Fact or Fiction? Determining Whether Starting Pitchers Equal Quarterbacks In Fantasy Using "Teams In A Vacuum" Concept

Do starting pitchers equal quarterbacks when it comes to fantasy sports? In the days of Peyton Manning, there was always a single quarterback in the first-round rankings just like Spencer Strider today. The second-round rankings had Drew Brees and Tony Romo represented in this year’s baseball rankings by Gerrit Cole and Corbin Burnes. But in […]

Yuki Matsui Scheduled To Pitch Wednesday

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt said Tuesday that relief pitcher Yuki Matsui (back) is slated to return to game action on Wednesday in the team's Cactus League finale against the Athletics. Matsui, who was signed this off-season, has missed the last three weeks with back tightness. However, the left-hander pitched in an intrasquad game […]

Jackson Merrill Will Be With Team For Korea Series

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt said that shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill will be with the club for their two-game, season-opening series in Korea against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 20-21, but the skipper wouldn't go as far as to name Merrill as the team's Opening Day center fielder. "He's earned his way on […]

Is Gerrit Cole Injured Or Healthy? Fantasy Baseball Injury Update

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole is dealing with issues with his pitching elbow. The reigning AL Cy Young winner has not played since March 1's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. In that game, he threw just 39 pitches in two innings. The 33-year-old ace is one of the best pitchers in the […]

ATC Projections: Overview and How to Use Them for Fantasy Baseball

As someone who played fantasy football for a lengthier period, the roster size, league depth, and categorical balance remained challenging in fantasy baseball. The player pool becomes difficult to master and understand, especially as the league and roster size grows. Thankfully, projection systems help give us a baseline of numbers of what to expect before […]

Yu Darvish To Start First Game In Seoul Series

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish (elbow) has been named the Opening Day starter in Seoul, Korea, against the Dodgers. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow will oppose him. The 37-year-old's 2023 season was cut short when he underwent surgery to address elbow inflammation. However, he has looked good this spring, pitching 9 1/3 innings with a […]

Michael King - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values and Sleepers (2024)

BALLER MOVE: Target in drafts ~pick 121 CURRENT ADP: ~147 overall ANALYSIS:  A headliner in the Juan Soto trade that sent the 2019 World Series champion to the Bronx, Michael King is on track to finally become a full-time starter out west. After performing very well out of the bullpen in a setup role for the […]

5 Mid-To-Late Round Sleepers: NL West - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

Welcome to the final draft sleeper series, where I go through every MLB team to find one sleeper you should be drafting in fantasy baseball this year. The NL West is the last one on our list. The NL West features plenty of superstars who are going early in drafts. Mookie Betts, Corbin Carroll, Freddie […]

Notable Starting Pitcher Improvements in K%, BB% and GB% for Fantasy Baseball

We constantly try to find the right statistics to examine when evaluating pitchers' performances. And while there are many rabbit holes you can head down with spin rates, Stuff +, and any number of ERA indicators, it all usually comes back to strikeouts, walks, and the quality of contact that hitters are making off a […]

4 Breakout Starting Pitchers For Fantasy Baseball Drafts - NL Edition (2024)

The term "breakout" drives much of the stress in a fantasy baseball player's life during draft season. Everyone's looking for the next breakout, but very few will ever find one. Luckily, I've got four enticing National League starting pitchers who have a great shot at breaking out in 2024 and returning well on their ADPs. […]

Closers and Saves Bullpen Report for Fantasy Baseball - NL Edition

With a little more spring training behind us, we're back with the National League version of Closers and Saves Bullpen Report! Make sure to look over the American League edition that was published last week. There's still plenty of time until Opening Day, so as usual we can expect changes to come, but for now? Looks […]

Mid-Round Closers and Relievers - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values And Targets (2024)

Spring training is underway, March has arrived, and the fantasy baseball draft season is upon us. Wrestling with the thought of when to select a closer is a shared struggle among fantasy managers. A common misstep in drafts is to reach for the elite closers in a misguided effort to “lock down” the saves category. […]

Breakout Hitters and Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball Drafts - NL Edition (2024)

"Breakout" is a common term used around the fantasy community during the draft season.   These players are usually fairly young and have just begun to scratch the surface of their professional careers.  They have also had a relatively high prospect pedigree, further raising their potential ceiling. The most important note about a "breakout" is that […]

Statcast xStats: Using Sabermetrics For 2024 Fantasy Baseball

Statcast is a valuable tool for fantasy baseball analysis, and it can be easy to look at a stat called "Expected Batting Average" and blindly use it as your projection. Of course, proper use of these metrics is a little more nuanced than that. First, a disclaimer: This article is about the "Expected Stats" found […]

Five Overvalued Starting Pitchers For 2024 Fantasy Baseball Drafts

Sometimes in fantasy baseball, it's just as important who you don't draft as who you do. This is yet another pitching article from yours truly this preseason where I attempt to evaluate which pitchers are being overvalued in drafts so far. If you're looking for another list of pitchers I am avoiding, check out this […]

