Bullpen Report: Closer Carousel Keeps Turning

We are just three weeks into the baseball season, but it may feel like longer because there has been an influx of news and developments that have impacted fantasy. There has been no position that has seen more changes than at relief pitcher. We have already seen a number of changes to teams' late-inning usage […]

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 70 Relief Pitcher Rankings

Welcome to the first version of my 2021 Relief Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take a weekly peek at my top 70 relievers moving forward. This is geared towards traditional 5x5 roto leagues, with the understanding that RPs are as volatile as it gets. You'll notice that I leave off most injured players because throwing […]

Friday Focus: April No-Showers May Bring Panic

T.S. Eliot once wrote that "April is the cruelest month." He didn't have fantasy baseball in mind, but the poet might as well have been surveying the wasteland of early under-perfomers in any given season. The back half of the month represents an inflection point in the schedule, a time when the initial flurry of […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the April 23rd 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 […]

The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

Another week, another update to my 2021 Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks, where we take stock of my top 101 SPs moving forward. This is the first "full" version of the year where the ranks table below comes with this google sheet that accompanies the table and adds a smattering of stats. Do note that I […]

The Big Picture - Backstops Balling Early

A necessary evil. A statistical sinkhole. A dark cloud hanging over your roster. That's how the catcher position is largely viewed these days. Much like the tight end position in fantasy football, if you don't grab one of the top three or four performers on draft day, you might as well just wait it out […]

DraftKings MLB DFS: Slate Breakdown for Friday, April 23

Welcome back to my little corner of RotoBaller where I have been graciously allowed to roam somewhat free on DFS analysis on Tuesdays and Fridays. For more details throughout the day, you can follow me on Twitter @JonPGH. Today I will focus less on my own verbose advice and just present you all with the […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (4/23/21): MLB DFS Lineups

Happy Friday, Rotoballers! It's time to throw out the first pitch on another weekend of DFS, and we've got 14 games on the menu. Of course, the actual first pitch of the weekend comes from Wrigley Field at 2:20 pm ET in the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs game, but those are the only two teams we […]

Kyle Higashioka Swats Third Home Run Of Season

New York Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka cranked his third home run of the season in Thursday's victory over Cleveland. Higashioka's homer was a no-doubter, a 420-foot blast that left the bat at an exit velocity of 105.6 MPH. He doubled in the third inning and scored on a DJ LeMahieu single. The 31-year-old is quietly […]

Rougned Odor Comes Up With Big Hit

New York Yankees infielder Rougned Odor came up big for his team in a 6-3 win over the Indians on Thursday. Odor came up with the bases loaded and the game tied at three- and delivered a two-RBI single to give the Yankees the lead for good. It's his first multi-hit game since joining New […]

Gleyber Torres Has Three-Hit Day

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in a 6-3 victory over the Indians. Torres was in the midst of a slump and took some heat for not hustling out a grounder on Wednesday night- though he bounced back nicely in Thursday's contest. He came up with […]

Aroldis Chapman Records Third Save Of Season

New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman locked down his third save of the season in Thursday's win over Cleveland. Chapman entered the ninth with a three-run lead and sandwiched a walk in between three strikeouts in a 14-pitch inning. The veteran closer still has yet to allow a run and owns a very impressive […]

Domingo German Earns Win With Quality Start

New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German notched his first win of the season in Thursday's 6-3 defeat of the Indians. German pitched six innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits while fanning six batters with one walk. He ran into trouble in the first inning, allowing a series of hits- and all […]

Luke Voit To Take Batting Practice Next Week

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (knee) will be in Scranton next week to take batting practice- and potentially see live game action. Voit was able to begin swinging the bat on Tuesday, so it sounds like he's trending in the right direction. The slugging first baseman is still a couple of weeks away […]

Deivi Garcia A Candidate For Spot Start

New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia is a candidate for a spot start if the team opts to go with a six-man rotation coming out of the weekend. Garcia pitched five innings at the alternate site earlier this week and would be fully rested and a possible option, as a member of the taxi […]

Aroldis Chapman Finding Success With Splitter

New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman is getting early results from his splitter. Chapman has thrown nine split-fingers this season and has yet to allow a hit with the pitch while striking out five batters with the offering. The veteran southpaw noted that it's not necessarily a new pitch, just one that he wasn't […]

