Welcome to our Surprising Starts series, where every week we look at lower-owned starting pitchers who have performed unexpectedly well in their last outing(s).This week we're looking at a trio of NL West hurlers, each of whom once had relatively high expectations at one point in their career but have now been discarded by the fantasy community. Luke [...]

2018 was a banner season for baseball's Marianos, as Mariano Rivera was headed full steam ahead towards a unanimous Hall of Fame entry and yours truly was cruising with the most accurate fantasy baseball ranks of the season per FantasyPros, unbeknownst to me until recently. I'm still riding high off of that and you're all going to have to hear about it.Some nice hits from last season's bold predictions piece included the resurgence of Trevor Story and Xander Bogaerts, the excellence of [...]

So far, 2019 has been a very good year for guys named Mariano. Legendary New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera became the first unanimous Major League Baseball Hall of Famer in January.In March, Nick Mariano of RotoBaller, originally of Sleepy Hollow, New York, was announced as the No. 1 Most Accurate Ranker for Fantasy Baseball by FantasyPros, based on his 2018 ranks.I love the link between me and him so much, Nick Mariano said of Rivera. Now I live in Boston, right near Fenway Park. My fian[...]

Has anyone been better than The Sandman, Mariano Rivera?

Mariano Rivera? Francisco Rodriguez? Eric Gagne? Which pitcher will claim the top spot?

This article references Andy Pettitte, Atlanta Braves, Daniel Murphy, David Freese, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and more! Daniel Murphy went on an unprecedented power binge and in doing so earned himself the most valuable player award for the NLCS. Will his homerun barrage usher in a new age of Murph, or will that NLCS MVP become nothing more than a curiosity in the years to come? Post season awards don’t always end of up in the hands of the guys we remember the most, here are 7 guys you probably forgot won a World Series MVP since 1980, number four will really make you scratch your head.   7. David Ecks[...]Keep on reading: Seven MLB Players You Probably Forgot Won a World Series MVP

This article references A, A.J. Ramos, Andrew Miller, Arquimedes Caminero, Craig Kimbrel, Danny Salazar, Dellin Betances, Edinson Volquez, Francisco Liriano, Jason Grilli, Kenley Jansen, Mariano Rivera, Mark Melancon, SP, Steve Cishek, Vance Worley, Wade Davis, Yimi Garcia, Zach McAllister and more! One month down, five months to go--unless you’re trapped in the Twilight Zone of small samples, luck (both good and bad) and inconsistency that accompany daily fantasy baseball. It's an exercise in futility, but I digress. In season-long traditional fantasy baseball formats, playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played (I sound like my dad right now), the marathon is just getting started. For fantasy owners who got off to turbulent starts in April, don't worry because May is the ti[...]Keep on reading: Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch: Relievers On The Rise in Week 5

This article references A, Alex Rodriguez, Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Ivan Nova, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, Masahiro Tanaka and more! If you had the Yankees sitting atop the AL East to begin May in your office pool, you’re likely planning your trip over to Smith and [...]Keep on reading: Can The Yankees Keep Up This Pace (And Their Fantasy Production)?

This article references Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, David Robertson, Fernando Rodney, Greg Holland, Joaquin Benoit, Jonathan Papelbon, Kenley Jansen, Mariano Rivera, Mark Melancon, Steve Cishek, Trevor Rosenthal and more!   Projecting Saves for 2015 Fantasy Baseball Saves can be one of the most volatile categories for fantasy owners. Often, a pitcher will have the closer’s role seemingly locked up only to be ousted after a slow start to the season. Many believe that the only key to racking up a lot of saves is to pick a closer for a winning team. This often proves to be false. Of the 2014 leaders in saves, three of them played for losing teams, five of them played for teams with a negative run diffe[...]Keep on reading: Predicting the Top Ten Finishers for Saves in 2015

This article references Aroldis Chapman, Brad Boxberger, Craig Kimbrel, David Robertson, Dellin Betances, Greg Holland, Jake McGee, Joaquin Benoit, Jonathan Papelbon, Kenley Jansen, Mariano Rivera, Sean Doolittle and more! In 1979 New York Times writer and inventor of rotisserie baseball Daniel Okrent created a statistic then-known as IPRAT, or “innings pitched ratio.” At a time when ERA and wins were all the rave, Okrent created a simple formula that would form the foundation of sabermetrics and eventually work its way into regular fantasy baseball categories in nearly every format. Okrent’s equation? Walks allowed plus hits allowed, divided by innings pitched. Seems like he should have realized that WH[...]Keep on reading: Top 10 Projected WHIP Finishers for Relievers: 2015 Fantasy Baseball Rankings