ADP Sleepers and Busts - Closers

Where an owner drafts closers comes down to personal strategy and philosophy. Some owners are willing spend up for high-end closers like Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, while others are content to let closers fly off the board deep into the draft and scrounge for saves late. For those of us unwilling to invest in […]

Opening Series Rotation Has Been Set For Boston

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced starting pitchers Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello will start the first three regular season games against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) had a successful four innings in a minor league game Tuesday. If he has no […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Takes Next Step In Recovery, Hopes To Start Year In Rotation

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) threw 60 pitches in his four innings Tuesday in a minor league game, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Rodriguez felt confident after the outing. “Everything was really good,” said Rodriguez. “It was the first time I was in a real game and the pitches […]

Dustin Pedroia Ready To Get Back In Games

Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (knee) eagerly wants to play in games on Thursday and Friday. However, manager Alex Cora decided against it. Pedroia will continue to work on taking grounders and hitting on the field. Cora is being smart to make sure to have Pedroia fully healthy before installing him back in […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Pitches In Minor League Game Tuesday

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) is scheduled to pitch four innings in a minor league game Tuesday, according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Manager Alex Cora said a spring training game would be next if all goes well Tuesday. Cora has mentioned before that he would not rush Rodriguez back […]

Xander Bogaerts Hits HR In Victory Over Phillies

Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-3 with a home runs and two RBI on Monday against the Phillies. He is hitting .353 with two HRs and a 1.026 OPS this spring. Bogaerts is trying to recover from a letdown 2017 season when he had a .273 average to go with 10 HRs and […]

Blake Swihart's Strong Spring Could Sway BoSox To Retain Him

Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart has had a strong spring at the plate while gaining experience in the field as well. His performance and positional flexibility might influence the team to trade other assets, according to Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. Swihart has a .283 average with two home runs and seven RBI […]

Dollar Day Auction Targets for Fantasy Baseball Drafts

The latter part of an auction draft is arguably the most fun part. All of the obvious players to own are long gone, and now owners must go searching through the coal to find the one diamond that will make the difference for their team. Owners were patting themselves on the back after finding $1 […]

Second-Year Hitters Set To Breakout In 2018

We were blessed with two huge fantasy baseball stars emerging from the rookie class in 2017. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger burst onto the scene and owned the AL and NL, respectively, Rookie of the Year honors. Now, it’s time to examine the 2017 rookies and determine who will learn from their inaugural campaign and […]

Chris Sale Knows He Had A Bad Game Monday

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale allowed four runs against the Phillies on Monday. He did strike out six batters, but it was the three walks that really made the day difficult for Sale. According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, Sale mentioned his frustration due to lack of command and lack of feel […]

Drew Pomeranz Ready For Shortened Minor League Game

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz (forearm) is scheduled to pitch a three-inning minor league game on Friday, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Pomeranz is still recovering from a flexor strain and has had forearm issues in the past, so it is always something to be cautious with and not rush […]

Craig Kimbrel Has Confidence Of Manager

Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel has returned to camp and still has the confidence of manager Alex Cora, reported Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. To illustrate his confidence in Kimbrel's readiness, Cora stated, "As long as we have a three-run lead or two-run lead or one-run lead, he’ll be ready for that one." […]

ADP Sleepers and Busts - Second Basemen

Second base is somewhat deep this year and you should be able to find juicy upside in the later rounds of standard drafts. Jason Kipnis is a popular bounce-back candidate, Yoan Moncada and Ozzie Albies are intriguing at their current ADPs, and guys like Scooter Gennett and Ian Kinsler should be available for managers who […]

Craig Kimbrel Returns To Camp

Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel is returning to camp, according to Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal. Kimbrel has been in Boston since Feb. 27 to be with his infant daughter Lydia, who had a second heart procedure. Kimbrel had been working out while in Boston. The plan now is for him to […]

Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball Part 14 - Statcast For Pitchers

Previously, we looked at Barrels, a stat combining exit velocity and launch angle to measure how often a batter makes quality hard contact. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is some evidence that pitchers do not have the same influence […]

Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2018

Every day from now until Opening Day, our writers will be offering their most audacious projections for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. This is my fourth go-round with this series. I've had some great successes and some equally terrible calls in both previous attempts, and this year should be no different. Hopefully the former outweigh […]

