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The huge news of the day for fantasy owners was the news that Giants closer Brian Wilson could miss the rest of the season with structural damage in his right elbow and could face surgery. He is going to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion according to some reports, but the real question for fantasy owners is who the Giants closer will be going forward. Last night, the favorite for the job, Santiago Casilla, pitched the 8th inning to face Casey McGehee, Rod Barajas and Neil Walker, and set them down 1-2-3. He also came out for the 9th inning and got the first two batters, Josh Harrison and Clint Barmes, to fly out and strike out, respectively, but then yielded a single to Garret Jones. Giants manager Bruce Bochy went to Javier Lopez to pitch to lefty Alex Presley, who struck out swinging.
So what does this tell us. Not much. I still think Casilla is the best option for save opps, but certainly not tomorrow as he threw 25 pitches in his 1.2 innings of work last night. For what its worth, Sergio Romo, who has his own elbow issues, was warming up to pitch the 10th inning last night, but the Giants won the game in the bottom of the 9th.
The bigger question here is whether the Giants will look OUTSIDE the organization and trade for a more established closer. Bob Nightengale from the USA Today wrote yesterday that the Astros are shopping closer Brett Myers, and the Padres will be shopping closer Huston Street at some point this season.
More Roto Roundup after the jump:
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp went 3-4 with 2 HRs, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He is following up his near MVP 2011 season with a huge start to the 2012 season. Thus far this season, he is hitting .457-.487-.971 with 5 HRs, 15 RBI and a SB. Padres manager Bud Black asked after the game "is there a better hitter in baseball than Matt Kemp right now?". I tweeted the same last night after Kemp's second HR of the game.
Who is this year's Arizona Diamondbacks? How about the Dodgers who start the season 8-1 and are 33-11 in their last 44 games going back to last season. This info courtesy of @EricStephen from True Blue LA.
For those of you looking for a closer down the road: Troy Renck from the Denver Post:
Troy Renck, Rockies @TroyRenck
If team out of it, definitely.. They will want to get his feet wet RT @PabloRizzy: Brothers the closer by end of the year?
Brothers is definitely the closer in waiting and I have been vocal about not liking current closer Rafael Betancourt to keep the job all season. Betancourt could be another July 31st trade candidate with Brothers looking to be ready by then.
Dodgers first baseman James Loney is hitting just .125-.222-.167 with 1 extra base hit and 2 RBI so far this season. Ned Colletti has to be looking for an upgrade there after their 8-1 start right?
Yu Darvish pitched a little better than his first major league start, lasting 5.2 innings, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, on 9 hits, 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Not what fantasy owners expected from him on draft day, but it is just two starts, right?
Red Sox DH David Ortiz had a monster game yesterday, going 4-5 with a HR, 2 runs and 5 RBI in the Red Sox 12-5 win over Jeremy Hellickson and the Rays. Hellickson gave up 3 of the 5 Red Sox home runs yesterday. Ortiz has started the season on the right foot, triple slashing .406-.444-.625 with a HR and 9 RBI.
Who is the 2012 version of Michael Morse? How about his teammate Adam Laroche. Laroche went 2-3 with 2 RBI yesterday and is now hitting .333-.429-.556 with 2 HRs and 10 RBI thus far in 2012. Laroche is a streaky player, and he is very hot right now, so ride the hot streak while you can.
Mets starter Jonathan Niese shutout the Phillies for 6.2 innings yesterday, giving up just 5 hits, a walk and striking out 5. He is now 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. He has induced 10 ground ball outs in both of his starts this season, and is an early season breakout candidate.
Mariners DH/catcher Jesus Montero went 2-3 with a HR, run scored and 3 RBI yesterday and is now hitting .323-.303-.452 with a HR and 5 RBI. He caught the game last night, so that makes 2 starts at catcher thus far this season.
Montero's battery mate, Hector Noesi, shutout the A's for 8 innings, giving up just 6 base runners and striking out 6 batters in the process. Of his 68 strikes thrown, only 7 were of the swinging variety, and it's a good thing he pitches in a pitchers park because he gave up 14 fly ball outs. Something to consider when Noesi pitches in Texas, New York and Boston this season.