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This will be a short one, so here is a quick look at some of the top performances from Saturday evening.
Well, it's becoming "another game, another home run" for Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. He hit his 18th HR yesterday afternoon, and is making everyone, well almost everyone, forget about his offseason transgression. What boggles my mind is so much attention is given to Hamilton about his night out a few months ago, but MLB looks the other way when Tony LaRussa and Miguel Cabera get stopped for DUI. It appears the drinking and driving is a bigger issue than steroids and HGH.
Mets third baseman David Wright had his naysayers this offseason, and I included him in my Top 10 to Avoid, and so far he is proving that I was very wrong on him. He went 4-6 with a HR and 3 RBI yesterday afternoon. He is now hitting .402-.489-.598 with 4 HRs and 21 RBI for the season. Does he get traded this season or will the Mets deal him in the offseason. Maybe they should just sign him long term and build around him. He looks like a much better hitter this year and has cut down on his strikeouts.
Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos went 1-2 with a HR on Saturday night, but had to be helped off the field in the 7th inning with a knee injury , that did not look good at all. I assume he will be out for quite awhile, and Jesus Flores is a must own in NL only leagues.
More Roto Roundup after the jump:
After Brian Fuentes nailed down his second save of the season, A's manager Bob Melvin announced that Fuentes will be his full time closer going forward. If you own Fuentes, try to grab Grant Balfour as his handcuff as we all have seen this movie before.
Rays starter Matt Moore continues to struggle on the mound this season. He lasted just 4.1 innings yesterday vs the Orioles, giving up 4 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits, 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. He was out-pitched by Orioles starter Brian Matusz. Moore needed 100 pitches to get 13 outs yesterday, and saw his ERA rise 5.31 and his WHIP rise to 1.67. He appears to be on a pitch count, as he has not thrown more than 109 pitches in any start this season. His pitch totals look like this: 106, 109, 106, 100, 101, 105, 100, but hasn't gone more than 6.2 innings in any one start. Actually, his innings pitched per start is steadily dropping from 6.2 in his first start of the season, to just 4.1 yesterday. His 34-22 strikeout to walk rate in 39 innings is very disappointing as well.
White Sox starter/closer Chris Sale started a game yesterday. This, a few days after Robin Ventura, who doesn't seem to know how to handle a pitching staff, announced he would be his closer for the rest of the season. Sale lasted 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and striking out 3. He threw 103 pitches just a few days after having an MRI on his left elbow.
Edinson Volquez actually pitched well in a road start yesterday. He held the Phillies to one run on 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5. He is now 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 1.24 WHIP to go along with a 43-24 strikeout to walk ratio in 48.1 innings. Gone are the days where he would walk the ballpark in the first few innings of his starts, but he still needs to work on his command. With Bud Black as his manager, I think Volquez can continue to improve from his disastrous 2011 season.