Updated Fantasy Baseball Closer Rankings and Relief Pitcher Rankings

Welcome back RotoBallers to more fantasy baseball rankings! With Spring Training rolling and the fantasy baseball draft season in full swing, it's time to look at closers and relief pitchers and see who may or may not be fantasy-relevant and worthy of a draft pick this season. RotoBaller's lead MLB rankers - JB Branson, Pierre […]

Updated Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues Draft Rankings - Aaron Nola, Luis Castillo, Jack Flaherty, Justin Verlander and More

And the hits keep on coming! As we deal with a variety of fantasy baseball news and injuries, below you'll find our updated 2022 fantasy baseball points league rankings. These fantasy baseball rankings are meant to reflect recent injuries and player news, and are geared towards points leagues and head-to-head (H2H) points league scoring formats. […]

High-Upside Starting Pitchers: Swinging Strike Edition

Unlike the fantasy football world, there are not a lot of casual baseball fans playing the fantasy game. Have you ever heard of a friendly office fantasy baseball league? Probably not. If you're playing fantasy baseball for any actual stake, you are most likely competing against people who know what they're doing - at least […]

Pitcher Statcast: Using Sabermetrics for Fantasy Baseball

Statcast metrics such as Barrels and Brls/BBE are great ways to evaluate a batter's performance, so it is only natural to assume that the metrics would be predictive for pitchers as well. As much as batters want to hit a Barrel every time, pitchers want to avoid them at all costs. Yet there is evidence […]

Adventures in Positional Scarcity - Catchers Edition for Fantasy Baseball Drafts

This question of how to handle the catcher position has taken on a new level of tough in 2022, at least in the opinion of this analyst. Catchers have always underperformed offensively relative to the rest of the positions, mainly because the first bullet point on their job description is not to hit the ball […]

Yu Darvish To Start On Opening Day For Padres

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish has been tabbed as the team's Opening Day starter on April 7 on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Joe Musgrove will likely be on the hill for the second game of the regular season. Darvish, 35, has looked good in spring training, allowing just one run and […]

Eric Samulski's Top 100 Starting Pitchers

I decided to publish a top-100 starting pitching rankings list! I have no idea why, though. These fantasy baseball rankings lists are often the most scrutinized and criticized of anything anybody publishes, so I'm not sure why I decided to open myself up to this. However, I've also been researching pitching all offseason and constantly […]

Padres Attempting To Trade For Bryan Reynolds?

The San Diego Padres have engaged in trade talks this spring with the Pittsburgh Pirates in an attempt to acquire All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The Padres have pitching depth, and young hurlers Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers have been mentioned in talks. Reynolds is under team control through 2025, and the Padres could certainly use […]

Updated Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Roto Leagues

Welcome back RotoBallers to some more preseason fantasy baseball rankings! RotoBaller is constantly working to try and bring fantasy baseball managers the best advice, especially during draft season. A big part of that includes regular updates to our tiered rankings for all formats. Our MLB rankers, -- JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Ariel Cohen, Nicklaus Gaut, […]

Outfield: Fantasy Baseball Rankings and Sleepers

Anthony Aniano's 2022 fantasy baseball outfield rankings and OF draft sleepers who can be sneaky later-round picks. He breaks down and compares the ADPs of six different MLB players at the outfield position. Fantasy baseball players should consider drafting these players in the middle and later rounds of their drafts this MLB Season. Be sure […]

CJ Abrams Could Make Opening Day Roster

San Diego Padres shortstop CJ Abrams has a solid chance of making the Opening Day roster. Eguy Rosario has been optioned to the minors, which leaves one roster spot available on the team. That spot is likely to go to a player that currently isn't on the 40-man roster. That means, one of the team's […]

Pitchers Under $10: Salary Cap League Draft Targets for Fantasy Baseball - Luis Severino, Ian Anderson, Camilo Doval, and more

We've already identified hitters under $10 to target in salary cap league drafts. For this exercise, we're targeting pitchers under $10. That rules out roughly the top-150 players in drafts. From this vantage point, some managers may look for high-risk, high-reward plays to strike big with a small investment. There are plenty of safer guys […]

JB's Bullpen Method for 2022 - Building FrankenAces with Relief Pitchers

Two years ago, I finally published an article breaking down my favorite fantasy baseball strategy I have been using for years. It's really less of a strategy and more a state of mind. No, the Bullpen Method is a lifestyle. I always speak about the importance of balance on a fantasy team. For your pitching staff, […]

Phillies Acquire James Norwood

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired right-hander James Norwood from the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in exchange for minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo and cash. The Padres designated Norwood for assignment on Wednesday, but now he'll head to the Phillies to close out spring training. The 28-year-old has spent three of his four MLB seasons pitching […]

Mike Clevinger Crushed In Spring Debut

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger (elbow) made his first Spring Training start on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants. It was a rough outing for the right-hander as he allowed seven hits, two walks and eight earned runs over 1 2/3 innings. He was tagged for two home runs in the outing. Clevinger […]

