Five Starting Pitcher Sleepers: National League

With Opening Day now close enough at hand that we can count the hours instead of the days, weeks, or months, the majority of fantasy baseball drafts have already taken place. Still drafting your teams? This column was meant to be ready a week earlier, but the great and unknowable forces of the universe conspired […]

Starting Pitcher Busts Due to Bounce Back In 2019

Every fantasy team needs starting pitching to compete, and this year’s crop offers an exciting mix. There is a clear top-three in a tier alone, with 12-15 more names claiming to be “fantasy aces.” Past the top few tiers, the pitching pool turns into a mixture of similar options, with small differences that could amount […]

Why You Should Target Injury-Prone Pitchers (Sometimes)

To some fantasy owners, there’s nothing more frustrating than the good but oft-injured starting pitcher. It makes owners just want to wash their hands entirely of pitchers like Rich Hill, James Paxton, and Stephen Strasburg in favor of sub-par innings-eaters and often pushes these fragile hurlers down draft boards. However, in certain league formats, targeting these […]

Where Are The Elite Starters? Looking for 2019’s deGrom

Researching elite starters has taught me a number of things about pitcher development. One of the most valuable has been the reminder that progress is never linear. Blake Snell and Justin Verlander present recent examples of that. Verlander has been in “obvious decline” on two occasions now, and both times he’s bounced back. 2016 Blake […]

Man vs. Machine: Nick Mariano and THE BAT's Undervalued and Overvalued Players

What do I, Nick Mariano, have in common with great minds such as Ken Jennings, Gary Kasparov, and Lee Sedot? Before, I wouldn’t have had an answer, but now I can say that we’ve all had the honor of challenging incredible Artificial Intelligence minds! Nevermind that those other three guys got crushed in their “Man […]

Young Hitters Set To Break Out in 2019

The hunt for the next breakout player is a never-ending quest for fantasy players. Identifying and acquiring even one of those players can pay huge dividends throughout the course of a single-season league and even more so in dynasty and keeper leagues. Unfortunately, this quest is shared by all fantasy players, so the window of […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast Expected Stats

Statcast is a valuable tool for fantasy analysis, and it can be easy to look at a stat called "Expected Batting Average" and blindly use it as your projection moving forward. Of course, proper use of these metrics is a little bit more nuanced than that. Our series on how to make sabermetrics more accessible […]

Sophomores Who Have Fallen Between the Cracks?

Baseball prospects and rookies get covered extensively around baseball, whether we’re referring to just fantasy baseball or the sport in general. What we don’t do overly well, is cover the players that fall between the cracks. What I mean by that is the players that play long enough to lose their rookie eligibility but not […]

Updated Third Base Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

We are continuing our updated analysis of points league tiered rankings with the hot corner. Third base has a treasure trove of fantasy stars in the making, if things break right of course. If you are relatively new to points leagues, you need to pay close attention to the difference between these rankings and that […]

Updated Outfield Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

As we enter the final stretch for drafting it is time to take a look at the latest iteration of points leagues rankings from our amazing hard working rankings staff. Starting with the outfield is always fun because there is so much depth at the position, especially if you only require three of them, as […]

March ADP Musings - Overvalued / Undervalued Shortstops

It's full steam ahead for fantasy baseball draft season before Opening Day hits. Depending on how many leagues you are in, you may already have a pretty good handle on what to expect as far as where and when certain players or position groups are going in drafts. On the other hand, maybe you're only […]

Five National League Outfield Sleepers for 2019

Sleepers, draft values, ADP bargains...whatever you want to call them, every fantasy owner is looking for them at this time of year. Identifying and acquiring players whose production will outstrip the investment required to land their services is the crux of the game. It's often what separates the winners and losers, and it's arguably the […]

Second Base Draft Sleepers for 2019

I've written before about my qualms with the term "sleeper." In an age where more information is available than ever before, the odds that you'll catch any of your rivals napping on a particular player are fairly low. Having said that, it's still useful to consider players whose average draft position comes in well below […]

H2H Points League Pitchers - Overvalued & Undervalued

If a rotisserie fantasy baseball league had a younger brother, it would be the points league. Not that it’s necessarily inferior, but the points format is trying to make a name for itself after the roto leagues have paved the way for decades. It’s a setup that’s gaining some popularity as it pits you against […]

Updated Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Roto (Mixed Leagues)

We're back up on the bump for this edition of our mixed rankings analysis, and not a moment too soon. The 2019 baseball season is already here! RotoBaller writers Nick Mariano, JB Branson, Bill Dubiel, Pierre Camus, and Scott Engel want to make sure you are prepared for last-minute drafts, so they have given their […]

