Roto Roundup: Mike Moustakas Called Up, Jerry Sands Sent Down, Co-Closers in Atlanta?

Daily Scoring Drought Scorecard-13 games

Teams shutout: 2

Teams scoring 1 run: 2

Teams scoring 2 runs: 4

Teams scoring 3 runs: 6

Teams scoring > 3 runs: 12

The Royals called up third base prospect Mike Moustakas last night after their 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. Moustakas was hitting .287-.347-.498 with 10 HRs.44 RBIs and 26 extra base hits in 223 at bats. Like teammate Eric Hosmer, he is a must add in AL-only leagues, and in deep mixed leagues. I wouldn't expect much this year as he doesn't take many walks, but he could help in the power categories.

Speaking of Hosmer, he went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI yesterday afternoon. In 136 at bats, Hosmer is hitting .309-.349-.485 with 5 HRs and 21 RBIs. He isn't walking much right now, but I sense that will come in time. And then we will see the Hosmer some project to be the next Joey Votto.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Blue Jays first baseman Adam Lind is on fire right now. He went 3-4 with a run scored, and is now hitting .329-.367-.584 with 11 HRs and 37 RBIs in just 149 at bats this season. In his last 10 games, he is 16-36 with 5 HRs and 14 RBIs.

Tigers starter Justin Verlander held the Mariners to one run in 8 innings on Thursday night, giving up just 5 hits, a walk and striking out 10. Verlander is now 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 93-25 K/BB rate in 102+ innings pitched. His strikeout rate is down to 7.89 K/9 from 8.79 K/9 entering yesterday's start, but his walks are down. One concern is that he has already given up 10 HRsin 102+ innings this year after giving up just 14 in 220+ innings last year.

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was not called upon to close out a 3-2 game last night, and instead the Braves went with the best setup man in baseball in Jonny Venters. Venters proceeded to throw a 1-2-3 inning for the save, After the game, David O'Brien from the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweeted the following:

ajcbraves David O'Brien 

#Braves' Gonzalez said it doesn't signal anything more, but sounded like he'll be more inclined to use something close to co-closers

It remains to be seen how manager Fredi Gonzalez will handle the 9th inning going forward, but this certainly bears watching for Kimbrel and Venters owners.

Mets starter Jonathan Niese held the Brewers to just one run in 7 2/3rd innings last night. He gave up just 3 hits, walked 4 and struck out 8 to win his 5th game of the season. He lowered his ERA to 3.51 and his WHIP to 1.35. He has given up just 4 runs in his last 4 starts, covering 26 innings where he has struck out 25 and walked just 7. This after a 22-17 K/BB rate in his previous 6 starts. Niese was a popular sleeper on draft day and he is just starting to pay owners dividends.

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson moved outfielder Chris Young to leadoff last night and he responded by going 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. For the season, he is hitting .245-.303-.478 with 12 HRs, 35 RBIs and just 6 SBs. He is on pace for a 31-90-15 season after going 27-91-28 in 2010. I am a bit surprised he has only stolen 6 bases to day, but think he can still steal 20+.

Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo made his first major league start last night, batting 7th in the Padres lineup. Rizzo struck out in his first at bat, and wetn 1-2 wtih a triple, run scored and 2 walks in the Padres win last night. Not a bad first game for the power hitting prospect.

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau went 0-4 on Thursday night, and is now hitting just .225-.281-.338 with 4 HRs and 21 RBIs. Is it time to bench him in mixed leagues? I know it's only June 10th, but he has struggled all season.

Adrian Beltre went 2-5 with a HR and an RBI in the Rangers loss to the Twins. On the season, he is hitting .260-.312-.467 with 12 HRs and 46 RBIs thus far. In a season where many third baseman are underperforming expectations, namely Evan Longoria and David Wright, Beltre is quietly having a solid season. 

The Dodgers sent struggling outfielder Jerry Sands down to AAA before last night's game in Colorado. Sands was hitting just .200-.294-.328 with 2 HRs, 17 RBIs and 3 SBs. It appears Tony Gwynn Jr. will get most of the playing time in left field going forward.

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp is making a case for the NL MVP leader at this point. He went 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI last night, and is hitting .329-.406-.620 with 18 HRs, 53 RBIs and 14 SBs. In a Dodgers lineup that features basically Kemp and Andre Ethier and a bunch of old men, Kemp is having a fantastic bounce back season after his "down" season in 2010.