Robinson Chirinos Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist

New York Yankees catcher Robinson Chirinos (wrist) was diagnosed with a fractured right wrist, ending his bid to make the Opening Day roster as Gary Sanchez's backup. Chirinos was hit by a pitch in the Grapefruit League game on Wednesday night. Wrist and hand specialists will be consulted in the coming days to determine the […]

Trea Turner To Be Offered Extension Soon

The Washington Nationals are expected to offer shortstop Trea Turner an extension within the next year or so. He is eligible for a year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2023. Turner recently said in an interview, "I would love to play my entire career here." Turner had a fantastic year in 2020, […]

Trevor Cahill Signs With Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed starting pitcher Trevor Cahill. He agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. Last year, Cahill went 1-2 with a 3.24 ER and 1.20 WHIP over 11 games (six starts). He averaged 11.2 K/9, which was well above his career average of 6.8 […]

Gerrit Cole Solid On Thursday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched well on Thursday, striking out five batters over three innings of one-run ball. Cole's 20% swinging-strike rate was characteristically excellent, and there's no reason to expect Cole to be anything other than an ace once again in 2021. For what it's worth, Kyle Higashioka was behind the […]

Mitch Keller Has Another Rough Outing Thursday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller struggled in his second start of Spring Training, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out two over two innings against the Orioles. Keller has now allowed four runs on five hits and two walks through three innings this spring with three strikeouts. Once the […]

Jed Lowrie Getting Back In Action

Oakland Athletics infielder Jed Lowrie (knee) missed the first week of spring action while working his way back from left knee surgery in the offseason, but he played in his second Cactus League game on Thursday and impressed manager Bob Melvin by making solid contact. The 36-year-old is trying to make the squad on a […]

Pete Alonso Hits Second Homer Of Spring

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso hit his second spring home run on Thursday against the Houston Astros. He went 1-for-3 in the game with two strikeouts. His solo shot was the only run scored in the game. Alonso has had a solid spring, slashing .313/.450/.813. He had an inconsistent sophomore campaign in 2020, […]

Jesus Luzardo Unveils New Pitch Thursday

Oakland Athletics left-hander Jesus Luzardo unveiled a new pitch he calls the Turkey Sub on Thursday, a funky 65 mph looping breaking ball to complement his mid-90s fastball. The 23-year-old hasn't thrown the pitch in a major league game, but he's been working to incorporate it into his arsenal this spring. He held the Rangers […]

Avisail Garcia Off To Strong Start This Spring

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Avisail Garcia has been swinging a hot bat this spring. He's gone 8-for-17 with two home runs. Garcia entered camp this spring weighing 235 pounds, nearly 40 pounds less than his average weight. He believes the weight loss has helped both his speed and energy. With the Brewers' acquisition of Jackie Bradley […]

Cody Bellinger To Play The Field Next Week

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that outfielder Cody Bellinger (shoulder) will play center field in a major league spring training game next Tuesday. Bellinger had offseason surgery on his shoulder and has missed the first half of spring games so far. The Dodgers are mostly being cautious with the 25-year-old former MVP, though, […]

Anthony Alford Has Big Day On Offense And Defense On Thursday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford hit his second home run of the spring on Thursday, as he finished 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, two RBI and two runs scored against the Orioles. Alford also turned heads with a diving catch in the third inning to rob Cedric Mullins of a base hit. He's slashing […]

Jacob deGrom Dominates In Thursday's Outing

New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom routinely hit triple digits on the radar gun and struck out seven of the nine Astros hitters that he faced on Thursday in spring training. One scout clocked the right-hander as high as 102 mph. "Totally dominated," the scout wrote. In context, deGrom faced an Astros lineup that […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/11) - Hiura Endures Spring Struggles

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're officially through the first week of spring training games […]

Ender Inciarte's Injury Giving Cristian Pache An Opportunity

Atlanta Braves outfielder Cristian Pache has a greater chance to open the season as the team's center fielder with Ender Inciarte (thumb) spending the last week bothered by a sore left thumb. Inciarte might not have enough time to prove he's capable of the handling the center field job with just three weeks until Opening […]

C.J. Cron Continues To Rake This Spring

Colorado Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, one RBI, and a run scored in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs. The 31-year-old first baseman has been mashing this spring for the Rockies. He's now batting .316/.350/.579 with a home run and a pair of RBI over 19 […]

Kyle Wright Making Bid For Rotation Spot

Atlanta Braves starting pitchers Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson and Huascar Ynoa are the top candidates to fill the final rotation spot until Mike Soroka returns from Achilles surgery. If Soroka returns on schedule within the first few weeks of the regular season, Atlanta might need one of those pitchers to make just a start or […]

