Ketel Marte Homers, Injures Ankle Tuesday
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Ketel Marte went 1-for-2 with a home run and two runs scored before exiting the game after rolling his ankle on Tuesday. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that Marte rolled his left ankle going into third base on a double by Asdrubal Cabrera, and that he was removed from the game as... Read More
Nick Ahmed's Absence Tuesday Not Related To Knee Injury
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed was removed from the lineup Tuesday due to personal issues, according to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Ahmed had missed time recently due to right knee soreness, and he was scheduled to make his return to the lineup Tuesday before his sudden removal. Gilbert says that manager Torey Lovullo said the... Read More
J.B. Bukauskas One Of Five Players Reassigned On Tuesday
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher J.B. Bukauskas was optioned to Triple-A on Tuesday afternoon, the team announced on Twitter. Bukauskas was the big name among this round of cuts, which included pitcher Corbin Martin, infielder Geraldo Perdomo and outfielder Stuart Fairchild, who were also optioned to Triple-A, while first baseman Seth Beer was reassigned to Minor League... Read More
Nick Ahmed Scratched From Lineup Tuesday
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed (knee) was a late scratch from the lineup on Tuesday afternoon, according to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Ahmed has not appeared in a game since March 6, as he has been dealing with right knee soreness. With Ahmed's continued absence, Josh Rojas has been taking advantage of the increased... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Injury Updates
Injury updates tend to change often during Spring Training. "Soreness" is a common theme as players get back into game shape. I will be giving the most recent available injury updates from the offseason. These updates will undoubtedly change as Spring Training continues. As we get closer to Opening Day, some injuries are much more... Read More
Christian Walker Hits Third Homer Of Spring On Monday
Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI in a 6-2 victory over the Mariners on Monday. It was Walker's third home run of the spring, as he is now 5-for-20 with six RBI, two walks and six strikeouts in eight games. He has been one of the... Read More
2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (Part 1)
We now move on to starting pitcher in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, and Outfield. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on early spring training action. You can... Read More
Caleb Smith Strikes Out Five On Sunday
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Caleb Smith racked up five strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings on Sunday in a 6-3 loss to the Giants. Smith allowed only one run and one hit, but he walked four batters as he struggled with command. Of his 58 pitches thrown, 31 were for strikes while 27 were called balls.... Read More
Josh VanMeter Hits Second Homer Of Spring Sunday
Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Josh VanMeter went 1-for-2 on Sunday, hitting his second home run of the spring in a 6-3 loss to the Giants. He accounted for all of Arizona's runs with his three-run blast to center field, as he homered for the second game in a row. VanMeter has shown himself to be... Read More
Top 20 Outfielders - Dynasty Prospect Rankings
If you’ve played fantasy baseball for a while, you know how hard it can be to find enough quality outfielders to field a competitive team all year long. The good news for fantasy managers is that there are some big names on the way, thanks in part to the 2020 amateur draft which had a... Read More
Launch Angle Analysis - Potential HR Risers
With the onset of Statcast data, we can now better predict which hitters may be due for a power surge. Before recent years, we only had things like hard-hit rate and home runs per fly ball ratios to look to as predictors of future changes in home run rates. Now that we have launch angle,... Read More
Top 10 Tips for Fantasy Baseball Snake Drafts
Before I begin, let me caveat everything I say with this: I don't consider myself to be some sort of expert master fantasy player. I've only been playing fantasy baseball for a little under a decade. But as soon as I started to immerse myself into this game we all love, my main focus was... Read More
Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 2 Lineup Trends
Welcome back RotoBallers! We are entering week three of Spring Training already, and with that came a lot of things we saw in week two. But of course, my week one review also still has very relevant information as well. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and... Read More
Michael Florio's Hitters to Target
Every year, one of the articles I look most forward to writing is about the players I am targeting in my drafts. It not only allows me to talk about the players I know I am high on and go into my drafts hoping to select, but it also forces me to look over my... Read More
J.B. Bukauskas Continues Perfect Spring On Saturday
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher J.B. Bukauskas continued his perfect spring on Saturday afternoon, earning the win as he struck out the side in an inning of work against San Diego. He started off the fifth inning with a swinging strikeout against Tommy Pham, before striking out Ha-Seong Kim and Austin Nola looking. One of the top... Read More
