Dinelson Lamet Makes Spring Training Debut

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dinelson Lamet (elbow) made his spring training debut against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. He started the game and pitched just one inning, allowing a solo home run to Donovan Solano, but no other hits. Lamet threw 12 pitches in the outing, most of which were fastballs. His velocity was […]

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 […]

JB's Bold Predictions for 2021

I'm going to let you in on a little secret... JB stands for "JUST BOLDNESS". Okay that's a lie... it's actually not a secret because I use that every year in my bold predictions intro (three years in a row now, sure saves time on writing a new intro though). Nevertheless, welcome to the latest […]

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 […]

Fernando Tatis Jr. Dealing With Left Shoulder Discomfort

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who exited Tuesday's Cactus League game early, is dealing with left shoulder discomfort according to the team. He reached for a grounder in the hole in the bottom of the third inning and walked off the field after recording the out. "He's fine,"said one person close to the […]

KC Bubba's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021

The 2021 season is so close to starting, which means it is time for some bold predictions. It appears the season will still be a complete 162 games, with no NL DH and a standard playoff format. The bouncy ball will supposedly be replaced with a ball designed to limit power, fun times like usual from […]

2021 Fantasy Baseball Busts - RotoBaller Staff Picks

As you prepare for fantasy baseball drafts in 2021, it's crucial that you avoid the dreaded bust that could sink your team. As we did with draft sleepers yesterday, our staff came together to share their thoughts on preseason ADP values, this time on their least favorite picks. Let's find out who our experts have […]

Fernando Tatis Jr. Exits With Apparent Injury

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (shoulder) exited Tuesday's game with an apparent injury. After a defensive play, Tatis came off the field with the trainer. Subsequent reports indicated the initial concern was his left shoulder. Fantasy managers and baseball fans will certainly hope the move is precautionary, but the focus will be any […]

Drew Pomeranz Scheduled To Pitch Friday

San Diego Padres reliever Drew Pomeranz (forearm) is expected to pitch Friday. The 32-year-old southpaw has been sidelined for two weeks with forearm tightness but tests revealed no structural damage. Pomeranz posted a fantastic 1.45 ERA and 40 percent strikeout rate in 20 appearances in 2020, gathering four saves. He's currently the favorite to close […]

Jacob Nix Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

The San Diego Padres confirmed pitcher Jacob Nix (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery last week. The former prospect debuted in 2018 to a 7.02 ERA in nine starts but had battled elbow issues over the past two years. The 25-year-old was a long shot to make the squad as bullpen depth but will now rehab […]

Ha-Seong Kim Will Take Outfield Reps

San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim will take outfield reps in the closing days of spring training. With starting center fielder Trent Grisham (hamstring) questionable for Opening Day, the Friars are experimenting positions, potentially shifting Tommy Pham or Jurickson Profar to center. Kim played shortstop and third base across seven seasons in the KBO, but […]

Frank Ammirante's 10 Bold Predictions for 2021

Making bold predictions is one of my favorite topics to write about. There's no better feeling as a writer than when you tout an overlooked player and it hits. Hitting on your bold prediction can really help you win your fantasy leagues. To secure a championship, you need your top players to approach their ceilings and […]

2021 Keeper Value Rankings - Shortstop

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 […]

Joe Musgrove Gets Lit Up Monday

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove gave up five earned runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out five across four innings of work in a 9-9 tie with the Kansas City Royals on Monday. Musgrove has now given up seven earned runs across his first 13 innings of spring ball. He […]

Tommy Pham Fine After Colliding With Wall

San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham (hip) should be fine after banging into the left field wall Saturday. After starting spring training ice-cold, Pham has collected nine hits in his last six contests, lifting his average to .265 in 34 at-bats. After posting three consecutive seasons of double-digit homers and steals, Pham suffered an injury-riddled […]

Brian O'Grady Battling For Roster Spot

San Diego Padres outfielder Brian O'Grady continued his push to make the roster Sunday, collecting two knocks, including a triple, against the Los Angeles Angels. Potentially vying for the final bench spot with infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo, O'Grady's spring resume now boasts a .954 OPS and two homers over 37 plate appearances. The 28-year-old has appeared […]

