Tommy Pham Can't Catch A Break

San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham went 0-for-4 and grounded into two double plays Monday against the Colorado Rockies. After a promising start to May, the 33-year-old has just two hits in his last six contests, dropping his slash to .189/.318/.226 in 129 plate appearances. Pham's extended funk remains befuddling considering his respectable batted-ball outcomes […]

Jake Cronenworth On Extended Run With Hits In 16 Of 19 Games

San Diego Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth went 2-for-3 with a run scored Monday against the Colorado Rockies. The two-hit night stretches Cronenworth's hitting streak to five and he's now collected knocks in 16 of his last 19 contests including a .351 average in May. While the 27-year-old doesn't make much hard contact, his positional […]

Manny Machado Smacks Sixth Homer

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado went 2-for-4 with a home run and double Monday against the Colorado Rockies. Machado blasted a two-run shot off starter Jon Gray in the first inning to kickstart the 7-0 blowout victory. Despite a hard-hit rate and average exit velocity near the top of the league, Machado holds […]

Champ or Chump: Huascar Ynoa

Is your fantasy team looking for more pitching? Nearly every manager is, making it difficult to find breakout arms on the waiver wire since everybody is looking for the same thing. This situation can also make it far too easy to put more faith in a breakout performance than warranted, potentially leaving you with an […]

Lineup Takeaways - Week 7 Lineup Trends

Week seven of the MLB season is in the books. There are new injuries, players landing on the COVID injured list, and many more developments that are causing lineups to alter. Let’s try to figure out what is noise and what really matters. Just a reminder, I have added a 'Fantasy Fallout' section to the […]

Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for Week 8

We're about two weeks into the 2021 minor league season and players are already graduating to the major leagues, including last week's No. 1 ranked prospect. The first wave of promotions saw the Seattle Mariners make a huge splash by promoting Jarred Kelenic along with his teammate Logan Gilbert. The Miami Marlins also got in […]

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 […]

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. […]

Yu Darvish Keeps Rolling With 10 Strikeouts

San Diego Padres starter Yu Darvish turned in another masterful performance Monday against the Colorado Rockies, striking out 10 in seven shutout innings. The veteran righty scattered four hits while walking none, requiring just 81 tosses before exiting with a comfortable 7-0 lead to ultimately snatch his fourth victory. Through nine starts, Darvish holds a […]

Gerrit Cole Hit Hard In Loss

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole was charged with just his second loss of the season in a rare off night on Monday against the Rangers. Cole pitched five innings, surrendering five runs on seven hits while fanning seven batters with two walks issued. The ace right-hander allowed a leadoff double in the first […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (5/18/21): MLB DFS Lineups

We have a 14-game main slate on tap tonight, and it's a doozie. There is a lot of quality pitching options with some nice tournament pivots. At the same time, there are a ton of places to look for bats. We don't have Coors, which is nice, but we do have Coors South and some […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (5/18/21): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

Welcome Rotoballers to another set of Tuesday FanDuel lineup picks! We've got quite the heavy slate of games on the main slate tonight. There is just one early evening game in the 6 o'clock ET hour and then everyone else is playing in the main slate. If you have questions about that early game, feel […]

MLB DFS Strategy: Finding Leverage

This is the next installment of my MLB DFS Strategy Series. If you missed the first one about Bankroll Management and Contest Selection you can check it out here. The second installment about Contest Selection and Single Entry success is here. The most recent installment about creating tournament lineups can be found here. Hello, RotoBallers, and thanks […]

Jorge Polanco Plates A Run In Blowout Loss

Minnesota Twins second baseman/shortstop Jorge Polanco continued his strong month of hitting in Monday's blowout loss to the White Sox. Polanco ripped an RBI single, which registered an exit velocity of 105.3 MPH- in the eighth inning off of White Sox reliever Jose Ruiz. The 27-year-old now has 13 hits in his last nine games- […]

Rob Refsnyder Has Four-Hit Day Monday

Minnesota Twins infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder went 4-for-4 with an RBI double in Monday's 16-4 blowout loss to the White Sox. Refsnyder got the scoring started for the Twins in the second inning, as he rapped a double off of Dallas Keuchel to score Mitch Garver. The 30-year-old added a trio of singles to cap off […]

