EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 19 Part 1: English Premier League

Matchweek 19 is the biggest and strangest matchweek of the season. It begins with a full ten game slate over the weekend which is now just nine games due to Aston Villa's match with Everton being postponed due to the former's Covid-19 outbreak. There are also five additional midweek games before Aston Villa are due […]

Yiddi Cappe Among Marlins International Signings

The Miami Marlins signed 18-year-old infielder Yiddi Cappe among 11 players on Friday during baseball's international signing period. Cappe is widely regarded as one of baseball's top-10 international prospects. He stands at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds and has played shortstop in national competition in Cuba since he was 16 years old. The Marlins also were able […]

Marlins Interested In Willson Contreras, Andrew Benintendi

The Miami Marlins have interest in trading for Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. With the team currently projected to start the 2021 season with a platoon of Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach behind the plate, catcher is one of Miami's biggest needs. Miami is also one of several teams engaged with the Boston Red Sox […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 18: English Premier League

The opening weekend of 2021 saw a mixed bag for us with one winner, one loser and one postponement. Everton looked pretty toothless despite being the better side against West Ham before succumbing to a late sucker punch to lose. Brighton and Wolves then played out an entertaining 3-3 draw, a game we predicted to […]

Valuable Long Relievers of 2020 and the Lingering Impact (Part 1)

The circumstantial insanity of the 2020 MLB season necessitated some adjustments in strategy, both for big-league managers and fantasy baseball GMs. One of these adjustments, prompted by frequent doubleheaders and the three-batter minimum rule, was the greater use of long-relievers and a generally reduced workload for rotation pitchers. That makes sense from the perspective of […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 17: English Premier League

The festive period started with a whimper, but we ended it with a bang by cashing in picks of +120 and +143 along with correct score picks of +575 and +750 in matchweek 16. We were one goal away from a +1470 parlay too but we can't grumble. This time of year is notoriously difficult […]

Year-In-Review: Rafael Dolis and Jordan Romano

As I created my early 2021 Relief Pitcher rankings, I realized how wide open so many bullpens are right now due to free agency. One team that will surely add a late-inning arm this offseason is the Toronto Blue Jays, as Anthony Bass and Ken Giles are both now free agents. But are they in […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball First Base Rankings

Once again, I'll start by saying the 2021 baseball season is not guaranteed to be a normal one. But for now, let's just close our eyes and dream of a world unencumbered by COVID-19 and talk about our silly little game as if a 162-game season will come next spring. Join me for my position-by-position […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 16: English Premier League

The EPL's hectic Christmas schedule is such that I'm having to write this before Matchweek 15 has been completed. As if teams playing two games in three days isn't difficult enough to predict, there could be some issues (such as injuries etc) that cause me to alter my thought process on a game. So I'll […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 15: English Premier League

Another weekend of nearly but not quite as Newcastle couldn't find a winner against the 10-men of Fulham and had to settle for a point. A Newcastle winner would have netted us a +164 pick and +850 correct score. Tottenham then wet the bed at home to Leicester (losing 2-0) before Aston Villa helped us […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 14: English Premier League

The midweek slate was brutal with zero correct picks. It goes to show how unpredictable the EPL is and how fine the margins are we're working with. Newcastle was 15 minutes away from bagging us the pick, before capitulating to a 5-2 defeat. Brighton and Fulham did draw, sadly for us it was a boring […]

Lance Lynn to White Sox - Fantasy Impact

Entering the offseason looking to shore up their pitching staff, the White Sox made the first big move in the 2020 starting pitcher market with the acquisition of right-hander Lance Lynn from the Texas Rangers. In return, Chicago sent top-100 prospect Dane Dunning and 2019 sixth-rounder Avery Weems down south to Arlington. In a move […]

Strike Zone Rate Analysis - Starting Pitchers

There are hundreds of metrics out there that describe pitchers. The richness of the available data is rivaled by no other sport. This can at times lead to information overload, leading us too far away from the core tenants of what success looks like. One group of statistics that are very simple and very helpful […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 13: English Premier League

If you read last weekend's piece, you'll have seen I'm currently nursing a broken finger which is making typing more painful than it should be. Nevertheless, the process and research doesn't diminish, just the quantity of the write-up is a bit less. We still managed to bag two winners from our three picks at +131 […]

MLB's Best Pitches by the Numbers

One of the most-often used algorithms in the data science world is called clustering. Clustering is defined, by Wikipedia, as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters) In baseball […]

