April All-Bummer Team - Studs With Sluggish Starts

We've turned the calendar to May and, amazingly, 2018's baseball season is already 1/6 complete. We've seen some surprising team starts (Phillies, Pirates) and a few out-of-the-blue players rising to fantasy relevance (Christian Villanueva, Jarlin Garcia). But we're all wondering the same thing: where in the world is John Lackey? Nothing is worse in fantasy […]

2018 Prospects: Top 30 Impact Rookies for Fantasy Leagues (Week 5)

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly Top-30 Fantasy Rankings for Impact Rookies! In this series, I will be going over the top prospects in baseball and discussing which ones figure to have an impact for the rest of this fantasy baseball season. The prospect promotions continue to roll in. First it was Gleyber Torres […]

Chad Kuhl Surrenders Four Homers in Loss

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl had a night to forget against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. The right-hander lasted just 4 2/3 innings and was blasted for six runs (four earned) on four hits. Each hit he surrendered was a home run, including two by left fielder Matt Adams. Kuhl struck out three and […]

Streaming Wars: Waiver Wire Targets For May 2

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. This article, which began last season, runs seven days a week. We are always ready to stream. For those who are newcomers to this feature, use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your weakest categories and target players who may be available […]

Statcast Pitcher Risers/Fallers - wOBA - xwOBA (Week 5)

We continue our RotoBaller series using Statcast to extrapolate, dig into, and commiserate over data to examine pitching performances. The weekly series will be dynamic as we fine-tune our findings and I enlighten myself on the information and tools at my disposal. With a month of baseball in the books, most starting pitchers have logged […]

Are You For Real? Surprising SP Starts (Week 5)

Welcome to our surprising starts series. Every week we’ll be going over a few surprising starting pitcher performances around the majors to determine whether these starts were smoke and mirrors or something more. This week we've got a trio of youngsters to look at, two in the NL Central and one in the AL. Each […]

Austin Meadows Continues To Perform Well

Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Austin Meadows continues to hit for Triple-A Indianapolis. Meadows went 1-for-3 on Monday with two runs and two walks. Meadows was once the team's top prospect, but injuries have slowed down his arrival. Meadows is more of a contact hitter than power hitter and has six doubles on the young season […]

Corey Dickerson Goes Yard in Monday's Loss

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson went 1-for-4 with a solo home run on Monday in a loss against the Washington Nationals. Choking up on a 3-2 pitch, Dickerson blasted the home run to the upper deck of Nationals Park to cut the deficit to 3-2, which would be the final score. The homer was Dickerson's […]

Jameson Taillon Bounces Back But Takes Loss on Monday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon turned in a quality start against the Washington Nationals on Monday but still took his third straight loss. The right-hander went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five, including a pair of punchouts against Bryce Harper. Despite the outcome, the start […]

Nick Kingham Will Remain in Starting Rotation

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Nick Kingham will remain in the starting rotation for at least one more start, according to manager Clint Hurdle. Kingham will draw the start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Steven Brault moves to the bullpen and Joe Musgrove (shoulder) continues to rehab. Kingham was fantastic in his MLB debut, but […]

Streaming Wars: Waiver Wire Targets for May 1

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire. This article, which began last season, runs seven days a week. We are always ready to stream. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis to improve upon your neediest categories, and target players who may be […]

Week 5 Waiver Wire Watch List

With a month in the books for 2018 we're starting to get some more clarity. We know that Didi Gregorius is the new Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole is the most untouchable pitcher in the world and everyone on the Oakland A's can mash. Ok, so we aren't really any further ahead than we thought. Even […]

Week 5 Outfield Waiver Wire Targets

The first month of the 2018 season is, functionally at least, in the books. It doesn't get easier from here Rotoballers. Even the April juggernaut is starting to show some cracks in their once seemingly impenetrable armor. Injuries have taken down some of baseball's best recently, and the hunt is on for players who will […]

Week 5 Start/Sit Matchups - Starting Pitchers

You know what it is--it's my updated starts/sits column for Week 5! Your friendly neighborhood @Roto_Dubs is back again this year with his weekly starting pitcher matchups. This is our fifth year now writing this weekly column, helping fantasy baseball managers pick the best pitchers weekly. Below are the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 5, which […]

Nick Kingham Flirts With Perfection in MLB Debut

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Nick Kingham was masterful in his big-league debut, throwing seven innings of one-hit baseball in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-hander didn't walk a batter and struck out nine, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning before a Paul DeJong single ended a chance at history. Still, […]

