2021 Points League Rankings - Starting Pitcher
We had to take a brief hiatus but are getting back at it on the points front at RotoBaller, now just a few weeks from the start of spring training. We've already covered most of the hitters so we're moving over to pitchers. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from... Read More
2021 Points League Rankings - Outfield
February is finally here and that means that draft season is getting into full gear. And here at RotoBaller, we're about more than just roto leagues. We're here to cover your whole fantasy spectrum. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from last year, I have strong opinions on point leagues.... Read More
2021 Points League Rankings - Third Base
It's Friday and that can only mean one thing...More hot points action coming straight at you. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from last year, I have strong opinions on point leagues. TL;DR? You can't just transfer over value from roto and you can't just take players with good BB/K... Read More
2021 Points League Rankings - Shortstop
The ides of January are behind us and fantasy baseball draft season is officially in full swing. And considering that H2H point league players got ran over the most by a 60-game season in 2020, I'm guessing you're just as ready as I am to get things going. So it points ranks time, baby! If you've... Read More
2021 Points League Rankings - Second Base
With football finally behind us (the season is over, right?) we're entering the best time of the year...AKA fantasy baseball draft season. Many may be focused on roto but point players are chomping at the bit after 2020's shortened season basically torpedoed H2H point leagues. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've... Read More
2020 Breakout Outfielders Who'll Keep Improving
With hitters dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and related changes to the MLB season, it’s somewhat surprising that breakouts were unexceptional (if high) in their number. After 45 qualified batters improved their wOBA by at least 0.20 points between 2018 and 2019, 54 hitters managed to do so between 2019 and 2020. That’s not a... Read More
Don't Overpay for Steals, Draft These Guys Instead
Steals are an increasingly precious commodity in roto leagues. If you don't grab a speedster early on, you are forced to find a modest source of steals in the middle and later rounds or just punt the category altogether. Since it's not advised to resign yourself to claiming last place in a category before the... Read More
NL Outfielders Ready to Break Out in 2021
The top of the outfield class this year is lined with studs. It's hard to go wrong with any of the top-ten or so outfielders in drafts, but after that, it gets a little bit shakier. Players with risky profiles, small sample size success stories, bounceback candidates, and plenty of youngsters make up a lot... Read More
Later-Round Category Targets - Batting Average
Of all of the fantasy sports, a baseball league using category scoring is the one most requiring manager strategy. You can draft a team full of players that overperform their draft cost but still not win your league if you don't fill up the categories correctly. If I had to give one piece of advice... Read More
Later-Round Category Targets - ERA
Starting pitching is a finicky thing in the fantasy world. There is certain to be lots of impactful injuries, breakouts, and busts this year within the starting pitching position. After the first handful of rounds of the draft, it gets pretty tough to find guys you can feel confident about helping your team in the... Read More
Top 10 Relief Pitchers to Target - LIMA Plan
You need saves but you don't want to burn an early pick or spend up just to invest in a closer that joins the 50% club. That is, the 50% or more of relief pitchers who start the year as closers but will lose their job due to poor performance or injury at some point... Read More
Starting Pitcher Sleepers Who Surged In September
Do you remember the 21st night of September? I certainly don't. Amid a global pandemic, figuring out the kid's remote school schedule, and fantasy football, the whole month is a little hazy, much to the chagrin of Earth Wind and Fire. Lucky for us, every bit of data that happened on a baseball field is tracked... Read More
Roto Category Draft Targets - Strikeouts
Welcome back to RotoBaller, here we have another later-round category targets piece - this time focusing on strikeouts. Strikeouts are an interesting category for fantasy given how differently they can be handled in fantasy baseball. Lots of leagues use strikeout rate of some sort (strikeout rate or strikeouts per nine). Those seem to make more sense... Read More
Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Outfielder Prospects
When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect... Read More
Later-Round Category Targets - Stolen Bases
