Champ or Chump: Nick Kurtz and Sandy Alcantara Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

Fantasy managers need diverse skill sets to succeed in today's game. Top prospects can make a huge fantasy impact, but even mediocre names are frequently hyped up, and prospect lists don't emphasize the same need for immediate gratification that fantasy managers do. Is Nick Kurtz worthy of a roster spot? Figuring out when to cut […]

Champ or Chump: Agustin Ramirez and Chandler Simpson Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

Prospect callups are frequently among the most exciting events in fantasy baseball, and MLB clubs have started bringing up exciting names. Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez went 20/20 with an advanced plate approach on the farm in 2024, and he's a catcher. Sort of. His defense is atrocious, and that could be a good thing for […]

Champ or Chump: Jonathan Aranda and Kyren Paris Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

Second base felt like a weak position during draft season, but the waiver wire seems full of intriguing options. In Week 1, we looked at Kristian Campbell. In Week 2, we profiled Jonathan India. This week, two more interesting names are Jonathan Aranda and Kyren Paris. Neither is a household name, but both are off […]

Champ or Chump: Dennis Santana, Jonathan India, Clay Holmes Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

We've reached the second week of the 2025 MLB season, and as expected, Rafael Devers is not the worst player in the league. Players have twice as many games played (or more) than they did this time last week, but we're still working with tiny samples. You shouldn't blindly overreact to this season's stat lines. […]

Champ or Chump: Seth Halvorsen, Otto Lopez, Kristian Campbell Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

The 2025 fantasy baseball season is officially underway, and that means another season of Champ or Chump. This column is a deep dive into one to three players per week, looking at prospect pedigree, MiLB performance, Statcast data, role, peripherals, team context, and more. At the end of our analysis, we determine whether each player […]

Interpreting Foreign League Statistics: Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our primer on interpreting foreign league statistics. This article is a deeper dive into how to interpret foreign statistics and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll focus on statistics from the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Imports from […]

What Is Statcast Pitch Tracking? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of Statcast Pitch Tracking. This article is a deeper dive into Statcast Pitch Tracking and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore how to interpret the Statcast Pitch Tracking table and how it can help place Pitch Info in context. Of […]

What Is Statcast Contact Quality for Pitchers? Fantasy Baseball Sabermetrics Glossary (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Statcast contact quality metrics for pitchers. This article is a deeper dive into the predictive value of metrics such as Brls/BBE and average airborne exit velocity (EV) for pitchers, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll discover which pitchers led […]

What Are Statcast xStats? Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Statcast Expected Statistics (xStats). This article is a deeper dive into xStats and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explain what Statcast's xStats are and how they work in layman's terms anyone can understand. We'll also look at how well […]

What Is Spin Rate? Fantasy Baseball Sabermetrics Glossary and Definitions

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Spin Rate. This article is a deeper dive into spin rate and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore the benefits of high and low-spin fastballs and identify which secondaries are more effective with more or less spin using everyday […]

What Is Barrel Rate and Brls/BBE? Fantasy Baseball Sabermetrics Glossary and Definitions

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of Barrels for fantasy baseball. This article is a deeper dive into MLB advanced stat called "Barrels" and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll define Barrels in layman's terms and discover how great they are for hitters. We'll also explore how […]

What Are Pitching+, Stuff+, Location+? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Pitching+. This article is a deeper dive into Pitching+ and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore what Pitching+ is and how to use it for fantasy analysis. We'll also look at its underlying components, Stuff+ and Location+, in plain […]

What Is Exit Velocity (EV)? Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of exit velocity (EV) for hitters. This article is a deeper dive into EV, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore how EV can be used to predict BABIP and HR/FB using simple terminology anyone can understand. We'll also look […]

Interpreting Minor League Stats (MiLB) for Fantasy Baseball Analysis (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of minor league (MiLB) statistics. This article is a deeper dive into MiLB stats and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore the predictive power of numbers on the farm, including how to deal with small MiLB sample sizes and when […]

10 Fantasy Baseball Bold Predictions - Rick Lucks' 2025 Picks

Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition from our yearly Bold Predictions series from the MLB team. It's one of the most exciting times of the fantasy baseball calendar: bold prediction season! As a reminder, bold predictions aren't supposed to be likely outcomes but long shots with a purpose. These predictions, in particular, all do one […]