Josh Donaldson Belts Fifth Homer

Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in Monday's 16-4 loss to the White Sox. Donaldson crushed an 0-1 changeup from Dallas Keuchel into right-center field for his fifth long ball of the season. The blast traveled 413 feet at an exit velocity of 108.1 MPH. Donaldson ranks in the […]

Kevin Pillar Has Multiple Nasal Fractures

It was confirmed on Tuesday that New York Mets outfielder Kevin Pillar (face) suffered multiple nasal fractures as a result of being hit by a pitch directly in the face on Monday against the Atlanta Braves. Pillar will be meeting with facial specialists in Atlanta to determine the next steps. A stint on the injured […]

Daily MLB DFS Value Plays for FanDuel, DraftKings for 5/18/21 (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Below you will find our Premium DFS value plays for 5/18/2021. These picks will target low-priced players in the main slate. We have a 14-game slate on tap tonight, so there's plenty of potential value bats to choose from to help you fit in an […]

J.A. Happ Rocked By White Sox Again

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher J.A. Happ had a second consecutive rough outing against the White Sox on Monday. Happ failed to make it out of the fourth inning, allowing six runs on seven hits while walking three and fanning just one batter. The veteran southpaw loaded the bases in the first inning and allowed three […]

Taylor Trammell Is Raking At Triple-A

Seattle Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell was sent down to the minors to make room for uber-prospect Jarred Kelenic, and since that time he has done nothing but hit. In five games at Triple-A Tacoma, Trammell has 14 hits in 22 at-bats, with four homers, 16 RBI, and six runs scored. That all adds up to […]

Tom Murphy Hits Fourth Homer Monday

Seattle Mariners catcher Tom Murphy accounted for all of the Mariners' offense in Monday's contest, hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was his fourth of the year. Murphy went 1-for-3 in the contest, leaving him with a .137/.192/.329 slash line for the year. He's been a major disappointment after […]

Bell's Best Bets - MLB Betting Picks for 5/18/21 (Premium Content)

What's up, RotoBallers! It's crazy that we're already beginning Week 8 of the MLB season. Week 7 was a whirlwind for me and my Bell's Best Bets followers. When the dust settled, we went 26-23, but my propensity to wager on the favorites when I like their spots puts us down about 1.05 units on […]

Yusei Kikuchi Recovers After Shaky Start

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi looked to be on the ropes in the first two innings of Monday night's game against the Tigers, but he recovered to throw six innings of three-run ball, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks, while striking out eight. Kikuchi managed to work out of a bases […]

Dominic Smith Reaches Base Three Times On Monday

New York Mets outfielder/first baseman Dominic Smith went 1-for-3 with two walks in the Mets' 3-1 victory over the Braves on Monday. Smith, off to a slow start to begin the 2021 campaign, has been heating up of late. Over his past seven games, he has posted a slash line of .381/.480/.429 with four RBI […]

UDFA Pass Catchers To Watch In Dynasty

One place where fantasy value can be found is in the large crop of players who sign as undrafted free agents. Just because a receiver wasn't taken in the first seven rounds doesn't mean that they aren't good players. Often, very talented players don't hear their names called during the draft, but they'll latch on […]

NFL Rookie Spotlight - Trey Sermon

The San Francisco 49ers made Trey Sermon the fourth running back off the board in the 2021 NFL draft. Although this is a very weak running back class, that is still relatively high by comparison. Sermon walks into a crowded backfield, but one without a true alpha. When evaluating prospects' likelihood of NFL success, we […]

MLB DFS Prop Picks for 5/18 - Monkey Knife Fight

The 2021 MLB Season is moving along nicely and we are having a ton of fun with pitcher strikeouts props so far. We will be here week in and week out offering up advice for some of the best prop picks in the industry with Monkey Knife Fight. Our friends at Monkey Knife Fight offer […]

J.D. Martinez Cruising With A 1.025 OPS On The Year

Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez has been consistently getting on base and making great contact all year. Through 40 games, he's slashing .342/.420/.605 with 10 home runs, 10 doubles, 33 RBI and 33 runs. His current 1.025 is right in line with where it was during his most dominant years in the MLB […]

Pete Alonso Has Just One Home Run In May

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has only gone yard once so far over 15 games this month. He's slashing .231/.365/.385 over 63 plate appearances in May. He does have five doubles and 11 runs. Alonso hit five home runs in April and his peripherals on the year look extremely encouraging. He has a […]