Lou Trivino Looks Good In Cactus League Play
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Lou Trivino has looked good in Spring Training having thrown 7 1/3 shutout innings over eight appearances. Trivino struck out eight against three walks and only one hit allowed. The 29-year-old righty was the team's eighth-inning man in 2018 pitching to a 2.92 ERA and a 27.4 percent strikeout rate while... Read More
Chad Pinder To Occupy Super Utility Role
Oakland Athletics infielder Chad Pinder is again slated to be a "super-utility player" for the team this season, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Pinder's versatility makes him a very valuable player for the A's, but less so in fantasy, even if he finds himself starting four or five games per week. Non-starters can have... Read More
Updated Top 50 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Prospects for 2021
Opening day is just around the corner. So what better way to celebrate the occasion than to refresh the Top 50 prospects list for 2021 redraft leagues. If you're a habitual prospect watcher then you could have a leg up on your fantasy competition in 2021. Managers around baseball will heavily rely on rookies like... Read More
ATC Projections Volatility for Multi-Category Players
One year ago, I penned my very first article on RotoBaller. I am truly honored that the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) awarded the piece as the 2020 Baseball Article of the Year. “Finding Combo-Player Values Using Z-Scores and ATC Projections” provided a new perspective on how to find helpful multi-category players to fill out... Read More
A.J. Puk Sharp In Third Spring Appearance
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Puk tossed four shutout innings with three strikeouts in a Cactus League start against the Rangers on Friday. Puk is battling for the fifth rotation slot in Oakland vacated by Mike Fiers (back); Daulton Jefferies and Cole Irvin are also in the running for the job. Puk is ranked as... Read More
Cole Irvin Making Bid For Rotation Spot
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Cole Irvin dazzled in his last spring outing striking out 10 Dodgers in six shutout innings. The 27-year-old lefty carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning as he makes a bid for the fifth rotation spot vacated by Mike Fiers (back) who will start the season on the injured list. A's... Read More
Aramis Garcia Named Backup Catcher For Oakland
Oakland Athletics catcher Aramis Garcia was informed that he will be the backup catcher to start the season, Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News reports Saturday. Garcia has had a solid spring, slashing .333/.440/.476 with three doubles and a 10:4 K:BB rate in 11 games. He will be backing up Sean Murphy, who hit .233... Read More
Jamie Steed's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021
Bold predictions can be the key to fantasy seasons. Predicting players who will outperform or underperform expectations by extreme amounts can win leagues. Bold predictions can also be entirely unhelpful, speculative thoughts that are just fun to consider. With that in mind, I do think that each of these predictions has a legitimate chance of occurring... Read More
Eric Samulski's Bold Predictions for 2021
It's bold prediction time! Everybody's favorite time of year. Last year I put out my bold prediction article, and it was a doozy. Obviously, publishing it before the shutdown which delayed the MLB season impacted some of the claims, but, actually, no, I'll just blame everything on that. Anyways, I'm back again to plant my... Read More
Mike Fiers Expected To Open Season On Injured List
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Mike Fiers (hip/back) threw a bullpen session Friday, but is still expected to begin the season on the injured list according to Shayna Rubin. Fiers has been a decent arm for Oakland in the past few seasons, but a sub-20 percent strikeout rate severely limits his fantasy appeal. The 35-year-old righty... Read More
Advanced MLB DFS Strategy: Sneaky Stacks Against Reverse-Splits Pitchers
With Opening Day of the MLB season right around the corner, it's time to start getting your mind right and preparing for a full season of MLB DFS action. Last summer we missed out on several months of MLB games due to the COVID pandemic, but we are going to get 6 months worth of... Read More
Must-Have Pitchers for 2021: WPC+
Pierre Camus and Nicklaus Gaut name the pitchers they are targeting most in 2021 fantasy baseball drafts and explain why they could break out. Like and subscribe to the RotoBaller channel on Youtube to get all our latest podcasts and catch us on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio as well! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio... Read More
Frankie Montas Leaves Start Early With Finger Injury
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Frankie Montas (finger) left his start early on Thursday with a ripped cuticle on his right middle finger, Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News reports. It was a rough outing for Montas before his exit, as he allowed four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out two in... Read More
Chris Bassitt Named Opening Day Starter For Oakland
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Chris Bassitt has been named the Opening Day starter, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. Bassitt has looked sharp this spring, allowing just two runs in 10 1/3 innings while striking out 12. He is coming off a 2020 campaign in which he finished eighth in the AL Cy Young race by... Read More
Sean Murphy Homers Wednesday
Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, three RBI, two runs scored, and a walk in Wednesday's 14-4 win against the Chicago White Sox. It was a big day for Murphy as he is now 4-for-15 with two home runs and four RBI across his first six spring games... Read More
