The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Relief Pitcher Rankings

We're cruising through May and yet there are still so many uncertain, fluid bullpens to peruse in my 2021 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, which provides a weekly peek at my top 101 relievers moving forward. It's finally time to ramp it up to true 101 Dalmatians form. This is geared towards traditional 5x5 roto leagues... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets for Week 7

Sometimes fantasy baseball can resemble the stock market. You want the best portfolio of players without having to pay too much for them. Sometimes to achieve the optimal team, you need to make trades. The best way to gain added value is to trade away an over-performing player for one in a rut. This way,... Read More

Blast Off: Which Batters Are Hitting the Most Impactful Barrels?

Last week I read a great article by John LaRue breaking down Alex Chamberlain's offensive stat known as Blast Rate. As John pointed out, Alex took the barrel stat we know and love and split it into a subset known as "Weak Barrels" and "Blasts." This may seem like a knit-picky exercise to some, but... Read More

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for Week 7

It’s been a long road to get here, but the Minor League Baseball season has finally arrived after more than a year of waiting. Over the past 13 months, prospects from around baseball have been developing their skills at alternate training sites, in extended spring settings, and in their own backyards. This weekly feature evolved... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 6

April hot streaks are either fading or becoming more real, so this week we're looking at pitchers who've had more than one surprising start and a surprising first six weeks of the season. This week's trio capped off their hot starts with some of the best outings of their season, if not their career, this... Read More

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

While we're grateful for the 2021 season after the mess that was 2020, I understand if the Injury Train has you running on fumes by mid-May. It's a cutthroat game sometimes, but do try to enjoy the wicked pitches and monster homers when you can! We still want to win this war of attrition, so... Read More

The Cut List: Week 7 - Time to Let Go?

Welcome back to the Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers should consider cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer peek. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, worth monitoring for replacing and someone on the hot seat who is worth holding on... Read More

Return to Form: Veteran Pitchers to Believe In

We're always told that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes I think we're selling old dogs short. With increased age brings wisdom and the know-how to attack life's problems in new ways. Nowhere is that likely more the case than with MLB pitchers. Often young pitchers are prone to relying simply... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets for Week 6

Sometimes fantasy baseball can resemble the stock market. You want the best portfolio of players without having to pay too much for them. Sometimes to achieve the optimal team, you need to make trades. The best way to gain added value is to trade away an over-performing player for one in a rut. This way,... Read More

Bullpen Report: Struggling Closers Leading to Changes?

I have been playing a lot of MLB The Show lately and the one thing I have learned playing is - relievers are very important if you are going to play anything other than a standalone game! You need to not only have multiple options you can trust but the depth of many teams' bullpens... Read More

Week 6 Starts & Sits - All Starting Pitcher Matchups

More starting pitchers are dealing with injury issues. The exciting effect of that is that there are more minor league starting pitchers coming up. There are a couple already slotted in on the SP planner. As always, do a little research and give your best effort when making decisions. Welcome back everyone to our starting... Read More

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

Rejoice, for we have reached May! Cry, for we've also lost Dustin May. The injuries are rolling over all of us, but we must breathe and try to be grateful that we get to play our little game within a game. Frustration is natural and you have to let yourself vent it out, but then... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 5

Welcome to the 2021 edition of "Are You For Real?" This is a weekly column where we dissect surprisingly good starts from under-rostered and unheralded hurlers to try and determine whether they can maintain their performance or if it was just a flash in the pan. With April behind us, the numbers are beginning to... Read More

The Cut List: Week 6 - Time to Let Go?

Welcome back to the Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers should consider cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer peek. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, worth monitoring for replacing and someone on the hot seat who is worth holding on... Read More

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers: Week 6

Going outside the world of fantasy baseball for a moment, can I just say how great it is to be able to go back to games this year? I've managed to get out to a Brewers and a White Sox game this month, I snagged my first ever live ball at a game (an Andres... Read More

Franmil Reyes Is a League-Winner Hidden In Plain Sight

The San Diego Padres signed Franmil Reyes to their organization all the way back in November of 2011. It took the Padres almost eight years and a season-and-a-half of playing time to move on from him, as they opted to include him in the Trevor Bauer/Yasiel Puig/Taylor Trammell three-team trade that included the Indians and... Read More

Rookie Report: Prospect Risers and Fallers for Week 5

Welcome to the latest edition of RotoBaller’s Recently Promoted Prospects series for fantasy baseball! Here I discuss some recently promoted MLB prospects and rookies - making note of what I think their upside could be for fantasy baseball managers, and whether they are potential risers or fallers. It’s early in the season and we’ve already... Read More

Closers and Saves Report - Week 6 Waiver Wire

Another week gone by, and a lot went down in the AL bullpens while the NL bullpens mostly had a straightforward week. The Tigers and Reds bullpens are still their own messes. The Royals may have a new closer already. The Mariners may be moving to a new guy too. The Blue Jays bullpen might... Read More

Early Plate Discipline Improvers

Early season data is never very reliable. When you are still in the first month of the season, one game can have a big impact on a player's stat line in most categories. That makes it somewhat foolish to look at the data until you at least get a month or so of games out... Read More

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 70 Relief Pitcher Rankings

We are gathered here today for April's final edition of my 2021 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take a weekly peek at my top 70 relievers moving forward. This is geared towards traditional 5x5 roto leagues with the understanding that RPs are as volatile as it gets. I decided to leave off most injured... Read More

Bullpen Report: Figuring Out Changing Bullpens

There have been a lot of shakeups in Major League bullpens, even in the last few days. Most notable among them are Minnesota, Cincinnati, and Kansas City, all of which we will explore in detail below. This article will help you stay up-to-date on closer situations and some speculative adds you can grab before they... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 4

Welcome to the 2021 edition of "Are You For Real?" This is a weekly column where we dissect surprisingly good starts from under-rostered and unheralded hurlers to try and determine whether they can maintain their performance, or if it was just a flash in the pan. As April comes to a close, the days of... Read More

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for Week 5

When the spring began, I would have been called crazy for suggesting that players like Yermin Mercedes, Akil Baddoo, and Adolis Garcia would be among the top rookies for the month of April. But here we are. The hitters are starting to outshine the pitchers now that a number of big arms have graduated from... Read More

Points League Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 5

We'll be doing this roundup of point league happenings every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the... Read More

The Cut List: Week 5 - Time to Let Go?

Welcome back to the Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers should consider cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer peek. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, worth monitoring for replacing and someone on the hot seat but worth holding on to...... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Week 5

Welcome to the top hitter streamers column for Week 5 of the MLB season (4/26 through 5/2). This weekly piece should be helpful for anyone looking to gain an edge in their league. If you need a fill-in for an injured player or want to exploit some plus matchups to gain an edge on your... Read More

Digging Deeper: Hitter Batted Ball Analysis

The word "barrel" entered the fantasy baseball lexicon in 2015 and has quickly become one of the most often-referenced statistics to describe hitter performance. You will see barrels, barrel rate, and barrels per plate appearance talked about all over websites like this fine one. This is for good reason. Prior to the onset of Statcast, we... Read More

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 70 Relief Pitcher Rankings

Welcome to the first version of my 2021 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take a weekly peek at my top 70 relievers moving forward. This is geared towards traditional 5x5 roto leagues, with the understanding that RPs are as volatile as it gets. You'll notice that I leave off most injured players because throwing... Read More

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

Another week, another update to my 2021 Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take stock of my top 101 SPs moving forward. This is the first "full" version of the year where the ranks table below comes with this google sheet that accompanies the table and adds a smattering of stats. Do note that I... Read More