Finding Under and Overvalued 1B Using Expected Draft Values

We've been rolling out our Expected Draft Values series, starting with Nick Mariano's look yesterday into some undervalued players, and we followed it up this morning with Nick's look at overvalued players.  This afternoon, we're going to give you some undervalued and overvalued players at first base. As a quick primer, Expected Draft Value is the […]

Updated Second Base Rankings - H2H Points Leagues

Continuing on our points league tiered rankings analysis we move over to the keystone position. Second base has the deepest talent pool that it's seen in recent years as it’s full of elite bats at the top and high-upside youngsters in the lower tiers. With two games in the regular season already in the books, […]

H2H Points Leagues First Basemen - Overvalued & Undervalued

For those fantasy enthusiasts that love the head-to-head competition and being able to trash talk their friends every week, the points league is the ideal setup. For the casual player in this format, it’s common to unknowingly draft using a standard top-300 list from a magazine or website. These lists base themselves on roto formats, […]

2019 Fantasy Baseball Busts - RotoBaller Staff Picks

As you get ready for last-minute drafts or reflect on recent results, we wanted to give our staff the chance to share their least favorite preseason ADP values. We recently polled some of our fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are likely to avoid in the early rounds of […]

Finding Under and Overvalued 2B Using Expected Draft Values

We've been rolling out our series on Expected Draft Values, an innovative new way to find under and overvalued players. Yesterday, we started with Nick Mariano's look into some undervalued players, we followed it up this morning with Nick's look at overvalued players and then Connelly Doan's look at some under and overvalued first basemen.  This evening, we're […]

Pitchers Who Changed Scenes - Preseason Risers and Fallers

Several impact hitters switched teams for 2019, but other than Patrick Corbin, not so many pitchers, especially as we await the fates of Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. And, if Milwaukee signs Kimbrel in light of Corey Knebel's elbow, it shouldn't be that different an experience for his shareholders than Boston was last season given […]

Rick Lucks' Bold Predictions for 2019

Our series of Bold Predictions continue with my piece. I've had success with this exercise in the past, but last year was easily my worst performance to date. That said, I am traditionally one of the boldest authors on this series, and I think you'll agree that the predictions below will at least let me […]

Intro: Finding Overvalued Players Using Expected Draft Values

Yesterday we introduced the concept of Expected Draft Values and looked at four undervalued players that are prime targets in 2019. Today, we'll look at four overvalued players. Stay tuned the next few days as we bring you a deeper look at undervalued and overvalued players from each position using Expected Draft Values. Generally, what […]

Infielders Who'll Continue to Break Out In 2019

2018 was a fantastic year for a number of MLB players. Breaking out and either surprising people or reaching your true potential must be a fantastic feeling for players who have put in years of work to get to where they are. Those breakout players are also a lot of fun for fantasy baseball owners. […]

After Hours with RotoBaller Radio: Starting Pitcher Preview Part 4

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and gets you warmed up for the MLB preseason. This radio show is sponsored by our good friends over at RT Sports. Be sure to check out their Best Ball leagues, drafting every day, and their awesome contest the RealTime Fantasy Sports Baseball Championship with a […]

Hitters Who Changed Scenes - Preseason Risers and Fallers

The constant and inevitable churn of players and teams continued this offseason, as it does being "constant" and all. A change of scenery having an effect in and of itself is a bit cliche and probably inaccurate, but changing parks and changing teammates will certainly have its effect on a player's stat line. One player […]

March ADP Musings - Overvalued / Undervalued Relief Pitchers

If you've played fantasy baseball long enough, you've heard some variation of the phrase "don't pay for saves" before. If you're new to the fantasy baseball community, you'll get used to it soon enough. The long-form version, for those of you who are indeed trying out fantasy baseball for the first time, is this: bullpen […]

H2H Points Leagues Outfielders - Overvalued & Undervalued

For those fantasy enthusiasts that love the head-to-head competition and being able to trash talk their friends every week, the points league is the ideal setup. For the casual player in this format, it’s common to unknowingly draft using a standard top-300 list from a magazine or website. These lists base themselves on roto formats, […]

Bill Dubiel's 10 Bold Predictions

Oh yeah. You knew @Roto_Dubs was closing this bad boy. After all that soft cheddar you gotta bring that Jordan Hicks FIRE in the ninth! I kid, my colleagues are MOSTLY terrific (*sideways glance at Kyle*). Love doing these every year, no matter how tragic the final results are. This series is a chance to take our […]