ERA Lie Detector: Finding 2019 Overachievers With SIERA (Part 1)

Skills-Interactive ERA (or SIERA) has been around since 2011 when it was introduced at Baseball Prospectus by Matt Swartz and Eric Seidman before moving to its current home at Fangraphs. Much like xFIP, SIERA attempts to quantify the skills that underpin a pitcher's ERA, albeit in a different manner. Although technically a backward-looking evaluator,  SIERA […]

James Paxton Adding Fastball Spin

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton has altered his fastball grip to produce a higher spin rate with the pitch. Paxton tends to throw his fastball up in the zone, and the pitch is complemented by a solid curveball. As a result, if Paxton successfully adds spin to his fastball then he’s likely to […]

Giancarlo Stanton Taking Batting Practice

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (calf) has been taking batting practice as he continues to recover from a calf strain suffered early in spring training. The Yankees have been optimistic that Stanton would be healthy for the start of the season, and taking BP is a strong sign in that direction. Stanton is sometimes […]

Aaron Judge Not Yet Swinging

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (rib) has yet to resume swinging, indicating that he still hasn’t had an additional CT scan. Judge is scheduled to undergo a CT scan sometime soon, but he hasn’t swung pain-free since the beginning of spring training and is unlikely to start swinging before getting a clean scan. Until […]

ADP Risers: The Injured and the Young

Over the last few days, there have been rumors circulating of a baseball season starting in early July. This is music to all our fantasy baseball ears. With news of the game we love returning, that also means it will be time to start drafting again.  During draft season most people love looking at the […]

WPC+ Videocast: New Draft Strategies for a Shortened Season

Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut review the draft board for RotoBaller's recent expert mock fantasy baseball draft and explain how their strategies have changed with the likelihood of a shortened MLB season in 2020. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and […]

Aaron Hicks Swinging

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (elbow) has been swinging a bat and working through a throwing program as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Yankees are optimistic that Hicks can be major league ready by this summer, and his progress so far suggests that he’s comfortably on pace for that target. If Hicks […]

James Paxton Throwing Simulated Games

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton (back) has been throwing simulated games as he recovers from offseason back surgery. Paxton’s rehab has gone well so far, and it seems like the 31-year-old is in line to be healthy for Opening Day, whenever that may be. When healthy, Paxton is a solid fantasy option who […]

Aaron Judge Expected To Be Ready This Summer

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (rib) has continued to heal from a stress fracture in his rib and is expected to be ready at some point this summer after undergoing additional tests. That the Yankees are relatively optimistic about Judge’s chances of playing this season after he’s had additional tests is encouraging, but fantasy […]

ADP Comparison: Biggest Risers From March To May

A delayed start to the MLB season has allowed several relatively high-profile MLB players to heal from offseason and spring training injuries, but improved health isn’t the only cause for a rising ADP. Some players have benefited from adjusted roster projections, and some for unclear reasons. With that in mind, here is a list of […]

Chicago Cubs: Top 10 Dynasty Prospects

Once the 2020 MLB season begins, it may turn out that minor league systems will be more important than usual. Franchises are losing money during the pandemic layoff, so many teams will be looking for sources of cheap production. It might also take older players longer to rebound from a long layoff meaning we could […]

ADP Comparison: Biggest Fallers from March to May

MLB first announced that its season would be postponed on March 12. Over the past month or so, a plan to resume games has taken several forms, but nothing is set in stone yet. For now, it appears as though teams will play in a maximum of 100 games in 2020, with the minor league […]

Giovanny Urshela (3B, NYY) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~220 CURRENT ADP: ~250 overall ANALYSIS: Giovanny Urshela was an afterthought on the Yankees roster before last spring, but he wound up being one of their most indispensable players by season's end. In 132 games, Urshela batted .314 while also contributing elsewhere thanks to 21 homers and 74 runs batted in hitting […]

Aaron Hicks Throwing From 90 Feet

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (elbow) has reportedly been throwing from 90 feet and taking soft toss as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery. With the season unlikely to start until July at the earliest, Hicks should be expected to miss no more than a couple of weeks to start the season. […]

Aaron Judge Scheduled For CT Scan

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (ribs) is set to undergo another CT scan in a couple of weeks after the results of his March 13 CT scan showed that he was not yet fully healthy. Manager Aaron Boone is optimistic that the additional rest has allowed Judge’s ribs to heal, but fantasy owners should […]

Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Suffer the Most

After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]

Drafting First Overall In Rotisserie Formats

I really do believe there’s no such thing as too much draft strategy. There are a lot of factors that play into draft selections. I will be discussing topics ranging from positional scarcity to team construction and many things in between. The idea is to go into my strategy and targets through the first 10 […]

Eliminating Park Factors: Which Pitchers Will Benefit Most

After weeks of half-baked proposals cribbed from rejected "BioDome" scripts, there now seems to be a scrape of light at the end of the no-baseball tunnel. MLB seems to be increasingly confident that a 2020 season will be played, whether it's playing all games in one location (the Arizona plan), playing in multiple warm-weather hubs (Arizona, […]

Third Base ADP Reflections

Third base is arguably the deepest position in fantasy this year, with plenty of highly productive options outside of the first 20 third basemen being drafted. The position is so deep that if a player isn’t a lock for an OPS above .900, doesn’t have positional versatility, or doesn’t offer stolen bases, then they may […]

NL Players Who Could Benefit From Extended Rosters

Although we still don't have baseball, we're starting to get a lot of proposals on how we COULD have baseball this summer. The plans may wind up just being a fantasy, but, hey, this is a fantasy site, so it makes sense for us to take a look at it. One of the facets of […]

ADP Champ or Chump Spotlight: Gleyber Torres

When people think of Gleyber Torres, the first thing that springs to mind is the fact that he completely obliterated the Baltimore Orioles in 2019 to the tune of .394/.467/1.045 with 13 HR. His supporters claim that the Orioles are still terrible, so Torres will be able to fatten up his stat line again. His […]

Introducing xPA to Project Plate Appearances

I like big rates and I cannot lie. You other readers can't deny. When a rate walks in with an itty PA and an integer in my face, I get sprung...Whoa! Wait just one second, Sir-Mix-A-Nick. Before I go full-Rhymenoceros on everyone, maybe we oughta back the track up a little bit. What I like […]

Dynasty League Buy/Sell

With the uncertainty of opening day, there is no better time to play in an MLB Fantasy Dynasty League. Due to the league format, it by far the most unaffected by the delay of Opening Day. Drafting and trading can proceed in full force as the value assigned to these players go long beyond this […]

How a Revamped MLB Season will Impact Fantasy Baseball

No matter how this MLB season plays out it will look like something we have never seen before. Not only is the start of the season already delayed, but there is no definitive end in sight. If we do see baseball this season, the game is going to look very different. First, there will be […]

James Paxton Throwing Bullpens

New York Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton (back) has been throwing bullpen sessions and appears likely to be ready for Opening Day. Paxton underwent back surgery over the offseason and has avoided setbacks in his recovery so far, and his return to full health bumps pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga out of the Yankee rotation. Paxton boasts […]

Giancarlo Stanton Ready To Play

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (calf) is reportedly healthy enough to play and is expected to start for the team whenever the season begins. Stanton suffered a calf strain early in spring training and had been expected to miss time, but with the season delayed the outfielder appears unlikely to start the season on […]

Second Basemen Likely to Return a Loss in 2020

As mentioned in my article covering 1B that we might be over-drafting, my goal in these articles is to point out players who might "bust" at their current ADP. The definition of a bust that I'm using is when you invest a large amount of draft capital in a player who doesn't hit the production […]

OPS Overachievers: Using xOPS to Judge Performance

We've already dug into xOPS by looking at the biggest underachievers from last year. Now, it's time to examine the other side of the coin - the less shiny side. Many might believe that wOBA is the stat you should be looking for and people much smarter than I have been duking out this debate […]

American League Outfield Draft Sleepers

We continue to wait for the start of the MLB season, and with the extra time, we are able to dig deeper into late-round draft targets. Many know the main targets, even the Top 100. It is good to know the early targets, but knowing the deep targets will help win leagues. The outfield position […]

Starting Pitchers Who Will Benefit From a Delayed Start to the 2020 MLB Season

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2020 fantasy baseball season and keeps you updated with all the latest news and analysis. In this episode he breaks down some of his must-have players for 2020 fantasy baseball drafts focused on starting pitchers who should benefit from the delay to the 2020 season. Like and subscribe to the […]