Yoshihisa Hirano Making Progress Towards Return

Seattle Mariners reliever Yoshihisa Hirano (COVID-19) is throwing bullpen sessions in Arizona and is set to join the team's alternate site in Tacoma to face live hitters. The right-hander was late to begin his training since testing positive for COVID-19 at the end of June, but could join the team in a week or two. […]

Austin Adams Could Return Next Week

Seattle Mariners reliever Austin Adams is nearing a return to the team after undergoing knee surgery this offseason. He could throw a sim game sometime this week, and the best-case scenario is joining the team next Monday for the beginning of their road trip. Adams was a favorite for the ninth-inning job before his surgery […]

White Sox Bring Back Clayton Richard

The Chicago White Sox have signed pitcher Clayton Richard to a minor league deal. This will be the lefty’s second stint with the White Sox. Richard spent appeared in 10 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019, but was released after posting a 1-5 record to go along with a 5.96 ERA. The lefty […]

Luis Cessa To Be Activated On Monday

New York Yankees relief pitcher Luis Cessa will be activated by the team on Monday after a coronavirus-related absence to start the season. With Tommy Kahnle (elbow) out for the rest of the season, Cessa should see a fair amount of hold opportunities over the rest of the season. That being said, Cessa’s career 4.50 […]

Marlins Get All Negative Tests Again On Monday

The Miami Marlins had all of their COVID-19 tests come back negative on Monday. That makes three days in a row of all negative tests for the Marlins. The team had an outbreak where 18 players tested positive, causing their entire season to go on pause after just three games. Given no new surprises, the […]

Points League Pickups, Waiver Adds: Week 3

Coming as a big surprise to no one, the season has been absolutely wild already. Whole teams are now disappearing from the schedule and leaving us high and dry when it comes to filling out our lineups. The waiver-wire is more important than ever and with that in mind we're giving point players a one-shop […]

The Baller Ranks: Top 65 Relief Pitchers Weekly Rankings

Welcome to the Week 3 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take a look weekly at where the top 65 RPs stand moving forward in this strange sprint season. You can check out my weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks as well. David Emerick rolled out an introduction to our Baller Ranks here, and also […]

The Baller Ranks: Top 200 Hitters Weekly Rankings (Week 3)

Welcome to fantasy baseball if MLB's season were more like the XFL. Between injuries, illness, and inexplicable flukes, this season has already shown the potentially disastrous consequences of an otherwise quiet road-trip to Atlanta. This weeks' news about the Miami-Philadelphia and St. Louis-Milwaukee situations has provided new variables, and managers are scrambling to keep up […]

Trevor Gott (RP, SF) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 31% of leagues ANALYSIS: San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Trevor Gott earned the first two save opportunities of the season for the team and converted both of them. He's clearly the team's primary closer at least for now. While the Giants don't figure to be in position to […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 3rd 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 […]

Cole Sulser Earns Multi-Inning Save Sunday

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Cole Sulser pitched two scoreless innings to earn his third save of the season in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Rays. Sulser started the eighth inning up 4-1 and got three straight outs and then stayed on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He finished the game with no walks or […]

Tyler Alexander Heading Towards Joining Tigers Rotation

Detroit Tigers left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander made history during Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader versus the Reds when he struck out nine consecutive batters, tying the American League record. Alexander’s appearance was out of relief and may have forced the hand of manager Ron Gardenhire, who said that after watching the southpaw that he “might […]

Ty Buttrey Gets Save Chance Sunday, Gives Up Lead

Los Angeles Angels right-handed pitcher Ty Buttrey was tabbed to close out Sunday’s contest against the Astros in favor of closer Hansel Robles, but he was unable to lock down the win. It’s been a rough start to 2020 for Buttrey, who has now allowed runs in three of his first four outings. He combined […]

Jonathan Hernandez Dominates In Two Innings

Texas Rangers reliever Jonathan Hernandez came into Sunday's game and dominated the San Francisco Giants in the late innings. Hernandez pitched two innings and struck out four Giants with one walk given up. He gave up the walk to lead off the eighth inning but came back with back-to-back-to-back swinging strikeouts of Pablo Sandoval, Chadwick […]

Jairo Diaz Locks Down First Save Of Season Sunday

Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher Jairo Diaz stepped into the closer's role Sunday and notched his first save of 2020 in Wade Davis’ absence. The closer’s spot in Colorado has been contentious since Davis’ arrival and subsequent decline in production, but Diaz has now worked 4 ⅓ scoreless innings this year and could be in line […]