Ballpark Factors: Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of ballpark factors. This article is a deeper dive into ballpark factors and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore how unique MLB parks influence a player's performance for fantasy purposes. Most people associate ballpark factors with home runs, but we'll […]

How Important Is Batting Order? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of batting order. This article is a deeper dive into batting order, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll quantify the differences between lineup spots for fantasy purposes. Along the way, we'll clearly and concisely answer questions like "How many plate […]

What Is Pitch Info? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Pitch Info. This article is a deeper dive into Pitch Info and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll look at where to find information on individual pitches in a hurler's repertoire. Potential applications include evaluating velocity spikes and pitch mix […]

What Is Pull%? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of Pull%. This article is a deeper dive into Pull% and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore how Pull% works including the benefits of pulling fly balls and the downsides of pulling grounders using easy language anybody can understand. We'll […]

What Is BABIP (for Pitchers)? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of BABIP (for pitchers). This article is a deeper dive into pitcher BABIP, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explain what pitchers can do to control their BABIP and explore how a club's defenders may influence BABIPs allowed using easily […]

What are FIP and xFIP? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and xFIP (expected Fielding Independent Pitching). This article is a deeper dive into FIP/xFIP and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explore how to separate a pitcher's performance from his supporting cast and luck using metrics […]

What is Plate Discipline (SwStr% and O-Swing%)? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of plate discipline. This article is a deeper dive into plate discipline, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll look at how to predict K% and BB% using advanced plate discipline stats such as swinging strike percentage (SwStr%) and chase rate […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball: Glossary Of Key Stats to Predict Performance (2025)

Hello, fellow RotoBallers! Sabermetrics have become an integral tool for fantasy baseball draft prep, but a concise resource for understanding the basics can be difficult to find. Today's article is an initial overview of sabermetrics and key stats for fantasy baseball -- we will also be going through some of the individual stats below, and […]

What is Batted Ball Distribution? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to our overview of batted ball distribution, or a batter's rates of grounders (GB%), flies (FB%), and line drives (LD%). This article is a deeper dive into batted ball distribution, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explain the differences between grounders, flies, and […]

What is HR/FB Rate? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome Rotoballers to our overview of HR/FB (home run to fly ball ratio). This article is a deeper dive into HR/FB, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball." In this article, we'll explain why HR/FB is important and how short-term spikes generally aren't predictive of power breakouts in layman's terms […]

What is BABIP (for Hitters)? Sabermetrics Glossary for Fantasy Baseball (2025)

Welcome RotoBallers to our overview of BABIP (batting average on balls in play) for hitters. This article is a deeper dive into BABIP for batters, and is part of our ongoing series "Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball". In this article we'll explain what BABIP is, specifically for hitters, and provide a definition that is hopefully […]

Rick Lucks' 2024 Fantasy Baseball Bold Predictions Revisited

Doesn't March feel like forever ago? Now that the 2024 fantasy baseball season is in the books, some of what we were thinking seems ridiculous in hindsight. I joined several of my Rotoballer colleagues in making bold predictions before the 2024 campaign, and now it's time to see how they panned out. Spoiler alert: there […]

Champ or Chump: Luisangel Acuna and Spencer Schwellenbach Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

We're in the fantasy baseball season's final week. It's easy to assume your waiver wire gems will keep performing well, but this isn't always the case. Luisangel Acuna is off to a hot start with the Mets, but he may lose his starting job with the imminent return of Francisco Lindor. The Braves don't have […]

Champ or Chump: Tylor Megill and JJ Bleday Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

We're down to the final two weeks of the fantasy baseball season. If your standings are close (or you're in the playoffs of a H2H league), any decision could make or break your year. You should do your homework for the best chance at success, but don't beat yourself up if things go awry. Remember, […]

Champ or Chump: Rhett Lowder Fantasy Baseball Outlook

Have you heard? A dominant college pitcher was taken in the 2023 Draft's first round. Scouts loved his stuff and control, and he was expected to advance quickly. He debuted in the NL Central this season, and his career is off to a solid start with an ERA of 0.87. That sounds like we're talking […]