Roto Roundup: Clayton Kershaw Tosses Gem, Stephen Drew Out for Season, Travis Snider Drives In 5

Baseball Nation's Rob Neyer wrote this article yesterday right before Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was set to duel Giants starter Tim Lincecum. In the article, Neyer says Kershaw is the Cy Young candidate this season, and not Lincecum. And Kershaw went out and made Neyer look good as he dominated the Giants for 8 shutout innings, where he allowed just 3 hits and a walk and struck out 12. Kershaw is now 11-4 with a 2.72 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP and an excellent 167-38 K/BB rate in 145.2 innings. Yes, he is a Cy Young candidate, and he's only 23 years old.

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-4 with 2 HRs yesterday to help the Red Sox beat the Orioles. He is hitting .316-.375-.509 with 15 HRs, 54 RBIs and 28 SBs. I ranked Ellsbury as my 3rd best outfielder in my Midseason Outfielder Rankings on Monday, but he could move up if he keeps this up in the potent Red Sox lineup.

I was watching the Brewers-Diamondbacks game last night, and saw Stephen Drew run through a stop sign at third, and get thrown out at the plate. As he slid into home plate, his ankle twisted in ways you would never want to see, so he is probably headed to the DL. News came out after the game that he fractured his ankle and will more than likely have surgery, and will be out for the season. AAA shortstop Cody Ransom was removed in the 5th inning of the Reno game last night, so he could get the call to replace Drew once he is placed on the DL.

On the very next play, Brewers outfield Carlos Gomez made an outstanding diving catch in center, but appeared to dislocate his shoulder on the dive. He may require a DL stint as well. 

More Roundup after the jump:

Reds starter Johnny Cueto is on some roll this season. He held the Pirates to one run on 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts yesterday to win his 6th game of the season. He lowered his ERA to 1.98 and has given up 2 runs or less in 8 of his last 10 starts.

The Padres scored a weeks worth of runs last night, as they scored 14 runs, 8 of the runs were off of Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Leading the Padres offense was outfielder Cameron Maybin who went 3-6 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and a SB. He is now hitting .268-.326-.400 with 5 HRs, 24 RBIs and 17 SBs. The stolen bases are nice, and his BA doesn't hurt you, but his power is lacking, yet he is still young. Playing somewhere other than Petco Park would help as well.

Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick, the subject of several trade rumors of late, went 2-4 with a double and 4 RBIs last night. His trade to the Padres last season was called "smart" by many baseball writers, but I was on the other side of that trade. Ludwick responded to the "smart" talk by hitting .211-.301-.330 with 6 HRs and 26 RBIs. This season, he is slightly better, but not by much, as he is hitting .244-.309-.384 with 11 HRs and 61 RBIs. Wow. Had no idea he had that many RBIs.

Coming into last night's game, Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco had a nice 3.51 ERA, down from 4.48 back in mid-June. Last night, he couldn't get out of the second inning, and barely made it out of the first, as he gave up 9 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks. Nolasco was once considered one of the better starters in the NL, but he has been so inconsistent, sorta like Zack Greinke this season. Both pitchers are known for excellent peripheral stats, but give up runs in bunches at times, and frustrating fantasy owners.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer continued his torrid hitting last night with 2 more hits, and is 15 for his last 35 with 6 RBIs, but only 1 extra base hit over his last 10 games. For the season, his triple slash line is .297-.368-.341. Has Mauer turned into a singles hitter?

Indians third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-4 with a HR, run and RBI last night. Since his call up, he is 12-51 with 2 HRs, 4 RBIs and a 13-2 K/BB rate. There will be better times for Chisenhall as the season goes on.

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth went 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBIs last night, but he is having a season to forget in 2011. He is hitting .218-.324-.370 with 11 HRs, 33 RBIs and 11 SBs. The HR and SB totals are ok, but the triple slash line is well below expectations coming into the season.

Is Oakland where hitters go to stop hitting? Wow. How does Moneyball allow the fact that the best hitter in the A's lineup is hitting .265-.315-.389, and his first name is Coco and his last name is Crisp. David Dejesus had some decent years in Kansas City and he is hitting just .229-.319-.342. 

Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider may have figured things out at the big league level. He went 2-4 with a HR and 5 RBIs last night, and has raised his average from .207 to .252 since early July. Since his call up, he is hitting .346-.352-.577 with a HR and 12 RBIs. He is going to be a sleeper pick in 2012.

Smider's teammate Edwin Encarnacion went 3-5 with a HR, 4 runs scored, an RBI and 2 SBs last night. For the season, he is hitting .271-.311-.431 with 7 HRs, 24 RBIs and 4 SBs.

Mariners second baseman Dustin Ackley went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBIs last night. Ackley is hitting much better than I expected, as his triple slash line is up to .284-.343-.505 with 4 HRs, 13 RBIs and 2 SBs in 95 at bats since his call up.