Kings of Candy: Sweet-Spot% Risers

While the 2020 season may not have given us much of a sample to evaluate outcomes (home runs, doubles, flyouts, etc.), the core events of exit velocity and launch angle stabilize more quickly and can be stickier than combination statistics like ISO or BB%. Two of our FSWA Writer-of-the-Year Finalists, Eric Samulski and Nicklaus Gaut, […]

2021 Relief Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues

We continue to move past the chaos of 2020 and onto a new baseball season full of promise. For fantasy baseball managers, draft season is already upon us. RotoBaller's rankers, Pierre Camus, Big Pick Nick Mariano, Ariel Cohen and I have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings as we now move on to evaluate the […]

Jameson Taillon Pitches Two Scoreless Innings

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jameson Taillon pitched two scoreless innings during his second spring appearance — and first start — on Saturday. He struck out four batters while throwing all of his pitches. His fastball sat around 92 mph and touched 93.6 mph. His heater averaged 95 mph prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery […]

Gerrit Cole's Saturday Start Scratched Due To Weather

New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole was slated to start on Saturday against his former team, the Pirates, though his start was scratched due to weather concerns. The Yankees will play in Bradenton, where a quarter-to-half of rainfall is expected on Saturday. The team understandably didn't want to risk the weather nixing Cole's second start- […]

Gleyber Torres Homers On Friday

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres clubbed his first home run of the spring on Friday with a 369-foot shot against the Tigers. A relatively poor launch angle profile (33.3% sweet-spot rate, 41.7% ground-ball rate) fueled a down year from Torres in 2020 highlighted by a disappointing .334 xwOBAcon, but at least some of Torres's […]

Nick Mariano's 2021 Late-Round Fliers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Howdy, RotoBallers! I hope you're ready to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. We’re here to dig a little deeper into the draft room and look for players that would be wise to take a flier on in the late rounds. 2021 might […]

Nick Mariano's 2021 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Sleeper has started to lose its meaning in fantasy sports, becoming an SEO must for articles despite no real consensus on what it means. So let's get my definition out of the way first. Sleepers are not necessarily meant to be names that no one […]

Domingo German Impresses On Friday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German looked good on Friday in his first game action since 2019, striking out four opposing batters over two innings in which the only damage against him was one hit. German missed the entire 2020 season as he served a domestic violence suspension, and he's now battling promising prospect […]

DJ LeMahieu Reaches Three Times In Spring Training Action Friday

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu went 2-for-2 with a walk in a Grapefruit League contest Friday against the Tigers. The reigning AL batting champ picked up right where he left off last season when he posted a career-high .421 on-base percentage. In two seasons with New York, LeMahieu has silenced all doubters who […]

2021 Dynasty Leagues: Top Trade Targets (Premium Content)

While redraft owners prepare for draft day, dynasty owners are scouring the trade market. The weeks preceding spring training are optimal to take a chance on young players who have yet to peak or may have question marks surrounding them. Not all buy-low scenarios will pan out as expected, but when playing the long game, […]

Starting Pitcher Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

As the 2021 MLB season approaches, it's a good time to take stock of the dynasty landscape. We've examined hitters at first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and outfield. Now it's time to dive into the player pool for starting pitchers. Starters are increasingly difficult to project long-term with the steadily-increasing limitations being placed on […]

2021 Dynasty Leagues: Players to Trade Away (Premium Content)

The wide range of projections for the 2021 Major League season leaves dynasty managers with more questions than ever. How do you value prospects who didn't get the benefit of a minor league season? How much stock do you put into 2020 stats? Is this the time to be aggressive in the trade market or […]

Aaron Boone To Rejoin The Yankees This Weekend

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will rejoin the team sometime this weekend after undergoing surgery to receive a pacemaker in his heart on Wednesday. Thankfully, Boone’s surgery reportedly went smoothly, and the skipper’s return to the team has been on schedule as he had been expected to miss only a few days. The biggest […]

Nick Mariano's Auction Draft Strategies and Tips (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. We applaud you and your league for playing in the more entertaining format that is auction-based fantasy baseball. This is not a 101-level "how-to" guide, you'll need to know how to click "Bid" and whatnot. But I want to help you go from the […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/5) - Buehler Building Up For Big Season