The stolen base is like no other category in the rotisserie game. It is correlated to no other category that is used in fantasy and is influenced by "specialists" (meaning players who only contribute in one category) way more than any other as well. Steal attempts have also been trending downward in recent MLB history, making... Read More
Undervalued Mixed League Draft Targets in 2021
Finding undervalued players during drafts can make or break your fantasy season. One of the ways we look for undervalued players is to utilize RotoBaller’s Expected Draft Value research developed by my colleague Nick Mariano. We attempt to identify players who are forecast to return value in 2021 which is greater than the expected value... Read More
Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Pitching Prospects
With pitchers and catchers reporting, Major League Baseball is bearing down on a return to normalcy for the 2021 season. With the MLBPA rejecting MLB’s offer of a delayed start to the 2021 season, opening day is now officially scheduled for Thursday, April 1. When analyzing the pool of pitching prospects for 2021, there are... Read More
Infielders Ready to Break Out Late
Finding value is crucial on draft day and finding just one or two players in the mid to late rounds in drafts that provide better numbers than projected can give you a significant edge on the competition as you bid for fantasy glory. All too often, we look for the new shiny object in drafts... Read More
Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Infielder Prospects
When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect... Read More
2021 Undervalued Draft Targets - Starting Pitchers
In late November, before I officially joined the RotoBaller team, I began a long post series where I went rotation-by-rotation, slowly populating my SP ranks for 2021. The way I did this was I would do the analysis and take a long look at each player, and then insert them into the list based on... Read More
Second-Year Hitters Ready to Break Out
Every season there are hitters entering their second year in the big-leagues that have a solid break-out campaign. In 2020, these were players like Eloy Jimenez, Cavan Biggio, and arguably, Fernando Tatis Jr. Some will say Tatis Jr. broke out in 2019, but he really burst on the scene in 2020 and became a household... Read More
Hitter Targets Under $10 - Salary Cap League Values
Snake drafts are the more common method, but salary cap leagues offer a more complex flavor to your draft day. That's not for everyone, and that's fine; part of the beauty of fantasy baseball lies in its high degree of customizability. Salary cap drafts take longer, and they're much less straightforward than snakes, but for... Read More
Dylan Carlson (OF, STL) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in a couple of weeks, which means fantasy baseball draft season is ramping up. We do not know if there is a universal DH or a full 162-game season. What we do know is we will draft teams regardless and we will need some fantasy sleepers. Some sleepers... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Injury Updates
Injury updates tend to change often during Spring Training. "Soreness" is a common theme as players get back into game shape. I will be giving the most recent available injury updates from the offseason. These updates will undoubtedly change as Spring Training continues. As we get closer to Opening Day, some injuries are much more... Read More
Launch Angle Analysis - Potential HR Risers
With the onset of Statcast data, we can now better predict which hitters may be due for a power surge. Before recent years, we only had things like hard-hit rate and home runs per fly ball ratios to look to as predictors of future changes in home run rates. Now that we have launch angle,... Read More
Top 10 Tips for Fantasy Baseball Snake Drafts
Before I begin, let me caveat everything I say with this: I don't consider myself to be some sort of expert master fantasy player. I've only been playing fantasy baseball for a little under a decade. But as soon as I started to immerse myself into this game we all love, my main focus was... Read More
Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 2 Lineup Trends
Welcome back RotoBallers! We are entering week three of Spring Training already, and with that came a lot of things we saw in week two. But of course, my week one review also still has very relevant information as well. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and... Read More
Finding Over/Undervalued Third Basemen Using Expected Draft Values
Last year we introduced our Expected Draft Values and explained how they would help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at four third basemen and our site projections for them. Stay tuned over the next couple... Read More
Top 25 Starting Pitchers - Dynasty Prospects Rankings
Pitching is an important element of any successful Major League Baseball team — real or fantasy. Coming off a truncated season in 2020 and facing another unique season ahead, pitching prospects will be more important than ever in 2021. MLB managers will be faced with a full 2021 season and, after throwing reduced innings last... Read More