Roto Roundup: Cole Hamels and Michael Pineda Toss Goose Eggs, Sam Fuld and Jose Bautista Star At the Plate

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley won his second straight start on Friday, limiting the Cubs to one earned run in 6+ innings, giving up 7 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3. He induced 9 ground ball outs and has a 52% ground ball rate so far this season. A groundball rate over 50% and a K rate above 9 usually means plenty of success in the big leagues.

Juan Uribe is on fire, as he went 2-4 with 2 runs scored, a HR and 4 RBIs on Friday. He has 2 HRs and 9 RBIs in his last 3 games, and the Dodgers need his production with James Loney hitting just .175-.202-.225. 

Jerry Sands went 0-4 with a walk, RBI, run scored and no strikeouts. He saw 29 pitches in his 5 at bats on Friday. I saw one of his ABs and he had to foul off 5 balls before flying out to right. He is struggling in his first week in the majors, but seems to have a clue at the plate.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Many Fake Teams readers often questioned in the fantasy baseball chats if we would see a rebound from Carlos Quentin this year, and I thought we would. Quentin went 2-4 with 2 HRs and 2 RBIs in Friday and is now hitting .320-.400-.707 with 6 HRs and 16 RBIs. 

I also thought Quentin's teammate Adam Dunn would have a very good power season hitting in U.S. Cellular Field, but he has struggled in the early going as the White Sox DH. He is hitting just .163-.290-.327 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs on the season. I think he will heat up soon. Maybe he doesn't like hitting in the cold?

Rays outfielder Sam Fuld went 3-5 with 3 runs scored, an RBI and 2 SBs on Friday. He would have been my Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day if it weren't for Anibal Sanchez's performance. Fuld is hitting .366-.395-.549 with 9 SBs now. He won't hit .300 all year, but he could approach 35 SBs this season.

Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista went 3-3 with 2 walks, an RBI, 4 runs scored and was a single short of hitting for the cycle. Bautista is hitting .339-.480-.661 with 5 HRs and 8 RBIs on the season. Bautista has an excellent 14-16 K/BB rate. He won't hit 50+ HRs again this year, but I have to think he can go 35+.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey had his best start of the season on Friday, going 7 innings, giving up just one run on 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Pelfrey is 1-2 with an ERA of 7.23 and WHIP of 1.94 and batters are hitting .333 against him so far this year. Stay away.

Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton is off to a slow start in the power department, but looking closer at his stats, fantasy owners should be encouraged that, although he still strikes out alot, he is also walking alot this year. In his 42 at bats, he has a 15-7 K/BB rate, and he is hitting .238-.373-.452 with a HR and 4 RBIs.

Royals outfielder Alex Gordon went 2-4 with 2 runs scored on Friday night, and is hitting .361-.404-.542 now. According to Buster Olney in his Friday morning blog post, he made an adjustment to his swing in spring training. Here is an excerpt:

Gordon has put in a lot of work in recent offseasons on his swing, but he said the other day that an adjustment he made in the middle of spring training has really helped him. He was taking batting practice in the spring, and someone mentioned out loud that he should get his hands back, to be in a better position to swing the bat.

Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, who I highlighted in my Hitters to Buy Now article earlier this week, went 3-5 with a HR and 3 runs scored on Friday night.  He is hitting ,229-.357-.529 with 5 HRs and 10 RBIs. 

Both Michael Young and Adrian Beltre went 3-5 with 2 RBIs on Friday night, with Beltre hitting his 6th HR to go with his 18 RBIs. He is on his way to duplicating his 2010 season.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun went 3-4 with a HR, 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs on Friday and is now hitting .382-.494-.691 with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs. Braun has a 10-16 K/BB rate but has only 1 SB so far this season. What happened to the Brewers running more this season?

Braun's teammate Casey McGehee is catching fire of late after a slow start to the season. He went 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs on Friday and has his triple slash line up to .228-.338-.425 with 2 HRs and 12 RBIs.

Is Brett Wallace finally reaching his potential as a hitter? Wallace went 3-5 with a run scored and an RBI. He has his triple slash line up to .313-.387-.418 with 1 HR and 7 RBIs now. 

Phillies starter Cole Hamels threw 8 shutout innings in San Diego on Friday night. He gave up just 4 hits, 3 walks and struck out 8 in winning his second game of the year, and lowered his ERA to 2.92. Who is going to beat the Phillies when Hamels is their #3 starter?

Mariners pitching prospect Michael Pineda threw 6 scoreless innings against the Athletics giving up just 7 baserunners while striking out 5. He lowered his ERA to 1.78, and his WHIP to 1.07. If he is available in your league, pick him up now.