Javier Baez Aims for 30/30 Season

With one weekend remaining before the All-Star break, it's a nice window to review strong performances from the first half. Javier Baez (2B, CHC) slugged his 18th home run at San Francisco on July 11. Through 329 at-bats, Baez owns a .329, 18 HR, 66 RBI, 57 R, and 17 SB line. In CBS 5x5 […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 15: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 15 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season inches ever closer to the All-Star break, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment […]

Champ or Chump: Jorge Polanco and Steven Duggar

I tried to give up the prospect beat in this space last time, but then the Giants summoned Steven Duggar from the minor leagues. He had some buzz during Spring Training, so he probably warrants a closer look even if he's a little older than the average prospect (age 24). Jorge Polanco also returned from […]

Wrigley Wronged - How the Cubs Rotation Betrayed Us

The Chicago Cubs starting rotation has been underperforming in the pitching department this year. They are second-worst in walks per nine innings at 4.22, tied for sixth-worst in fielding independent pitching (FIP), 20th in total strikeouts with 396, yet have somehow come out ninth-best in team earned run average with a 3.83 ERA for the […]

Risers and Fallers for the Second Half

As the MLB schedule has crossed the halfway mark for the season, we will look at our rosters to see who is trending upward and which players are due for falls. With a look at the data from June and the first half, there are several names to target for profit and others to trade […]

Champ or Chump: Brad Miller and Kyle Tucker

This column has spent a lot of time covering prospects so far in 2018. We've had some calls that proved correct (Shane Bieber, Ronald Acuna, Fernando Romero) and others that don't look as great in hindsight (Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres). The Astros called up top prospect Kyle Tucker prior to Saturday's action, so we'll take […]

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - xBA-BA (Week 15)

Expected stats, such as xBA, xSLG, xwOBA and others we have examined in this series have to be taken for what they are - a projection based on past data, but not the sole basis of fantasy analysis. If expected stats always jived with actual stats, we wouldn't have so many discrepancies. As of today, […]

Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 15: Buy or Sell?

Due to a combination of harder throwers and hitters focusing on hitting for power, strikeouts are at an all-time high in baseball. For pitchers, this is an ideal trend. The ability to generate swings and misses is the most important skill to possess, as it's the only true way to control what happens after the […]

The Cut List (Week 15): Time to Let Go?

Welcome to Week 15 of the Cut List. Each week, I highlight players who you should consider letting go in your fantasy baseball leagues. Whether it's hyped prospects who hit a wall or veterans in extended slumps, sometimes it's best to know when to move on. This week I’m taking a look at Ian Kinsler, […]

Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 15

The trade market is about to go into a frenzy, both in reality and fantasy. The All-Star break offers a brief respite from the everday grind of the Major League schedule, but it is the perfect opportunity for fantasy owners to evaluate their rosters before making a final push for a championship run. Scouting players […]

Anatomy of the Two-Start Pitcher - Who to Pick

What do Chris Sale, Ian Kennedy, and Wilmer Font all have in common?  These three were pitchers scheduled to make two starts in Week 13 of the fantasy baseball season.  In fact, in Week 13, there were 38 pitchers set to make two-start weeks. Taking advantage of two-start pitchers is critical to maximizing week to […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 14: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 14 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season steamrolls into July, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment grows shorter with every […]

Champ or Chump: Adalberto Mondesi and Daniel Robertson

This column usually examines players in the midst of a breakout or slump and tries to determine if it represents a change in a player's baseline. This time, let's do something different. Let's look at two candidates to break out in the second half, before they become hot waiver wire commodities. Both of the names […]

Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 14: Buy or Sell?

Due to a combination of harder throwers and hitters focusing on hitting for power, strikeouts are at an all-time high in baseball. For pitchers, this is an ideal trend. The ability to generate swings and misses is the most important skill to possess, as it's the only true way to control what happens after the […]

Champ or Chump: Jon Gray and Luis Castillo

The early portion of any fantasy draft is filled with household names, but rarely gets truly exciting. Things don't get interesting until it's late enough to start calling out your sleepers, the guys that you just love but want to wait on because you can. Get those picks right, and you can enjoy watching your […]

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - xwOBA w/RISP (Week 14)

Statcast is a fun tool, at least if you love stats. If you didn't, you wouldn't be reading this, nor would you spend hours poring through the waiver wire or farm system reports in search of the next big thing to hit the majors. Only baseball brings that kind of unbridled passion for a past-time […]

The Cut List (Week 14): Time to Let Go?