Brett Gardner Moved Up To Leadoff Spot Thursday

New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will set the table for the offense as the leadoff man on Thursday against Indians' right-hander Aaron Civale. Gardner will get his first start of 2021 as the leadoff man, having previously slotted into the third, sixth, and ninth spots in the Yankee order. Manager Aaron Boone likely wanted […]

Gio Urshela Not In Lineup For Series Opener

New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela (back) is not in Thursday's lineup for the opening game of a four-game series against the Indians. Urshela had to leave Wednesday's game and was diagnosed with lower back tightness, though he's considered day-to-day. DJ LeMahieu will get the start at third base. Provided that Urshela is not […]

Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez Sitting Thursday

New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and catcher Gary Sanchez are getting the day off Thursday. Stanton had played in each of the last five games for New York, clubbing two homers with a trio of RBI and walks, though he struck out 10 times in that span. Sanchez, who is presumably still dealing […]

Daily Fantasy Baseball (DFS) Cheat Sheet. Stacks, and Avoids for April 22, 2021

  MLB DFS Premium Cheat Sheet for 4/22/21 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.    Top Tournament Stacks for 4/20/21 This section will highlight the top tournament lineup stacks of the day (depending on the size of the slate) and help you identify the pitchers that are best suited to pick […]

Daily Fantasy Baseball Streamers - MLB Hitter, Pitcher Lineup Picks for Thursday 4/22

Baseball is back, and fantasy managers in daily leagues no doubt already have holes to fill with streamers. Fortunately, RotoBaller has you covered with daily streaming picks. Each day, RotoBaller will provide you with some of the best streaming options to consider in fantasy baseball daily leagues. Additionally, these recommendations can be useful for fantasy […]

Gio Urshela Dealing With Lower Back Tightness

New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela (back) was forced to leave Wednesday's game early. The team provided an update, saying that Urshela is dealing with lower back tightness- and that no tests have been scheduled for him. The Yankees believe it's a day-to-day issue, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, so Urshela shouldn't be forced to […]

Clint Frazier Collects First RBI Of Season

New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI single in a 4-1 loss to the Braves. Frazier collected a run-scoring base hit in the ninth inning for his first RBI of the season- and drew a walk in his earlier at-bat. It's been a tough start to the year […]

Corey Kluber Plagued By Control Issues In Wednesday's Loss

New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber struggled in Wednesday's loss to the Braves. Kluber exhibited shaky control of the strike zone- as he walked four batters and struck out just a pair, allowing two runs on two hits in 4 2/3 innings. The veteran right-hander threw just 50 of his 91 pitches for strikes […]

Domingo German Listed As Thursday's Starter

New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German is slated to take the mound on Thursday against Cleveland. The Yankees sent German down to their alternate site, presumably to work on some things after having a rough outing in his first start- two home runs and three earned runs allowed. The 28-year-old reportedly pitched well in […]

Clint Frazier Batting Ninth In Wednesday's Game

New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier is back in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. He is starting in left field and batting ninth. Frazier sat out two of the team's last three games as Mike Tauchman and Brett Gardner each got a start in left field. Frazier has been ice cold […]

Aaron Hicks Returns To The Lineup On Wednesday

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks is back in the starting lineup on Wednesday as the team faces Ian Anderson and the Atlanta Braves. He's playing center field and batting seventh. Hicks was on the bench for the team's previous game on Wednesday. He's off to an extremely sluggish start to the 2021 season. Through […]

Early Season Report Card - Starting Pitchers

It's now been three weeks since Opening Day and the majority of teams have played 16 games representing 10% of the season. That also means, for the most part, Opening Day starters and teams' aces have made between 10-12.5% of their starts. There are some exceptions of course due to postponements, largely COVID-related, which have […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts from Week 3

Welcome to the 2021 edition of "Are You For Real?" This is a weekly column where we dissect surprisingly good starts from under-rostered and unheralded hurlers to try and determine whether they can maintain their performance, or if it was just a flash in the pan. Week 3 was another good one in the baseball […]

Bell's Best Bets - Premium MLB Betting Picks for 4/21/2021

What's up, RotoBallers! We have made it to Week 4of Bell's Best Bets. Week 3 didn't provide the massive turnaround that I had hoped it would, but we did end the week on a positive Sunday after just treading water with a .500 average towards the back half of the week. That means THIS is […]