Jesus Luzardo Poised For A Breakout?

Oakland Athletics left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo made his first nine career starts in 2020 and had a 4.12 ERA (101 ERA+), but he had a 45 percent whiff rate on curveballs and changeups. The 23-year-old would've also had a 2.93 ERA on the year if two of his poor starts, in which he allowed four […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Healthy Heading Into 2021 Season

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (heart), who missed all of the 2020 season after being diagnosed with myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) related to COVID-19, is feeling normal and is ready to take his spot in the team's starting rotation. The 27-year-old left-hander had a career-best season in 2019 with a 3.81 ERA, […]

Kevin Fiala Produces Game-Winner On Thursday

Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala buried the game-winning tally as his team secured a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. In addition to his first-period goal, Fiala also registered a game-high five shots on goal, a plus-one rating and four penalty minutes in 17:34 of time on ice in the contest. After being […]

Mike Hoffman Getting Hot In St. Louis

St. Louis Blues forward Mike Hoffman scored a power-play goal and added a primary assist as his team picked up a 3-2 overtime win versus the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Hoffman, having signed with the Blues as an unrestricted free-agent over the offseason, also contributed a plus-one rating, five shots and one hit […]

David Perron Plays Overtime Hero On Thursday

St. Louis Blues forward David Perron deposited a goal and added a pair of assists in leading his team to a home 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. The 32-year-old supplied a secondary helper on forward Brayden Schenn's game-tying goal with just 40 seconds left in regulation and then ended the contest […]

Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner Combine For Eight Points

Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner each posted season-best four-point performances in Thursday's 7-3 victory against the Senators. Matthews scored twice and added two assists in the contest, bringing his season total up to 16 goals to lead the NHL. Marner's three-assist night brought him up to 19 assists on the season, […]

Mackenzie Blackwood Remains Unbeaten In Regulation

New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood posted his fourth win of the season as his team defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday. The Ontario native turned aside 25 of 27 shots sent his way to collect the victory - an impressive feat against a Bruins team that had previously won nine of its past […]

Tigers Considering Signing Rick Porcello

The Detroit Tigers are looking for another pitcher to bolster their starting rotation. They are currently considering a reunion with Rick Porcello, who pitched for the team from 2009 to 2014. The Tigers and Porcello are reportedly still not in agreement on the terms of the deal. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has hinted that the […]

Kyle Palmieri Scores First Two Goals Of The Season

New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri recorded his first two goals of the campaign in lifting his team to a 3-2 regulation win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The 30-year-old, who has buried at least 24 goals in each of the past five seasons, went nine straight contests without lighting the lamp prior to […]

Fantasy Basketball Week 9 Risers and Fallers

Welcome to the fantasy basketball risers and fallers column, a weekly look at a few players whose stock is rising and a few who've been struggling with some analysis of why that's been the case. As always, this doesn't mean you need to drop these players who are struggling, but this could be a useful piece […]

Elvis Merzlikins Posts Shutout Against Predators

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stopped all 32 shots against in Thursday's 3-0 victory against the Predators. The 26-year-old posted his first shutout of the season and improved to a record of 3-2-1 to go along with a 2.51 goals against average and .920 save percentage through eight appearances. Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo will […]

Edward Cabrera Dealing With An Inflamed Nerve

Miami Marlins pitching prospect Edward Cabrera is reportedly dealing with an inflamed nerve in his right (throwing) biceps. He is with the team in spring camp, but has been shut down from throwing for now. For now, it doesn't seem like the team is particularly worried about the injury, but Cabrera missed time with arm […]

Mike Soroka Still A Question Mark For Opening Day

Atlanta Braves starter Mike Soroka (Achilles) is making excellent progress in his recovery from Achilles surgery, but it is unclear whether he will be ready for Opening Day. The Canadian right-hander tore his Achilles tendon after just three starts in 2020, derailing the momentum from his phenomenal 2019 campaign. Soroka still needs to pass some […]

Kenley Jansen Expected To Close To Start 2021

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen is expected to serve as the team's closer to start the 2021 season, according to manager Dave Roberts. Jansen struggled during the 2020 postseason and recorded an ERA over 3.00 in the regular season for the third straight year. The 33-year-old is no longer the dominant ninth-inning option he […]

Failure to Launch: Hitters With Falling Launch Angles

Launch angle is important. There is a sweet spot for launch angles and the hitters that hit the highest shares of their batted balls in those angles will have more success than the rest of the league. The reverse is also true. If you are consistently hitting the ball straight in the air or directly into […]