RotoBaller Friends & Family Industry Mock Draft Recap
The 2021 RotoBaller Friends & Family Mock Draft is the continuation of an annual tradition where we gather some of the biggest names from the fantasy baseball world and put together a mock draft just as spring training has commenced. Thanks to RT Sports for once again hosting and providing a custom draft site where... Read More
Sean Manaea Effective In Spring Start Versus White Sox
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea allowed one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings pitched in a Cactus League start against the White Sox. Manaea struck out three and walked two while lowering his spring ERA to an even three. Manaea doesn't pitch deep into games, but he's a surprisingly strong source of... Read More
Correlating Statcast to Outcomes: Why You Should Pay Attention to Barrels
Barrels are the keeper of life’s finer things. Beer, pickles, monkeys, the list is endless. Barrels don’t just hold fermented vegetables and unruly simians these days, barrels may also hold the key to identifying the game’s best hitters and struggling hitters who may be due for brighter days. In my mission to find just how... Read More
JB's Bold Predictions for 2021
I'm going to let you in on a little secret... JB stands for "JUST BOLDNESS". Okay that's a lie... it's actually not a secret because I use that every year in my bold predictions intro (three years in a row now, sure saves time on writing a new intro though). Nevertheless, welcome to the latest... Read More
2021 Points League Ranks - First Base
Draft season is in full gear as we're only less than two weeks from Opening Day baseball. And here at RotoBaller, we're about more than just roto leagues. We're here to cover your whole fantasy spectrum. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've forgotten from last year, I have strong opinions on... Read More
Daulton Jefferies Making Case For Fifth Rotation Spot
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Daulton Jefferies fired four innings of shutout baseball on Tuesday against the Rockies as he makes his case to be the fifth starter to begin the season. Mike Fiers (hip) and A.J. Puk are also in the running for the job, but Fiers has been injured and Puk has struggled with... Read More
Jon Anderson's "My Guys" For 2021
My name is Jon Anderson and I am a nobody in the fantasy baseball industry. I have no credentials, no huge following on social media. However, I was given a log-in to this website and now I can freely put my words out there for you to read. That's more than nothing, which has given... Read More
Ramon Laureano Back In Action Monday
Oakland Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano (side) is back in the lineup for Monday's game against the Rockies. Laureano was scratched from Wednesday's game last week after feeling some pain in his side. The 26-year-old was slated to get simulated game at-bats before seeing spring action again, though he appears to have recovered ahead of schedule,... Read More
Ka'ai Tom Continues Hot Spring In Push For Roster Spot
Oakland Athletics outfielder Ka'ai Tom is 8-for-16 with four extra-base hits and five RBI through five Cactus League games. Tom was a Rule 5 Draft pick and is competing for the fourth outfielder job in Oakland with Seth Brown. Tom was impressive again on Monday roping a two-run double and also drawing a walk against... Read More
Jesus Luzardo Impressive In Third Start On Monday
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo was much sharper in his third start of the spring on Monday against the Diamondbacks. Luzardo twirled 4 1/3 innings, surrendering three hits and a walk while fanning three batters. This was by far the best outing of the spring for the 23-year-old, as he had allowed five earned... Read More
A.J. Puk Hit Hard By Diamondbacks
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Puk allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings in a Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks. Puk allowed three hits and two walks while only striking out one in a relief outing Monday. Fantasy managers generally shouldn't put too much stock into Spring Training stats, but given how little Puk... Read More
Kyle Bishop's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021
I've been in the bold predictions game since 2015 and in that time I've had my share of successes. Befitting a premise that demands spicy takes, though, I've also wildly missed the mark a bunch of times (whither goest thou, Byung-Ho Park and Delino DeShields?) The format's been around long enough that you almost certainly know the... Read More
Nick Mariano's Top 140 Saves+Holds Rankings
To any reader who thinks they don't have a voice here at RotoBaller, let it be known that this article came from a simple Reddit comment about how those seeking Saves+Holds reliever ranks were often overlooked. Poof, and here we are. Allow me, Nick Mariano, 2018's most accurate draft expert (top-three for RPs in '18... Read More
Tyler Soderstrom Impressing Coaches In A's Camp
Oakland Athletics catcher prospect Tyler Soderstrom is turning heads in big league camp as he prepares for his first season of pro-ball. The 19-year-old Soderstrom has no chance of being on the Opening Day roster, however, manager Bob Melvin has been impressed with the 2020 first-round draft pick. Melvin said, "For a guy that's still... Read More
Elvis Andrus Off To A Slow Start In Cactus League Play
Oakland Athletics shortstop Elvis Andrus has gotten off to a slow start in his first Spring Training with his new team. Andrus is batting just .207 and has reached base only seven times through 30 plate appearances this Spring. Andrus is coming off a lost 2020 season as lingering back issues limited him to 32... Read More