Later-Round Outfielders - Targets and Avoids in 2021

Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have playing time concerns. […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Rowdy Tellez

Rowdy Tellez is entering his age-26 season and looks primed for a breakout year. This is an intriguing hitter with tantalizing power and impressive Statcast metrics. He hits in a stacked lineup and favorable ballpark, but fantasy baseball players have shied away because of playing time concerns. In this article, we'll take a look at […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Ryan Yarbrough

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller analyzes Ryan Yarbrough as a 2021 fantasy baseball sleeper and an undervalued draft pick. He breaks down Yarbrough's pitches, improvements from 2020, and potential changes that make him a sneaky mid-round starting pitcher breakout candidate. Fantasy players should consider drafting Yarbrough for their drafts this MLB Season. Be sure to also tune […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Justus Sheffield

In 2020, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Justus Sheffield had his most sustained success as a big-league pitcher to date. He made 10 starts and posted a 3.58 ERA and 1.30 WHIP while averaging 7.8 K/9. It was far from the breakout season we have been hoping for from Sheffield. However, it was a big step in […]

Are We Overlooking Ha Seong Kim?

Earlier this year I, like most of us, was quarantined in my home with limited ability to go outside and no sports on television. I had already binged Tiger King, so I was looking for a new obsession; then ESPN started broadcasting KBO games. Hungry for sports, I started recording the games and writing DFS […]

Nick Mariano's 2021 Late-Round Fliers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Howdy, RotoBallers! I hope you're ready to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. We’re here to dig a little deeper into the draft room and look for players that would be wise to take a flier on in the late rounds. 2021 might […]

Nick Mariano's 2021 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Sleeper has started to lose its meaning in fantasy sports, becoming an SEO must for articles despite no real consensus on what it means. So let's get my definition out of the way first. Sleepers are not necessarily meant to be names that no one […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Leody Taveras

Leody Taveras received a call-up to the Texas Rangers last year despite never playing Triple-A and with only 65 games at Double-A under his belt. Given the Rangers' lack of outfield depth, it might not have come as a complete shock as Taveras entered 2020 as the Rangers no.1 outfield prospect. Taveras played in 33 games […]

Harold Ramirez (OF, CLE) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Cleveland Indians finished the shortened 2020 season 10 games above .500 and earned a Wild Card spot out of the A.L. Central. They had this success despite having one of the worst-performing outfields in all of baseball. In 2021, they should be much better in the outfield with a hopeful rebound from Oscar Mercado […]

Willi Castro (SS, DET) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Detroit Tigers currently have five players ranked amongst the top-25 of MLB.com’s prospect rankings. No other team has more than two. However, the most intriguing fantasy sleeper for 2021 amidst Detroit’s roster might be someone who wasn’t included on that list, 23-year-old Willi Castro. He’s no longer prospect-eligible with 229 MLB at-bats under his […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Tyler Mahle

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller analyzes Tyler Mahle as a 2021 fantasy baseball sleeper and undervalued draft pick. He breaks down Mahle's pitches, improvements from 2020, and other factors that could make him a sneaky mid-round starting pitcher breakout candidate. Fantasy players should consider drafting Mahle for their drafts this MLB Season. Be sure to also tune […]

Breakout Hitters and Late-Round Draft Targets: WPC+

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut identify hitters who could break out in 2021. Target these batters late in fantasy baseball drafts! Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius […]

Breakout Pitchers and Late-Round Draft Targets: WPC+

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut identify pitchers who could break out in 2021. Target these pitchers late in fantasy baseball drafts! Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius […]

Emmanuel Clase (RP, CLE) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Cleveland Indians finished the shortened 2020 season 10 games above .500 and earned a Wild Card spot out of the A.L. Central. They had this success despite key players like Francisco Lindor and Oscar Mercado not performing up to expectations. They also had success despite losing one of their key bullpen arms in Emmanuel […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Chris Martin

Eric Samulski of RotoBaller analyzes Chris Martin as a 2021 fantasy baseball sleeper and undervalued draft pick. He breaks Martin's pitches, improvements from 2020, and other factors that could make him a sneaky late-round relief pitcher breakout candidate. Fantasy players should consider drafting Martin for their drafts this MLB Season. Be sure to also tune […]

