2021 Points League Rankings - Second Base

With football finally behind us (the season is over, right?) we're entering the best time of the year...AKA fantasy baseball draft season. Many may be focused on roto but point players are chomping at the bit after 2020's shortened season basically torpedoed H2H point leagues. So let's do some point ranks, shall we? If you've […]

Post-Hype Pitchers Set To Break Out

What is a post-hype sleeper? If you ask 10 fantasy analysts you'll probably get 10 different answers but it boils down to players that have fallen off the fantasy radar after garnering quite a bit of buzz in prior seasons. It's a lot like shopping in an outlet store. You've got all kinds of name-brand […]

Later-Round Category Targets - Batting Average

Of all of the fantasy sports, a baseball league using category scoring is the one most requiring manager strategy. You can draft a team full of players that overperform their draft cost but still not win your league if you don't fill up the categories correctly. If I had to give one piece of advice […]

Later-Round Category Targets - ERA

Starting pitching is a finicky thing in the fantasy world. There is certain to be lots of impactful injuries, breakouts, and busts this year within the starting pitching position. After the first handful of rounds of the draft, it gets pretty tough to find guys you can feel confident about helping your team in the […]

Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Outfielder Prospects

When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect […]

Infielders Ready to Break Out Late

Finding value is crucial on draft day and finding just one or two players in the mid to late rounds in drafts that provide better numbers than projected can give you a significant edge on the competition as you bid for fantasy glory. All too often, we look for the new shiny object in drafts […]

Hidden Gems To Watch - 2021 Infielder Prospects

When we talk about prospects, almost everybody wants to gravitate to the names at the top of the various lists; the guys like Wander Franco or Julio Rodriguez. The ones we've deemed "generational talents" or determined will "win you your league." But the issue, as we've seen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is that predicting prospect […]

Four Players Set to Break Out at Third Base

I previously identified breakout candidates at second base, so now it's time to move on to the hot corner. When defining a breakout, I look at it as a player that can take a step forward to a level they never reached before. This doesn't mean it has to be a "sleeper" or someone who […]

Catcher Draft Targets for All Leagues

Enough with the catcher slander! As fantasy baseball drafts heat up, all I keep reading about is how we're "forced" to draft catchers and how they can tank your roster. Catchers are people too! I could use thousands of words writing about the value of catchers and how the grind of their defensive job and […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/18) - Montgomery, Alcantara Surging

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're into our third week of spring training games and […]

2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (Part 2)

We now move on to starting pitcher in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, Outfield, and of course, Starting Pitcher Part One. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on […]

Mitch Keller Allows Eight Runs Against Rays Wednesday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller continued his spring struggles on Wednesday afternoon, as he was rocked for eight runs on 10 hits and one walk over two innings against the Rays. Keller allowed five of the first six batters he faced to reach base before being replaced with one out in the first inning. […]

Colin Moran Launches First Home Run Of Spring

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Colin Moran launched his first home run of the spring on Wednesday, as he finished 2-for-3 with two RBI in the loss to the Rays. It's been a rough start to the year for Moran, who entered Wednesday with a .167/.318/.278 line across eight games this spring. Moran looked solid last […]

Bryan Reynolds Homers In Loss Wednesday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds launched his second home run in his last three games on Wednesday, finishing 1-for-3 with two RBI in the loss to the Rays. Reynolds is riding a six-game hitting streak now, as he has raised his triple-slash line to .304/.407/.609 this spring. Those numbers look much more in line with […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/17) - Jorge Polanco Leaves Game

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're into our third week of spring training games and […]

2020 Breakout Infielders Who'll Keep Improving

In a recent article, I outlined a methodology to determine which breakout 2020 seasons from hitters would be built off of into 2021. Upon further reflection, however, I’m unconvinced that that methodology the best way to spot breakouts that will continue to improve, in large part because of its reliance on evaluating the stickiness of […]

