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Roto Roundup: Matt Moore, Trevor Plouffe, Phil Hughes, and Others

Posted on June 16, 2012 by admin

I will be attending my nephew’s graduation party later this afternoon, so there is a chance that I won’t get to the Roto Roundup for Sunday morning. If I do, it will be posted late Sunday morning. Rays starter Matt Moore was called up late in the 2011 season and dominated in his one regular season start and his one playoff start, leading to some expected hype coming into this season. Well, Moore did what many young starting pitchers do, and that is struggle. His April ERA was 4.68 and struggled with his control as he walked 14 vs 17 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. In May, his ERA was 4.83, but his control improved as he struck out 41 and walked 14 in 31.2 innings. Last night, he shutout the Marlins on 1 hit, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. He is now 4-5 with a 4.16 ERA, 4.41 FIP and 4.20 xFIP with a 1.37 WHIP and a 79-36 strikeout to walk ratio in 75.2 innings. He has given up 3 runs or less in 8 of his last 10 starts, and has won his last 3 starts. Your chance to deal for him may be gone. Does anyone know who this pitcher named Ryan Dempster is? I seem to remember a guy by a similar name who would strike out a bunch of hitters, but also give up plenty of base runners and runs. This Ryan Dempster is striking out hitters, but at a lower K rate, and his WHIP is down from 1.45 to 1.01 this season. Yesterday, he shutout the Red Sox on 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts in 7 innings to win his 3rd game of the season. He is 3-3 with a 2.11 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 3.75 xFIP and an excellent 66-22 strikeout to walk ratio in 81 innings pitched this season. He has given up 1 run or less in 8 of his 12 starts, and has not given up a run in his last 3 starts, covering 22 innings. No wonder the Yankees and Dodgers are interested in trading for him. More Roto Roundup, with some Saturday morning updates, after the jump: Twins infielder Trevor Plouffe is having one helluva June, and the month is only half over. Plouffe went 2-4 with 2 HRs and 2 RBI last night and is now hitting .240-.311-.575 with 14 HRs and 24 RBI. But of those 14 HRs, 9 have come in June, with 8 coming in the last 10 games. Trade him now because he won’t stay this hot. Is it me or is Dustin Pedroia having a down year? He went 0-4 with a walk yesterday and is hitting “just” .271-.331-.404 with 5 HRs, 33 runs, 25 RBI and 3 stolen bases. His BABIP is right around league average, and he is hitting a few more line drives this season than last, but the power is down. His .411 SLG is down vs 2011 where he slugged .474. He is on pace to hit 13 HRS, drive in 63 and score 84, all significantly down from 2011 levels. Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is having an MVP type season for a team that is 13 games under .500. Cargo went 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI last night, as the Rockies scored 8 runs in the 10th inning, 6 of them off of Tigers closer Jose Valverde . Gonzalez is now hitting .328-.389-.622 with 17 HRs, 51 RBI, 50 runs scored and 9 stolen bases, and is on pace for 44 HRs, 131 RBI, 129 runs and 23 stolen bases. As I commented on Twitter last night, I question whether the humidor is working at Coors Field this season though. He’s a certain first round pick in 2013 if he stays healthy this season. Yankee starter Phil Hughes is pitching to the potential many saw in him a few years ago. Hughes limited the Nationals to one run in 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9 to win his 7th game of the season. He is now 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 4.18 xFIP, a 1.34 WHIP and a72-20 strikeout to walk ratio in 74 innings pitched. His strikeout rate is up huge this year, to 8.76 per nine innings vs. 5.67 last season, and the walks are down as well. He has given up 2 runs or less in 8 of his 13 starts, so he is pitching better than his overall stats indicate. I would try to trade for him if his owner isn’t asking too much for him. I keep thinking Red second baseman Brandon Phillips will eventually have a down year at the plate, but it appears it will not be this year. Phillips went 1-5 with a HR and 2 RBI and is now hitting .290-.335-.462 with 9 HRs, 35 runs, 40 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Gone are the days where he would steal 20+ bases, but Phillips consistently puts up solid HR and RBI totals for a second baseman. He is on pace for a career high 103 RBI and 23 HRs, which would be his highest HR total since his 30 HR season back in 2007. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz left Friday night’s game in Toronto with a left oblique strain and more than likely will land on the DL. Ruiz is hitting .362-.424-.578 with 8 HRs and 35 RBI thus far, and has been the best hitter on the team. Tough break for the Phillies, as nothing has gone right for them this season. I wonder if this pushes GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to look at selling more seriously. Rangers starter Yu Darvish had his best start in about a month as he limited the Astros to 2 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and struck out 11, to win his 6th game of the season. It’s safe to say he has disappointed fantasy owners this season, as he is 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA, 3.91 FIP and 3.98 xFIP, with a 1.48 WHIP and a 88-46 strikeout to walk rate in 80.2 innings pitched. His walk rate is an absurd 5.13 thus far, but he is striking out almost 10 batters every nine innings, so he has a little more value in 5 x 5 leagues. Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs landed on the DL after sitting out several games with a left oblique strain. The Reds say he could return next weekend, as his DL stint was backdated to June 6th, but I have my doubts. Stubbs is having a typical Stubbs-like year as he is hitting .235-.3–0.373 with 7 HRs, 34 runs, 18 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and a 59-18 strikeout to walk ratio. He is actually striking out and walking less this season, and hitting for slightly more power. With Stubbs out of the lineup, Chris Heisey and Ryan Ludwick should get the majority of starts in CF and LF. Blue Jays starter Kyle Drabek was placed on the 15 day DL on Friday with a ligament tear in his right elbow, as reported by Shi Davidi on Twitter last night. Drabek is scheduled to pay a visit to Dr. James Andrews this weekend to confirm the tear, and possibly his second Tommy John surgery. Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter threw 40 pitches off a mound on Friday and is moving closer to a rehab stint. The Cardinals are scheduled to provide an update on Carpenter on Wednesday. He could be a solid pickup for the second half of the season if he can stay healthy. The Oakland A’s have moved prospect Grant Green from the outfield to third base last night and the thought is it will put him on the fast track to the big leagues. Green is hitting .303-.344-.475 with 8 HRs, 40 runs, 38 RBI and 6 stolen bases in 244 at bats at AAA Sacramento this season. He could see time at third base in Oakland once he gets comfortable at third in AAA. Poll Has Matt Moore finally turned his season around? Yes No   16 votes | Results Continue reading →

