Roto Roundup: Thoughts on Harmon Killebrew, David Wright to the DL, Alex Rodriguez Homers Twice

Yesterday, Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew passed away after his fight with cancer. It was a sad day for me, because Killebrew was my favorite player when I was younger. I remember starting my baseball card collection and having a Killebrew card. I had no idea, at the time, who he was or how great he was, but I remember his card. He was my favorite non-Dodger player till he retired. I wish I was able to see him play when I was younger, but his baseball card was all I needed when I was younger. Check out what the guys over at Twinkie Town had to say about Killebrew here, and Baseball Nation's Rob Neyer here. RIP Harmon.

The Mets placed third baseman David Wright on the DL yesterday, and he could miss up to 3 weeks, possibly more. The Mets called up Nick Evans to take his spot on the active roster. Before Tuesday's game was postponed, the Mets had Justin Turner playing third base with recently called up Ruben Tejada playing second base.

The Red Sox placed starter Daisuke Matsuzaka on the DL with elbow stiffness, and called up Michael Bowden. Replacing Dice K in the Red Sox rotation will be Alfredo Aceves. As Baseball Nation's Jeff Sullivan wrote yesterday, the Red Sox have lost 2/5ths of their rotation, but at least it is their worst two starters, with John Lackey being the other starter.

On Monday, we heard from Mariners GM Jack Zdurenciek who said that second base prospect Dustin Ackley could be up "sooner rather than later". Yesterday the Mariners reversed course a bit saying that Ackley still needs to work on his defense at second base.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Brian McCann hit a game-tying HR with two outs in the 9th inning and then hit a game winning two-run HR in the 11th. McCann is hitting .293-.359-.414 with 4 HRs and 23 RBIs this season. 

Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez tossed 8 shutout innings yesterday, but was left with no decision after closer Mark Melancon gave up a game-tying HR in the 9th. Wandy was the Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day.

Braves starter Derek Lowe gave up just one run in 7 innings on Tuesday, giving up just 5 hits, no walks and striking out 4. Lowe is 3-3 with a solid 3.43 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 51-17 K/BB rate. He has given up 2 runs or less in 7 of his 10 starts this season, and has induced 10 or more ground ball outs in 6 of his starts.

Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez had his second solid start vs the Giants on Tuesday, going 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, a walk an 7 strikeouts. Jimenez threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 30 batters he faced, and is now 0-3 on the year, with a 6.14 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a 37-23 K/BB rate. Yesterday's 7-1 K/BB rate was a positive step for Ubaldo after walking 19 in his previous 18+ innings, covering 4 starts.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez went 2-4 with 2 solo HRs on Tuesday. Both HR came off of Rays starter James Shields. Rodriguez is hitting just .250-.340-.492 with 8 HRs and 24 RBIs this season.

Rays outfielder Sam Fuld was the talk of the town in April, but after his 0-4 performance on Tuesday night, Fuld is hitting just .233-.285-.358 with 2 HRs, 15 RBIs and 12 SBs. In the month of May, Fuld is hitting just .155-.169-.259, and since April 23rd, he is 11-85 at the plate. I think Fuld has till the end of May to start hitting, before we start hearing more and more chants for Desmond Jennings to get called up.

Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena went 2-3 with a HR and 3 RBIs on Tuesday. Pena homered off of Reds starter Edinson Volquez in the first inning, and is now hitting .231-.361-.389 with 5 HRs and 17 RBIs. 

Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia gave up just one unearned run on Tuesday, giving up just 5 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts in his 8 innings of work.  Garcia has been the Ubaldo Jimenez of 2011, as he is 5-0 with a 1.64 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and a 53-13 K/BB rate this season. He has given up 1 run or less in 6 of his 9 starts, and has given up just one earned run in his last 24 innings pitched, covering his last 2 starts.

Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson is starting to get back to the pitcher he was in the 2nd half of 2010. He went 7 innings on Tuesday night, giving up just one run on 8 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He is now 4-5 with a 4.03 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 54-18 K/BB rate in 58 IP.