Roto Roundup: Mike Trout, Will Middlebrooks, Miguel Montero, and Others

Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman was placed on the DL on Sunday and he received his MRI results yesterday. He was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee and he will be out for 6-8 weeks. Berkman stated that he thinks there could be damage to the ACL in his right knee as well. I wouldn't expect his return before August at the earliest.

Rangers starter Neftali Feliz was placed on the 15 day DL on Monday and won't return before the All Star break. He was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Reports last night had the Rangers showing renewed interest in Roy Oswalt.

Royals starter Felipe Paulino silenced the slumping Yankee lineup on Monday night in Yankee Stadium.. Paulino shut them out for 6.2 innings on 6 hits, 2 walks and striking out 8. He is now 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA, 2.02 FIP and 2.65 xFIP. He has struck out 29 and walked 7 in 25.1 innings, good for a 10.30 K/9. Craig Brown recommended picking him up last week in this article discussing some fantasy pitching options in the Royals rotation.

I bet the Angels wish they still had Bobby Abreu right about now. When the season started, the Angels had too many outfielders and corner infielder/DH types. But after releasing Abreu a few weeks, ago, they have lost outfielder Torii Hunter to the restricted list, and now have lost both Vernon Wells and recently called up Ryan Langerhans to the DL. Wells lands on the DL due to a torn UCL in his right thumb, and Langerhans due to a separated shoulder. They are left with Mike Trout in left field, Peter Bourjos in center field and Mark Trumbo in right field.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

As one of our readers pointed out yesterday, I have been remiss in discussing the performance of Mike Trout lately. Trout has been outstanding since being called up just about a month ago. In 20 games, he is hitting .355-.420-.605 with 4 HRs, 15 runs, 11 RBI and 6 stolen bases, benefitting from a .426 BABIP. He is striking out in roughly 23% of his at bats and is walking in 11% of the time. In his last 10 games, he is 16-38 with 3 HRs, 7 RBI and 5 stolen bases. The BABIP is not sustainable, but as long as he can keep hitting line drives at a 20%+ clip, he should maintain a solid BA for fantasy owners, and with a walk rate over 10%, that should result in plenty of stolen base opportunities.

For more on Trout, make sure you check out Jeff Sullivan's piece on him over at Baseball Nation. The .gif is amazing.

Braves starter Mike Minor may have pitched his way out of the Braves rotation last night, as once again, he served up several long balls last night vs the Reds. He gave up 4 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts and to make it quad fours, he gave up 4 home runs. In his last 6 starts, covering 32.2 innings, he has given up 12 home runs. TWELVE! He is now 2-4 on the season, with an ERA approaching 7, an FIP over 5.00 and an astounding HR/FB rate of 17.1%. Should he be removed from the rotation, I imagine Julio Teheran would get first shot at replacing him.

There has been some discussion across the internet about what the Red Sox will do with Will Middlebrooks when Kevin Youkilis returns from the DL. Middlebrooks went 3-5 with an RBI last night and is hitting .297-.325-.581 with 5 HRs, 6 doubles, 16 RBI and a 24-3 strikeout to walk ratio in 74 at bats since his call up.

If you ask me, Middlebrooks deserves a chance to play everyday. But the real question lies in where. If the Red Sox truly want to deal Youkilis, they have to let him play everyday to restore some value. Manager Bobby Valentine stated yesterday that he will give Adrian Gonzalez more time in right field, and this comes on the same day Cody Ross landed on the DL and will be out for 6-8 weeks with a broken foot. Gonzalez in right field, allows Youkilis to play first base and Middlebrooks to play third base. Red Sox fans second guessing the trade of Josh Reddick now?

Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero injured his left knee attempting to catch a foul ball last night, and was pulled in the 6th inning. We should learn more about his injury later today.

It looks like Henry Rodriguez was not long for the closer job in Washington, as he lasted just one third of an inning, giving up a run on a hit, a walk and two pitches that made it to the backstop. HIs wildness has showed up again of late after pitching so well in spring training and in April. Manager Davey Johnson indicated after the game that he will lean toward using a closer by committee, with Craig Stammen, Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard getting some save opportunities.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun hit a game tying 2-run home run with two out in the 8th inning off of Cardinals closer Jason Motte, but had to leave the game in extra innings due to tightness in his groin. He went 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI last night, raising his triple slash line to .333-.402-.647 with 12 HRs, 30 RBI and 8 stolen bases thus far. He is striking out more than he did last season, but is actually hitting for more power as his .314 ISO indicates. Fancy that.