David Bednar Nabs First Save Of Season
Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar threw a perfect ninth inning in a 7-4 win over the Washington Nationals to secure his first save of the season. Bednar had his stuff working in this one, striking out a pair while not allowing a baserunner. Although the Pirates are 6-1 so far, Bednar has only had two... Read More
Nick Gonzales Has Strong First Week
Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales has gotten off to a fast start at Triple-A Indianapolis. Gonzales is sporting an OPS of 1.043 with a homer and two doubles for the year. The former first-rounder has been on prospect lists for years, and 2024 appears to be a pivotal year for the infielder. Pittsburgh has a... Read More
Kyle Finnegan - Closers and Saves Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 59% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Kyle Finnegan recorded his second save of the season on Wednesday for the Nationals. If not for an error on the defense, it could have been a 1-2-3 inning for the 32-year-old. The righty pitched the ninth and struck out the first batter... Read More
Andrew McCutchen Resting On Thursday
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen is taking the day off on Thursday against the Washington Nationals. With McCutchen getting a breather, outfielder Connor Joe will serve as the team's DH on Thursday and bat fifth, with Jack Suwinski getting the start in left field and hitting cleanup against Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray. Suwinski is... Read More
Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (April 2024)
We made it. Another offseason is behind us, and we have regular season baseball for the next six months, where we can set our fantasy lineups, make trades, and just enjoy this great game. For those of us who play in dynasty leagues, work is never done, and we didn't pause for several months just... Read More
2024 MLB Power Rankings: Week 2
What's more fun than ranking all 30 MLB teams every week? That is what I get to do this season here at RotoBaller and I hope you check in every week to see how your favorite teams are faring in the rankings. I am going to be factoring in past performance, current levels of performance,... Read More
Fantasy Baseball League Winners: Do the Pirates Finally Have Fantasy Stars?
The Pittsburgh Pirates started the season 5-0. I repeat... The Battlin' Buccos won their first five games of the season, averaging 7.8 runs per game. So far, this surprising offense has been led by two recently extended franchise pillars and a young stud-in-the-making. These pieces are critical for the Pirates' success, and perhaps they'll become... Read More
Chris Clegg's Top 50 Prospects for Dynasty Fantasy Baseball (April 2024)
Both the minor leagues and the MLB are underway, and it is a full go for the 2024 fantasy baseball season! After a full offseason of work, spending time on backfields, in minor league camps, watching video, and diving in on advanced data, I have made several refinements to my fantasy baseball prospects rankings. These... Read More
MLB DFS: Top Daily Fantasy Expert Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel (4/4/24)
Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! Well... it could be happier if MLB gave us more than four games for our DFS slates. Unfortunately, that is not the case, as the Tigers-Mets doubleheader isn't included in either DraftKings or Fanduel's main slate. In fact, DK has extended their slate to include the 7:40 p.m. EDT game between the White Sox and... Read More
Yasmani Grandal's Return Is Not Imminent
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on Tuesday that catcher Yasmani Grandal (foot) is "still a ways away" from returning. Grandal was held to two spring training games before being diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his foot and is just beginning his running progression, per Shelton. The 35-year-old switch-hitting backstop signed a one-year deal with... Read More
Hot MLB Prospects to Watch for Fantasy Baseball - Week 2
Welcome back, RotoBallers! We're heading into Week 2 of the fantasy baseball season. The minor league baseball season also got started last week, providing us with plenty of big plays and impressive prospect performances. It's imperative to monitor the top fantasy baseball prospects who have turned heads thus far. The players listed here are not... Read More
Aroldis Chapman - Closers and Saves Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 37% of Leagues ANALYSIS: Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Aroldis Chapman collected his first save of the season in Monday's win over the Washington Nationals. The 36-year-old has yet to allow a run with a 3:0 K: BB ratio across 2 1/3 innings in 2024. Chapman is the... Read More
DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (4/3/24): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups
Wednesday brings a heavy dose of day baseball. That leaves us with a limited five-game evening slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel. There is some rain in the forecast for a few games, making this an especially tricky slate. This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 4/3/2024. The... Read More
Top 101 Starting Pitcher Fantasy Baseball Rankings: The Baller Ranks (Week 2)
The 2024 season is off and running so it's time to rev up my weekly top 101 SP Baller Ranks breakdown. We've survived a long offseason and built a squad on draft day. Now, we must see where initial results have landed with the first 2024 edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks! This... Read More
Joey Bart Traded To Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are acquiring catcher Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-hander Austin Strickland. San Francisco designated Bart for assignment on Sunday, but they've found a suitor for the backstop's services before he hits waivers. The 2018 No. 2 overall pick was once perceived by the Giants organization as the... Read More
