Red Sox Set Back Half Of Opening Day Rotation

The Boston Red Sox will send Garrett Richards to the mound in the third game of the season, with Nick Pivetta and Martin Perez to start Games 4 and 5, according to The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey. McCaffrey adds that a final decision is expected on Wednesday, but Tanner Houck will likely be the Game 2 […]

Adam Ottavino Could See Save Opportunities

Boston Red Sox pitcher Adam Ottavino battled with Matt Barnes this spring for the club's closer role. But when Matt Barnes tested positive for COVID-19, the race was left unfinished according to manager Alex Cora. With Barnes now cleared to return to action, he and Ottavino should both work high-leverage situations and both could see […]

Matt Barnes Cleared To Return To Red Sox

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Barnes (COVID-19) has been cleared to return to the team, according to MLB Network's Joel Sherman. Sherman reports that Barnes was ruled to have a "non-infectious positive" diagnosis for COVID-19, and he has been allowed to return to activities, along with the eight others who were held out due […]

Hitters Primed for Comebacks After Injury-Plagued Seasons

Injuries can be tough to manage for fantasy managers, especially coming off of a 2020 season that saw coronavirus have a significant effect. Additionally, injuries can sometimes be freak accidents, and it can be difficult to separate concerning injuries from noise. Still, there are general truths about injuries that can help fantasy managers properly value […]

Updated Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021

Opening day is just around the corner. So what better way to celebrate the occasion than to refresh the Top 50 prospects list for 2021 redraft leagues. If you're a habitual prospect watcher then you could have a leg up on your fantasy competition in 2021. Managers around baseball will heavily rely on rookies like […]

ATC Projections Volatility for Multi-Category Players

One year ago, I penned my very first article on RotoBaller. I am truly honored that the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) awarded the piece as the 2020 Baseball Article of the Year. “Finding Combo-Player Values Using Z-Scores and ATC Projections” provided a new perspective on how to find helpful multi-category players to fill out […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - RotoBaller Staff Picks

As the 2021 MLB season approaches, it's time for the RotoBaller staff to once again reveal their favorite preseason draft sleepers. We recently asked some of our top fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are targeting the most in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. While you've likely […]

Matt Barnes Tests Positive For COVID-19

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Barnes (COVID-19) tested positive on Saturday for COVID-19, Tom Caron of NESN reports. Caron adds that the scheduled starter for Saturday's Grapefruit League game — Matt Andriese — has been scratched due to possible exposure. Barnes was Boston's closer last season, recording nine saves in 24 appearances while posting […]

Eric Samulski's Bold Predictions for 2021

It's bold prediction time! Everybody's favorite time of year. Last year I put out my bold prediction article, and it was a doozy. Obviously, publishing it before the shutdown which delayed the MLB season impacted some of the claims, but, actually, no, I'll just blame everything on that. Anyways, I'm back again to plant my […]

Garrett Whitlock Makes Opening Day Roster

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced on Friday morning that reliever Garrett Whitlock will make the team's Opening Day roster. Whitlock, who was acquired from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft this offseason, has been the team's feel-good story of the spring. He has allowed just one run in nine innings, striking out […]

Christian Vazquez Not Seriously Injured

Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez (eye) appears to be fine after getting hit in the face during a Thursday practice. Vazquez was scratched from Thursday's game with what the team called "an eye contusion and laceration under his left eye." Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that the team expects Vazquez to be ready for […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Will No Longer Start On Opening Day

Boston Red Sox ace Eduardo Rodriguez (arm) was scratched from his first-ever Opening Day start with what manager Alex Cora described as a "dead arm." Rodriguez missed the entire 2020 season with myocarditis resulting from COVID-19, but he has looked strong this spring, striking out 15 hitters and walking just two in his four starts. Cora […]

Advanced MLB DFS Strategy: Sneaky Stacks Against Reverse-Splits Pitchers

With Opening Day of the MLB season right around the corner, it's time to start getting your mind right and preparing for a full season of MLB DFS action. Last summer we missed out on several months of MLB games due to the COVID pandemic, but we are going to get 6 months worth of […]

Rafael Devers Slump Continues, Goes Hitless Thursday

Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers continued his recent cold streak on Thursday, going 0-for-2 in a 7-4 Red Sox loss. Over his last six games now, Devers is hitting 2-for-15 with one RBI, one walk and four strikeouts, as he lowers his spring triple slash line to .182/.234/.409 in 17 games. This sluggish […]

Franchy Cordero's Opening Day Status To Be Updated Soon

Originally expected to start the season on the injured list, Boston Red Sox outfielder Franchy Cordero now has a real chance to be on the Opening Day roster. Cordero, who was acquired in the Andrew Benintendi trade, was a late arrival to spring training after contracting COVID-19, but he has gotten three hits in his […]

