
Articles

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 3
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?" - a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit, or just smoke and mirrors. With May fast approaching we're starting to get settled into the season, and while […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 2
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?" - a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit, or just smoke and mirrors. We're two weeks into the season and already numerous pitchers have emerged as potential […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 1
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?" - a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit, or just smoke and mirrors. The first few days of the season have been nothing short of incredible, and […]
Elliott Baas
Willie Calhoun (OF, TEX) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 350 CURRENT ADP: ~383 overall ANALYSIS: Those of us who believe in Calhoun feel like we’re stuck in a Samuel Beckett play, but instead of waiting for Godot, we’re waiting for Willie to finally put everything together. In defense of the Calhoun believers, the raw hit skills are just so […]
Elliott Baas
Prime-Age Infielders Set to Break Out for Fantasy Baseball
With baseball officially back, we can finally move on from worrying about whether the teams would actually be on the field and start worrying about the fake teams we're going to field this year in fantasy baseball. This article is going to break down three infielders in the age 26-29 range who are on the […]
Elliott Baas
Fernando Tatis Injury Impact: What Will the Padres Lineup Look Like?
With the wild free agency and trade news keeping the stove piping hot in March, one of the less fun pieces of news that came out this week is the injury to Fernando Tatis Jr., who will be sidelined for up to three months with a fractured left wrist. Tatis was considered to be the […]
Elliott Baas
Yu Darvish: 2022 Fantasy Baseball Bust?
Once among the most feared strikeout pitchers in the game, the cracks have finally started to show on Darvish, who is coming off his worst full season in the majors. He put up an uncharacteristic 4.22 ERA, served up 1.52 HR/9 despite pitching for San Diego, and his 29.2% strikeout rate was his lowest since […]
Elliott Baas
Failure to Launch: Decreasing Launch Angles and Home Runs for Fantasy Baseball
Once the toast of advanced stats in the baseball universe, average launch angle’s prominence as a performance predictor has taken a step back to other power-focused metrics such as barrel rate and max exit velocity. Perhaps this is because the “launch angle revolution” from a few years ago turned out to be more of a […]
Elliott Baas
Prime-Age Outfielders Set to Break Out for Fantasy Baseball
In modern baseball, we expect players to perform the instant they hit the majors, or shortly afterward. If the player hasn't broken out by age 25, we assume he will never break out. That wasn't always the case, however, as we used to view a player's mid-to-late-20s as the crucial time for a step forward. […]
Elliott Baas
Infielder Busts Who'll Keep Junking it Up - Fantasy Baseball Players To Avoid?
When it comes to busts, there are two types of fantasy managers. The type who carries the wounds of drafting the bust with them always and never picks the player again, and the type who sees once-reliable players underperform and gleefully scrutinize the player's numbers, hoping to find value in players discarded. The latter approach […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 26
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, as we go to battle one more time in search of fantasy titles. This week we're […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 25
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. We're already on Week 25, meaning it's the fantasy playoffs in head-to-head leagues, or crunch-time in Roto leagues. Every start, every win, and every strikeout […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 24
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. This week we're looking at a trio of pitchers who have been around the block for a while, but have come alive recently with some […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 23
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. This week we're looking at some of the young arms that non-contending teams are using to fill out their rotation for the end of the […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 22
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. The youth went wild this week, as we're taking a look at three starting pitchers all under the age of 27 who turned in excellent […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 21
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. It's late August, which means all fantasy sports eyes are on one thing: the fantasy baseball playoffs! We're down the contenders in most leagues, which […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 20
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. It was apparently the week of the lefty and the week of the Diamondback, as we're breaking down three southpaws in this piece, including two […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 19
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. Things are starting to heat up in the baseball universe, with fewer than two months left in the regular season. With many contenders looking to […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 18
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. With the trade deadline behind us we're entering the home stretch in fantasy baseball. The leagues are shrinking down to the contenders, and we need […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 17
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. The trade deadline approaches, both in real baseball and in many fantasy leagues. Sometimes rather than pulling off that blockbuster deal, the difference maker we […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 16
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. The All-Star break is behind us, and chances are you know whether your team is a contender at this point. Now comes the time to […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 15
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. With all eyes glued to Colorado, we can catch our opponents napping during the All-Star break and hopefully make some sneaky adds while no one […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 14
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. As we trudge towards the All-Star break the waiver wire feels thinner by the week, and we aren't flush with as many exciting, fresh young […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 13
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. This week we're looking at a veteran who's trying to right the ship after early season struggles, and two prospects who turned in the first […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 12
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. This week we're looking at two pitchers from our nation's capital, and one a little farther south down in the sunshine state. We're breaking down […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 11
Welcome to Are You For Real?, a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. This week we're spending some time in the NL East, as we saw three strong starts from pitchers on three different NL East teams worthy […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 10
Welcome to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. The youngsters keep on pitching well, and this week we're looking at a trio of 24-year-olds who came up big in their outings over the […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 9
It was a week of young guns in the fantasy baseball world as we saw excellent outings from tons of young, exciting pitchers around the league. Alek Manoah has received his fair share of coverage, and deservedly so, but we're going to take things in another direction in this piece and look at some under-the-radar […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 8
As we approach Memorial Day, season-long numbers are starting to feel a lot more real. That makes it even more important to analyze surprising starts from pitchers who may not have been caught up in the whirlwind of April breakouts. This week we're taking a trip across the junior circuit, looking at a pitcher from […]
Elliott Baas
Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 7
It was another exciting week in major league baseball, which brings an overabundance of surprising starts around the league. This week we're looking at a pair of veterans who were considered top-30 starting pitchers in their heyday, but injuries have resulted in quite a fall from grace. We're also looking at an emerging left-hander who's […]
Elliott Baas