Pull%: Using Sabermetrics for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

We have previously determined that fantasy managers generally prefer batters to hit the ball into the air to have a chance at a home run. Yet, all fly balls are not equal for this purpose. A player can maximize his power production by pulling the ball in the air. One way to illustrate this is... Read More

Known-Skill Starting Pitcher Rankings - Predicting Future Stats for Fantasy Baseball

There is a lot of guesswork that goes into fantasy baseball. This is especially true when we're talking about starting pitchers. And all of this despite the fact that we have more metrics than we can even count about pitchers. You will see a ton of talk this year about fancy advanced pitch metrics. Spin,... Read More

Injury Agnostic SP Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

It's hard to project injuries. Therefore, it's hard to project how many innings a pitcher will throw in a given year. Am I rocking any boats yet? Sure, Jacob deGrom is more likely to hit the IL this year than Gerrit Cole. There's no questioning that, and that should matter when you are drafting your... Read More

Early 2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 5x5 Roto Mixed Leagues

Hello there fellow RotoBallers! Below you'll find our MLB team's early 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and tiers for 5x5 mixed roto leagues. This is an exciting time of year for MLB and fantasy baseball fans, as the MLB season is getting closer and there's a full year of fantasy baseball that lies ahead. We're here... Read More

Fernando Tatis Jr. Takes Swings Thursday

San Diego Padres shortstop/outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (shoulder, wrist) took swings in the batting cages on Thursday. Tatis was cleared to resume baseball activities on Jan. 6 and is expected to be ready for the start of spring training after missing all of the 2022 season due to a fractured wrist and a suspension for... Read More

Adalberto Mondesi and Michael A. Taylor: Buying and Selling the Latest Offseason News for Fantasy Baseball

Even though the Winter Meetings are now behind us, there’s still plenty of offseason left when it comes to baseball news and rumors – especially with a number of the offseason’s top free agents still without a team. And that’s all without mentioning potential trades as there hasn’t been an overabundance of deals made so... Read More

Jon Anderson's Early Starting Pitcher Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers to my early 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and projections series! We are finishing it up today with starting pitcher. I have been through all of the hitting positions already, so check those out at the links below. Catcher First Base Second Base Shortstop Third Base Outfield I went for an even 100... Read More

Jon Anderson's Early Outfield Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers to my early 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and projections series! Today, we are covering the outfield, and it's a monster! Here is what we've done so far: Catcher First Base Second Base Shortstop Third Base I am putting my top 80 or so outfielders into this, so we'd better get started.  Be... Read More

Fantasy Baseball Hitters That Could Benefit Most From the Shift Ban

Major League Baseball is making some big changes ahead of the 2023 season. One of the most significant is the banning of the shift. You can read more about that here, but here's a quick summary from that article: "With all four infielders needing to be on the dirt, the days of the four-outfielder setup... Read More

Predicting Pitcher K-BB% Breakouts For Fantasy Baseball 2023

You will not read an article from me about fantasy baseball starting pitchers that does not talk a ton about the strikeout-to-walk ratio (K-BB%). It is the most important and most predictive statistic out there for evaluating pitchers. The way to win a fantasy league is to have a few breakout players on your team.... Read More

Using Hitter Projections to Identify Probable Improvers for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Hey everyone, it's Jon Anderson back again! I have recently finished my season-long hitter projection system, so now the fun begins! I will be writing at least a few pieces here that look at what the projections are telling us. This is my first year doing a projection system, so I don't exactly have a... Read More

Early Draft Takeaways: Fantasy Baseball 2023

In the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to give you all a little gift. And the gift I will give you is way too early fantasy baseball ADP analysis. It is not even Christmas as I write this, so this is strange territory. We are at least two months away from what any normal... Read More

The Toughest Players to Rank for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

The name of the game in fantasy baseball is projections. If you ever hear anybody telling you to "draft with your gut" or "listen to your instincts" – run. It's a numbers game, we need to use numbers. Your gut has no say in the matter other than digesting the potato chips you ate while... Read More

Valuing Injured Fantasy Baseball Players Returning in 2023

The 2022 season had its fair share of devastating injuries. Especially those who make a significant impact on the field. If we were to compose a list of every notable injury, things would get ugly. Now that we've mentioned injuries, which is quite a broad term, here are the most valuable players returning in 2023.... Read More

Pitchers That Could Improve for 2023 Fantasy Baseball - Exploring K% Correlation

With all of the data at our fingertips, we can really do some interesting things in the offseason. We know that the strikeout rate is one of (if not the) most important metrics for a pitcher. It's hard to have success with a low strikeout rate, and it's a bit tough to not have success... Read More