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Fantasy Baseball Injury Report

Posted on April 23, 2012 by admin

After two weeks of relentless carnage to big-name players, the third week of the season wasn’t all that bad. Most of the injuries suffered by players were minor, but there were some very odd injuries to aces such as Cliff Lee . Le’ts get down to business: Hitters Adrian Beltre pulled his hammy this weekend and is hoping to miss just four games. This is the same injury that cost him one month last year and it’s not out of the question to think that Beltre could hit the DL. Beltre stretched out that hamstring more than any player I’ve ever seen in the Spring Training games (I saw him warm up twice in March for Cactus League). When Beltre comes back, it’s probably safe to assume he won’t be stretching any doubles and will be stuck on his one steal. He only stole one base last year, too. He’ll have an MRI today that all signs point to it being negative. Stay tuned. Check out the rest of the injuries of note after the jump: Allen Craig had knee surgery in the offseason to repair an injury he suffered during the regular season. He had screws placed in his knee cap and it appears that his rehabilitation is going well enough for him to make his return in the near future. Craig blasted a homer in his first at-bat of rehab and should be back with the Cardinals in a week or so. He’s a nice player to stash for any owner that needs an OF. Chris Young suffered a slight tear in his right (throwing) shoulder as well as a deep bruise and was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday. Oddly enough, Arizona is expecting him to return in the minimum 15 days, but even the most optimistic owner probably shouldn’t be counting on it. Gerardo Parra will pick up the slack in the meantime and has been batting leadoff for the Diamondbacks . The Yankees placed Brett Gardner on the 15-day DL with a strained right elbow. The details of the injury include a bone bruise and a strained extensor muscle (muscle on the posterior side of the forearm), neither figure to be much of a problem for him. His owners shouldn’t be worried much and expecting him to return in the minimum 15 days is appropriate. Starters Cliff Lee had arguably the second-most impressive outing of the season on Wednesday with his 10-inning gem that included seven strikeouts, seven hits, no runs and no walks with 81 of his 102 pitches going for strikes. However, Lee was placed on the DL this weekend with an oblique strain. Baseball has seen an spike in oblique strains in the past and Lee has fallen victim to this ailment before. What’s more, he suffered from abdominal soreness in Spring Training, but it’s not in the same area of his abs. Lee has been remarkably durable since his Cy Young year by avoiding the DL in each season. Owners of Lee could probably expect him back at some point in May. Although it’s likely to be closer to Memorial Day than Cinco De Mayo, so plan your party accordingly. Daniel Hudson was also a fairly surprising player to hit the disabled list with his shoulder problem. As just about every baseball fan knows, shoulder injuries are much more troublesome that an elbow and Hudson could be down for quite some time. On the other hand, this could just be a precautionary measure as some form of damage control. The main positive with this story is that his MRI was negative for structural damage, so the smart money is on him not missing most of the season with this problem. Owners of Hudson should stash him on the DL under almost any circumstance. The subsequent question of course is who is going to take his spot in the rotation? Well, Wade Miley is going to get the first crack at it. Miley is unlikely to fend off the two Baby Backs Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs. Bauer is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and is almost a lock to make it up to the bigs by the All-Star break. The UCLA stud is tearing it up this year with sterling 0.40 ERA and 28 K’s in 22.2 IP. Bauer has already been snatched up in any competitive deep league and he could be up very soon once Miley falters. Skaggs isn’t too shabby either and should see some action with the big club. Skaggs was the starter in the Futures Game last year and currently has 27 punchouts with a 3.63 ERA over 17.1 IP in Double-A. It’s also worth mentioning that Josh Collmenter doesn’t seem like he’s cut out for a rotation spot with his straight 88-MPG heater. Michael Pineda had a setback with his throwing shoulder injury. He is expected to meet with Dr. Chris Ahmad on Monday to undergo an MRI. He’s probably going to be out for at least another two months and there are about two dozen other players that are better DL-stash candidates. It’s certainly in the realm of possibilities that Pineda doesn’t pitch in 2012 (insert dark, omnious tones here). Closers Sergio Santos is off to see Dr. Lewis Yocum to get his pitching shoulder checked out which will require a stint on the DL. This injury does sound more severe than Hudson’s because of Yocum’s name attached to it and how Santos was in pain after he threw on Friday. Santos owners should be on the lookout for the news and prepare for the worst. By the way, once again we learned that paying for saves is not a good idea. The news came on Saturday night which allowed the fantasy owls to go ahead and snatch Francisco Cordero in any league. The Blue Jays confirmed that Coco will get the saves chances and he should be grabbed in any league where you care about saves. Thanks for reading! Continue reading →

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