Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - June FB/LD Exit Velocity (Week 13)

Welcome back to RotoBaller's series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and enlighten ourselves on the information and tools at our disposal. We touched on the topic of Exit Velocity (EV) earlier this season, using the... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 13)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. There weren't many hot young prospects to look at this week, at least none that hadn't already been covered in previous iterations... Read More

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - Launch Angle

Launch angle is one of the most commonly referenced Statcast results these days. Some stadiums even display these statistics on each batted ball for the most casual fan to see during a ballgame. Taken in isolation, it doesn't tell the whole story of a batted ball's progress, but it can be a valuable tool to... Read More

AL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 13

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to... Read More

Hitter Streamers (Week 13) - Head-to-Head Leagues

Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 13, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week.  If someone jumps... Read More

Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 13

You can pore over stats for days, analyzing leaderboards and recent trends, but there is no substitute for watching the game itself. While you can't quantify spin rate or exit velocity with the naked eye, you get a true sense of how a player performs in key situations and the eyeball test sometimes proves truer... Read More

Two-Start Pitchers: What Are They Really Worth?

The idea of the “two-start pitcher” makes an appearance on most fantasy baseball podcasts, articles, sites, and newsletters as players are ranked and recommended to owners and teams.  Selecting pitchers based on match-ups, park factors, and opponents over the scoring week is a regular debate as owners plan their rosters. At the same time, other... Read More

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 12: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 12 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season steamrolls through June, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment grows shorter with every... Read More

Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 12: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline. Contact rate can foretell a player's batting average... Read More

2018 Prospects: Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 12)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. The Juan Soto hype train has seemed to gone off the rails... Read More

NL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 12

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - Fastball Quality (Week 12)

Welcome back to RotoBaller's series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and enlighten ourselves on the information and tools at our disposal. Chicks dig the fastball. At least that's how this pitching-friendly column remembers the classic... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 12)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we saw the big league debut of Jonathan Loaisiga, the first career win for Shane Bieber, and Wade LeBlanc's best... Read More

Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 12: Buy or Sell?

Due to a combination of harder throwers and hitters focusing on hitting for power, strikeouts are at an all-time high in baseball. For pitchers, this is an ideal trend. The ability to generate swings and misses is the most important skill to possess, as it's the only true way to control what happens after the... Read More

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - xSLG

We're all familiar with slugging percentage and how it values extra base hits over singles. Expected slugging percentage is a newer stat that attempts to identify a player's skill more so than regular slugging percentage, as xSLG removes defense from the equation. Since batters have control over their exit velocity and launch angle, but not... Read More

AL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 12

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to... Read More

Hitter Streamers (Week 12) - Head-to-Head Leagues

Welcome back to my hitting streamers column for Week 12, taking a look at hitters to add or stream off the waiver wire for this week's scheduled games. To keep things simple, I pick from players who are 50% owned or less and who play at least seven games in the week.  If someone jumps... Read More

Catching Heat - What To Do With Fantasy Catchers

To be blunt, catchers in fantasy baseball have been a huge disappointment this year.  The lack of production from the position is leaving massive holes in some lineups and leaving owners scrambling to make up the difference. At the same time, there is not much owners can do when the position as a whole is... Read More

Buy or Sell - Undervalued and Overvalued Players for Week 12

Injuries suck. We've always known this, but the move to a 10-day disabled list last year along with numerous injuries to high-profile players this year have slapped fantasy owners in the face with the hard, cold hand of reality. Injuries can cause huge shifts in value for fantasy players, so it's always wise to assess... Read More

Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - Full Count Inefficiency (Week 11)

Welcome back to RotoBaller's series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and enlighten ourselves on the information and tools at our disposal. As a pro-pitcher fantasy enthusiast and dedicated streamer, I regularly tune into starts hoping... Read More

Power Risers/Fallers for Week 11: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Week 11 of the 2018 MLB season and a new week of our investigation into the steepest power trenders in baseball, whether those trends are positive or negative. As the season steamrolls through June, the window of opportunity to snag a surging slugger or to deal a down-and-out disappointment grows shorter with every... Read More

Making Moves: Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice for Week 11

We are halfway through June and the time to be making moves to improve your fantasy team is now. Today we are going to dig into the trade values of a couple of pitchers off to terrific starts that carry red flags: Patrick Corbin and Sean Doolittle. I will also answer a few "Rapid Fire"... Read More

Contact Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 11: Buy or Sell?

Welcome to Contact Rate Risers and Fallers! Our premium tools allow us to get out ahead of trends in player performance, including contact rate. Every Wednesday, we'll be looking at some players that have seen an increase in contact rate and some that have seen it decline. Contact rate can foretell a player's batting average... Read More

2018 Prospects: Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 11)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. I don’t know about you all, but it was a rough weekend.... Read More

NL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 11

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to... Read More

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 11)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we're looking at Danny Duffy's best start of the season, Clay Buchholz's return to relevance, and sinkerball specialist Paul Blackburn's... Read More

AL-Only Waiver Wire Team of the Week: MLB Week 11

Every week in baseball, a significant player will hit the disabled list, slip into a slump, or get traded out of a good spot. How fantasy owners adapt to these situations can make or break the season as a whole. One lousy add might not hurt the long-term standing of a team, but failing to... Read More

Strikeout Rate Risers and Fallers for Week 11: Buy or Sell?

Due to a combination of harder throwers and hitters focusing on hitting for power, strikeouts are at an all-time high in baseball. For pitchers, this is an ideal trend. The ability to generate swings and misses is the most important skill to possess, as it's the only true way to control what happens after the... Read More

Statcast Hitter Risers/Fallers - Barrels

It's time to revisit the most telling of Statcast numbers - Barrels. You may recall that last time we identified Evan Gattis and Andrew Benintendi as potential buy-low candidates because their power was due to arrive while warning you away from short-term power surgers like Pedro Alvarez and Daniel Palka. Let's see how things have... Read More