Hitter Advanced Metrics Risers and Fallers - xBA for Week 7

Last week, we dove into xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average) to see who is really maximizing their time at the plate. It's time we look at xBA (expected batting average) but with a twist. Some players are experiencing better batted-ball fortunes than others and it's bound to turn around at some point. Rather than examining... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 7

Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. We're about a quarter of the way through the fantasy season, which means standings are... Read More

Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - SIERA For Week 7

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. With about a month and a half of data, I think it's time to take... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 7

Major League Baseball has to be the only sport where the ball not only gets altered constantly, but also with zero transparency. We saw offense start to pick up last week, but, then again, that also coincided with a run of not as great pitching talent, so it is hard to say with conviction that... Read More

Eric Lauer: Hunting For Fantasy Breakouts - Catcher's Corner Pitch Mix Exam Room

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Eric Lauer, analyzing the Milwaukee starting pitcher and explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be cautious about his recent run of success. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, Saturdays from 3-5 PM, and... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report - Prospect Risers and Fallers for Week 7

Welcome to RotoBaller’s Recently Promoted Prospects series for fantasy baseball! Here I discuss some recently-promoted top 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. In the past two weeks, we have seen a few more high-impact rookies make... Read More

Starting Pitchers Breaking Out for Fantasy Baseball: Part II - The New Strikeout Kings

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about pitchers who were striking out a lot of hitters and focused in particular on some pitchers who had seen major increases in their strikeout rates when compared to their 2021 seasons. That article can be found here and I got a lot of great feedback on it,... Read More

Early Plate Discipline Standouts for 2022

In 2019, I introduced a new (yet simple) index statistic for pitchers – mPDI, which was inspired by a famous quote by Hall of Fame pitcher, Greg Maddux: “The key to pitching is to have the ability to throw a strike when they’re taking and throw a ball when the hitter is swinging.” Maddux’s simplistic... Read More

Florio's Bullpen Report: Grab Rowan Wick, Joe Mantiply and Jason Adam

As some bullpens settle in and have set guys in set roles, others are as wild as ever before. Not only are we seeing more committees than ever when it comes to save situations, but over a month into the season we are starting to deal with injuries piling up and effecting bullpens. Plus, teams... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 6

Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. It was another fun week of baseball as we saw two no-hitters from top prospects,... Read More

Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - xwOBA Leaders for Week 6

We're far enough into the season that we can dive into expected stats with some sense of reliability. Let's begin with everyone's favorite - xwOBA! Its given name is expected weighted on-base average and what it represents is the quality of each at-bat by a hitter. Statcast uses a combination of exit velocity, launch angle,... Read More

Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - BABIP For Week 6

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. Over the last two weeks, I took a look at different components of pitchers' batted-ball... Read More

Mining the Minors for Hot Prospect Pitchers - Max Meyer, Grayson Rodriguez, Ryan Pepiot and more

If you've played even one year of fantasy baseball, you know that predicting minor league call-ups can be a frustrating endeavor. We have to weigh not only the talent of the player and the potential lineup opening in his major league organization, but also the relative competitiveness of that organization and any financial or service... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 6

We are now a month in the baseball season, yet it still feels like we have many more questions than answers. Will teams like the Red Sox, White Sox, Braves, and Phillies start performing up to par? When will struggling stars get back on a groove? What is the baseball going to look like in... Read More

Starting Pitcher Standouts: MLB's Best Pitch Arsenals

After watching Shane McClanahan just absolutely dominate with all four of his pitches on Wednesday night, I got to thinking. I wanted to take a look at the full-pitch arsenals that the leagues' starting pitchers are throwing and try to identify the players that are doing the most to dominate hitters with multiple offerings. It's... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 5

Making the right trades can be crucial to championship success in fantasy baseball, almost as much as the draft, if not more. While most trades can have a significant impact on your fantasy team, it’s the deals where you acquire undervalued players and then see their production improve that can really tip the scales in... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report - Prospect Risers and Fallers for Week 5

Welcome to RotoBaller’s Recently Promoted Prospects series for fantasy baseball! Here I discuss some recently-promoted top 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. In the past two weeks, we have seen a few more high-impact rookies... Read More

Florio's Bullpen Report: Stick With Rafael Montero and Jhoan Duran

I usually start this article by explaining just how volatile bullpens can be. Sometimes a change can happen with no indication prior, but more often than not, if you keep a close eye on bullpens you can see the tide start to turn. There is always a benefit to keeping a close eye on bullpens... Read More

Pitchers With New Pitches - Should We Care For Fantasy Baseball? Part Three

Welcome to another episode in this FSWA-award-winning series Pitchers with New Pitches. We take the simple premise that not every new pitch should be greeted with praise. The new pitch, like the shiny new toy, might be exciting on its own, but it also needs to be a complement to what a pitcher already has.... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 5

Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. This week we're looking at two former first round right-handers from the AL West, breaking... Read More

Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Swing & Take Leaders for Week 5

Admittedly, it's as exciting to measure 'swing and take' metrics as it would be to look at something like Barrels. One of them often results in a long fly ball that leaves the ballpark and puts runs on the scoreboard. The other can be a player staring at the umpire after watching a pitch hit... Read More

Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Launch Angle For Week 5

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I will select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. Last week I took a look at exit velocity, and this week I will analyze... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 5

As I sit down to write this article, only one thought comes to mind: Shohei Ohtani remains an absolute marvel. Not only did he pitch seven scoreless innings with no walks, 11strikeouts, and 29 whiffs, but he also led off for a team that scored eight runs, having the highest exit velocity for the game... Read More

Starting Pitchers Breaking Out for Fantasy Baseball - The New Strikeout Kings

We are nearly one month into the season and most starting pitchers have three or four starts under their belt. Some big names have dominated out of the gates, while others have faltered. And some lesser-known pitchers have made a splash by piling up some big strikeout totals. I do daily strikeout projections for DFS... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 4

Making the right trades can be crucial to championship success in fantasy baseball, almost as much as the draft, if not more. While most trades can have a significant impact on your fantasy team, it’s the deals where you acquire undervalued players and then see their production improve that can really tip the scales in... Read More

Changes to the Baseball in 2022 (And What To Do About It In Fantasy)

Offensive production has been down quite a bit early on in the season, and there has been plenty of grumbling about the state of the baseball, including from some Major League players. At the time of this writing, the league triple-slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG) sits at .232/.306/.370 and we have seen a significant reduction in homers... Read More

Finding Breakout Hitters for Fantasy Baseball: Chase Rate Early-Season Metrics

In an earlier article on Blast Rate, I mentioned that this was the time of year that some hitting metrics start to stabilize. While many of us want to focus on exit velocity and hard-hit rate because they lead to more exciting outcomes, I think focusing on plate discipline metrics can be just as important.... Read More

Florio's Bullpen Report: Add Ryan Helsley and Michael King While You Can

The popular fantasy baseball strategies this draft season were to load up on offensive players and those elite relievers who can safely get all the save chances. So far in the first month, offense is historically down and we have seen more bullpens change than stay the same. This is not me knocking the strategies,... Read More

Early-Season Minor League Hitter Breakouts - Fantasy Baseball Prospect Risers

With almost one month of minor league games complete, many prospects have taken steps forward. This article highlights a small group of prospects likely to be big risers on midseason top 100 lists. The following group shares important traits making their breakouts likely to stick and rocket them up midseason top 100 lists throughout the... Read More