaders - Sweet Spot% for Week 12
This week, we'll dig down to a more micro level in order to see what we can take away from the leaderboard in sweet spot rate. That's essentially the goal for all hitters when they initiate a swing - to get that ideal trajectory that often results in a base hit and is necessary to... Read More
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - wOBACON For Week 12
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. I wrote about the expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) for the first article of the... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 12
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - Sprint Speed for Week 11
Enough with the hitting stats, let's turn to something a little different this week and measure running. Steals are still an integral part of the fantasy baseball universe but it can be hard to determine who is capable of helping out in that category on a regular basis. That said, I'll provide some analysis on... Read More
Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - HR/FB% For Week 11
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. Some metrics are more intricate than others, but that doesn't mean that they all can't... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 11
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
Hitter Skill-Searching: Hard Contact Frequency Analysis
What we are looking for in a hitter, despite all of the advanced and complex numbers, is pretty simple. We want a hitter to hit the ball very hard, and we want them to hit the ball on a high percentage of their swings. This is the best formula for success in the Majors Leagues... Read More
Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - Barrel Rate for Week 10
It's finally time to roll out the barrels and there will be Brewers involved! Now that qualified hitters have well over 200 plate appearances under their belts, we can dive into the Statcast numbers to see who is making the biggest splash over the wall. It goes without saying (but here goes anyway) that you... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 10
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
Starting Pitcher Breakouts and Sell Highs for Fantasy Baseball: K-BB% Risers
Now that we're a couple of months into the season, we have the ability to track month-to-month changes to see if any players are making adjustments. Sometimes these changes can manifest in a clear difference in results, while other times we can start to see some changes under the surface that have not yet shown... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 9
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 8
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 7
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking a good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find... Read More
Dead Ball Victims - Power Hitter and Home Run Decliners for Fantasy Baseball
Things are different this season. The offense is down across the board and we are seeing hitters have a lot of trouble hitting for power. These aren't unprecedented times, but we got so used to the juiced-ball homer-happy era that it feels very strange to be back to the days of the early 2010s. Some... Read More
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,... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 6
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find start-worthy... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
Breakout Hitters to Watch for Fantasy Baseball Week 5
Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of my "Breakout Hitters To Watch" series. What we're doing here is taking good, close look at the hitting data each week to see which hitters are standing out the most. The idea is to find hitters that have made changes and/or really improved this season to find start-worthy... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More