Welcome to Week 14 of the Cut List. In this edition, I take a look at the recent performances of Joey Gallo, Tommy Pham, Travis Shaw, and Kyle Hendricks. Has Gallo underperformed expectations? Why is Pham hitting .246? Is Shaw not the bonafide slugger we thought he was? Is Hendricks viable in standard leagues? I […]

Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 14

We all suffer from recency bias, whether we realize it or not. It's easy in this day and age. Highlights and long-winded articles about who you should add, drop, or trade color our perception even more, but the numbers tell the true story. If any sport demands that we step back and take a macro view […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 13: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 13 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season steamrolls through June, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment grows shorter with every […]

Champ or Chump: Anthony DeSclafani and Aaron Hicks

It can be very tempting to search your waiver wire using each player's production to date. Most platforms allow you to sort available players based on your area(s) of need, seemingly encouraging you to do exactly this. It's fine in certain situations, but the underlying peripherals may tell a completely different story. For example, Anthony […]

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - Launch Angle

Launch angle is one of the most commonly referenced Statcast results these days. Some stadiums even display these statistics on each batted ball for the most casual fan to see during a ballgame. Taken in isolation, it doesn't tell the whole story of a batted ball's progress, but it can be a valuable tool to […]

Champ or Chump: Frankie Montas and Jonathan Loaisiga

If you're participating in the Rotoballer Challenge on the RT Sports platform, you've probably noticed that they have a list of the most acquired and dropped players for the week on every league's homepage. This past week, all 10 of the listed adds were starting pitchers. Everybody is apparently looking for an extra arm. With […]

The Cut List (Week 13): Time to Let Go?

Welcome to Week 13 of the Cut List. This week I take a look at Luke Weaver, Dallas Kuechel, Gregory Polanco, and Kyle Seager.  All 4 of these guys were drafted in the mid rounds and expected to have productive seasons, and they've all struggled to post even shallow team value as we approach the […]

Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 13

You can pore over stats for days, analyzing leaderboards and recent trends, but there is no substitute for watching the game itself. While you can't quantify spin rate or exit velocity with the naked eye, you get a true sense of how a player performs in key situations and the eyeball test sometimes proves truer […]

Two-Start Pitchers: What Are They Really Worth?

The idea of the “two-start pitcher” makes an appearance on most fantasy baseball podcasts, articles, sites, and newsletters as players are ranked and recommended to owners and teams.  Selecting pitchers based on match-ups, park factors, and opponents over the scoring week is a regular debate as owners plan their rosters. At the same time, other […]

Too Good To Be True - Starting Pitchers Due for Regression

This article aims to highlight starting pitchers who, based off of advanced statistics and predictive analytics, are primed to regress from their early-season fantasy value.  These pitchers currently boast sparkling, yet misleading ERAs with a few of them being aided by distorted Win/Loss records as well.  Cole Hamels, Julio Teheran, Junior Guerra, and Jhoulys Chacin […]

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 12: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 12 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season steamrolls through June, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment grows shorter with every […]

Champ or Chump: Kyle Gibson & Eduardo Escobar

Most fantasy owners are searching for the latest toy from the minor leagues on their waiver wires, but sometimes it's better to invest in a player with a more extensive track record. For example, fantasy baseball experts have been touting Kyle Gibson's potential for years, and he appears to have finally figured something out in […]

Champ or Chump: Daniel Palka & Dylan Covey

Pop quiz: Name three position players on the Chicago White Sox not named Jose Abreu. If you're an active fantasy owner, you can probably answer the question...with more difficulty than you care to admit. The same is true of the team's starting rotation. While the team as a whole isn't great, they still have a […]