Roto Roundup: Jason Kipnis, Dayan Viciedo, Johan Santana and Others

Brewers starter Zack Greinke is a free agent at the end of the season and he will be looking for big money in his next contract. He is considered an ace by some, but he is prone to the blow up start that will kill your ERA and WHIP for awhile. That was very evident in last night's effort vs the Diamondbacks. Greinke lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up 7 runs on 10 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. His record fell to 5-2 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. On the positive side, he has given up 3 runs or less in 8 of his 10 starts, but two of his starts have been horrible. His other blowup was back on April 12th where he gave up 8 runs in 3.2 innings vs the Cubs.

White Sox outfielder Dayan Viciedo is on a home run hitting tear. Yesterday, he went 3-5 with 2 runs and 5 RBI, and is now hitting .264-.288-.486 with 10 HRs and 23 RBI in 148 at bats this season. He has homered in three straight games and has hit 6 HRs and driven in 13 in his last 10 games. He has raised his BA from .237 to .264 in those 10 games.

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg struggled a bit yesterday, lasting 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. I was checking out twitter throughout the day while taking breaks from my yard work, and came across this tweet from Adam Kilgore from the Washington Post:

Adam Kilgore ‏@AdamKilgoreWP

Strasburg noticeably shook out his arm after throwing Uggla a change. Don't know if that means tightness, but he didn't seem comfortable.

Something to be aware of as the talk of innings limits crops up once again.

Is there a hotter hitter in baseball than White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko? Konerko went 4-4 with a walk, 3 doubles, 3 runs and 2 RBI yesterday. Konerko is on a12 game hitting streak where he is 24-42 with 4 HRs and 11 RBI. For the season, Konerko is hitting .396-.473-.667 with 10 HRs, 29 runs and 29 RBI. He is an easy selection in SB Nation's Pick 6 game until he cools off.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

After hitting .272-.333-.507 with 7 HRs, 24 runs, 19 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 136 at bats last season, Jason Kipnis is proving that his 2011 performance was no fluke. He went 2-4 with 2 HRs and 4 RBI yesterday and is now hitting .272-.333-.457 with 8 HRs, 31 runs, 28 RBI and 8 stolen bases in 184 at bats. According to ESPN, he is on pace to hit 28 HRs, drive in 99 and steal 28 bases. That could push him into talk as the best fantasy second baseman if he can keep up this pace.

Mets starter Johan Santana came into the 2012 season with many doubting he could return to the ace that he was before his shoulder surgery, and I was one of them. Shame on me for doubting Santana. Santana threw a complete game 4-hit shutout vs the Padres yesterday, walking none and striking out 7. The win moved his record to 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 60-16 strikeout to walk ratio in 59 innings pitched. Santana has given up 3 or less runs in 8 of his 10 starts this season, and has gone at least 5 innings in 9 of his 10 starts.

After striking out 15 Pirates in his last start, Tigers starter Max Scherzer had his second straight solid outing, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits in 5.1 innings. More importantly, he struck out 9 and walked none. He is now 4-3 on the season with a 5.67 ERA, 3.96 FIP and 3.11 xFIP with a 3.79 K/BB rate. He has struck out 72 and walked just 19 in his 54 innings this season. Is the Scherzer we saw the last two weeks, the Scherzer we will see the rest of the season?

Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer has struggled in a big way to start the 2012 season. Seen by many to jump into the talk as one of the best fantasy first baseman this season, Hosmer has disappointed. But, he is showing signs he is coming out of his season long funk. Hosmer went 3-4 with a run scored and 2 RBI yesterday, batting in the 8th spot in the Royals lineup. He has hit in 5 straight and 8 of his last 10 games, where he has raised his BA from .174 to .206. He has been extremely unlucky this season, as his BABIP sits at just .210, so the hits should start falling in more frequently for him going forward.

A hitter who is exceeding expectations this season is Royals DH Billy Butler. Butler went 2-5 for with a HR yesterday, his 10th home run of the season. He is now hitting .301-.358-.534 with 10 HRs, 33 RBI and 20 runs scored so far this season. Butler has never hit more than 21 home runs in 5 year career, but according to ESPN, he is on pace to hit 36 HRs and drive in 119 this season.

"Your on the Mark" Teixeira had his best game of the season yesterday, going 4-5 with 2 HRs, 2 runs and 5 RBI. Teixeira has not met expectations this season, so fantasy owners have to hope he has figured things out at the plate after yesterday's performance. Like I wrote a few days ago, his BABIP is on a 4 year downtrend, but he has always put up solid HR and RBI totals. This season, he is hitting .248-.308-.455 with 8 HRs, 24 runs and 28 RBI and is on pace to hit 28 HRs and drive in 99, good, but still underperforming expectations.

I wrote about Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick yesterday saying he is an undervalued power hitter. He went out and proved it yesterday, hitting his 13th HR of the season. He only has 26 RBI to show for the 13 HRs, but he is on pace to hit 45 home runs this season.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was drafted to provide power to fantasy lineups this season. Well, Giancarlo obviously has another plan, as he is providing a solid BA to date, along with a sprinkle of speed. Stanton went 2-3 with a walk yesterday, raising his triple slash line to .296-.360-.568 with 11 HRs, 27 runs,m 34 RBI and 2 stolen bases. He has hit in 8 of his last 10, and is 9-21 in his last 5 games.

After the Rockies signed Michael Cuddyer this offseason, many projected him to approach 30 home runs hitting in Coors Field. So far, they have been disappointed. Cuddyer went 0-2 with 2 walks yesterday, and is now hitting . 273-.331-.468 with 4 HRs, 22 runs, 27 RBI and 6 stolen bases. The 33 year old outfielder is on pace to hit just 14 HRs this season.