Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - xSLG Analysis for Week 12

Slugging is a fairly simple metric by baseball standards but once Statcast gets into the mix, it's a bit more complicated. According to MLB.com, "Expected Slugging Percentage (xSLG) is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed." Base hits are still weighted with home runs being four times... Read More

Catcher's Corner Exam Room: Jose Urquidy

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Jose Urquidy, analyzing the Houston Astros starting pitcher and explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be buying in but maybe lowering their pre-season expectations. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, Saturdays... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 10

Welcome to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we look at pitchers who turned in surprisingly good starts and try to determine whether they are the real deal. The youngsters keep on pitching well, and this week we're looking at a trio of 24-year-olds who came up big in their outings over the... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - Changeup Profiles for Week 11

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week I will select an advanced stat, choose two top performers and two under-performers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. Last week I started taking a look into pitchers' relative success of certain pitches using Statcast's pitch movement... Read More

Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Barrel Rate Analysis for Week 11

Believe it or not, this will be our first foray into barrels this season. Certain statistics take longer to become significant, so it made sense to accumulate more data before digging into barrels. Those familiar with this series already know that the obvious names like Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Nelson Cruz won't be... Read More

Which Pitchers With New Pitch Usage Should We Care About? Part Seven

One of the things we are constantly reading about during the early stages of the baseball season is pitchers adding new pitches or making major changes to their pitch usage. However, as the season goes on, those changes can be abandoned and pitchers go back to what they do/know best. So it's important to continue... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts from Week 9

It was a week of young guns in the fantasy baseball world as we saw excellent outings from tons of young, exciting pitchers around the league. Alek Manoah has received his fair share of coverage, and deservedly so, but we're going to take things in another direction in this piece and look at some under-the-radar... Read More

Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - xBA Analysis for Week 10

Death, taxes, regression. These are inevitable. Eschewing the first two topics, fantasy baseball managers may be interested in identifying batters who are experiencing regerssion, both positive and negative. Once summer hits, we have enough data that season-long stats can be deceptive on the surface. That said, let's dive back into expected statistics with a look... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - Curveball Profiles for Week 10

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week I will select an advanced stat, choose two top performers and two under-performers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. As I mentioned last week, I am going to start taking a look into pitchers' relative success of... Read More

Pitch Mix Exam Room: Luis Garcia

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Luis Garcia, analyzing the Houston Astros starting pitcher and explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be buying in despite the Astros rotation getting healthy. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, Saturdays... Read More

Hitters That Aren't Missing Their Pitches

One thing that the analytical world of fantasy baseball doesn't talk much about is the quality of pitches seen by hitters. We have numbers to quantify almost everything in the game, but when we are viewing those numbers we somewhat assume that hitters have all seen the same set of pitches. Everybody knows this isn't... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 8

As we approach Memorial Day, season-long numbers are starting to feel a lot more real. That makes it even more important to analyze surprising starts from pitchers who may not have been caught up in the whirlwind of April breakouts. This week we're taking a trip across the junior circuit, looking at a pitcher from... Read More

Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Sweet Spot Analysis for Week 9

Barrel rate is one of the best measures of a hitter's power. In order to earn a barrel, a player needs to have enough exit velocity, which we measured last week, and the proper launch angle. Specifically, a ball can travel anywhere between 8-50 degrees depending on how high an exit velocity was produced. Although... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - Swinging-Strike Rate Analysis for Week 9

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week I will select an advanced stat, choose two top performers and two under-performers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. Some metrics may seem simpler than others, but that does not mean that they are less informative. One... Read More

The Best Pitches of 2021 By The Numbers

There is so much to look at when evaluating pitchers in 2021. The amount of data we have is incredible. At the time of this writing, there had been 186,220 pitches thrown this season. I wanted to examine the individual pitch types and see which pitchers have been most effective with each. I am mostly focusing... Read More