RotoBaller Friends & Family Industry Mock Draft Recap

The 2021 RotoBaller Friends & Family Mock Draft is the continuation of an annual tradition where we gather some of the biggest names from the fantasy baseball world and put together a mock draft just as spring training has commenced. Thanks to RT Sports for once again hosting and providing a custom draft site where […]

First Basemen Set to Break Out in 2021

First base is typically one of the biggest sources of power in a fantasy lineup. First basemen hit more home runs than any other position in 2020, with their combined total of 342 homers accounting for nearly 15 percent of MLB's total. Power comes aplenty at first base, which often means managers will look to […]

JB's Bold Predictions for 2021

I'm going to let you in on a little secret... JB stands for "JUST BOLDNESS". Okay that's a lie... it's actually not a secret because I use that every year in my bold predictions intro (three years in a row now, sure saves time on writing a new intro though). Nevertheless, welcome to the latest […]

Engel's Insider Angles: Rebounds And Values From The Yankees Beat

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association award-winning Fantasy Baseball Insider Series continues on RotoBaller.com! Every year during fantasy baseball draft season, Scott Engel talks to prime MLB sources to get exclusive nuggets of information. On the condition of anonymity, former and current players, executives, scouts and media members provide their unfiltered insights on key players and […]

2021 Points League Ranks - First Base

Draft season is in full gear as we're only less than two weeks from Opening Day baseball. And here at RotoBaller, we're about more than just roto leagues. We're here to cover your whole fantasy spectrum. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from last year, I have strong opinions on […]

Which Pitchers With New Pitches Should We Care About?

There are few things more exciting in Spring Training than learning that a pitcher developed a new pitch. It's a little bit like waking up to find that you've been given a new toy. We're blinded by the possibilities of this new toy. Think of the fun we can have with it. Think of the […]

2021 Keeper Value Rankings - Shortstop

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 […]

Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Standouts with Max Greenfield - Benched with Bubba (Episode 353)

Bubba (@bdentrek) is joined by Max Greenfield (@GreenfieldMax18) of PitcherList. The guys will go over recent fantasy baseball news, talk about some specific players of interest (Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Domingo German, Max Scherzer), go over some Spring Training standouts (Joey Gallo, Joc Pederson, Bobby Dalbec, Shohei Ohtani, Willi Castro, Bobby Witt Jr.), and […]

Matt Barnes' Spring Performance Impressing Alex Cora

Boston Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes has been absolutely dominant this spring, and his performance has caught the attention of manager Alex Cora. Cora said on Sunday that his fastball looks the best it has in years, and he has done a good job cleaning up his delivery. Barnes has thrown four scoreless innings this […]

Nick Mariano's Top 140 Saves+Holds Rankings

To any reader who thinks they don't have a voice here at RotoBaller, let it be known that this article came from a simple Reddit comment about how those seeking Saves+Holds reliever ranks were often overlooked. Poof, and here we are. Allow me, Nick Mariano, 2018's most accurate draft expert (top-three for RPs in '18 […]

Xander Bogaerts' Spring Woes Continue Sunday

Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts continued his Spring Training struggles on Sunday afternoon, as he finished 0-for-3 in a loss to the Pirates. Sunday's performance dropped Bogaerts' spring line to .188/.278/.313 with more strikeouts (4) than hits (3) in seven games. Bogaerts got off to a late start this spring as he dealt with […]

J.D. Martinez Reaches Base Three Times Sunday

Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez went 1-for-1 with a double and two walks in a 9-4 loss to the Pirates on Sunday. It was Martinez's second extra-base hit of the spring, as he has underwhelmed so far with a .243/.293/.297 line with 13 strikeouts and three walks over 13 games. Martinez put up […]

Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 3 Lineup Trends

We are entering week four of Spring Training and week three gave us a lot to watch down the stretch. But of course, you can catch up by talking a look at week one and week two recaps. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and quotes […]

MLB DFS Advice: Picking Hitters on DraftKings and FanDuel

Welcome back to our DFS strategy series. I've already gone over some tips for picking pitchers in this post, and I covered a lot of the hitting side in this piece where I talked about stacking strategy. A lot of hitting tips were already covered in that stacking piece, so give that a look after […]

Pitcher Targets Under $5 - Salary Cap League Values

It's a cliché to say that those managers who finally dip their toe into salary cap leagues never go back to snake drafts. Snake drafts have their own charm. There is simply more going on, and thus, more fun to have when participating in a salary cap draft. There become no bounds on how one […]