Michael Kopech Good At Avoiding Contact

Chicago White Sox rookie right-hander Michael Kopech has generated a 23.7 percent swing-and-miss rate early this season. The mark is seventh-best among the 391 pitchers with at least 50 pitches thrown so far this season. Kopech averages 97 mph with his fastball and pairs it with a dirty slider that hitters have a tough time […]

Nick Nelson Starting For Yankees On Friday

The New York Yankees are going with pitcher Nick Nelson as an opener in Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Michael King will follow Nelson in relief. Yankees manager Aaron Boone stated that he wanted to give the team's starters an extra day of rest. Jordan Montgomery will take the mound on Saturday with […]

Trevor Rogers Generating Plenty Of Whiffs

Miami Marlins rookie left-hander Trevor Rogers has generated a 51.1 percent whiff rate on his four-seam fastball this year, and that was prior to his start on Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves. Batters are missing his 95.5 mph average fastball over half the time when they swing at it. Jacob deGrom ranks second on four-seam […]

Jeff McNeil Hitting Just .174 Through Nine Games

New York Mets infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil has struggled out of the gate in 2021. Through nine games, he's slashing .174/.296/.304 with only one extra-base hit, a home run. His plate discipline has been fantastic as always. He's only struck out twice and he's walked three times. He has a 33.3% hard-hit rate so far this […]

Yency Almonte Takes The Loss On Thursday

Colorado Rockies right-hander Yency Almonte took the loss on Thursday against the Dodgers when he surrendered three runs on one hit with two walks and a strikeout in just two-thirds of an inning. Almonte entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Rockies clinging to a 7-5 lead. He struck out […]

MLB DFS Cheat Sheet, Stacks and Avoids for 4/16/21 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Premium Cheatsheet for 4/16/21 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.  Top Tournament Stacks for 4/16/21 This section will highlight the top tournament lineup stacks of the day (depending on the size of the slate) and help you identify the pitchers that are best suited to pick on if […]

Leody Taveras Has Speed To Spare

Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Leody Taveras has elite speed. He ranks fifth on the sprint-speed leaderboard in the early going in 2021 with a sprint speed of 29.4 feet per second. He's only one spot below Byron Buxton on that list and is tied with him on runs that exceed the elite level of 30 […]

Ketel Marte Yet To Resume Baseball Activities

Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Ketel Marte (hamstring) has yet to resume baseball activities. He is still getting treatment on his injured right hamstring. Marte was placed on the injured list last Thursday. He is first eligible to return from the injured list on Sunday, April 18, but he certainly appears likely to remain on the […]

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Still Trying To Play

Veteran free-agent cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who has been linked to a coaching job at his alma mater of Tennessee State, hasn't given up the idea of playing in the NFL and has workouts scheduled post-draft. He would only coach if there are no more playing opportunities. The 35-year-old didn't play at all in 2020 and […]

Hansel Robles Struggles Against Red Sox

Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Hansel Robles struggled mightily in Thursday's outing against the Red Sox. Robles entered the game in an attempt to preserve starting pitcher Michael Pineda's seven-inning gem, but the results weren't pretty. He didn't have command of the strike zone, as he hit a batter, walked two, and was charged with three […]

Austin Gomber Earns A Quality Start Against The Dodgers

Colorado Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber pitched a quality start on Thursday when he allowed three runs on six hits with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts in a 7-5 loss to the Dodgers. This was arguably Gomber's best start of the season as he registered a season-best seven strikeouts and only issues two free […]

Phillip Evans Has Been A Pleasant Surprise

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie third baseman/outfielder Phillip Evans is 13-for-38 (.342) with three home runs, two doubles and a 1.076 OPS through 11 games to begin the season. The 28-year-old is tied for 26th among qualified hitters (tied with Nolan Arenado and Mike Trout) with 17 hard-hit batted balls (balls with an exit velocity above 95 […]

Jazz Chisholm Turning Heads

Miami Marlins middle infielder Jazz Chisholm hit New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom's 100.4 mph fastball for a home run to the upper deck on April 10, making it the hardest-thrown pitch that has been taken deep so far this season. It was also the only triple-digit pitch that deGrom has thrown in the […]

Playing Time An Early Concern For Clint Frazier

New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier had an optimistic outlook surrounding him coming out of spring training when he was named the team's starting left fielder. However, it's been more of the same story for Frazier, who has been stuck in a near-even split for reps with Brett Gardner, having started six games to Gardner's […]

J.C. Jackson Signs His Tender

New England Patriots restricted free-agent cornerback J.C. Jackson signed his second-round tender offer on Friday. However, interested teams could still offer lower draft picks and create a trade, similar to the Malcolm Butler situation a few years back. Jackson will make $3.38 million now that he's back with the Patriots. The 25-year-old became a star […]