Barrel-Aged: Hitters With Biggest Barrel Gains

Lately, I've been focusing a lot on barrels when trying to evaluate which hitters are off to the most note-worthy starts. I recently covered Blast Rate, which is a sub-section of barrels that aims to tell us who is making the "best" good contact. Today, we'll focus on who has shown the best growth in... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 7

It was another exciting week in major league baseball, which brings an overabundance of surprising starts around the league. This week we're looking at a pair of veterans who were considered top-30 starting pitchers in their heyday, but injuries have resulted in quite a fall from grace. We're also looking at an emerging left-hander who's... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - HR/FB% Analysis for Week 8

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week I will select an advanced stat, choose two top performers and two under-performers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. The past several weeks I have looked at metrics that are more predictive. This week I will focus on... Read More

Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - Exit Velocity Analysis for Week 8

Exit velocity is all the rage these days, but how meaningful is it really? It depends. A high exit velocity is worthless if it's smashed into the ground right at a defender. Increasing the miles per hour rate on line drives and fly balls typically result in better outcomes and are more predictive of power.... Read More

Pitch Mix Exam Room: Logan Gilbert

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Logan Gilbert, analyzing the Seattle Mariners starting pitcher's debut and explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be buying in but expecting bumps along the way. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET,... Read More

Pitch Mix Exam Room: Tyler Anderson

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Tyler Anderson, analyzing the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher and his new pitch mix, explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be buying in. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, Saturdays from 8-10... Read More

Blast Off: Which Batters Are Hitting the Most Impactful Barrels?

Last week I read a great article by John LaRue breaking down Alex Chamberlain's offensive stat known as Blast Rate. As John pointed out, Alex took the barrel stat we know and love and split it into a subset known as "Weak Barrels" and "Blasts." This may seem like a knit-picky exercise to some, but... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 6

April hot streaks are either fading or becoming more real, so this week we're looking at pitchers who've had more than one surprising start and a surprising first six weeks of the season. This week's trio capped off their hot starts with some of the best outings of their season, if not their career, this... Read More

Statcast Hitter Studs and Duds - xwOBA Analysis for Week 7

With many hitters finally passing the 100-plate appearance threshold for 2021, we can begin to dig into expected statistics to see who is underperforming or overachieving. A good place to start is xwOBA, or expected weighted on-base average. For those unfamiliar with the term, BaseballSavant describes it thusly: "xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds - xSLG Analysis for Week 7

Welcome back to RotoBaller’s Statcast pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week I will select an advanced stat, choose two top performers and two under-performers, and analyze what those stats could mean for future fantasy output. This week I will dive into a metric that utilizes exit velocity and launch angle (two metrics we have... Read More

Early Plate Discipline Standouts

In 2019, I introduced a new (yet simple) statistical metric which focuses on the core ingredients of plate discipline. The Weighted Plate Discipline Index (wPDI) looks at the following basic binary events: Was the ball thrown in the zone? Was the ball swung on? Did the batter make contact with the ball? Weighted Plate Discipline... Read More

Return to Form: Veteran Pitchers to Believe In

We're always told that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes I think we're selling old dogs short. With increased age brings wisdom and the know-how to attack life's problems in new ways. Nowhere is that likely more the case than with MLB pitchers. Often young pitchers are prone to relying simply... Read More

Which Pitchers With New Pitch Usage Should We Care About? Part Six

Throughout all Spring Training, we hear about pitching adding new pitches, or making major changes to their pitch usage. We even get to see those new pitches in action and dream about their potential impact. However, when the regular season starts, those changes can be abandoned and pitchers go back to what they do/know best. So... Read More

Pitch Mix Exam Room: Daniel Lynch

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller does a deep dive on Daniel Lynch, analyzing the Kansas City Royals starting pitcher and his first major league start, explaining why fantasy baseball managers should be buying in. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - every weekday morning between 6-7 AM ET, Saturdays... Read More