Roto Roundup: Clayton Kershaw Tosses Complete Game, Evan Longoria Heating Up

I had a busy day on Saturday so I couldn't get to the Roundup Saturday night, but I am back at it today.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw tossed a second straight complete game yesterday, holding the Angels to 2 runs on 6 hits, and struck out 11 and walked none. As impressive as his second straight complete game and 11 strikeout performance, what might be the most impressive stat for me is the walks. He didn't walk a batter, and has cut his walk rate from 3.57 to 2.67 this year. He is now leading the majors in strikeouts with 128 and is on pace to strikeout 266 this season. He's an ace at 23 years old.

 I didn't get to Saturday's games, but Tigers starter Justin Verlander is making a solid case for AL Cy Young this season. He won his 10th game of the season on Saturday and struck out 14 batters. As ESPN's Buster Olney wrote in his Sunday blog, Verlander and Rays starter James Shields are the top two starters in the AL at this point.

More Roundup after the jump:

I wrote about Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta last week and Peralta continues to improve upon his solid first half of 2011. Yesterday he went 3-4 with a HR, 2 runs and 2 RBIs in the Tigers win over the Diamondbacks. For the season, Peralta is hitting .308-.358-.524 with 12 HRs and 45 RBIs. Peralta just turned 29 in May and is on pace for a 25-93 season.

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 4-4 with 2 runs scored on Sunday and is hitting .260-.332-.378 with 7 HRs, 46 runs, 31 RBI and 15 SBs. He isn't hitting or much power, but is making up for that with his speed on the basepaths. His BA and SLG are in a 3 year freefall, and I wonder if his current triple slash line is his peak for the season,.

Pirates outfielder injured his quad running out a bunt single yesterday and initial indications were that he would be placed on the DL. But Rob Biertempfel from the Bucco Blog has this to say last night:

Jose Tabata was limping, but he walked out of the Pirates’ clubhouse under his own power after today’s 4-2 loss against the Red Sox. A team source told me that the early indications are Tabata will certainly have to miss at least a couple of games, but might be able to return to the lineup by week’s end.

Even if Tabata can avoid a DL stink, the Pirates have promoted AAA  outfielder Alex Presley to the big leagues, and he is rosterable in  NL-only leagues, but mixed leaguers can hold off for now. Presley was hitting .333-.386-.500 with 8 HRs, 35 RBIs, 51 runs and 18 SBs.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria is starting to warm up at the plate. Yesterday, he want 4-6 with a double, 2 HRs, and 5 RBIs. Over his last 6 weeks, he is 10-27 with 4 HRs, 3 doubles, and 14 RBIs. After a slow start to the 2011 season, he is hitting .253-.345-.478 with 9 HRs and 33 RBIs.

After hitting .291-.368-.504 in 30 games in the leadoff spot, Royals outfielder Alex Gordon has been moved to the cleanup spot. He responded on Sunday by going 2-4 with a run and an RBI. For the season, he is hitting .293-.362-.482 with 9 HRs and 44 RBIs. Who saw this coming this year?

Blue Jays starter Rickey Romero threw a complete game 4 hit shutout yesterday where he walked just 2 and strukc out 5 to win his 7th game of the season. He has given up 1 run or less in 5 of his last 10 starts, and has lowered his ERA from 4.04 to 2.74 over those 10 starts.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is going to have plenty of suitors should the Mets decide to deal him by July 31st. He went 4-5 with his 14th triple of the season, 3 runs scored, a SB and an RBI yesterday and is hitting .341-.385-.514 with 3 HRs, 32 RBIs, 61 runs and 28 SBs this season. Forget what Sandy Alderson said, Reyes will get Carl Crawford money should he stay healthy all season.

Rockies third baseman Ty Wigginton is making Jim Tracy look good for sticking by him and handing him the third base job after sending Ian Stewart down to AAA. Yesterday, he went 3-4 with 2 HRs and is hitting .275-.327-.530 with 12 HRs and 32 RBIs thus far. Over his last 10 games, he is 13-38 with 6 HRs and 11 RBIs.