Some minor league prospect performances before we get to the top MLB performances from Sunday:
Giants prospect Brandon Belt went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs and is hitting .458 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs. He played left field on Sunday, so he could be a Pat Burrell injury or slump away from getting recalled.
Mariners second base prospect Dustin Ackley went 1-3 with 2 walks, a strikeout and a caught stealing, and is hitting just .212 in the early going.
Rays outfield prospect Desmond Jennings was 2-4 with a triple, walk and a run scored. He is hitting .269 with 2 HRs, 9 RBIs and 7 SBs in 2011.
Angels top prospect Mike Trout is hitting .268-.342-.535 with 4 HRs, 9 RBIs and 3 SBs and a 16-8 K/BB rate.
Orioles SS prospect Manny Machado went 1-3 with a HR, walk, 2 RBIs and a SB and is hitting .337 with 5 HRs, 20 RBIs and 3 SBs in 83 at bats. How soon before the promotion to High A?
And this tweet from Kevin Goldstein last night:
Kevin_Goldstein Kevin Goldstein
Double-A Richmond 1B Joe Koshanky was 0-for-8 with 7 strikeouts last night in a 18 inning game. I have no idea what kind of hat that is.
9 hours ago
Ouch. Remember him?
Indians starter Justin Masterson pitched well enough to win on Sunday, as he gave up just two runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 7 innings. He has given up 3 runs or less in all 6 of his starts this season, 5 of which were 2 runs or less, and has induced 10 or more ground ball out in 5 of his 6 starts. His ERA sits at 2.25 and his WHIP at 1.15.
Indians first baseman Matt Laporta went 2-3 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs and is now hitting .263-.344-.513 with 4 HRs and 15 RBIs so far this season. The former top prospect is still batting 8th for the Indians and I wonder if he will move up in the lineup anytime soon. He has a solid eye at the plate as he has a 15-10 K/BB rate.
More Roto Roundup after the jump:
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter went 0-3 with a run scored and dropped his triple slash line to .242-.308-.263 on the season. Maybe GM Brian Cashman was right for playing hard ball with Jeter this past offseason.
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBIs on Sunday. For the season, he is hitting .281-.330-.640 with 8 HRs, 18 RBIs and 2 SBs. Granderson is having an excellent start to the 2011 season, and I am thinking I may have underestimated him in my rankings, but we shall see how he performs going forward,
Blue Jays outfielder Rajai Davis went 1-3 with 2 walks and 3 SBs on Sunday and now has 6 SBs on the season. His triple slash line is terrible for a leadoiff hitter-.209-.261-.279- but having his speed at the top of the lineup should provide more fastballs for hitters hitting behind him. That assumes he can get on base more than 26% of the time.
ESPN's Buster Olney mentioned in his Sunday morning blog that the Felix Hernandez-Tim Wakefield looks too easy on paper and would probably not end the way everyone expected, and he was right. King Felix pitched well enough to win, as he gave up just 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk but struck out 10. For the season, Hernandez is 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.17 WHIP and a terrific 45-13 K/BB rate in 47+ innings.
Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday has been one of the best hitters in baseball in the early going this season. He went 2-3 with 2 doubles, a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs on Sunday, and is now hitting .418-.521-.646 with 3 HRs and 18 RBIs. He is discussed in an article I scheduled for later this afternoon.
Cardinals third baseman David Freese was hit in the hand by a pitch and will be placed on the DL with a broken hand. Rookie Daniel Descalso will take over at third while he is out. Freese is another Cardinal who has had a hot start to the 2011 season as he was hitting .356-.394-.471 before getting hurt.
Nationals starter Jordan Zimmerman bounced back after several bad outings on Sunday, going 6 innings, where he gave up 2 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He is now 2-4 with a 4,.29 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and an 18-7 K/BB rate in 35+ innings. I was expecting a better strikeout per nine rate from Zimmerman before the season started.
Carlos Lee was carted off the field after colliding with SS Angel Sanchez on Sunday. CT scans came back showed no broken bones, but no word on whether he will hit the DL or not. Prior to the collision, Lee went 2-3 with a HR and 3 RBIs.
Orioles rookie starter Zach Britton may give Mariners rookie starter Michael Pineda a run for his money for AL Rookie of the Year this year. He won his 5th game of the season on Sunday, going 6 innings, giving up one run on 5 hits, 3 walks and just one strikeout. He lowered his ERA to 2.63 and his WHIP is a solid 1.19.
Royals second baseman Mike Aviles may have been the first player to win the Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day on Sunday, but Bud Norris was too dominant. Aviles went 3-5 with a HR, 2 runs scored, 4 RBIs and a SB. He now has 5 HRs, 21 RBIs and 6 SBs on the season.
Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez lasted just 4 innings on Sunday giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. He also had 3 wild pitches. It appears he is back to being 2008 Ubaldo, but maybe he is still working off the rust. I own him in the UBA keeper league and am beside myself with his performance on top of the cold starts for Mat Latos and Dan Hudson. I keep telling myself we are one month in, but a quality start would be nice.
The Rockies batted Carlos Gonzalez in the 5th spot in the lineup for the second straight day on Sunday. He had two hits on Saturday night an one hit yesterday, so he may slowly be coming out of his slump.
It's tough to write about many Athletics players as their offense is pretty bad, but when there is a solid start from one of the starting pitchers, I have to write them up. Gio Gonzalez didn't have a great start, but he gave up 2 runs in 6 innings of work on Sunday, striking out 7 and walking 2 in winning his 3rd game of the year. His ERA sits at 2.70 and WHIP at 1.34.
Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton went 1-4 with a monster HR that might still be in the air. I have to guess that it went 470 feet. In the video, Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs takes a few steps back toward the CF wall, then basically stops because the ball was hit that far. Stanton owners hope this is the start of a HR streak.
Speaking of Stubbs, he went 2-4 with a run scored and a SB on Sunday and is now hitting .266-.350-.440 with 5 HRs, 13 RBIs and 10 SBs. Will he end up being the better fantasy hitter than Jay Briuce?
Diamondbacks utility player Ryan Roberts was probably undrafted in most mixed leagues, and many NL-only leagues, but he has made the most of his chances to play this season. He went 2-3 with a HR and 2 runs scored on Sunday, and is hitting .328-.430-.642 with 6 HRs, 16 RBIs and 3 SBs in just 67 at bats this season.
Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez is in an 0-33 slump right now and the Phillies will have to look for alternatives come July 31st if they feel Domonic Brown is not ready to play everyday in the big leagues.
Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson had his first quality start in quite awhile on Sunday, going 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts. As a Hudson owner, I am hoping this is the start of a streak of quality starts.
Padres starter Dustin Moseley was an unknown coming into the season, but he has strung together 6 quality starts in a row after shutting out the Dodgers for 7 innings on Sunday. He gave up just 3 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.63 and his WHIP to 1.03. If he is still on the waiver wire in your league, you should pick him up.