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 […]

First Base Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The first base position has some high-end options such as Freddie Freeman, Cody Bellinger, and Jose Abreu. All are typically going in the top 40 of most mixed-league drafts. But getting one of the top guys isn't imperative. There are plenty of other viable alternatives available later in drafts. Whether it is power, batting average, or […]

Hitter Targets Under $5 - Salary Cap League Values

It's a cliché to say that those managers who finally dip their toe into salary cap leagues never go back to snake drafts. Snake drafts have their own charm. There is simply more going on, and thus, more fun to have when participating in a salary cap draft. There become no bounds on how one […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

AL Outfielders Ready to Break Out in 2021

In previous seasons, outfielder has been one of the deepest positions to find top-end talent as well as deeper talent. In 2021, this does not appear to be the case as there are so many question marks and risks in the current top 50 based on ADP and throughout the entirety of drafts. It becomes […]

2021 Relievers To Target For Holds

As evidenced by the success of the 2015 Kansas City Royals and 2020 Tampa Bay Rays, we have seen a much greater focus placed on strengthening middle-relief in MLB bullpens over the past decade. Additionally, in recent seasons we have seen a shift toward teams utilizing their best reliever in the most crucial innings and […]

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 […]

Four Players Set to Break Out at Third Base

I previously identified breakout candidates at second base, so now it's time to move on to the hot corner. When defining a breakout, I look at it as a player that can take a step forward to a level they never reached before. This doesn't mean it has to be a "sleeper" or someone who […]

Deeper Draft Sleepers - First Base

Don't look now, but baseball season is on the horizon. Actually, go ahead and look as it is beautiful to see the calendar shrink as each day brings us closer to the crack of the bat and, hopefully, the roar of the crowd as America (and Toronto!) creeps back towards normalcy. It's never a bad idea […]

Five Players Set to Break Out at Second Base

When defining a breakout, I look at it as players that can take a step forward to a level they never reached before. This leaves most of the top targets at the position unavailable for this discussion. Today, we bring you five players at the second base position that can take that next step and […]

Diamonds in the Pen - Deep Reliever Draft Targets

When it comes to building a pitching staff in fantasy, most managers focus solely on starting pitchers and closers. And that makes sense. In standard scoring, those pitchers are the ones who are going to make the greatest contributions to wins, strikeouts and saves. A guy that comes in and tosses a scoreless frame in […]

Power Sleepers - Noteworthy 2020 Barrel Leaders

As we've continued to progress in the MLB offseason, I've been looking at barrel rates from 2020 in the hopes of finding players whose breakouts during the shortened season were real or those who may still have breakouts looming. As I've mentioned previously, I'm a firm believer that finding the barrel regularly is an incredibly […]

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 […]

Catcher Draft Targets for All Leagues

Enough with the catcher slander! As fantasy baseball drafts heat up, all I keep reading about is how we're "forced" to draft catchers and how they can tank your roster. Catchers are people too! I could use thousands of words writing about the value of catchers and how the grind of their defensive job and […]

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 […]

Deeper League Sleepers at Second Base

When focusing on sleepers for deeper leagues, playing time really matters the most. You also might want to pair playing time with certain stats as you get deeper into the player pool. Below are five names that offer secure playing time and many come with a stat that helps them stand out from others at […]

Yimi Garcia (RP, MIA) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

2020 was an odd season for all of Major League Baseball but the Miami Marlins’ odyssey stands out as one of the most bizarre. Miami played their first series of the season before a full-blown COVID-19 outbreak postponed their next eight games. They ended up putting 17 players on the injured list and resumed play […]

Keegan Akin (SP, BAL) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Keegan Akin made his MLB debut for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2020 season and the former second-round draft pick didn't disgrace himself. Akin ended the season with a 4.56 ERA and 1.44 WHIP from his eight appearances (six starts) as well as striking out 35 batters in 25.2 IP. Akin is expected to start the […]

Jared Walsh (1B, LAA) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Jared Walsh burst onto the Minor League scene in 2019 after hitting 36 homers in 98 games and received a call up to the Angels. Prior to that, Walsh had 49 homers in 361 Minor League games so his power outburst came as a surprise. Walsh didn't have a great start to his MLB career […]

David Fletcher (2B/SS/3B, LAA) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

Analyzing David Fletcher is an exercise in extremes. No qualified batter swung-and-missed less frequently than Fletcher did in 2020, and no qualified batter posted a lower hard-hit rate than Fletcher’s 17.8% mark. In an era of hitters who tend to be more power-oriented, Fletcher stands out as a contact-focused hitter with unremarkable power. Fletcher’s ability […]

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 […]

Best-Ball Late-Round Targets - Outfield

With best-ball drafts gaining steam, we are pumping out more best-ball content at RotoBaller. I wrote the Best-Ball Targets and Best-Ball Fades for the premium draft guide and will now produce a three-part series on late-round targets. Part one focused on late-round infield targets, and now we head to the outfield for some late-round targets.  […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/18) - Montgomery, Alcantara Surging

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 into our third week of spring training games and […]