Roto Roundup: Ryan Braun Injured, Jay Bruce Goes Yard Twice, Shane Victorino To DL

Daily Scoring Drought Scorecard:  15 games

Teams Shutout: 2

Teams w/1 run scored: 9

Teams w/2 runs scored: 7

Teams w/ 3 runs scored: 4

Teams w/ > 3 runs scored: 8

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun was pulled from his game last night with left shoulder soreness and could miss a game or two this weekend. Should he have to rest the shoulder, Mark Kotsay would get some time in left field

Rockies backup first baseman Jason Giambi went 3-5 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs on Thursday night and was Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day.

Reds outfielder Jay Bruce had a huge game on Thursday going 3-4 with 2 HRs and 2 RBIs. Bruce is now hitting .256-.324-.487 with 10 HRs, 27 RBIs and 4 SBs. He is on pace for 37 HRs and 96 RBIs at this point, and I think he will eclipse 30+ HRs this season.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen went 2-4 with two 2Bs, a run and an RBI and is hitting .247-.341-.475 with 8 HRs, 24 RBIs and 5 SBs. I have to admit, I thought he would have more SBs by now, but am surprised with the home run total. I predicted a 20-40 season for him this season, and he is well on his way to reaching the 20 HR total this season. He has hit in 8 of his last 10 games and 4 of which are multi-hit games.

Nationals first baseman Adam Laroche went 0-4 again on Thursday and is now hitting just .172-.284-.262 with 3 HRs and 15 RBIs this season. I own him in 3 leagues, and keep waiting for him to start hitting. I wonder if the Nationals would put him on the DL to see if they can strengthen his shoulder with rest.

Speaking of Laroche, I was trading emails with Fake Teams reader and UBA league owner DB11 about how bad Laroche has hit this year. I responded to him by saying Bryce Harper would probably hit better than Laroche in the big leagues if he were to be called up this season. He came back saying "so would Harper Lee". So, I responded with "who is Harper Lee?". He was shocked I have never heard of her. Any Fake Team Readers ever hear of Harper Lee?

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth probably thought Washington would be better than this after signing that huge contract last offseason. Well, so far, Werth has struggled mightlly. He is hitting just .234-.330-.409 with 6 HRs, 14 RBIs and 6 SBs this season.

It was reported after last night's game that Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino will be placed on the DL on Friday with a hamstring injury. The Phillies have to be kicking themselves for allowing Victorino to pinch-hit last night. Had he not, his DL time could have been retroactive to May 14th, rather than May 18th.

Cardinals starter Kyle McLellan won his 6th game on Thursday, giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits and 5 Ks in 8 innings. He lowered his ERA to 3.43 and now has a WHIP of 1.28. McLellan doesn't strike out many hitters, but he has given up less than a hit per inning this season.

Allen Craig filled in for the injured Lance Berkman on Thursday and has his best game of the season, going 3-4 with a HR and two runs scored. In a part time role, he is hitting .288-.377-.481 with 2 HRs and 12 RBIs in 59 at bats. I wonder how he would perform if he were playing everyday.

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau had his best game in quite awhile on Thursday as he went 3-5 with a HR, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Morneau has had a slow start to the 2011 season, possibly still recovering from his concussion issues. He is hitting .245-.309-.367 with 2 HRs and 13 RBIs this season.

Angels starter Dan Haren had another excellent outing on Thursday, giving up one run on 3 hits, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts in 8 innings of work. He is 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA and 0.85 WHIP thus far this season, and is certainly back to being a Top 10 starting pitcher this season. He is ranked as the #1 overall fantasy player according to CBS Sportsline.

Matt Laporta was moved up to 6th in the Indians lineup on Thursday and responded by going 2-3 with a HR and an RBI. He is hitting .275-.360-.500 with 5 HRs and 22 RBIs this season. He should see more RBI opportunities if he stays in the 6th spot in the Indians lineup.

Rangers starter Derek Holland went 8 strong innings on Thursday allowing just one run on 9 hits, a walk and striking out 5. Holland did not figure in the decision, but is 3-1 with a 4.37 ERA, a 1.54 WHIP and a 44-21 K/BB rate.

Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin is slowly working his way into the top 25-30 starter talk this season. Chacin held the Phillies to one run on 4 hits, a walk and 9 strikeouts. Chacin is now 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 52-22 K/BB rate in 60 IP. He has given up 3 runs or less in 7 of his 9 starts this season. DB11 is quite happy I gave him up so cheap in an offseason trade in the UBA league.

Dodgers coser Vicente Padilla was placed on the 15 day DL with forearm soreness. Who closes in LA going forward probably comes down to Matt Guerrier and Kenley Jansen, yet manager Don Mattingley may have tipped his hand last night as he used Guerrier to pitch the 8th inning with the team down 3-0. Is Jansen the closer now? We should soon find out.