Steven Wright Pushing To Be On Opening Day Roster

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Steven Wright (knee) threw three innings of live batting practice Saturday, according to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Wright had cartilage restoration surgery on his left knee in May, which abruptly ended his 2017 season. A spring training game is not too far in the future for Wright. Currently, Wright's recovery is […]

Overvalued - Second Basemen Set to Bust in 2018

Predicting busts is surprisingly easy if you really think about it. Looking at a player’s age is a good starting point, but their recent season performances are even more telling. The guys listed below are players who I think will underwhelm expectations in 2018. You won’t be seeing fantasy studs like Jose Ramirez or Brian […]

Craig Kimbrel Still In Boston With Daughter

Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel is still in Boston with his daughter Lydia, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Manager Alex Cora is very supportive of the family and stated, "That’s about Lydia. ... They’ll make a decision as a family." Kimbrel has been away from camp since Feb. 27. He did […]

Top Third Base Prospect Rankings - 2018 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back, RotoBallers. I'll be breaking down impact prospects by position. Today I'm bringing you my top 10 third basemen - MLB prospect rankings for the 2018 fantasy baseball season. Third base this season is a particularly interesting class of prospects. There are so many like Nick Senzel, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Gleyber Torres who […]

Eduardo Rodriguez (SP, BOS) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target ~ 310 CURRENT ADP: 330 ANALYSIS: It seems like Eduardo Rodriguez has been talked about forever, but the power lefty only turns 25 in April; this is shocking to say the least. Rodriguez has had trouble staying on the field the past few seasons due to right knee injuries, but when healthy […]

Eduardo Rodriguez Had Successful Batting Practice Session

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) threw three innings of batting practice against minor leaguers on Thursday, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. He threw 47 pitches -- a combination of fastballs, sliders and changeups. Rodriguez is working his way back from knee surgery. He is focused on strengthening his shoulder […]

David Price Has Impressive Debut

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price pitched four shutout innings with five strikeouts and one walk against the Blue Jays on Thursday. It is a good sign for Price to be this dialed in so close to the start of the season. As he adds innings, we will see how his elbow holds up […]

Updated Relief Pitcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at one of the shallower positions - relief pitcher. As usual, there are a few elite options at the top, and it gets much […]

Brad Ziegler (RP, Mia) - 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers & Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target end of your draft or ~275, whichever comes first CURRENT ADP: 344 ANALYSIS: Miami Marlins closer Brad Ziegler is not a flashy pickup. He is not going to overwhelm anyone with strikeouts like Craig Kimbrel, induce a ridiculous amount of ground balls like Zach Britton, or blow teams away with a triple-digit fastball like Aroldis […]

Third Base H2H Points Rankings - March Update

We are getting closer and closer to the first pitch of the 2018 MLB season. Spring training is in full swing which means we are right in the thick of draft season. If you have a draft coming up soon, make sure to use our rankings for all league types. Regardless of the platform or […]

Updated Shortstop Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

With the regular season only a few weeks away, the esteemed RotoBaller staff has updated their rankings one last time. We continue our review of the March update with a look at the glorious shortstop position. There's a bevy of talented bats ready to be penciled in at the "6" this season, but the sure things draw […]

Updated Catcher Rankings - 2018 Fantasy Baseball

One final time before regular season baseball returns and our lives are, at last, complete, RotoBaller's staff writers are updating their 2018 fantasy baseball rankings. Today, we'll be taking a look at the shallowest position - catcher. As usual, after the few elite options are off the board, it's probably best to leave filling this […]

Leading Indicators - First Pitch Strikes and Strikeout Risers

Conventional baseball wisdom harps on the importance of the first-pitch strike (F-strike%). As pitchers get ahead in counts, they gain an advantage on hitters and have more pitch choices at their disposal. However, smart people discovered a hitter's average with a 0-1 count (.321) is only marginally worse than a 1-0 count (.337). The pitch […]

Chris Taylor Rankings Debate - Comparing RotoBaller's Rankers

We continue our long-running series of articles debating fantasy rankings with a super-utility player that suddenly became a fantasy force in 2017. The question remains: is it repeatable? RotoBaller's expert writers have come up with our consensus rankings for mixed leagues, but that doesn't mean we agreed on everything. In this space, we'll hear from […]