2021 Keeper Value Rankings - Third 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 […]

Anthony Alford Returns To Lineup Wednesday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford (wrist) is back in the lineup on Wednesday against the Rays, where he will be playing in center field and batting sixth. Alford had exited Saturday's game early after being hit by a pitch, but he appeared to be swinging the bat well in practice over the past few days. […]

Chad Kuhl Strikes Out Four On Tuesday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl tossed three scoreless innings against the Twins, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four. Kuhl improved to 2-1 this spring, as he has nine strikeouts in six innings of work. Last year Kuhl posted a career-high 22.3 percent strikeout rate, but his 14.2 percent walk rate […]

MLB Spring Training Notebook (3/16) - Luis Robert Scratched Monday

Welcome to the 2021 edition of RotoBaller's Spring Training Notebook. Thankfully, we have real, live baseball being played every day again, and while it doesn't count for anything, these exhibition games gives us the smallest glimmer into players and teams heading into the new season. We're into our third week of spring training games and […]

2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (Part 1)

We now move on to starting pitcher in our mixed-league rankings analysis series. If you missed them, here is our review of Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop, and Outfield. RotoBaller's rankers, JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Nick Mariano, and Ariel Cohen have updated our 2021 Mixed League rankings once more based on early spring training action. You can […]

Anthony Alford Swings A Bat Monday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford (wrist) was swinging a bat for the second day in a row on Monday after being hit by a pitch on Saturday, reports Rob Biertempful of The Athletic. Alford exited Saturday's game after being hit on the right wrist, with the team later calling it right wrist discomfort. According to Biertempful, […]

Quinn Priester Makes Spring Debut On Monday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Quinn Priester made his spring training debut on Monday afternoon, allowing one run on one hit and one walk in two-thirds of an inning of work. The top pitching prospect in the Pirates system, Priester showed promise in his first season in the minors in 2019, going 1-1 with a 3.19 […]

Tyler Anderson Looks Sharp Against Orioles

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Tyler Anderson struck out seven batters in four innings of work on Monday in the 12-3 loss to the Orioles. Anderson allowed two runs on six hits in the start, with both runs coming off back-to-back solo home runs by Austin Hays and Freddy Galvis to lead off the second inning. […]

Gregory Polanco Triples In Return To Lineup Monday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco went 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk in a 12-3 loss to the Orioles Monday. Polanco had left the team to be present for the birth of his child, and he slotted in as designated hitter against Baltimore. After an injury-plagued 2019 campaign and testing positive for COVID-19 in […]

Ke'Bryan Hayes Hits First Homer Of Spring Monday

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes crushed his first home run of the spring on Monday afternoon, as he finished 2-for-3 with two RBI in a loss to the Orioles. Even though Monday marked his first homer, Hayes has been showing off power at the plate so far, with six of his 10 spring hits […]

Rodolfo Castro Homers In Second Straight Game

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Rodolfo Castro hit his second home run in as many days on Sunday, finishing 1-for-2 with four RBI. After launching a two-run home run Saturday against the Yankees, Castro crushed a one-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Pirates within a run of the Phillies. Castro […]

Kevin Newman Goes 0-For-2 In Return To Lineup Sunday

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman returned to the lineup on Sunday afternoon and went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Phillies. Newman — who slotted in as the designated hitter and hit leadoff for Pittsburgh — had missed the past week after exiting last Sunday's game with hamstring tightness. While the results weren't ideal, it […]

Launch Angle Analysis - Potential HR Risers

With the onset of Statcast data, we can now better predict which hitters may be due for a power surge. Before recent years, we only had things like hard-hit rate and home runs per fly ball ratios to look to as predictors of future changes in home run rates. Now that we have launch angle, […]

Top 10 Tips for Fantasy Baseball Snake Drafts

Before I begin, let me caveat everything I say with this: I don't consider myself to be some sort of expert master fantasy player. I've only been playing fantasy baseball for a little under a decade. But as soon as I started to immerse myself into this game we all love, my main focus was […]