Blue Jays Trade For Steven Matz

New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz was traded to the Blue Jays on Wednesday in exchange for young right-handers Sean Reid-Foley, Josh Winckowski and Yennsy Diaz. Matz endured a brutal 2020 season that saw him post a 9.68 ERA over 30.2 innings, but the 29-year-old has shown flashes of success during his major-league career, […]

Yankees Trade For Jameson Taillon

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon was traded to the New York Yankees on Sunday, giving the Yankees some added depth in a fairly weak starting rotation. Taillon has had a fairly uneven career since debuting for the Pirates in 2016, but the 29-year-old boasts a solid 3.55 FIP for his career and has been […]

No Universal DH - 2021 Playing Time Fallers

Major League Baseball introduced the DH to the National League in 2020, but the rule change may not stick in 2021. MLB recently advised teams to assume that the universal DH will not be implemented for the 2021 season, and although that doesn’t mean that the door is closed on the rule for the year […]

2020 Schedule Outliers - AL East Starting Pitchers

One of the major changes MLB teams faced during the 2020 season was the lack of a diverse set of competition. Instead of playing around 20 other teams as they would in a normal season, teams played only nine different opponents in 2020. Additionally, two-thirds of each team’s games came against opponents within their own […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Later Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level and are older than when players typically have their best seasons. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, post-prime breakouts can be excellent draft […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Earlier Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level early in their careers. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, pre-prime breakouts can be excellent draft values thanks to their unusually high upside.  […]

Statcast Review - Noteworthy xBA/xSLG Hitting Leaders

Thanks to its abbreviated schedule, the 2020 MLB season resulted in some unusual outcomes. Michael Conforto posted the highest full-season BABIP since Ty Cobb in 1913, Luke Voit was on pace for 60 home runs, and Robbie Ray walked a ridiculous 18% of the batters he faced. xStats were not immune to that weirdness, xBA […]

Statcast Review - Hard Hit/Exit Velocity Pitching Leaders

Pitcher contact quality can be a tricky attribute for fantasy managers to incorporate into their analysis. On one hand, pitchers are more at the whim of hitters when it comes to contact quality than the other way around. On the other hand, it certainly seems as though pitchers can exert meaningful control over their contact […]

Year in Review: Victor Robles

Washington Nationals outfielder Victor Robles endured a tough 2020 season, slashing a paltry .220/.293/.315 while collecting just four stolen bases. That pace would have given him around only 12 SB in a full 162-game season. Fantasy managers had to have been expecting more considering he was a top-75 pick on average heading into 2020, just a […]

Faster and Furious: Pitchers With Rising Velocity

The shortened 2020 season resulted in some small sample size related caveats surrounding analysis heading into 2021, but fastball velocity is largely immune from that issue. Fastball velocity is extremely quick to stabilize, and even a few pitches can provide fantasy managers with a reasonably clear understanding of a pitcher’s velocity. Further supporting that notion […]

Noteworthy xwOBA-wOBA Pitching Leaders

One of the oddities brought on by the shortened 2020 season was the number of qualified pitchers with huge gaps between their xwOBA and wOBA. In 2019, only seven qualified pitchers posted a wOBA at least 0.050 points away from their xwOBA in either direction, a number that ballooned to 52 pitchers in 2020. Of […]

Starting Pitcher K-BB% Risers: Who to Believe In

The 2020 MLB season may have left starting pitchers with shorter starts and fewer total innings than usual, but arsenal adjustments and pitch improvements were still prevalent. As a result (and sometimes as a result of other factors), several pitchers saw significant changes in their strikeout and walk rates. K-BB% is one way to measure […]

Fantasy Baseball Applications of zxwOBAcon Analysis

In part one of this series, I established that zxwOBAcon is the primary driver of season-to-season changes in xwOBAcon and that the biggest risers in zxwOBAcon each season tend to be rebound candidates. Furthermore, rebound candidates recover all of their zxwOBAcon losses more often than not and frequently outperform their season x zxwOBAcon in season […]

Yankees Pick Up Option For Zach Britton

New York Yankees relief pitcher Zach Britton had his $14 million option picked up by the team on Thursday, keeping him with the Yankees through the 2022 season. Britton was characteristically excellent in 2020 with a 1.89 ERA over 19 innings, and the 32-year-old collected eight saves in closer Aroldis Chapman's early-season absence. Chapman's contract […]

James Paxton Back To Full Strength

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton (elbow, back) is reportedly fully healthy and back to normal, according to agent Scott Boras. Given that Paxton is a client of Boras and will be a free agent this offseason, Boras's claims can be taken with a grain of salt, and fantasy managers should be reluctant to […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values Based On Contact Quality

