Saturday's Roto Round Up: Time To Blow Up The D-Backs, Hanrahan Closing Again?

Saturday's extended roto round up comes to you while listening to the 3/26/72 Grateful Dead concert in Oakland, CA. So far, it sounds better than the show I attended last week in Philly.

GM, Josh Byrnes, ARI- Earth to Josh Byrnes, how soon before you start dealing some of your young talent for prospects? Oh, they have to start hitting first, I get it. The Diamondbacks are well on their way to losing two in a row to the worst team in baseball-the Nationals. They can't make John Lannan pay for the 6 walks at the BOB.

SP, Eric Stults, LAD-In a game the Dodgers needed badly, Stults stepped up in a big way, throwing a complete game shutout over the Giants for his 4th win of the season. He struck out 5, while giving up 4 hits and no walks. The Dodgers stood to get swept by the Giants had they lost on Saturday, with Lincecum pitching today. The downside to Stults performance, a 14-3 flyball-groundball ratio, and Matt Kemp made 3 great catches in CF.

3B, David Wright, NYM-yet another triple hit at Citifileld today, this time by David Wright. He appears to be back on track at the plate with 2 hits and 2 RBI today. With all the negative press, including yours truly, he is hitting .306 on the season now.

OF, Brandon Moss, PIT-the time is getting close for the Pirates to call up OF prospect Andrew McCutchen, as Moss is now hitting .176 on the season, with 15 strikeouts, 5 walks, zero HRs, and 3 RBI in 85 ABS. That, and the Pirates will be playing for 2010 within a month.

3B, Evan Longoria, TB-Longoria hit his 11th HR and drove in 5 runs in the Rays 14-5 romp over the Red Sox on Saturday. He is now hitting .367 with 44 RBI on the season. Can you say MVP?

SP, Scott Kazmir, TB-Kazmir earned his 4th win of the season, but he didn't dominate. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks and only 2 K's.

OF, Juan Pierre, LAD-Pierre made LA fans forget Manny Ramirez for one day, as he went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. He is now hitting .405 on the season. Expect more SBs if he can continue hitting even .300 in Manny's absence.

SP, Edwin Jackson, DET-Jackson shutout the Indians for 7 innings on Saturday, striking out 7, while giving up 5 hits and 1 BB. He lowered his ERA to 2.60. Is Jackson finally reaching the potential all the scouts projected of him?

C, Brian McCann, ATL-well it appears McCann has found the cure for his blurred vision, as he went 3 for 4 with a HR in the Braves 6-2 win over the Phillies. Hopefully, McCann owners activated him by now.

SP, Phil Hughes, NYY-Hughes was roughed up for 8 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks and didn't make it out of the 2nd inning in Baltimore on Saturday. I wonder if Jim Callis still thinks he will be a No. 1 starting pitcher?

SP, Jorge DeLaRosa, COL-II got lucky and picked up DeLaRosa when Anibal Sanchez went on the DL on Friday, as Jorge pitched a gem vs. the Marlins. He struck out 12 Marlins in 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk. I thought the Marlins wanted to reduce the number of strikeouts in their lineup in 2009? Guess they have more work to do.

1B, Micah Hoffpauir, CHI-Hoffpauir may see more playing time at 1B should the injury to Derrek Lee land him on the DL. Hoffpauir hit his 3rd HR of the season and is hitting .296 for the season with 11 RBI. He is just 4 RBI short of Lee's production in 40 less ABs. Maybe Lee needs a DL stint after all.

3B, Adrian Beltre, SEA-Beltre finally hit his 1st HR of the season, going 3 for 4, with 2 RBI and his 5th SB on Saturday, Maybe he has been talking to Bobby Abreu about what to do about the lack of power?

C, Joe Mauer, MIN-Mauer continues to pound the ball, as he raised his average to .483 with his 3rd HR of the season, to go with his 9 RBI.

OF, Willy Taveras, CIN-am I the only one wondering why Taveras only has attempted 7 steals,  6 successfully, even though he is hitting .284 with an OBP of .350+?? Roto owners curse you, Dusty Baker. It was a few months ago where Willy T was talking about stealing 100 bases in 2009.

SP, Aaron Harang, CIN-Harang won his 3rd game of the season, throwing 7 innings, striking out 7 while holding the Cardinals to 2 runs. Harang lowered his ERA to 2.93. I think the Reds can win the NL Central if Harang, JCue, and Volquez continue to pitch like this.

SP, Joe Saunders, LAA-Saunders outpitched Zack Greinke on Saturday, shutting out the Royals 1-0. Saunders struck 6, and gave up 6 baserunners in his 9 innings of work.

RP, Joel Hanrahan, WAS-in the volatile National bullpen, Hanrahan was called upon to clean up the mess closer Kip Wells left him. Hanrahan came in with 2 out, and the winning run on 2nd base, and proceeded to strikeout Chad Tracy for the save. Could he have regained the closer job?