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Roto Roundup: Yu Darvish, Drew Storen, Chris Sale and Others

By Ray Guilfoyle
Apr 9, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) pitches in the thrid inning against Seattle Mariners second baseman Munenori Kawasaki (61) at Rangers Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
Apr 9, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) pitches in the thrid inning against Seattle Mariners second baseman Munenori Kawasaki (61) at Rangers Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The highly anticipated debut for Rangers starter Yu Darvish was the talk on Twitter last night as he struggled through the first inning of his first major league start, giving up 4 runs on 42 first inning pitches. But he settled down after that and left after throwing 110 pitches in 5.2 innings, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits, 4 walks and striking out 5. He earned the win however, as the loaded Rangers lineup came back to win 11-5. If there are any skittish owners in your league, I would look to deal for Darvish now that he has his first major league start behind him.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was a late scratch yesterday as he is apparently dealing with some pain in his left knee, the same knee that kept him out for a few weeks in spring training. With the off day tomorrow, Stanton has yet to be ruled out for Wednesday's game, but with Roy Halladay on the mound, the Marlins may choose to sit him and see if three days rest are enough to get Stanton back on the field.

I wrote about Nationals closer Drew Storen last night, and we should hear more about his injury sometime today. In the meantime, Henry Rodriguez appears to be Davey Johnson's first choice to close, as he came into a tie game last night with a runner on second base and two out, and struck out Scott Hairston to end the 8th inning. He then came out to pitch the 9th, but took the loss on an unearned run on his own throwing error on a weakly hit ball back to the box.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

White Sox starter Chris Sale won his first major league start last night as he held the Indians to one run on 3 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. He induced 10 ground ball outs, so 15 of the 20 outs he got was via the strikeout and groundball. He could prove to outperform his draft slot this season.

Sale's teammate Hector Santiago earned his 2nd save of the season despite giving up a HR to Jose Lopez. I don't see Santiago keeping the job for long. Addison Reed and Matt Thornton each got two out prior to Santiago earning the save in the 9th.

Speaking of inducing ground balls, Angels starter C.J. Wilson induced 16 ground ball outs and 5 outs via the strikeout, with no fly ball outs, while holding the Twins to just one run on 7 innings yesterday. He gave up 3 hits, walked 4 and struck out 5 to earn his first win of the season.

Red Sox closer Alfredo Aceves earned his first save of the season as he tossed a 1-2-3 9th inning, a day after failing to get an out and serving up a game-tying 3 run homer to Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera. He struck out one and induced 2 ground ball outs to earn the save.

Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos blew his second consecutive save last night, giving up 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. A few more blown saves by Santos, and the Francisco Cordero watch will officially begin. If you can stash him on your bench, I would suggest picking him up off your league waiver wire.

Giants starter Barry Zito threw a complete game 4 hit shutout in Colorado yesterday. How often has that happened in Colorado? Just two other times, both by former Brave and Mets starter Tom Glavine. I would not suggest going out and grabbing Zito.

Reports late last night was that the Rangers have signed second baseman Ian Kinsler to a 5 year, $75 million deal, with an option for a 6th year. What does this mean for Josh Hamilton? Elvis Andrus? Jurickson Profar? I think they let Hamilton walk, and as someone suggested here on Sunday, they could move Kinsler to left field, and play both Andrus and Profar in the middle of their infield next season.

There were also some reports late last night that the Indians have signed catcher Carlos Santana to a long term deal, possibly buying out one of his free agent seasons. More on this story later today.

A's starter Tom Milone shut out the Royals for 8 innings last night, as he gave up just 3 hits, 3 walks and zero strikeouts. I really wanted to draft Milone in my AL only league draft on Saturday, but had already targeted several other young starters. Here is a bit of info about Milone's start in this Dave Cameron tweet last evening:

Tom Milone has thrown 7 shutout innings with 0 strikeouts. Only 24 pitchers in last 20 years have finished game with 7+ IP, 0 R, 0 K.

(Note: he posted before Milone threw a 1-2-3 8th inning).

I was watching some of the Royals-A's game last night for two reasons. One, to watch Tom Milone pitch and two, to see Yoenis Cespedes at the plate. Cespedes has excellent power, and I saw him almost beat out a ground ball to shortstop, so he has speed as well. But, he swings at a lot of offspeed pitches. I saw him strike out on a ball that bounced 1-2 feet in front of home plate, so his pitch recognition needs some work.

Phillies starter Cole Hamels pitched the Phillies home opener yesterday, and got knocked around for 4 runs, 3 of which were earned, on 8 hits in 5.1 innings of work to take the loss. He did, however, strike out 9 batters while walking none, and induced 5 ground ball outs, so he just got a bit unlucky in his first start of the season.

In the fantasy baseball chat last evening, some readers were asking for buy low/sell high candidates. It is too early to know, after 3-4 games, who is a buy low candidate right now. With that said, if someone like Albert Pujols or Robinson Cano end the month of April hitting .220, feel free to pay full value in a deal for either of these two, or someone similar, players as we all know they are two of the best at their positions in all of baseball. Plus, it will be difficult to find an owner who is willing to accept .80 on the dollar in return for either of these two hitters in an early season deal.