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We've finally made it to (real?) baseball games. […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/4) - Realmuto Nearing Return

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We've finally made it to (real?) baseball games. […]

Deivi Garcia Allows Two Home Runs On Thursday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia struggled in his spring training debut on Thursday, allowing two solo home runs over two innings. Garcia's command appeared to be somewhat shaky after he left a handful of pitches over the heart of the plate, but he did generate a 33% swinging-strike rate and picked up three […]

Gio Urshela Feels Good After Spring Debut

New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela (elbow) said that he's back to feeling 100% after going 0-for-2 in his spring training debut on Thursday. Thursday's outing was Urshela's first game action after he underwent offseason surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow, and it's encouraging to hear that he felt healthy after […]

Corey Kluber Shines On Wednesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber turned in a strong performance on Wednesday, tossing two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Somewhat encouragingly, Kluber's multi-year velocity decline appears to have plateaued as his sinker sat at 91.1 mph on Wednesday, roughly in line with last season's 91.5 mph mark. Fantasy managers shouldn't take much away […]

Over/Undervalued Fantasy Baseball Players with Vlad Sedler: The Operating Room Ep. 22

Kev Mahserejian (@RotoSurgeon) and Vlad Sedler (@RotoGut) of FantasyGuru discuss opportunities presented to managers in the 2021 Fantasy Baseball season. Vlad, a seasoned high-stakes NFBC participant/winner, and creator of VDP, is a veteran of the industry who has formed his strategy over the years to a low-risk, high-reward system. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller […]

2021 Keeper Value Rankings - First 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 […]

Lineup Takeaways - An Early Look at Spring Training Trends

As many of you know, tracking lineups is what I am all in on this 2021 season and with it comes an influx of data and information right away. Going forward, a weekly article will occur - especially as we get into more tangible information and data. However, I wanted to get ahead of the […]

Aaron Boone Taking A Leave Of Absence

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone is taking a medical leave of absence from the team to receive a pacemaker in his heart. The Yankees are optimistic that Boone can return to the team within the next few days so his absence shouldn't have much of an impact on the team's lineups during the regular […]

Harold Ramirez (OF, CLE) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

The Cleveland Indians finished the shortened 2020 season 10 games above .500 and earned a Wild Card spot out of the A.L. Central. They had this success despite having one of the worst-performing outfields in all of baseball. In 2021, they should be much better in the outfield with a hopeful rebound from Oscar Mercado […]

Jordan Montgomery Shaky On Tuesday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery pitched poorly against the Orioles on Tuesday, allowing one run on two hits and two walks over two innings of work. Montgomery and manager Aaron Boone both stressed that the pitcher is working to improve his fastball command during spring training, a focus that could help Montgomery improve […]

Roster Construction Strategies from the End

Drafting a great roster is the vital base for a successful fantasy baseball season. All draft spots are not created equal. There are pros and cons for all of them. You'll find that everyone has their own preference on the best spot to start the draft. The purpose of this article series is to get […]

Aaron Hicks To Bat Third

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks will primarily bat third in the team's lineup this season, according to manager Aaron Boone. That lineup likely has Hicks hitting behind two strong on-base hitters in DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge and in front of slugger Giancarlo Stanton, giving Hicks one of the most desirable lineup spots in […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/2): Glasnow Struggles, Taillon and Chapman Return

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. I began this column a year ago, and made it about four or five articles in when Major League Baseball decided to shut things down, just like everything else around the globe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We've finally made it to (real?) baseball games. […]

Jameson Taillon Efficient On Monday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jameson Taillon looked good on Monday, tossing a clean seven-pitch inning with one strikeout. Monday was Taillon's first game action since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, and he showed few signs of rust with his impressive performance. Taillon still has to work his changeup back into his pitch […]

Gary Sanchez Homers On Monday

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had an excellent game on Monday, crushing a 429-foot home run in his only plate appearance while receiving positive feedback on his defense from starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. An ugly 36% strikeout rate fueled a down year for Sanchez in 2020, and his poor offensive production combined with his […]