Pirates Designate Enny Romero for Assignment

The Pittsburgh Pirates designated relief pitcher Enny Romero for assignment on Sunday to make room for starting pitcher Nick Kingham on the active roster. Romero was claimed off of waivers by the Pirates a little over two weeks ago and appeared in just two games with the team. The southpaw struck out five and allowed […]

Trevor Williams Picks Up Fourth Win

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Trevor Williams earned his fourth win of the season on Saturday, pitching six innings of two-run baseball against the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out two. Williams is finding success without dominant stuff, as he has a 2.29 ERA through six starts. […]

Francisco Cervelli Homers, Drives in Two on Saturday

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli just keeps hitting. He slugged his fourth home run of the season in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, a solo shot off of Jack Flaherty in the second inning. He added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, giving him 20 RBI on the year. Cervelli […]

Michael A. Taylor (OF, WAS) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 43% of leagues ANALYSIS: Washington Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor has strikeout issues, and thus is likely to hurt you in batting average. However, he also already has nine stolen bases on the young season. If you are looking for a stolen base, he may be […]

The Cut List (Week 5): Time to Let Go?

Welcome to Week 5 of the Cut List. I think my suggestions have been pretty solid to start the year and I hope your teams are better off as a result. 2018 sample sizes are starting to legitimize and you’ll see more cut-worthy standard league-viable options on these lists as we get further into the […]

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Week 5

We return to the three starting pitchers under 50 percent owned and three starting pitchers under 25 percent owned theme in this week’s streamer report. As you may expect, the options under 50 percent are solid, and potentially ownable, for the remainder of 2018. However, the choices under 25 percent are not. Beware that you […]

Buy or Sell - Underowned and Overowned Players for Week 5

Stop the presses - Ronald Acuna has arrived! The presses have actually been kicking into overdrive since he amazed the baseball world with a wicked single and a couple of really, really long fly ball outs in his Major League debut. Oh, he hit a mammoth home run in his second game too. Like any […]

Joe Musgrove Starting Rehab Assignment on Tuesday

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove (shoulder) will start a rehab assignment with High-A Bradenton on Tuesday, reports MLB.com's Adam Berry. The right-hander has missed the entire season thus far with a strained right shoulder. Per Berry, the plan is to have Musgrove start with a three-inning outing initially and slowly work up to six […]

Starling Marte Lines Walk-Off Single on Friday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte went 2-for-6 against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning. The 29-year-old has done a nice job putting a tumultuous 2017 behind him and now boasts a strong .284/.371/.461 batting line with three homers, 11 RBI, 19 runs scored and […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (4/28/18): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

We have a splits slate of games where the early slate starts at 2 pm, but the majority of them are on the 7 PM main slate. There are some fantastic pitching options on the slate, so you will need to find some value plays out there to fit these aces in your lineups. In […]

Gregory Polanco Homers on Friday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco went 2-for-6 with a solo home run in Friday's win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The long ball was his sixth of the season, putting him more than halfway toward his 2017 output of 11. His .213/.324/.483 slash line leaves something to be desired, but there are reasons to think […]

Francisco Cervelli Continues Mashing With Three More Hits

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli had another big game on Friday night, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. It was his second three-hit effort in his last three games, and his slash line now sits at .306/.400/.542. In addition to lowering his strikeout rate (16.5 percent vs. 21.4 percent in 2017), Cervelli's hard-contact rate (35.6 […]

Steven Brault Bounced Early in No-Decision

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Steven Brault endured another rough outing on Friday night, surrendering five runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. The left-hander allowed five hits and again had shaky control with three walks against three strikeouts. He now holds an unspectacular 4.97 ERA, 14.5 percent strikeout rate, and […]

Streaming Wars - Waiver Wire Targets for April 29

Welcome back to Streaming Wars, your one-stop shop for streaming the waiver wire all season long. This article, now in its second year, runs seven days a week. It may only be April, but it's never too early to start streaming. For those who are newcomers to this feature - use this column on a daily basis […]

Today's Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/28/18)

Below you will find our fantasy baseball and DFS rankings for all of today's projected starting pitchers (April 28th). We published this column last year, and the feedback was great so here we are doing it again. Let us know what you think on Twitter too. The concept is pretty straight forward. We round up […]