Statcast Review - Hard Hit/Exit Velocity Pitching Leaders

Pitcher contact quality can be a tricky attribute for fantasy managers to incorporate into their analysis. On one hand, pitchers are more at the whim of hitters when it comes to contact quality than the other way around. On the other hand, it certainly seems as though pitchers can exert meaningful control over their contact […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Early ADP Air% Exit Velocity

Looking at average exit velocity to project future power is not very useful compared to looking only at balls hit in the air. Because who cares how hard ground balls are hit? However, it can be even more useful to parse out those velocities into more refined bins and cast a more critical eye to […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 12: English Premier League

First things first; this will be a shortened piece this week. Still three picks, still three score predictions and still a parlay. But I'm currently nursing a broken finger so typing is painful and is something I need to limit right now (Doctor's orders). Anyway, last week was our best of the season with two […]

Year-In-Review: Sixto Sanchez

The 2020 season presented numerous challenges and is one that most teams, Dodgers aside, are ready to move on from. In the case of the Miami Marlins, it represented a major step forward for a perennially-rebuilding franchise. The Marlins made the playoffs for the first time since their 2003 championship season, mostly on the strength […]

Top 250 Dynasty Prospects for 2021

The 2020 baseball season was unlike any year we’ve ever seen with its shortened season and schedule that can perhaps be best described as organized chaos. The absence of a minor league season played havoc with prospect prognosticators. The 2021 season — and perhaps beyond — will continue to present unique challenges as the pandemic […]

Biggest Risers of 2020 – Relief Pitchers

In 2020, we saw a large number of relief pitchers, previously not in the upper tier of fantasy rankings, breakout or bounce back from 2019 decrepitude. Below we will take a look at a few of the biggest relief pitcher risers of the 2020 season as we gear up for 2021 drafts in the spring. […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Rankings

The 2021 MLB season isn't guaranteed to be normal but I have hope that next spring will be much healthier. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much weight do we give 2020? How […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings

The upcoming 2021 season may not be normal -- going from 2020 to 2021 doesn't wave a magic wand -- but there's still comfort in baseball. As such, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking series for the 2021 fantasy baseball season. How much […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 11: English Premier League

No sugar coating last week: it was brutal. Between Fulham and Leicester combining for 31 fouls and only two yellow cards, Everton and Leeds combining for 37 shots and just one goal, and Arsenal and Wolves combing for three goals in the first half, nothing went right. After three straight profitable weeks, it was a […]

Marlins Acquire Adam Cimber, DFA Jose Urena

The Miami Marlins acquired sidearm reliever Adam Cimber from the Cleveland Indians on Monday in exchange for $100,000. In a corresponding move, the Marlins designated right-hander Jose Urena for assignment. Urena was the team's Opening Day starter in 2018 and 2019 and spent six seasons with the club, but he went 0-3 with a 5.40 […]

Projecting Power in 2021: Elite Levels of Air% Exit Velocity

Everyone wants more power, even more so when it comes relatively cheap. But even when pricey, you're going to need to draft a bomber or two. One of the best ways to see how a player's power is trending is to sift through their exit-velocities to see what they're saying. Most know by now that […]

Year-in-Review: Lance McCullers Jr.

It had been a while since we saw Lance McCullers Jr. on the mound. He has dealt with his fair share of injuries throughout his career, and he dealt with his most severe in 2019 when he lost the entire season to Tommy John surgery. The shutdown and the subsequent delayed start to the season […]

Nick Mariano's Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Outfield Rankings

I think most of us would agree that looking forward to 2021 is a good idea. For me, that means immersing myself in the upcoming baseball season. While there's no guarantee COVID-19 won't affect the '21 season, I will approach ranks as if a traditional 162-game season is coming. Join me for my position-by-position ranking […]

EPL Betting Picks for Matchweek 10: English Premier League

For the third straight week, we bag two out of three correct picks to make a profit but are denied the big parlay payout by the odd goal. Chelsea and Newcastle couldn't find that elusive third goal between them with the former missing numerous good chances and the latter hitting the woodwork. All the more […]

Early 2021 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft - ADP Surprises

Of course, there are many changes to be made throughout the offseason. It feels as if the dust is still settling on the 2020 World Series yet baseball fans are more ready for the upcoming season than ever. We have no idea whether a full schedule can be played, what games will look like, and […]