Trayce Thompson Snaps Skid, Homers Against Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Trayce Thompson snapped a 1-for-18 skid on Saturday afternoon, as he went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and a stolen base. It was Thompson's third home run of the spring, as he improved his triple-slash line to .212/.257/.485 over 10 games. Thompson has struggled in limited playing time over the... Read More
Tim Locastro Goes 2-For-2 in Return To Lineup
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Locastro made his return to the lineup on Saturday, where he went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles in the victory over San Diego. Locastro had missed most of the last two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, but he looked solid at the plate with an infield single in the... Read More
Ketel Marte Homers In Diamondbacks' Win
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Ketel Marte slugged his first home run of the spring on Saturday, as he finished 1-for-3 in the win over the Padres. Marte has been on fire so far, going 9-for-16 with four doubles, one home run and four RBI, while getting a hit in six of his first seven games. He... Read More
Tim Locastro Returns To Lineup Saturday
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Locastro is back in the lineup and hitting second on Saturday after missing the last week and a half due to a positive COVID test. Locastro had appeared in only one game this spring before testing positive, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He has shown that he can be a 15-homer,... Read More
2021 Keeper Value Rankings - Second Base
Many many years ago, I noticed the managers in my long-time keeper league were consistently making terrible keeper decisions year after year. Instead of taking their money every year thought I would help them out and find a good set of Keeper League Rankings to share with them. What I found was quite disturbing. There... Read More
Nick Ahmed May Not Return Until Next Week
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed (knee) may not be back in the Cactus League lineup until next week as he continues to work his way back from stiffness in his right knee. Ahmed was scratched from the lineup on Monday, and while the team doesn't believe the injury is serious, they also want to err... Read More
Joakim Soria Struggles, Takes Loss Friday Against Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Joakim Soria was rocked for four runs on three hits in one inning of work on Friday afternoon, earning him the loss against the Angels. Soria struggled with command, throwing two wild pitches with one of them resulting in a batter reaching base on a strikeout. The outing was a stark... Read More
Zac Gallen Has Third Scoreless Start Of Spring Friday
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen kept his spring ERA at 0.00 on Friday afternoon, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing three hits and one walk with four strikeouts against the Angels. Gallen allowed most of his baserunners in the second inning, as he escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam by getting Jose Iglesias to... Read More
Eduardo Escobar Homers In Diamondbacks Loss
Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eduardo Escobar went 2-for-3 with his second home run of the spring on Friday afternoon in a 4-3 loss to the Angels. After starting off 0-for-4, Escobar has a hit in five consecutive games and is now slashing .316/.350/.737 through seven games this spring. Escobar is looking good at the plate... Read More
MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/12) - Severino Beginning Build Up
Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're officially through the first week of spring training games... Read More
Best-Ball Late-Round Values - Infield
Fantasy Baseball draft season is in full swing, and that goes for more than just redraft leagues; we are talking best-ball formats. Best-ball leagues have been gaining traction in recent years and for good reason. Drafts start almost immediately after the previous season ends for those looking for an offseason fantasy fix. Best-ball drafts are... Read More
2021 Outfielder Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
We now move on to the outfielder position in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Shortstop. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on early spring training action.... Read More
MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/11) - Hiura Endures Spring Struggles
Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're officially through the first week of spring training games... Read More
David Peralta Hits First Home Run Of Spring Wednesday
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta went 1-for-3 with his first home run of the spring on Wednesday night in a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers. Peralta led off the game with a solo shot to right and then drove in Arizona's only other run on a fifth-inning groundout. He has looked solid at the plate... Read More
Top 10 Shortstops - Dynasty Prospects Rankings
The shortstop position is a bountiful one for fantasy players. In a 12-team league, most fantasy managers should have the opportunity to be happy with their starter at the position thanks to the depth and variety of skills available. In 2019, 16 shortstops that had at least 350 plate appearances produced a 100 wRC+ or... Read More