DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (4/2/21): MLB DFS Lineups
Happy Friday, RotoBallers! I am incredibly excited to be a part of this talented DFS crew put together at RotoBaller. I'll bring you the DraftKings DFS picks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the season. Baseball has officially returned, and it was a wildly entertaining Opening Day. Now, we kick off this first weekend of... Read More
Richard Rodriguez Earns Save Against Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates closer Richard Rodriguez allowed just one walk while striking out two in a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save of the year in a 5-3 Opening Day win. The Pirates have had quite a few good relief performances this spring, but despite a few rough outings, Rodriguez has kept the closer... Read More
Sam Howard Strikes Out Side, Earns Win Against Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Sam Howard struck out the side in a perfect inning of relief on Thursday, earning the win in a 5-3 Opening Day victory over the Cubs. This is Howard's second season with Pittsburgh, having posted a 3.86 ERA and 30 percent strikeout rate in 22 appearances in 2020. In SV/HLD leagues,... Read More
Adam Frazier Reaches Base Four Times On Opening Day
Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier reached base safely four times on Opening Day, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, two RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in the win over the Cubs. Frazier managed to do a little bit of everything at the plate, as he continued to build off his... Read More
Ke'Bryan Hayes Homers In Opening Day Win
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman hit his first home run of the season on Thursday afternoon, as he finished 1-for-5 with two RBI and a walk in the 5-3 Opening Day win against the Cubs. Hayes crushed a two-run homer to left field in his first plate appearance of the day to give Pittsburgh an early... Read More
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (4/1/21): MLB DFS Lineups
WE ARE BACK!!!!! Opening Day is here, and we have a nice nine-game slate on tap. There are many aces on the mound with it being Opening Day but do not worry as there are still some great places to attack with bats. Pricing is rather soft of a DK slate. You can get the... Read More
Anthony Alford Starting In Center For Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford will be the Opening Day starter in center field and will be batting eighth. Alford put up solid numbers this spring, slashing .250/.325/.472 with two home runs and two steals in 14 games. He has shown 10-homer, 20-steal potential in the minors, but he has not yet had an extended... Read More
Tyler Anderson, Mitch Keller To Start Against Cubs This Weekend
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitchers Tyler Anderson and Mitch Keller will be the Game 2 and Game 3 starters in the opening series against the Chicago Cubs, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Anderson had mixed results this spring, with an 18:2 K:BB ratio on one hand, while allowing 10 runs on 22 hits... Read More
Tony Wolters Signs One-Year Deal With Cubs
Free agent catcher Tony Wolters has signed a one-year, major-league deal with the Chicago Cubs, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The team designated relief pitcher James Norwood for assignment in a corresponding move. Wolters was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates just one day ago so it didn't take long for him to find... Read More
Chris Stratton A Sleeper Option For Holds, Saves
Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Chris Stratton doesn't have a defined role entering 2021 but he's a favorite to pitch high-leverage innings for the club. Richard Rodriguez is expected to see a healthy number of the save opportunities but Stratton has been a reliable arm for the Pirates. He threw 30 innings for the club in 2020... Read More
2021 Outfielder Rankings (Part Two) - 5x5 Mixed Leagues
The outfielder position is deep enough that it warrants another look. Read about the first few tiers right here before diving into part two ahead. When you're done, read our rankings breakdowns at Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Shortstop. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have been updating 2021 Mixed... Read More
Hot Prospects To Watch: End of Spring Training
It's almost here! It's almost here! Opening Day is on Thursday!! As we all get excited for Opening Day, we're also updating our personal rankings based on Spring Training performances as we cram in the last of our drafts. And of all the spring performances to analyze, it's the prospects that will have the biggest... Read More
Later-Round Starting Pitchers - Targets and Avoids
Once you reach the middle-to-late rounds of drafts, everyone wants to draft some upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. You can take a risk or two on a variety of different players, including a prospect, forgotten veterans, players returning from injuries, or even players with skills but have playing time concerns.... Read More
Updated Top 250 Dynasty Prospects Rankings
In just a few short days, the 2021 Major League Baseball season will get underway. Fans of Minor League Baseball will have to wait a little longer with clubs operating their alternate training sites for at least the first month of the 2021 season. As we saw in 2020, prospects can develop and thrive at... Read More
Dynasty Catcher Rankings for Fantasy Baseball
Catchers are still a necessary evil in the fantasy realm. For that reason, we will finish our analysis of the dynasty positional rankings with those that wield the tools of ignorance. We've already reviewed the rest of the positions around the diamond. Check out analysis on my dynasty rankings with a look at first base,... Read More
Phillip Evans Makes Pirates' Opening Day Roster
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Phillip Evans will be on the Opening Day roster, according to The Athletic's Rob Biertempful. Evans has gotten on base at a high clip this spring, batting .371 with a .452 on-base percentage in 14 games as he comes off a 2020 campaign in which he slashed .359/.444/.487 in 11 games.... Read More
Chad Kuhl Named Opening Day Starter For Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl will take the mound on Opening Day against the Cubs, according to Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Kuhl has looked solid on the mound this spring, going 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 11 strikeouts in eight innings of work. Last season, Kuhl posted a career-high 22.3 percent... Read More
Advanced MLB DFS Strategy: Targeting Pitchers Due For Regression
Spring is in the air and MLB regular season is only a few weeks away! Hopefully, you're using our RotoBaller rankings and preseason content to crush your season-long drafts and build some winners in your season-long leagues. If you haven't already read it, check out Jon Anderson's article about stacking hitters for GPPs and some great... Read More
Deeper Shortstop Draft Sleepers
This year could be the most fantasy friendliest for the shortstop position with six having an ADP of 25th or lower (according to current NFBC draft data) and nine with an ADP of 42nd or lower. You may be forgiven for thinking that you don't need to look deep into drafts for a shortstop. While... 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
NL-Only Starting Pitchers: Late-Round Draft Fliers
This year more than ever, starting pitchers are a sought-after position in fantasy drafts. Understandably, with uncertainty about innings limits in 2021, fantasy managers are keen to bolster their rotations with the defacto top-tier starting pitchers available. As important as it is for your top starting pitchers to perform at an elite level, success in... 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
Todd Frazier Opts Out, Becomes Free Agent
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Todd Frazier exercised the opt-out clause in his contract and will become a free agent, MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported Friday. Heyman adds that the Pirates had informed Frazier he was not going to make the team out of Spring Training, which led to Frazier opting out. Frazier had looked good... 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
Richard Rodriguez Allows Run In Third Straight Appearance
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez allowed a run in his third straight appearance on Thursday, finishing with one run allowed on two hits while striking out one in 1 1/3 innings against the Orioles. After Thursday's appearance, Rodriguez has now allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk with two strikeouts in his... 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
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
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
Pirates Make Extension Offer To Ke'Bryan Hayes
The Pittsburgh Pirates made a contract-extension offer to young third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, but there has been no traction. Hayes posted a 1.124 OPS last year and has a 1.259 OPS so far this spring. The third base prospect has perennial All-Star ability at the hot corner, but early deals for top prospects are becoming... Read More
Steven Brault Out 10 Weeks With Lat Strain
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Steven Brault (back) will be shut down from throwing for a month and could be out as long as 10 weeks with a "moderate" lat strain, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Brault left his start on Friday after experiencing tightness... Read More