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

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 4

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. April is behind us, which officially means all numbers are real. Anyone on a hot... Read More

Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity Changes For Week 4

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. Statcast has a cool year-to-year change feature for a host of metrics, and this week... Read More

Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Average Exit Velocity for Week 4

We can finally start extrapolating something from one of the easiest Statcast metrics to decipher - exit velocity. This stat stabilizes after approximately 70 plate appearances or 45 batted-ball events. Last week, we looked at early leaders in maximum exit velocity because it doesn't take long to take something away from that metric. Keep in... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 4

When will the offense pick back up? At the moment, the league-wide OPS is just .675. Meanwhile, home runs have become much more scarce this season, leading to a lot of lower-scoring affairs. Whether it's the baseball, the effect of humidors being in every stadium, or hitters needing to get back up to speed, runs... Read More

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

It's about that time in the season when we start getting antsy about slow starters, or wondering if players off to hot starts on the fantasy baseball waiver wire might be for real. While it's still important to keep in mind that we're dealing with small sample sizes, there are some stats that have begun... Read More

Homer Run Risers and Fallers: Batted-Ball Profile Changes for Fantasy Baseball

We are closing in on the end of April, which means we have a pretty decent-sized data sample for hitters now. The league leaders will clear 100 plate appearances in the next week or so, which gives us a lot of good stuff to look into. A lot of times we find a breakout or... Read More

Mining the Minors for Hot Prospect Hitters and Call-Ups - Nolan Gorman, Triston Casas, Luis Garcia, 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

Early Pitching Outliers: Swinging-Strike Rate vs. Strikeout Rate

It is very early in the season, as the league leaders have made just four starts. Because of this, we have a lot of strangeness in the data that has been generated, especially with pitching, which is an inherently random exercise. One thing that can be a bit random over a small sample size is... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets - Buy/Sell For Week 3

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

Bullpen Report: Late-Inning Changes and Long Relievers to Stream

The only constant in life is change. Those are wise words by a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus. What not enough people realize is, that quote was said about bullpen usage and trying to figure them out for fantasy purposes. Ok, maybe it wasn’t, but it should be given all the changes that occur in major... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 3

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. With May fast approaching we're starting to get settled into the season, and while... Read More

Early-Season Small Sample Sizes And Slow Starters: Fantasy Baseball Insider Report

Welcome back to our annual Fantasy Baseball Insider series on RotoBaller.com, where we take you inside Major League Baseball clubhouses, press boxes, and front offices for exclusive insights that provide a completely unique edge on the competition. We give you an all-access pass to information and takes that simply won’t be found anywhere else, along... Read More

Hitter Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Hard-Hit Rate for Week 3

Admittedly, it's still early for many sabermetrics to be considered descriptive but fantasy managers can't wait until midseason to start digging for hidden gems. You could always say that taking anything away from a two-week sample size is an overreaction. The purpose here is not to proclaim these players as the hard-hit kings or absolute... Read More

Pitcher Advanced Metrics Studs and Duds - Swinging-Strike Rate For Week 3

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. We still have small sample sizes because the season is early, but a metric that... Read More

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 3

We may be early into the MLB season, but that doesn't make each day not equally as important as the stretch run for fantasy baseball. Do I recommend checking your standings everyday for updates if you're in a roto league? No, although I must concede that I fall into this trap. Still, every extra boost... Read More

Are These Early Slumps Worth Worrying About? Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts, Cedric Mullins and more

We are less than two weeks into the season, and full panic mode is setting in for many fantasy players. It should not, but it is. Some of our draft picks perform poorly, and we always wonder what to do. It is even worse when watching some of our top draft picks struggle. So, what... Read More

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

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. Much like a toy that's the exact same as a toy we already have makes us forget the older toy. So instead of just celebrating that some... Read More