Roto Roundup: Carlos Gonzalez To DL, Nelson Cruz Drives in 8

The Rockies placed outfielder Carlos Gonzalez on the DL last night with a strained right wrist.Ryan Spilborghs and Ty Wigginton will probably split time in left field while Cargo is out. The Rockies will miss his bat as he is having a solid season at the plate, hitting .289-.358-.491 with 15 HRs, 56 RBIs, 63 runs, and 16 SBs with a 77-35 K/BB rate.

Mets third baseman David Wright returned from the DL and went 2-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs and 2 RBIs in his return from the DL. Wright has had a disappointing season thus far, mainly due to the fact that he was out for two months, but is hitting just .232-.339-.417 this season. He was probably a first round pick last season, and should have value if selected anywhere in the late second to third round in 2012 drafts.

Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz was benched on Wednesday and wasn't too happy with the decision. Last night, he took out his frustrations on the Blue Jays pitching staff by going 4-4 with a HR and 8 RBIs. Yes, 8 runs batted in. For the season, he is hitting .252-.302-.524 with 22 HRs, 64 RBIs, 38 runs and 5 SBs. He is on pace for a 30-100 season thus far.

More Roundup after the jump:

Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton went 1-2 with a HR, 2 walks 2 runs and an RBI last night. He now has 21 HRs and 59 RBIs and is on pace for 34 HRs and 96 RBIs as a 21 year old, and already has 43  HRs in his big league career. Should he hit 34 HRs this season, he will have 56 HRs in his first 1.5 years in the big leagues, and could reach 100 HRs early in his age 23 season. And maybe sooner.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout went 2-4 with 2 runs scored and a SB last night. He has struggled in his first 10 games in the big leagues, but then again, he is only 19 years old. Trout is hitting just .176-.243-.235 with 5 runs scored, 2 RBIs, one SB and an 8-3 K/BB rate in 34 at bats thus far.

Don't be surprised if Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is benched or demoted as he made two terrible errors last night vs the Dodgers that lead to 2 Dodgers runs. I read recently, I think it was over at Baseball Prospectus, that some in the Nationals front office want to send down Desmond, move Danny Espinosa to shortstop and call up Steve Lombardozzi to play second base. Time will tell.

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd shut out the Indians for 7+ innings last night, giving up just 4 hits and striking out 5. He is now 8-9 with a 4.11 ERA, a solid 1.20 WHIP and a 90-31 K/BB rate in 127 innings pitched. 

Athletics starter Trevor Cahill got rocked last night, giving up 10 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks in just 2 innings of work last night against the Yankees. Cahill is now 8-9 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. His ERA jumped from 3.16 to 3.77 after this poor start.

Equally disappointing, and far more concerning, was the outing from Yankees starter Phil Hughes last night. With a huge lead, Hughes was knocked around for 7 runs on 9 hits, 4 walks and just 3 strikeouts in 4.1 innings. It took Hughes 98 pitches to get through his 4.1 innings, and GM Brian Cashman has to be working the phones hard for another starter before the trade deadline after this bad outing by Hughes, especially considering a very bad A's lineup knocked him around for 7 runs.

Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher went 3-4 with a HR, 2 runs and 5 RBIs last night, and is now hitting .259-.371-.421 with 11 HRs and 55 RBIs this season. What happened to the 29 HR guy from the last two seasons? Do the Yankees exercise his option in the offseason or allow him to walk?

Phillies starter Cole Hamels bounced back after his worst major league start last weekend, by holding the Padres to one run in 8 innings of work, giving up just 3 hits, a walk and striking out 10. He is now 12-5 with a 2.62 ERA, an excellent 0.96 WHIP and a 134-29 K/BB rate in 144.1 innings pitched this season. He is a solid candidate for the NL Cy Young award this season.

I was reading yesterday's Keith Law chat and someone commented on Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard's declining OPS. This season he has hit 18 HRs and driven in 74, but his OPS, or OBP + SLG, is less than .800 at just .789. His HRs totals have declined over the past 3 years from 48 in 2008 to 18 two-thirds of the way throught the 2011 season. Gone are the days of 40+ HRs from Howard and his 5 year extension has yet to start. 

Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer went 2-5 with a run and 2 RBIs last night and is now hitting .271-.324-.435 with 9 HRs and 39 RBIs in 269 at bats with a 45-21 K/BB rate. Fantasy owners will have to be patient with the young first baseman.