MLB DFS Advice: Picking Pitchers on DraftKings and FanDuel

Welcome back to RotoBaller, where we are taking you through some advanced DFS strategy and advice to prepare you for a full-length MLB season in 2021. Last spring, while baseball was not being played and I did not know what to do with myself, I wrote a big old script to go back and collect […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Elieser Hernandez

The Marlins’ expected starting rotation is young, but ripe with potential. Sandy Alcantara is expected to be the anchor of the staff and he’s just 25 years old. RosterResource projects that the rest of the Marlins’ rotation will feature Pablo Lopez (25), Elieser Hernandez (25), and Sixto Sanchez (22). Trevor Rogers, Daniel Castano, Nick Neidert […]

Michael Harris Impressing The Skipper

Atlanta Braves outfield prospect Michael Harris has played in just 53 minor league games since graduating high school in 2019, but the 20-year-old has made an impression on manager Brian Snitker in camp. Harris hit his first homer off Rays hard-throwing right-hander Pete Fairbanks on Thursday, making him 3-for-7 through seven games. Ranked as the […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Second Basemen Using Expected Draft Values

Welcome to the FSWA-nominated Expected Draft Values series, where we look at historical data to identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Whether you're targeting power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, we've got you covered. We now head to second base as we make our way around the diamond for 2021. […]

Later-Round Outfielders - Targets and Avoids in 2021

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have playing time concerns. […]

Marwin Gonzalez Homers Twice

Boston Red Sox utility man Marwin Gonzalez homered from each side of the plate on Wednesday, knocking in four in the Red Sox's 5-4 win over the Twins. Gonzalez, along with Kike Hernandez, Michael Chavis and Danny Santana, is one of the many utility players fighting for playing time in a crowded Red Sox lineup. Gonzalez […]

Ronald Acuna Jr. Goes Deep For First Time This Spring

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his first spring training home run on Thursday, a solo shot to left field off Rays right-hander Collin McHugh. Acuna entered the day 2-for-14 with five strikeouts in spring training but had two hits on the day. He was 5-for-32 with no extra-base hits and 14 strikeouts last […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Throws Four Strong Innings

Boston Red Sox ace Eduardo Rodriguez appeared to be in midseason form in his second outing of the spring, throwing four innings of one-run ball, striking out six and walking none. After missing all of last season with myocarditis stemming from a bout with COVID-19, it appears to be all systems go for Rodriguez this […]

Amed Rosario To Try His Hand At Outfield

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona said that he talked about the idea of shortstop Amed Rosario taking some fly balls in center field next week. Andres Gimenez, 22, entered Thursday with a .333 batting average and a 1.242 OPS in six Cactus League games, and he's also showcased his defense at shortstop. Gimenez made his […]

Hector Yan Becomes First Spring Cut For Angels

The Los Angeles Angels optioned left-handed pitching prospect Hector Yan on Thursday, marking their first roster cut of spring training. The 21-year-old allowed two runs on four hits while recording just two outs in his lone spring outing against Arizona on March 4, and his velocity was down to 91-92 mph, which was a few […]

Mike Trout Blasts First Spring Homer

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout hit his first home run of spring training on Thursday, a towering two-run shot off Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto. Trout was previously 2-for-8 in five Cactus League games. Including his home run Thursday, the three-time American League MVP and eight-time All-Star is a career .346 hitter with 27 home […]

Yasiel Puig Facing Sexual-Assault Allegations

Major League Baseball investigators recently interviewed a woman who said free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig sexually assaulted her in a Staples Center bathroom, but she hasn't taken further steps due to her desire to remain anonymous while awaiting further evidence to emerge, according to an MLB source. The 30-year-old Puig remains without a team with the […]

Carlos Carrasco To Play Catch On Sunday

New York Mets starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco (elbow) is expected to play catch on Sunday after recently having experienced some soreness in his elbow. While the Mets have indicated Carrasco's elbow issue isn't much of a concern, expect them to exercise a considerable amount of caution with their newly acquired starting pitcher. It remains questionable as […]

Brandon Nimmo Possibly Leading Off For Mets In 2021

New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo is batting leadoff and playing left field on Thursday in Grapefruit League action against the Astros. Prior to the game, Mets manager Luis Rojas stated that he was not sure if Thursday's lineup would be his Opening Day lineup, but he did acknowledge that Nimmo and shortstop Francisco Lindor […]