Drew Smyly Placed On Injured List, Kyle Wright Starting Friday

Atlanta Braves left-handed pitcher Drew Smyly (forearm) was placed on the 10-day injured list with left forearm inflammation after he was scratched from his start on Friday against the Chicago Cubs. Manager Brian Snitker said the team hopes that Smyly will miss just one start. Right-hander Kyle Wright was recalled from the alternate training site […]

Cardinals Re-Sign Dennis Gardeck

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck signed his one-year tender offer as a restricted free agent on Thursday after he had the second-most sacks on the team last year. He signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Sioux Falls and didn't play a defensive snap in his career until Week […]

Mike Vrabel Not Worried About Derrick Henry's Workload

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said that running back Derrick Henry's work ethic allows him to be successful despite his heavy workload. Henry has led the league in rushing the last two seasons, running for 1,540 yards on 303 carries in 2019 and 2,027 yards on 378 carries last year. He became the eighth […]

Jayson Oweh's Stock Is Rising

Penn State edge rusher Jayson Oweh is a hot name among scouts as we approach this month's NFL draft. He has been compared to Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Danielle Hunter because the two are both around 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and had limited production in their last year in college. Hunter had 1.5 sacks before joining […]

Kyle Hendricks Could Return On Sunday

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks (illness) is expected to start on Sunday versus the Atlanta Braves if he continues to feel better. Managers David Ross on Friday also said that Hendricks has been feeling better. The starter was scratched right before Monday's game with an illness and was replaced by Alec Mills. Hendricks had […]

Penei Sewell Training At Left, Right Tackle

Oregon left tackle Penei Sewell, the consensus top offensive tackle in this year's draft, has been training at right tackle and left tackle, which he played in college. Sewell is preparing for the possibility that a team with an entrenched left tackle drafts him and puts him at right tackle for a year. The young […]

Chris Paddack Picks Up First Victory

San Diego Padres starter Chris Paddack collected his first win Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tossing five innings of three-run (one earned) ball. Spotted an early lead, the 25-year-old was mostly in control despite issuing five hits and two walks, striking out four in the process. With his fastball effectiveness continuing to be a problem, […]

Max Kepler Delivers Game-Winning Hit Thursday

Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler went 1-for-5 with an RBI single in Thursday's 4-3 win over the Red Sox. Facing Adam Ottavino in the bottom of the ninth, Kepler looped a single into center to score Luis Arraez, winning the game for Minnesota and snapping a five-game losing streak. Five of Kepler's nine hits this […]

MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 4/16 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Pitching Primer for 4/16 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.   High-Priced Aces These are your studs who are worth paying up for on this slate. It makes sense to deploy these guys as your cash game plays on FanDuel and as your SP1 on DraftKings based […]

Matt Duffy Returns From COVID-19 Injured List

The Chicago Cubs have activated infielder Matt Duffy from the COVID-19 injured list. Duffy didn't test positive and only was only absent for two games. With Duffy back, infielder Ildemaro Vargas will be returned to the Cubs alternative training site. Duffy has only made one start this season and is 1-for-8 on the season. He […]

MLB Betting Picks for Friday 4/16 - Moneylines, Totals, and Runlines

Big thanks to Frank Ammirante for covering for me Thursday. My last night out, Wednesday, was a busy one and there was no shot I was going to be able to get an article written out for Thursday’s slate. It was probably for the best, following my most recent 0-2 clunker. Naturally, I'm looking for […]

Garrett Richards Has Another Up-And-Down Start

If you look at just the surface-level stats, it appears that Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Richards has turned the corner in the last two starts. He has allowed just two earned runs over his last 10 innings, good for a sparkling 1.80 ERA. However, he has allowed five walks and seven hits over […]

Nick Solak Slugs Second Homer Of Season

Texas Rangers second baseman Nick Solak had a strong game during the club's 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. The young hitter went 3-for-5 with his second home run of the season. He's now 12-for-48 (.250) with three extra-base hits and two stolen bases after a slow start to the year. Historically, […]

Bell's Best Bets - Premium MLB Betting Picks for 4/16/2021

What's up, RotoBallers! Welcome to Week 3 of Bell's Best Bets. We had an amazing bounce back night on Tuesday, 4/7 that put us close to even on the young season. Since then it's been a mixed bag of washes with lost money on the juice and just downright bad beats leading to rough results. […]

EPL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel (4/17/21) - English Premier League Soccer (EARLY)

Welcome back, RotoBallers! This is an odd weekend schedule-wise in the EPL. With a handful of FA Cup games taking place this weekend as well, some EPL games have been postponed. That leaves us with two single-game slates Saturday. The first of which will kick off very early Saturday morning. I will still be breaking […]