We are continuing our updated analysis of points league tiered rankings with a final look at starting pitchers. In H2H points leagues, starting pitchers are the lifeblood of a fantasy team. The more innings and strikeouts a starter can rack up, the further it carries your team toward a championship.There is a solid core of SP at the top that are sure to fly off draft boards much earlier than in roto leagues. [...]

What do I, Nick Mariano, have in common with great minds such as Ken Jennings, Gary Kasparov, and Lee Sedot? Before, I wouldnt have had an answer, but now I can say that weve all had the honor of challenging incredible Artificial Intelligence minds! Nevermind that those other three guys got crushed in their Man vs. Machine rounds, this is no place for data and predictive analytics. Gosh! Wait.[...]

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Once you reach the later rounds of drafts, you start thinking about upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. These are the rounds to take risks on more unknown commodities like prospects, forgotten-about veterans, players returning from injuries or players that have previously showed promise but haven't put it all together yet. Knowing about the deeper player pool can help you be more flexible throughout the draft, especially if you can identify someone you like and plan your earl[...]

Fantasy experts are placing a bigger emphasis on drafting elite starters early this year. It is apparent this strategy is making its way across the fantasy community, as the high-end starters are being valued higher than before. In points leagues, this is a wise methodology, as an ace can serve as the backbone of a fantasy team. Seven different SPs tallied over 600 points in standard formats, whereas only six hitters reached that mark. Even Mike Trout failed to reach that level of production tha[...]

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Matthew Boyd has lost 15 pounds in the offseason as part of a calculated plan to take his game to another level in 2019. He hired a performance coach this offseason in Devin McKee. We did DNA-based testing, said Boyd, who turns 28 next Saturday. [...]

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Matt Boyd posted the best ERA and K/BB ratio of his career in 2018. Unfortunately, his ERA was still a mediocre 4.39 and his K/BB ratio barely cracked usefulness at 3.12. In the first two months of 2018 it looked like Boyd was finally breaking out. In 57 innings he posted a 3.00 ERA and 1.07 WHIP for the Tigers. But eventually the clock struck midnight on Boyd, and he struggled to the tune of a 5.08 ERA and 1.9 HR/9 during his final 113.1 innings in 2018. Same old Matt Boyd, right? [...]

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the second base position. The sun is still rising on 2019, but RotoBaller writers JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Chris Zolli and myself are here with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible. As the offseason progresses, these rankings are sure to change quite a bit over the coming weeks. [...]