All posts under "Fantasy Strategy" - Page 4

In The Field 3B Zack Cozart was placed on the 10-day IL on April 25. The Angels had been playing David Fletcher and Tommy La Stella anyway with Cozart struggling. Fletcher is someone that could help with batting average but...

Much of the talk in the early going of the 2019 season has been around the rise in power and the struggles of the starting pitchers, elite or otherwise. We know from a leaguewide perspective, pitching ERA is up significantly,...

In The Field DH Shohei Ohtani feels good enough to be playing but is waiting on one more check up with the doctors before he starts playing in live games. It remains to be seen how many starts each week...

American League In The Field OF Shohei Ohtani is throwing three times a week and has progressed to hitting on the field. Ohtani is going to be a huge value in daily lineup leagues because he should be above average...

Homeruns are to flyballs as cake is to flour, unless, of course, you're a starting pitcher. In that case, homeruns are to flyballs as burnt toast is to flour. Home runs ruin ERAs, fantasy teams and even careers. For years,...

Yesterday marked the first NFBC Main Event drafts of the 2019 season. If you're unfamiliar, the Main Event is a high stakes 15-team, 5x5 rotisserie league that has both a league prize and an overall prize. There are 540 participants...

Hard hit rate (hard %) measures the percentage of batted balls that are hit "hard". That's a straightforward definition, but what exactly does it mean? For context, it's important to understand a brief history of the metric. Hard hit rate...

Growing up, every little leaguer was taught by their coach to "put the barrel on the ball". When it happened, the coach might have exclaimed "way to barrel it up, Michael!" That's why when Statcast unveiled a slew of new...

Strand rate, or left on base percentage (LOB%), measures the percentage of baserunners a pitcher leaves on base over the course of an entire season. At its core, strand rate is simply a measure of the number of runners that...

Hi folks! In the slightly adjusted words of Lenny Melnick: A closer is a closer is a closer. In other words (mine), it doesn't matter what time of year it is or who is closing the games, we will almost...

In The Field 3B Jedd Gyorko is expected to come off the D.L. on Saturday after recovering from a left groin strain. Gyorko is likely to find himself in bench role or some sort of semi-regular playing time which is...

It's time for A Closer Look as we take a closer look at your fantasy team's bullpen. We're in the middle of the fantasy baseball playoffs and rotisserie leagues are coming to a close. This week we'll give a little...

We made it to roster expansion! Those of you in head-to-head leagues likely started your playoffs either earlier this week or will begin next week. Things have slowed down considerably in the bullpens over the last week, but a handful...

In The Field OF George Springer was activated from the DL on Friday. OF Mike Trout was not activated on Friday but he was away from the team due to the death of his brother-in-law. 2B Jose Altuve is getting...

It's week 19 of the fantasy baseball season, do you know where you are in the standings? Time is running thin to make a material difference in any category, but saves is one where you can still pick up a...

In The Field OF Kyle Tucker was optioned to Triple-A with the Astros calling up Jake Marisnick. 2B Ian Kinsler was placed on the 10-day DL with a left hamstring injury. OF Mike Trout is dealing with a wrist injury...

We're a mere three days away from the trade deadline and already our closers are dropping like flies! Over the last week, Jeurys Familia, Joakim Soria, and Zach Britton have found new homes and are gearing up for the playoff...

In The Field OF Ryan Braun was activated from the 10-day DL on Saturday after being out since July 8 with a back strain. The Brewers outfield has an opening currently with OF Eric Thames going on the DL with...

Welcome back to baseball! Hopefully everyone had a wonderful All-Star break and found the time off enjoyable and rejuvenating. We're just a few weeks away from baseball's non-waiver trade deadline and we're certainly in the midst of the most important...

Lots to cover, so little time! As we head into the All-Star Break, I plead with you to please stick with baseball even after the Midsummer Classic happens next week. Many a fantasy baseball team owners go AWOL after the...

It was a relatively slow week in terms of closer news, which is welcome to many of your ears (and FAAB budgets!). Nonetheless, we're a mere three weeks away from the trade deadline and that means we could see a...

In The Field SS Zack Cozart is going to have surgery to repair a torn labrum and is out for 6-8 months which means that his 2018 season is over. 1B Jefry Marte has started a rehab assignment and could...

Save Leaders This Week: Blake Treinen - 4 Raisel Iglesias - 4 Blown Saves This Week: Ryan Tepera - 2 Brad Boxberger - 1 Mark Melancon - 1 Fernando Rodney - 1 Seranthony Dominguez - 1 Sam Dyson - 1...

In The Field OF Ronald Acuna has been hitting and running in his rehab. He started a rehab assignment on Friday, June 22nd and could be back late next week. OF Ryan Braun had a cryotherapy session done on his...

Guys (and gals).....closers are really weird this year. Every season is a circus when managing and projecting the ninth inning, and while I wouldn't classify this year as chaotic or overly active, it's just plain odd. We've seen all-star closers...

Javier Baez (CHC) - Javy Baez stole two more bases on Monday and is now on pace for 29 stolen bases. The rest of his on-pace for statistics are just as impressive with him currently trending towards .254/.286/.522, 37 HR,...

In The Field OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee/back) is targeting a return in the Padres series (June 14-17). 1B/OF Eric Thames (thumb) has been playing games during his rehab stint and could be back as soon as June 11. He...

As we near the 40% completion mark of the season, I must ask you the following question: Do you know where your saves are? In rotisserie leagues, the window to meaningfully impact your place in the standings is quickly closing...

Happy June! If you've made it this far into the baseball season and you're still reading columns on closers, that's a positive sign! Things stayed hot on the closer front this week and it's looking like it'll stay that way...

In the Field 2B Nick Franklin (quad strain) is still rehabbing and there is not a clear date for his return. 1B/OF Eric Thames (thumb) is rehabbing and is still expected back sometime in late June. 1B Jesus Aguilar has...

It's the last week of May, but it finally feels like April in the closer world. Lots to discuss and tackle in this week's closer update. Unlike last week, there's actually new situations to discuss and analyze, while also creating...

In the Field OF Justin Upton was hit on the wrist with a pitch on Thursday and did not play Friday night but was in the lineup Saturday night. OF Boog Powell (knee) started his rehab assignment on Wednesday. The...

Howdy folks! We're just past the 25% mark in baseball's regular season, which means it's time to start digging in a little deeper into the analytics behind the result stats for our fantasy baseball players. If you followed us in...

So you want the Cliff Notes version of the current landscape of closers? Greg Holland is still awful, no one can close for the Angels, the White Sox are still annoying, and AJ Minter is still good. Get it? Got...

Yasiel Puig seems to be purposely aggravating fantasy owners that didn't start him this week, as he hit his third HR in the last four games last night. He was 2-for-3 yesterday while adding 2 walks. Puig was so incredibly...

Sometime between now and the next column, most teams are going to hit the 25% completion mark on the season. While the negative activity has picked up recently, we're still waiting for the hammer to fall and knock out our...