A.J. Puk Thriving In Relief Role For Oakland

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher A.J. Puk threw another scoreless inning Monday at the White Sox to bring his season total up to 7 1/3 shutout innings as a reliever. Puk is the top pitching prospect in the A's organization, but he has not been able to stay on the field thanks to a litany of... Read More

Daniel Hudson Takes Loss Against Rockies

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Daniel Hudson entered Monday night's game against the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied, but he wasn't able to keep the Rockies off the board. He took the loss in a close 6-5 game, allowing a one-out walk-off home run to C.J. Cron.... Read More

Jake McGee Converts Second Straight Save Monday

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jake McGee looked to be back to his old self in Monday's 7-5 win over the Mets, converting his 26th save of the season. McGee entered to pitch the ninth inning up by two and tossed a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. McGee has now earned 1-2-3 saves in back-to-back... Read More

Trevor May Roughed Up On Monday

After a stellar July in which New York Mets relief pitcher Trevor May posted a 2.38 ERA and was called upon to close games for a struggling Edwin Diaz, May has had a brutal August. On Monday, his August slide continued against the San Francisco Giants. In one inning of work, May allowed three earned... Read More

Daily Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 17th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics... Read More

Kenley Jansen Picks Up 24th Save

Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen converted his 24th save of the season on Monday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jansen allowed a hit during his inning of work and also recorded one strikeout. The closer was shaky at the beginning of the second half, but he has now gone five straight outings without allowing a... Read More

Liam Hendriks Tosses A Perfect Ninth Inning

Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks worked a perfect 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts to earn his 27th save of the season on Monday versus the Oakland Athletics. The White Sox closer had been shaky entering the contest with a blown save and seven runs (six earned) allowed over his last two outings. Hendriks came... Read More

Justin Steele Picks Up Second Loss

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele picked up a loss in his second start of the season versus the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Steele went four innings and allowed five hits, two runs, three walks and struck out five on the evening. The pitching prospect will be in the rotation for the rest of the... Read More

Ryan Pressly Back On Track

Houston Astros closer Ryan Pressly will head into Monday's matchup against the Royals with four straight scoreless appearances. Pressly mini-streak comes on the heels of a week-long stretch at the end of July that saw the hurler allow runs in three of four outings. It has been a fantastic year for Pressly and that recent... Read More

David Robertson Signs With The Rays

Free-agent pitcher David Robertson signed with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. The 36-year-old hasn't pitched in the majors since 2019 but has recorded 137 saves along with a 2.90 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over 663 2/3 career innings. He will be used in a middle relief role once activated to the big league roster.... Read More

Will Smith Dances Out Of Trouble

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Will Smith didn't make it easy, but was able to shut down the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The lefty veteran walked two batters and struck out two before getting Carter Kieboom to ground out to end the game. Smith earned his 25th save of the season, but it hasn't been easy... Read More

Jake McGee Bounces Back, Earns Save Sunday

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jake McGee locked down his 25th save of the season in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Rockies. McGee, who had struggled in each of his last two appearances, came on to pitch the ninth inning up by three. Unlike those last two appearances, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning with no... Read More

Josh Hader Makes Quick Work Of Pirates For Save Number 23

Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the save in Sunday's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. Milwaukee's closer has made two appearances since returning from the COVID-19 injured list, striking out five while allowing just one hit across two innings. Hader made fast work of the Pirates on Sunday,... Read More

Daily Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 16th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics... Read More

Top 20 Fantasy Baseball Prospects: Week 21

The 2021 fantasy baseball season continues to fly by and we've hit Week 21. Playoffs in many fantasy leagues are just around the corner. This ranking began the season as a Top 50 list looking at the premium prospects around the minors that could help during 2021 but as time progressed – and the window... Read More

Garrett Whitlock Earns 11th Hold

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Garrett Whitlock earned his 11th hold of the season Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, setting down all five batters he faced with three strikeouts. Manager Alex Cora later said that the team was finally prepared to use Whitlock on back-to-back days. This development makes Whitlock a viable fantasy asset in... Read More

Mychal Givens Picks Up Third Save

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Mychal Givens got the final four outs of a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. Givens struck out two and walked one on the way to earning his third save of the season. The veteran reliever has been lights-out since the Reds acquired him from the Colorado Rockies at the... Read More

Joe Barlow Notches Second Save

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Joe Barlow was called upon to close out the game versus the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. He was able to hold the three-run lead and record his second save of the season. The 25-year-old has posted a 0.61 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts with the Rangers this season. It appears... Read More

Dylan Floro Saves Sunday's Game

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Dylan Floro picked up his fifth save of the season on Sunday, wrapping up a sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Floro was replaced by Anthony Bender in Saturday's game, but it seems that Floro is still at least at the top of the committee for Don Mattingly's Marlins. On Sunday, Floro... Read More

Points League Pitchers: Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 21

We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best... Read More

Alec Mills Throws Well In Loss

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Alec Mills fell one out short of a quality start on Sunday versus the Miami Marlins. Mills went 5 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits, two runs, one walk and struck out four on the afternoon, but suffered a tough loss with the Cubs offense only scoring one run. Mills has... Read More

Adam Ottavino Hit By Liner

Boston Red Sox reliever Adam Ottavino left Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles after he was struck by a line drive. It came off the bat of Jorge Mateo, and he was removed from the game right after. The details of the injury are unknown, and it is unclear if he will have to miss... Read More

Sammy Long Optioned To Triple-A

San Francisco Giants left-hander Sammy Long has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Long was recalled on August 14 to start Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies. He went just two innings, giving up one run and one walk while picking up four strikeouts. Across eight appearances and... Read More

Daniel Bard Locks Up The Save In Saturday's Win

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Daniel Bard earned the save on Saturday when he allowed one hit with two strikeouts over a scoreless ninth inning in a 4-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. Bard was given the relatively easy task of protecting a three-run lead on Saturday and got the job done. He did allow... Read More

Daily Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 15th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics... Read More

Joe Ross Suffers Partial UCL Tear

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (forearm) experienced right forearm tightness after his bullpen session Saturday and an MRI showed a partial UCL tear, according to MLB.com. The next step is a re-evaluation, manager Dave Martinez said. Ross, who is 5-9 with a 4.17 ERA this season, had been a serviceable fantasy starter in deeper... Read More

Aaron Loup Gaining Fantasy Relevance

The New York Mets relief pitcher Aaron Loup came up big on Saturday for the Mets once again. With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on first and third, Loup struck out Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger to preserve the tie. Although the Mets would go on to lose... Read More

Nick Mariano's Waiver Picks - Get 'Em While They're Hot (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. It's always strange to type "Week 20" in baseball articles, but the middle of August is here and we must gear up for the playoff push. Football continues to siphon attention so disciplined baseball teams can make their shake-and-bake move. Let's check in on... Read More

The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Week 21

Welcome back to The Cut List. This is our weekly article looking at players who fantasy managers might be considering cutting from their teams and struggling players who need a closer look. We'll look at players who are worthy of a drop, players who are worth monitoring for replacing, and someone on the hot seat who... Read More

Pete Fairbanks Tosses Bullpen Session Saturday

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks (shoulder) threw a bullpen session on Saturday. According to manager Kevin Cash, all reports were good on his first bullpen session since landing on the injured list late July. There is no timetable for his return, but Fairbanks is trending in the right direction. He will continue to ramp... Read More