Quinn Priester Strikes Out Nine In Opener
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Quinn Priester no longer has true prospect eligibility by MLB's standards, but he should be viewed as one given that he is 23 years old, still in Triple-A, and has 10 big league appearances under his belt. The right-hander gets good velocity behind his mid-90s heater and misses plenty of bats... Read More
Florio's Bullpen Report: Figuring Out Early-Season Usage
We are back! For those who have read this article in the past, you know the deal. For those new, welcome. Every week, I write about bullpens that are changing their late-inning usage, and give some relievers you can speculate on that are trending toward save opportunities and elite strikeout and ratio relievers in fantasy... Read More
Are You For Real? Surprising Pitcher Starts From Garrett Crochet and Jared Jones
Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. There were so many exciting and surprising performances over opening weekend that it was hard... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Frauds To Begin The 2024 Season
Adding the correct players off the waiver wire early in the season can help carry a fantasy manager to a championship. However, overreacting and dropping someone for a player who is off to an unsustainable hot start can be a problem. This isn’t just a waiver wire problem, either. It could also be a grave... Read More
Who Is The Pirates' Closer? Fantasy Baseball Saves Outlooks
David Bednar had an absolutely stellar 2023. Despite the Pirates winning only 76 games, Bednar logged 39 saves backed by a solid 2.53 FIP and 28.9% K%. Bednar was the clear favorite coming into 2024, arguably a top-five closer given the dwindling "traditional" closer roles across the MLB. With a back (latissimus) injury popping up... Read More
Week 2 Waiver Wire Rankings: Jared Jones, Abner Uribe, Jason Foley, Jake Fraley, Jose Siri, Leody Taveras, Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet
There are so many things happening in the first few games of the MLB season, and it's important to stay on top of all of them -- the latest injuries and players that need to be picked up. New closers will emerge, prospects will surge, and players will break out. With an extra-busy first few... Read More
Aroldis Chapman Earns One-Out Save Monday
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman earned his first save of the season in Monday's 8-4 win over the Nationals. The 36-year-old entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning up by four with two outs and runners on first and second and ended things with a fly-out. This was not a typical... Read More
Quinn Priester Excels In First Start
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitching prospect Quinn Priester performed well in his first start of the season for Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday. The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings and allowed one hit, one run, one walk and struck out nine on the evening. Priester missed a spot in the big-league rotation, but remains one of their... Read More
Paul Skenes On Fast Track To Big Leagues
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitching prospect Paul Skenes should be considered a fast riser after his dominant season debut on Saturday for Triple-A Indianapolis. It was a strong performance for last year's first overall pick that saw him strikeout five in three innings with no hits or walks allowed. The LSU product had a strong spring... Read More
Paul Skenes - 2024 Fantasy Baseball Prospects Outlook and Analysis
PROSPECT: Paul Skenes, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates ERIC CROSS' PROSPECT RANKING: #3 CALL-UP ETA: May ANALYSIS: Our #1 pitching prospect to stash in 2024 redraft leagues is 2023 #1 overall pick, Paul Skenes. When we entered spring training, we didn't think Skenes was going to be up until the second half of the season. Well, that... Read More
Jared Triolo Out Due To Sore Knee
Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jared Triolo (knee) said he woke up on Monday feeling "a lot better" after fouling a ball off his knee on Sunday, but he's out of the lineup against the Washington Nationals as a precaution. Triolo ended up staying in the 9-7 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday, so his injury... Read More
Oneil Cruz Hitting Near Bottom Of The Lineup Again
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is starting at shortstop and is hitting seventh in the batting order on Monday against the Washington Nationals and left-hander MacKenzie Gore. Cruz got a day off on Sunday and hasn't hit higher than sixth in the team's batting order so far in 2024, which isn't what fantasy managers want... Read More
Jack Suwinski Sitting On Monday
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski is on the bench to start Monday's contest against the Washington Nationals. It's been a tough start to the season for the lefty-swinging outfielder, but not from a performance standpoint but rather a playing time standpoint as the Pirates have faced a wealth of left-handed starters to begin the season... Read More
Fantasy Baseball Players To Watch For 2024 (April 1 - April 7)
We're through the first series of games of the 2024 baseball season and there are already some interesting trends and some surprising players off to hot starts. Some players are validating some pre-season assumptions or maintaining spring momentum, while others are looking to affirm their initial taste of MLB success. It's a long season though,... Read More
Starting Pitcher Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 2 (2024)
After a long, lonely winter, baseball season is up and running! It's the first edition of our starting pitcher fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups series as we head into Week 2 - April 1 through April 7. In this piece, we search for starting pitchers rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues. For those... Read More