In part one of this series, I established that zxwOBAcon is the primary driver of season-to-season changes in xwOBAcon and that the biggest risers in zxwOBAcon each season tend to be rebound candidates. Furthermore, rebound candidates recover all of their zxwOBAcon losses more often than not and frequently outperform their season x zxwOBAcon in season […]

Dissecting Contact Quality In Search Of Fantasy Bargains

Of the 1,015 hitters sampled(1) between 2015 and 2019, there were only 14 instances of hitters making more productive contact against pitches outside of the strike zone than against pitches inside of the strike zone based on xwOBAcon. Based on the same sample, the average hitter was a whopping .116 points better against pitches inside […]

Gary Sanchez Not Locked Into Starting Role Next Year

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is not locked in as the team’s starting catcher for 2021, with general manager Brian Cashman refusing to commit to Sanchez filling that role on Wednesday. Sanchez endured a miserable 2020 season with a .618 OPS and a 36% strikeout rate over 49 games, and catcher Kyle Higashioka started […]

Luke Voit Dealing With Plantar Fasciitis

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (foot) has been dealing with plantar fasciitis and will wear a walking boot for the next week. Voit had been experiencing “foot issues” for most of the season, but the 29-year-old played through the injury to lead the league in home runs and post a .948 OPS. The […]

Luis Severino On Track For July Return

New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (elbow) has been throwing from 90 feet and is expected to rejoin the team in June or July of next season as long as he continues to avoid setbacks. Severino underwent Tommy John surgery in late February after experiencing forearm soreness during the 2019 postseason, and the 26-year-old […]

MLB DFS Prop Picks for Monday, October 12th - Monkey Knife Fight

The MLB playoffs are now well underway, and Monday features a pair of intriguing ALCS games. Although full-season fantasy leagues have been finished for more than a week now, fantasy players still have opportunities to make money with DFS. Our friends at Monkey Knife Fight offer some of the coolest, and easiest to win, MLB […]

Gerrit Cole Dominates In Last 2020 Start

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole held the Rays to one run and three baserunners with nine strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings on Friday in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Rays. Cole cruised after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, with a solo home run being the […]

Aroldis Chapman Collects First Postseason Save This Year

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman picked up a four-out save against the Rays on Thursday, striking out two and allowing one baserunner. Chapman used his slider sparingly on Thursday with his sinker (two pitches) and splitter (one pitch) combining to account for more of his total pitches than his slider (two pitches), but the […]

Gleyber Torres Stays Hot On Thursday

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and his second home run of the postseason against the Rays on Thursday, giving the 23-year-old a 1.009 OPS through six postseason games this year. Lower body injuries and a slow start to the regular season left Torres with a middling .724 OPS […]

Luke Voit Hits First Career Postseason Home Run

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit went 1-for-4 with a home run against the Rays on Thursday. Voit had yet to hit a home run in the postseason coming into Thursday’s game, but the reigning MLB home run leader clubbed a 453-foot blast to end that streak. Even with that performance, Voit was unlucky […]

Jordan Montgomery Holds Rays To One Run On Thursday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery pitched well on Thursday, holding the Rays to one run over four innings with four strikeouts. Montgomery was in and out of trouble all night with six baserunners allowed, but some timely outs allowed the 27-year-old to escape with limited damage. The Yankees pulled Montgomery after only 62 […]

DJ LeMahieu Extends Hitting Streak To Six Games

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu picked up a single and walked once against the Rays on Wednesday, giving him a six-game hit streak. LeMahieu hasn’t picked up an extra-base hit since doubling twice on September 26 (the start of his hit-streak), though, contributing to his poor .661 OPS for the postseason so far. […]

Masahiro Tanaka Pitches Poorly On Wednesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struggled against the Rays on Wednesday, allowing five runs over only four innings of work. Tanaka’s slider was the lone bright spot in an otherwise lackluster performance as the pitch generated seven swinging-strikes (28 pitches) for a 25% swinging-strike rate, but Tanaka also left a slider hanging over […]

Jordan Montgomery To Start ALDS Game 4

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery will start Thursday’s game against the Rays, according to manager Aaron Boone. Montgomery will take an ugly 5.11 ERA into Thursday’s game, but it comes with a 3.87 FIP and some bad luck (and bad infield defense) based on his .293 BABIP on ground balls (.234 league average). […]

Aaron Hicks Stays Hot On Tuesday

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks picked up a pair of walks and a single against the Rays on Tuesday, giving him a .667 batting average and 1.944 OPS through four postseason games this year. Hicks had been heating up coming into the postseason too with a .904 OPS (and three stolen bases) over his […]