Dinelson Lamet Debuting On Wednesday

San Diego Padres starter Dinelson Lamet will make his first spring start Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants. The 28-year-old's brilliant campaign was cut short last season with a biceps injury and he's been limited to simulated games throughout camp. Lamet excelled with a 2.09 ERA and 35 percent strikeout rate across 69 innings in […]

Nick Mariano's Top 140 Saves+Holds Rankings

To any reader who thinks they don't have a voice here at RotoBaller, let it be known that this article came from a simple Reddit comment about how those seeking Saves+Holds reliever ranks were often overlooked. Poof, and here we are. Allow me, Nick Mariano, 2018's most accurate draft expert (top-three for RPs in '18 […]

Blake Snell Strikes Out Three In Scoreless Outing Sunday

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell held his opponents scoreless once again on Sunday, as he allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out three in 3 1/3 innings against the Angels. That's now 9 1/3 scoreless innings for Snell this spring, as he has now allowed just four hits and three […]

Spring Training Lineup Takeaways - Week 3 Lineup Trends

We are entering week four of Spring Training and week three gave us a lot to watch down the stretch. But of course, you can catch up by talking a look at week one and week two recaps. Just a reminder, in my Lineup Takeaways series we are focusing 100% on lineups, news and quotes […]

MLB DFS Advice: Picking Hitters on DraftKings and FanDuel

Welcome back to our DFS strategy series. I've already gone over some tips for picking pitchers in this post, and I covered a lot of the hitting side in this piece where I talked about stacking strategy. A lot of hitting tips were already covered in that stacking piece, so give that a look after […]

Ryan Weathers Strikes Out Six But Allows Three Runs

Looking to secure an opening day role, San Diego Padres pitcher Ryan Weathers allowed three runs in three innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. It wasn't all bad for the rookie as he posted a K-BB of 6-1. Overall this spring, the left-hander has a 6.30 ERA and has allowed 12 hits and […]

Finding Hitter Clones At Cheaper ADPs

One of the most useful algorithms in the machine learning world is that of data clustering. Clustering, in this case, is defined as: grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups […]

Late-Round Fliers for RBI Production

RBI production is a valuable stat in all fantasy baseball formats, but it is not always an easy stat to predict. Locating solid RBI production late in drafts becomes even more difficult. Ideally, you want players who will hit in the middle of lineups, which are expected to score plenty of runs. Now, this may […]

Using Data Analysis To Spot Strikeout Risers

The key to winning a fantasy league is to spot things that are to come before they happen. This is what we try to do here every day at RotoBaller. As the years have gone by, more data about the game has been made available to us, and we can use that data to make […]

Hidden Gems To Watch - Starting Pitching Prospects (Part Two)

With pitchers and catchers reporting, Major League Baseball is bearing down on a return to normalcy for the 2021 season. With the MLBPA rejecting MLB’s offer of a delayed start to the 2021 season, opening day is now officially scheduled for Thursday, April 1. When analyzing the pool of pitching prospects for 2021, there are […]

Multi-Position Assets For All Fantasy Leagues

With such a short season in 2020, many starting pitchers weren't able to throw more than 60 innings, so it's unlikely that they take the massive jump this season that would allow them to get to the 170-180 innings we usually expect. To work around this, many teams have discussed implementing six-man rotations and even […]

Trent Grisham Progressing Well In Return From Injury

San Diego Padres outfielder Trent Grisham (hamstring) is progressing well as he works his way back from a hamstring strain, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Acee writes that manager Jayce Tingler was optimistic about his return in time for Opening Day, as Grisham has been "increasing his running intensity" in recent […]

Eric Hosmer Scratched From Lineup Saturday

San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer (stomach) was scratched from the lineup on Saturday with a stomach ailment, according to Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Heilbrunn reports that Hosmer was feeling nauseous and dealing with stomach problems when he arrived at the facility Saturday morning. He told manager Jayce Tingler that his […]

Prospect Sleepers for 2021 Redraft Leagues

This time last year, I provided RotoBaller readers with some sleeper prospect names for 2020 redraft leagues. The advice aged quite well despite the stunted major league season and lack of minor league games. Among my predictions, I spoke glowingly about Tony Gonsolin — a pitcher that had not received much love from others. However, […]