Plate Discipline: Using Sabermetrics for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

No matter how high a particular player's BABIP may be, his average will be mediocre at best if he strikes out too much. This is why fantasy managers have known for years that players like Mike Zunino are potential drains on a fantasy team's batting average. Furthermore, players who whiff a lot tend to continue... Read More

HR/FB: Using Sabermetrics for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Using BABIP to predict a player's batting average is great. Batting average is a category in many league formats, and every hit is an opportunity to steal a base or score a run. Most fantasy managers find the long ball sexier, though. Every HR comes with a guaranteed run scored and at least one RBI.... Read More

The Toughest Players to Rank for 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Part 2

Welcome to part two of my mini-series on the toughest players to rank. I have been in the numbers for months now, and there are plenty of players I really don't know what to think about for next year. These post series help me get a little bit of clarity on how to view them,... Read More

Sean Poppen Outrighted To Triple-A

San Diego Padres right-hander Sean Poppen has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso. The Padres initially claimed Poppen off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 28-year-old saw action 29 times out of the bullpen for the Snakes in 2022, posting a 4.40 ERA (5.21 FIP), 1.36 WHIP, 12 walks and only... Read More

Jon Anderson's Early Third Base Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers to my early 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and projections series! Today, we are covering third base! Here is what we've done so far: Catcher First Base Second Base Shortstop Third base is a really interesting position this year. There are a handful of really, really good hitters at the top - but... Read More

Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar: Buying and Selling the Latest Offseason News for Fantasy Baseball

Even though the Winter Meetings are now behind us, there’s still plenty of offseason left when it comes to baseball news and rumors – especially with a number of the offseason’s top free agents still without a team. And that’s all without mentioning potential trades as there hasn’t been an overabundance of deals made so... Read More

Padres Agree With Ethan Salas

The San Diego Padres agreed to a $5.6 million deal with catcher Ethan Salas on Sunday, according to a source. Salas is the top-ranked prospect on MLB.com's top-50 international prospect list. The Venezuelan backstop is one of the best catching prospects in recent history with strong bloodlines. The 16-year-old is the younger brother of Miami... Read More

Early Outfield Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of tiers and rankings for the 2023 season. It is the perfect time to enthrall you guys with some fantasy preparation as we creep toward Spring Training. This time around, I present you with the top 75 outfielders as displayed in the corresponding chart. I personally have not had... Read More

Padres Could Be "All In" On Shohei Ohtani In 2023 Offseason

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Monday that the San Diego Padres are planning to be "all in" on starting pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani if he becomes a free agent in the 2023 offseason. The 28-year-old phenom has one year left on his contract with the Los Angeles Angels, so he could potentially be traded this... Read More

Jon Anderson's Early Shortstop Tiers & Rankings for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers to my early 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and projections series! Today we are onto the shortstop position in my early positional ranks and tiers posts. Here is what we've done so far: Catcher First Base Second Base This may be the deepest position in the game this year. This was true last... Read More

Jake Cronenworth Settles For $4.25 Million

The San Diego Padres and infielder Jake Cronenworth avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $4.25 million deal. Cronenworth is coming off back-to-back All-Star nods for the Friars. He finished up his third MLB season with a .239/.332/.390 slash line with a career-low .722 OPS, 17 home runs, a career-high 88 RBI,... Read More

Austin Nola Will Receive $2.35 Million In 2023

The San Diego Padres avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $2.35 million deal with catcher Austin Nola. The 33-year-old backstop came on strong for the Padres in the postseason, but he wasn't all that great in the regular season with a .251/.321/.329 slash line, .649 OPS, four home runs, 40 RBI,... Read More

Trent Grisham Avoids Salary Arbitration

The San Diego Padres and outfielder Trent Grisham avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $3.175 million deal. Grisham struggled to make contact regularly in his third year with the Friars in 2022, finishing with a .184/.284/.341 slash line, career-low .626 OPS, career-high 17 home runs, 53 RBI, 58 runs scored and... Read More

Josh Hader Avoids Arbitration With Record Deal

The San Diego Padres and relief pitcher Josh Hader avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $14.1 million deal, according to a source. It becomes the biggest salary in arbitration in MLB history for a reliever. The Padres acquired the left-hander from the Milwaukee Brewers at last year's trade deadline, but was... Read More

Juan Soto Avoids Arbitration At $23 Million

The San Diego Padres and outfielder Juan Soto avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $23 million deal, according to sources. The Padres swung a blockbuster trade to acquire Soto and first baseman Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals at last year's trade deadline. The two-time All-Star disappointed in 52 games to... Read More