Marvin Jones Jr. Chasing A Super Bowl In Free Agency

Detroit Lions impending free-agent wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. said that "nothing's off the table" as far as where he plays in 2021, but a chance to win a Super Bowl is high on his list of priorities. That makes a return to the rebuilding Lions unlikely. Jones had his only 1,000-yard receiving season in […]

Cardinals Owner Bullish On Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Keim

Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill was disappointed with the team's finish last season when they missed out on the playoffs, but he liked the progress that the team showed under head coach Kliff Kingsbury in his second season while looking at things from a big-picture perspective. Bidwill thinks the team is in position to take […]

Panthers Release Tre Boston Friday

The Carolina Panthers informed starting safety Tre Boston of his release on Friday, according to a source. With the move, the Panthers will clear around $3.5 million against the salary cap. The 28-year-old was third on the team with 95 tackles during the 2020 season, and he also recorded an interception, a sack and two […]

Nemanja Bjelica Records First Steals Of Season

Sacramento Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica entered Thursday as the NBA player who had played the most minutes in the 2020-21 season without recording a steal. That changed against the Miami Heat, as Bjelica same away with a pair of them. But the highlight of his night has to be the team-high 25 points he scored, […]

Tyler Herro Scores 27 Points In Win Over Kings

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro scored 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting in Thursday's win over the Sacramento Kings. He was 2-for-4 from deep in 32 minutes of action and also added four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. The Heat are set to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, a matchup that could spell […]

Bam Adebayo With Triple-Double Against Kings

Miami Heat forward/center Bam Adebayo scored 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting in Thursday's win over the Sacramento Kings. Adebayo also added 12 rebounds and 10 assists to wind up with one of two triple-doubles on the Heat team, as Jimmy Butler also posted 13/10/13. This was just the third time all season that Adebayo posted […]

DraftKings EuroLeague DFS Lineup Picks for 2/19/21 - Daily Fantasy Basketball Advice

Round 25 finishes off with four more games. We saw Shane Larkin and Alexey Shved put up big numbers, but it was Youssoupha Fall that broke the slate as a value pick. I ended up with a Baskonia stack and still didn't land on Fall. So it goes. Minimum cash still gets me the buy-in […]

NBA DFS Prop Picks for Friday (2/19/21) - Monkey Knife Fight

It's been a great few days of basketball and Friday starts off the weekend with a nine game slate. The Bucks and Thunder have the highest point total heading into today, and with Milwaukee playing terribly lately, the return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could not have come at a better time. Giannis Antetokounmpo and company are […]

Tristan Jarry Impresses Once More

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry was very close to his first shutout of the season on Thursday, allowing only a late power-play goal in a 4-1 win over the Islanders. He finished with 31 saves and has now stopped 70 pucks across his last two starts. Jarry had a very tough time early in the […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook - February 19th

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, things are at least a little more […]

Brock Nelson Scores On Power Play

New York Islanders center Brock Nelson produced a power-play goal in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry blanked the Isles for most of the game, but Josh Bailey and Nick Leddy combined to set up Nelson inside the final five minutes. Overall, it was a pretty miserable outing by Nelson, who finished with a […]

Sidney Crosby Continues Success Over Islanders

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby opened the scoring in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Islanders, making it six goals and 13 points for himself this season. In the process, the Penguins captain boosted his career numbers in the matchup to 37 goals and 116 points. Crosby is the only active player to notch 100-plus points […]

Joel Farabee Scores Seventh Goal Of The Year

Philadelphia Flyers winger Joel Farabee notched a late game-tying goal in Thursday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Rangers, bagging his seventh marker of the season with 1:14 left in regulation. Nicolas Aube-Kubel had one goal as well, with Kevin Hayes registering assists on both Flyers tallies. Philly returned from its COVID-19 break in an impressive […]

Colin Blackwell Produces Another Goal

New York Rangers winger Colin Blackwell made it goals in back-to-back games on Thursday, netting a power-play marker in a 3-2 shootout win over the Flyers. Brendan Smith also scored for the Rangers, who stopped a four-game skid. Blackwell is a former seventh-round pick who at 27 seems finally ready to contribute regularly in the […]

Mets Sign Taijuan Walker

The New York Mets have signed right-handed starting pitcher Taijuan Walker to a deal. The terms of the contract have not yet been disclosed. In 2020, over 11 starts and 53 1/3 innings pitched between the Mariners and Blue Jays, Walker posted a 2.70 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and a 50:19 K:BB. For his career, […]