Mike Clevinger Making Spring Debut Tuesday

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger (elbow) is making his Cactus League debut on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants. It will be Clevinger's first game action since he aggravated a right elbow injury in the 2020 postseason that eventually required Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of last year. As […]

Finding Over/Undervalued Third Basemen Using Expected Draft Values

We push on with our Expected Draft Values series, which utilizes historical data and projections to help us identify both over and undervalued players of all types. Power, speed, power+speed, batting average+power, and so on, with pitchers as well. Today, we'll look at a trio of third basemen and compare their projected statline via my […]

Dinelson Lamet (P, SDP) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~320 pick CURRENT ADP: ~350 overall ANALYSIS: Dinelson Lamet is a wildcard for the San Diego Padres and fantasy managers. He was one of the best pitchers in the league in 2020 when he dominated batters to the tune of 2.09 ERA with a 2.48 FIP. Lamet produced a 12.13 K/9 […]

Padres Acquire Matt Beaty From Dodgers

The San Diego Padres acquired first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty from the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in exchange for right-handed pitcher River Ryan. The Dodgers designated Beaty for assignment last week, and now he'll land in the same division with the Friars. The 28-year-old definitely need some more outfield help, but at best, the […]

Cal Quantrill: 2022 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

We are always looking for players to draft who other managers are sleeping on - hence the term sleeper. They can take the form of a player who is coming back from injury, a prospect who is ready to break out, a young player who is looking at more playing time, or even a veteran […]

Pierre Camus' Bold Predictions for 2022 Fantasy Baseball

Normally, I would begin this annual column by saying how grateful I am for the opportunity to be able to take up space on a major website like RotoBaller with my predictions for the upcoming season and follow with the number of years running I've done this. Truth is, I don't remember. Not that it's […]

Manny Machado Back In The Lineup Monday

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (back) is in the starting lineup for Monday's Cactus League game against the Chicago White Sox and is hitting second. Machado took two days off while battling back tightness, but he's fine now and will return to spring action. So far in the Cactus League, the 29-year-old is […]

Michael Florio's Pitchers to Target in Points Leagues

Starting pitchers are important in all fantasy baseball formats, but perhaps none more so than fantasy baseball points leagues. It's easy to understand why so much emphasis is placed on this position once you understand the scoring system. You build your hitters and your pitchers, and while they are all apart of one team, they […]

Updated Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Roto Leagues

With Spring Training upon us, and the fantasy baseball draft season in full swing, it's time to look at the shortstop position and see who may or may not be fantasy-relevant and worthy of a draft pick this season. RotoBaller's lead MLB rankers - JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Ariel Cohen, Nicklaus Gaut, and Nick Mariano […]

Updated Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings for Roto Leagues - Ronald Acuna, Randal Grichuk, Luis Castillo, Dylan Floro, Shane Baz and More

Welcome back RotoBallers! Spring Training is upon us, and fantasy baseball drafts are about to get busy. Below are our updated 2022 fantasy baseball draft rankings and tiers for roto leagues. We will be updating these rankings constantly, and releasing updates every few days along with relevant injury updates to be aware of. Five of […]

Jon Anderson's 2022 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide

Baseball is happening in 2022, and it is happening in full force. With the excellent news of the lockout ending, we are ready to dive full steam ahead into the fantasy baseball draft season! I have had my head deep in baseball data since before Christmas, so I wanted to come out with a miniature […]

Manny Machado Dealing With Back Tightness

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado was scratched from Saturday's Spring Training lineup due to back tightness, the team announced. Although no additional updates were provided, it's very possible that Machado's removal from the lineup was merely a precaution. Last season, he slashed .278/.347/.489 with 28 homers, 106 RBI, 63 walks, 102 strikeouts, and […]

Shortstop: Fantasy Baseball Rankings and Sleepers

Anthony Aniano's 2022 fantasy baseball third base rankings and SS draft sleepers who can be sneaky later-round picks. He breaks down and compares the ADPs of six different MLB players at the shortstop position. Fantasy baseball players should consider drafting these players in the middle and later rounds of their drafts this MLB Season. Be […]

One Tweak Away: Pitchers That Could Break Out in 2022

Yu Darvish and Lucas Giolito in 2019, Robbie Ray and Shohei Ohtani in 2021. These are examples of pitchers that had struggled with their command for most of their careers, but then suddenly improved and became fantasy aces overnight. Walk rates are one of the most important things to look for when evaluating fantasy pitchers. […]

Late-Round Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Targets: WHIP

This is the next part of a series reviewing standard rotisserie league categories to identify later-round draft options and sleepers to help your fantasy team in each spot. We've already covered SP targets to help with ERA. In this article, we're looking for starting pitchers that can help your fantasy team's WHIP. This is not […]