Chris Bassitt Spins Seven Strong Frames Versus Texas

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Chris Bassitt fired seven innings of shutout ball against the Rangers to earn his ninth win of the season on Wednesday. Bassitt struck out seven as he continued his impressive 2021 season. The 32-year-old righty is 9-2 with a 3.04 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and has 109 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings, […]

Bryce Harper Launches Two Solo Homers In Loss

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs in a loss to the Marlins on Wednesday. Harper has been good this year as he's slashing a cool .275/.385/.512 with 13 homers in 58 games. Unfortunately, his fantasy production hasn't matched his elite hitting as he's got only 23 RBI despite his […]

Nelson Cruz Hits Towering Home Run In Wednesday's Loss

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Wednesday's 13-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Cruz hit an absolute, tape-measure shot in the sixth inning, crushing a Dylan Cease fastball 453 feet at 110.9 MPH. June was by far his best month, as he posted a […]

Maikel Franco Rolls Right Ankle Wednesday

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco (ankle) rolled his right ankle on the final play of Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Astros. He underwent X-rays after the game and the O's are expecting the results on Thursday's off-day. He is currently considered day-to-day. Franco has been a relative disappointment for fantasy managers but has been […]

Michael Wacha Lit Up In Wednesday’s Relief Appearance

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Michael Wacha allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five across three innings during Wednesday's 15-6 loss to the Nationals. He did not factor into the decision. Despite coming off a solid start in his previous appearance, the Rays opted to use Wacha out of the […]

Austin Hays Hits Pinch-Hit Homer Wednesday

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Austin Hays made his one at-bat count in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Astros, hitting an eighth-inning pinch-hit solo home run. Hays lined a Ryan Hartman fastball over the left-field seats to extend the O's lead to three. The 25-year-old has started to pick things up a bit lately and is now […]

Josh Donaldson Homers For Third Straight Game

Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson belted a home run for the third straight game in Wednesday's blowout loss to the Chicago White Sox. Donaldson's home was crushed at 109 MPH, traveling 409 feet into the left-field seats. He is absolutely raking since his return from a minor calf injury, going 7-for-18 with three home […]

Maikel Franco Collects Three More Hits Wednesday

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco posted his second consecutive three-hit game in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Astros. Franco went 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI. He has started a mini hot streak, but is still slashing just .221/.265/.376 on the season with nine home runs and 42 RBI. Given how successful his […]

Hector Neris Allows Two Runs In Sixth Inning

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Hector Neris allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits in the sixth inning of a loss to the Marlins on Wednesday. Neris was removed from the closer role last week and this performance isn't an encouraging sign for the right-hander. He's had a rough season with six blown saves already […]

Matt Harvey Turns In Decent Start Wednesday

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Matt Harvey put his team in a position to win in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Astros. Harvey pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts. While it isn't an exciting stat line, it was one of Harvey's better starts in some time. […]

Bailey Ober Yields Five Runs In First Loss

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober really struggled in Wednesday's loss to the Chicago White Sox. Ober lasted just 3 1/3 innings, surrendering five runs on four hits while walking a pair of batters. The 25-year-old couldn't keep the ball in the park, as he yielded three home runs, including two in the second inning. […]

Thomas Szapucki Roughed Up In Relief Appearance

New York Mets left-hander Thomas Szapucki, the team's 10th-ranked prospect, made his MLB debut on Wednesday in relief of starter David Peterson. Szapucki was roughed up, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings pitched in the Braves 20-2 rout. He also struck out four batters. Despite the rough […]

Brett Gardner Homers In Wednesday's Loss

New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner stuffed the stat sheet in Wednesday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Gardner collected two hits, including a homer, two RBI, and two runs scored while walking twice. The veteran outfielder hit the ball hard on each of his two hits, registering a 103 MPH exit velocity on his […]

Rough Fifth Inning Dooms Aaron Nola On Wednesday

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola pitched better than his stats would indicate on Wednesday as he allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Marlins. Nola was dealing early in the game and racked up 11 strikeouts without walking a batter. He did give up a couple of solo homers […]

DJ LeMahieu Plates Three Runs In Loss

New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three RBI in Wednesday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels. LeMahieu walked in the first inning and scored on a Giancarlo Stanton single, then cleared the bases later in the frame with a three-run double. The strong effort put a cap […]