Fantasy Baseball Injury Reports for Hitters - Updates for Nolan Jones, Josh Lowe, Ha-Seong Kim, Ian Happ, Cedric Mullins, Jeff McNeil, Jonathan India, Bo Naylor, and more

The calendar has turned March, meaning fantasy baseball draft season is here, and the MLB season is just around the corner. Despite the season not starting yet, there are plenty of key injuries to keep tabs on. It's never too early to check in on the latest injury updates, so let's take a look at […]

Ha-Seong Kim Experiencing Back Spasms

San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (back) began experiencing back spasms on Tuesday in camp while doing drills and will take advantage of the team's off day on Thursday to get some extra rest this week, according to multiple sources. Kim's rest this week is being described as "precautionary" and "preventative." He didn't take part […]

Third Base Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Tiers, Analysis - Roto Leagues (2024)

Spring training is underway, which means fantasy baseball draft season is going to reach a fever pitch very soon. In my last article, I walked you through RotoBaller's first base rankings. This time around, we will take a look at who is available at the hot corner in 2024. The elite talent is concentrated on […]

Starting Pitchers Spring Training News and Notes For Fantasy Baseball

Baseball is back and spring training is here! Every player is reportedly in the best shape of their lives or has worked on their weaknesses in their game. Hitters have fixed their launch angles, while pitchers have changed arm slots or added a new pitch to their arsenal. How do we know how much of […]

Brad Miller Inks Minors Deal With Padres

The San Diego Padres have signed infielder Brad Miller to a minor-league deal with an invite to big-league spring training. The veteran will be in competition for a bench spot as he looks to bounce back after struggling at the plate in each of the last two seasons. Miller appeared in just 27 games with […]

Yuki Matsui Throwing A Bullpen Tuesday

San Diego Padres left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui (back), who dealt with early spring back spasms, is throwing a bullpen session in camp on Tuesday. Manager Mike Shildt said that if all goes well with the bullpen, there should be plenty of time to get Matsui built up for the start of the 2024 regular season. […]

Ethan Salas, Jairo Iriarte Sent To Minor-League Camp

The San Diego Padres assigned top prospects Ethan Salas, Jairo Iriarte and Robby Snelling to minor-league camp on Sunday. The most notable cut might have been Iriarte, who seemed to be in contention for a spot on the Opening Day pitching staff. Although Salas is considered one of the top catching prospects in the game […]

Luis Campusano Goes Yard For First Homer Of Spring

San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano went 1-for-3 with two-run home run in Sunday's Cactus League contest versus the Seattle Mariners. Campusano, 25, belted his first dinger of the spring to help the Padres cruise to a 12-4 victory. One of the Padres former top prospects, Campusano is still just scratching the surface at the […]

Top 250 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings (February 2024 Update)

We're back, RotoBallers, for the February 2024 update of our MLB team's dynasty fantasy baseball prospects rankings for the 2024 season. We're now into 2024 with an eye on the upcoming year, and moves by MLB teams have begun to shape how we look at prospects. This list adds a half-dozen 2024 international signees who […]

Outfield: Overvalued/Undervalued For Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues

The outfield position has plenty of stars going early in fantasy baseball drafts this year, including consensus No. 1 overall pick Ronald Acuna Jr. Mookie Betts, Corbin Carroll, Kyle Tucker, Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge are also some other outfielders going within the first 15 picks of drafts in 2024. That list doesn't […]

3 NL-Only Draft Sleepers: Fantasy Baseball Mid-Round Picks (2024)

Welcome back RotoBallers to our NL-Only fantasy baseball draft values article about players to target in the middle rounds of AL-Only league drafts in 2024. You can see our AL-Only draft values article as well. Playing in an Only league can be tricky in fantasy baseball. With half of the players in baseball eliminated from […]

Yuki Matsui Resumes Playing Catch

San Diego Padres left-hander Yuki Matsui (back) has resumed playing catch in camp on Friday. The 28-year-old reliever was shut down from throwing last weekend due to inflammation in his back, but it wasn't a serious concern and he's already back to throwing. It remains unclear when he'll be able to get into another Cactus […]

How To Use MLB Prospect Rankings Lists to Win Fantasy Baseball Leagues

There are many excellent sources to get prospect information for MLB fantasy leagues. Some, like Baseball America, have been putting together prospect lists for 30+ years. Others are fairly new to the game but have excellent writers and evaluators to offer plenty of insight. What does all of that mean for your fantasy league, though? […]

Tim Locastro Signs Minors Deal With Padres

The San Diego Padres have signed veteran outfielder Tim Locastro to a minor-league deal that includes an invitation to big-league spring training. The 31-year-old has played sparingly throughout his big-league career as he has accumulated just 616 plate appearances across parts of seven MLB campaigns. In that time, he has hit .228 with nine home […]

Top 10 Shortstop Prospect Rankings for Dynasty Fantasy Baseball (2024)

Can we all admit that the shortstop position is the sexiest on the field? Who didn't want to play shortstop when we were playing in Little League for the school team when we were growing up? Most of the best athletes wind up at the shortstop position, and you usually see plenty of names from […]