Roto Roundup: Chris Heisey Homers Twice, Joe Nathan to Close in Minnesota?

After blowing up on Thursday night and blowing a save, Cubs closer Carlos Marmol could not close out the Marlins again on Friday afternoon. He gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk, but was removed from the game and is now sharing closing duties with Sean Marshall who earned the save yesterday.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster is pitching very well of late, and on Friday he shut out the Marlins for 8 innings, giving up just 4 hits and striking out 9. I have to think the Cubs will be dealing Dempster before the July 31st trade deadline. He is now 7-6 with a 4.68 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, but these season stats don't tell the whole story here. In his last 10 starts, he has given up 2 runs or less in 7 of them, and has lowered his ERA from 6.29 to 4.68.

More Roundup after the jump:

With the way the Yankees starters have pitched to start the second half, GM Brian Cashman has to be calling teams looking for pitching. On Thursday night, Bartolo Colon couldn't make it out of the first inning, and last night Freddy Garcia gave up 5 runs on 11 base runners in 5 innings of work. The Yankees rotation needs help real soon.

Speaking of needing pitching help, the Red Sox were rumored to be interested in Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda on Friday. After the outing Andrew Miller gave them on Friday night, they will probably have A LOT of interest. Miller lasted just 2.2 innings, giving up 7 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks. His ERA has ballooned up over 5.00 now and the Red Sox have enough of those pitchers and will need an upgrade to battle the Yankees and Rays in the AL East.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera just keeps on hitting. He went 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBIs on Friday night, and is now hitting .296-.348-.503 with 16 HRs and 55 RBIs. Is A-Cab a candidate to be a bust in 2012?

White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham went 2-4 with a run scored and 2 RBIs, and appears to be turning his season around. He is hitting .313 thus far in July with a .353 OBP and .406 SLG. He has his BA up to .248 which is not bad considering he hit just .194 in April and .222 in June. 

For the second time this season, Reds outfielder Chris Heisey went yard twice in the same game. Actually, the other time he hit 3 HRs in the same game. I think Heisey should be playing everyday, but am wondering if the Reds will look to the trade market for a more experienced left fielder should they decide to be buyers. Heisey is now hitting .256-.314-.494 with 12 HRs, 33 RBIs and 3 SBs in 172 at bats.

According to CBSSports.com, the Yankees and Red Sox had scouts at the Phillies-Mets game last night, presumably looking at outfielder Carlos Beltran. Beltran did not disappoint, as he went 1-2 with a HR, 2 walks, 2 runs scored and an RBI. He is hitting .287-.381-.512 with 14 HRs and 59 RBIs. 

Braves starter Tim Hudson held the Nationals to one run on 7 hits and a walk, striking out 7 to win his 9th game of the season last night. He is 9-6 this season with a 3.44 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.

Twins closer Matt Capps failed to preserve a one run lead in the 9th inning last night, as he served up a 2-run HR to Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer to blow his 7th save of the season. Will Joe Nathan take his job back?