Devin Smeltzer Earns Win On Sunday

Minnesota Twins pitcher Devin Smeltzer worked the second two innings of the opener on Sunday and picked up his first win of the season. The 24-year-old allowed two hits, one run and walked one batter while striking out a pair. It was a much better outing this time around for Smeltzer, who was shelled for […]

Sergio Romo Works Save Chance Sunday

Minnesota Twins right-handed pitcher Sergio Romo was brought on for a save opportunity Sunday against Cleveland with left-hander Taylor Rogers having worked each of the past two days. It’s unlikely that Romo has supplanted Rogers as the team’s primary closer moving forward, but it’s clear that manager Rocco Baldelli is confident turning the ball over […]

Tyler Alexander Ties AL Record With Nine Straight K’s

Detroit Tigers left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander was dominant out of relief during Sunday’s game against the Reds, striking out each of the first nine batters that he faced, which tied the American League record for consecutive batters retired by the K. Alexander fell just a batter shy of tying Hall of Famer Tom Seaver’s all-time […]

Aroldis Chapman Could Throw Bullpen Tomorrow

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman (illness) could throw a bullpen session on Monday, according to manager Aaron Boone. Chapman has been playing catch, but has yet to step on a mound since contracting the virus. This would be a step in the right direction for the flamethrowing lefty, who was recently cleared to workout […]

Roberto Osuna Placed On 10-Day Injured List

Houston Astros closer Roberto Osuna (elbow) was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with right elbow soreness. Osuna was pulled from Saturday's game during a save situation and the team will now be without his services for the near future. It's another injury to a pitching staff that has been decimated by them […]

Keone Kela Cleared To Throw

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Keone Kela (COVID-19) was cleared to workout on Sunday according to manager Derek Shelton. There's a possibility that Kela will be able to throw off the mound today, though the team said he'll need a couple sessions of facing live hitters before he's ready. It's unclear when he'll be available to pitch […]

Scott Oberg Likely Done For Year, Wade Davis To Injured List

Colorado Rockies relievers Scott Oberg (blood clots) and Wade Davis (shoulder) both hit the injured list on Sunday. Oberg's injury is more serious- he has blood clots in his right arm- and will almost certainly cause him to miss the rest of the shortened season. It's not the first time he's dealt with blood clots, […]

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

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. I know we're limping along, but baseball is still moving forward. We're balancing more than ever before when it comes to analyzing here. Postponed games, shortened doubleheaders, expanded rosters, teams in quarantine, and a sprint-style season. These first few weeks will be formatted differently, […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the August 2nd 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 […]

Liam Hendriks Pitches Clean Tenth For Save

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Liam Hendriks pitched a clean tenth inning to protect a one-run lead and earn his second save of the season. Hendriks induced two pop-ups and struck out J.P. Crawford to end the game, while keeping the automatic runner at second from crossing the plate to tie it up. He is now […]

Pocket Aces: Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2020 fantasy baseball season and keeps you updated with all the latest news and analysis. In this episode he breaks down some of his recommend players to target as fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and adds for Week 3 of the 2020 MLB season. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller […]

Rowan Wick Nails Down Save, Craig Kimbrel Not Used

Chicago Cubs right-handed pitcher Rowan Wick was tabbed to earn the save in Saturday’s game against the Pirates. After manager David Ross was asked earlier in the day about whether or not Craig Kimbrel was his closer after two rough outings thus far in 2020, Wick earned his third career save. While owners will want […]

Austin Brice To Work As Opener For Sunday’s Game

Boston Red Sox right-hander Austin Brice has been tabbed as the opener for Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees. Brice has worked in four games out of relief this season, yielding four runs in 4 ⅔ innings, including a pair of home runs. That propensity for allowing the long ball doesn’t bode well against a […]

Roberto Osuna Departs With Injury, Astros Bullpen Thin

Houston Astros right-handed closer Roberto Osuna was lifted during a save opportunity Saturday against the Angels, marking yet another arm that appears to be injured for a pitching staff that has been dismantled by injuries in the early part of 2020. Entering the day, only Osuna and right-hander Ryan Pressly were available in relief that […]

Taylor Rogers Strikes Out Two, Notches Third Save

Minnesota Twins closer Taylor Rogers closed out the ninth for the second consecutive night on Saturday. Rogers struck out two and surrendered no walks or hits en route to his third save of the 2020 season. The 29-year-old has barely broken a sweat in each of his three innings pitched this year and looks like […]