NL-Only and AL-Only Waiver Wire for Week 14

Welcome back to the NL-only and AL-only pickups column. Each week, I'll look at five players who are under 15% rostered in Yahoo! leagues and who can be considered as options to add in deep-league formats, such as 15-teamers or AL or NL-only leagues. I'll also include a recommendation for what to do with each […]

Bullpen Report: Closer Carousel Keeps Churning

Chasing saves can seem maddening this season. Not only are more and more bullpens getting away from having one traditional closer and are embracing having multiple options see save chances. but some bullpens (I'm looking at you Cincinnati and Kansas City) have been nearly impossible to trust. Just when it looks like they are starting […]

Three Up, Three Down: Home Run Outliers to Buy or Sell

A huge key to having success at the game of fantasy baseball is being able to spot outliers. The game of baseball, more than most other sports, is largely dictated by randomness, at least over the short term. Even with the pretty large three-month data sample we have, randomness can still rule the day. My […]

When Is The Right Time to Invest In Rookie Pitchers?

As the calendar turns to July, many fantasy managers start looking to the minor leagues to see which call-ups could help us earn a championship. While we know the big-name players who are likely already on a roster, we hunt for the next surprise call-up of a slightly flawed pitcher who takes a big step […]

Pete Alonso Hits Two-Run Homer On Wednesday

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run and walk in an embarrassing rout at the hands of the Braves on Wednesday. The Mets were blown out 20-2 with Alonso accounting for both of the Mets runs courtesy of his 13th homer of the season. Alonso is now slashing […]

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

And just like that, the calendar creeps towards July and we all descend into heat-induced comas filled with spin-rate fever dreams. Meditate with me and think of a happy, Manfred-less baseball universe as we update my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks. I take stock of my top 101 SPs moving forward. We're halfway into the season, […]

Mike Zunino Blasts 18th Homer On Wednesday

Tampa Bay Rays catcher Mike Zunino went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer during Wednesday's 15-6 loss to the Nationals. He took Jon Lester deep in the third inning for his 18th long ball of the season. The 30-year-old has now homered in back-to-back games, including four times over his last five contests. Zunino is second […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (7/1/21): MLB DFS Lineups

We have a 7-game main slate on tap tonight, and it's gonna be a messy one. If we thought the weather was a massive headache on Wednesday, well, Thursday's slate says, "Hold my beer." There are threats of rain in over half the game, and the LAD/WAS game has extreme chances of rain and already […]

FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks (7/1/21): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

We have a nice-sized Thusday slate to dissect with lots of batting and pitching options for us to consider. We have some good pitching options on this slate so we will need to figure out which one can get us a few strikeouts and a win while also choosing between some great offenses like Houston, […]

What is Stuff+ and How Can it Be Useful in Fantasy? - Catcher's Corner Episode 12

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) chat with Max Bay (@choice_fielder), the creator of Stuff+, about how the metric evaluates pitching, what it might be able to tell us about pitchers adjusting to the new "sticky stuff" rules and how Stuff+ can be a useful tool for fantasy players when it (hopefully) becomes publicly available this […]

Aroldis Chapman Struggles Mightily Wednesday

New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman imploded in Wednesday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Chapman entered the game in a non-save situation with a four-run lead but quickly got into trouble, surrendering three walks before allowing the game-tying grand slam. The spin rate on Chapman's fastball was down by about 100 RPMs once […]

Domingo German Pitches Just Three Innings In No-Decision

New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German logged a short outing in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday. German lasted just three innings, allowing three runs on three hits while issuing a trio of walks. He struck out just two batters. German's control was spotty, as he needed 72 pitches to navigate three […]

Dylan Cease Earns Seventh Victory

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease earned his seventh victory of the season versus the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday. Cease picked up a quality with six solid innings. He allowed three hits, two runs, three walks and struck out seven on the evening. Both of his runs came off of solo home runs and […]

Dynasty Tiered Rankings and Analysis - Wide Receivers

Wide receivers are the staple of any good dynasty team. Attrition keeps attacking the running back position more and more each year. Those in non-Superflex leagues can get by with one good quarterback. At wide receiver, you'll need at least three solid players to form the core of your squad for years to come. Below […]

Bell's Best Bets - MLB Betting Picks for 7/1/21 (Premium Content)

Welcome back, RotoBallers! This officially starts Week 14, and MAN was Week 13 exactly what we needed. If my math is correct, that was a 26-13-3 week that resulted in a positive 9.05 units. Within that we had a Wednesday-Saturday stretch where we were up 11.65 units in that 4-day hot streak. Still plenty of […]