Deeper League Sleepers at Third Base

Fantasy managers are always on the lookout for the sleeper that can turn into a breakout performer. I've already reviewed the best deep sleepers at second base, so now let's turn to third base. When defining a breakout, I look at it as a player that can take a step forward to a level they […]

Drew Smyly (SP, ATL) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Finding strong starting pitching that does not have a hefty price tag can be really tough. A lot of leagues are won by the team that had the most success with their later-round starting pitcher selections. Blake Snell, Shane Bieber, and Dinelson Lamet are three names of the last handful of years that went in […]

Adbert Alzolay (SP, CHC) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Chicago Cubs suddenly have some openings in their rotation after jettisoning Yu Darvish in the offseason to, uh, not save money at all because that's totally not why they did it. Although we can agree that the additions of Zach Davies and Trevor Williams alongside Kyle Hendricks and Alec Mills make this staff a […]

Zach Eflin (SP, PHI) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Welcome back to RotoBaller's 2021 draft sleepers series. Here we'll take a look at one of my favorite breakout picks, Phillies starter Zach Eflin. Eflin elevated his game to new heights last year. The right-hander had his best season in the majors posting a 3.97 ERA, 3.50 SIERA, 1.27 WHIP, and a 10.2 SwStr% in […]

Richard Rodriguez (RP, PIT) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Saves are a scarce commodity in today's game, as more and more teams are relying on multiple relievers to handle ninth-inning duties. In last year's abbreviated season, just 10 pitchers reached double digits in the category. Going a little further down the list, only 18 closed out seven or more games, and that includes guys […]

Edwin Rios (1B/3B, LAD) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

If there is one thing the league does not want to see, it's the Dodgers develop another breakout power hitter, but it sure is looking like that's a very real possibility with Edwin Rios. He did more than enough in his 83 plate appearances last year to draw our attention, so let's take a deep […]

Bobby Dalbec (1B, BOS) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

It is safe to say Bobby Dalbec surprised us all as he came up and smacked eight home runs in just 23 games. A prospect known for his power, the production isn't as much as a surprise as how quickly it clicked for him. But be mindful, this came with a 42.4% strikeout rate and […]

Josh Naylor (OF, CLE) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

People often forget that Josh Naylor was a first-round pick. He hasn't even been bad in the minors. His plate discipline has been a strength all throughout. He only struck out over 16.8% once as a minor leaguer and that was in his first run at Double-A. He posted a 20.6% strikeout rate that season. […]

Austin Hays (OF, BAL) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Austin Hays continues to bait me in as he shows flashes of upside. The appeal for Hays is the power potential, mixed with a little bit of speed. He had stolen 11 bases as recently as 2019 when combining his three stops. In 2020, he was in the 76th percentile for sprint speed and had […]

2020 Schedule Outliers - AL East Starting Pitchers

One of the major changes MLB teams faced during the 2020 season was the lack of a diverse set of competition. Instead of playing around 20 other teams as they would in a normal season, teams played only nine different opponents in 2020. Additionally, two-thirds of each team’s games came against opponents within their own […]

Three Rookie Sleepers that Debuted in Late 2020

For a wide variety of reasons, 2020 was an unusual season for baseball. But out of these unusual situations came some opportunities for top-tier prospects to get a shot at the big leagues. Now prospects that made a splash in their debuts like Ke'Bryan Hayes or Tanner Houck will be garnering the interest of many […]

Valuable Long Relievers of 2020 and the Lingering Impact (Part 2)

In part one, we examined the bullpens in Toronto and Cincinnati. The circumstantial insanity of the 2020 MLB season necessitated some adjustments in strategy, both for big-league managers and fantasy baseball GMs. One of these adjustments, prompted by frequent doubleheaders and the three-batter minimum rule, was the greater use of long-relievers and a generally reduced […]

Three Hitters Set To Break Out Later Than Expected

Finding breakout hitters can be a difference-maker for fantasy teams, especially when those hitters have had limited success at the major league level and are older than when players typically have their best seasons. Whether it be through added playing time, skill improvements, or some combination of the two, post-prime breakouts can be excellent draft […]

Valuable Long Relievers of 2020 and the Lingering Impact (Part 1)

The circumstantial insanity of the 2020 MLB season necessitated some adjustments in strategy, both for big-league managers and fantasy baseball GMs. One of these adjustments, prompted by frequent doubleheaders and the three-batter minimum rule, was the greater use of long-relievers and a generally reduced workload for rotation pitchers. That makes sense from the perspective of […]