Roto Roundup: Roy Halladay, Adam Jones, Dustin Pedroia, and Others

Back on draft day 2012, some of you may have drafted a pitcher in the first or second round, as grabbing of the few real aces in baseball is very valuable. Some of you may have drafted Phillies ace Roy Halladay, as he has been one of the few aces who is consistent year in and year out, providing wins in the high teens, a sub-3.00 ERA, 200+ strikeouts and a sub 1.10 WHIP. But, one thing you cannot know on draft day is how healthy that pitcher is. Yesterday, Phillies ace Roy Halladay was placed on the DL with a grade 1/2 lat strain, and will be out for the next 6-8 weeks. Apparently, the injury has bothered him for awhile. Some are speculating that the injury bothered him as far back as spring training. There is really nothing you can do to replace him at this point. Maybe your team is blessed with enough offense to allow you to deal a hitter for a near ace start

The news was bad for Angels starter Jered Weaver as well. He landed on the DL with a lower back strain and will miss 2-3 starts. The Angels called up AAA starter Garrett Richards to replace him in the rotation. Richards was 5-2 with a 4.31 ERA, 1.598 WHIP and a 1.66 K/BB ratio this season. He is rosterable in only the deepest of fantasy leagues.

One more star might land on the DL on Tuesday night, and that star is one of the best fantasy second baseman in baseball. Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia aggravated a jammed thumb on Monday making a fine defensive play, and had an MRI to see if there is ligament damage. There was no ligament damage, but he does have a torn abductor muscle in his right thumb, and could land on the DL and miss 3-4 weeks. He will try to play through the injury, so we will if he can play through the injury. Nick Punto and his .122 BA took his place in the Red Sox lineup last night. No, he is not rosterable.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Is there a more injury prone hitter than Cardinals third baseman David Freese? He injured his hand and wrist making diving plays at third over the weekend and could be out till Friday. Freese started out the 2012 season continuing the tear he was on in the 2011 playoffs, as he hit .333-.375-.560 with 5 HRs and 20 RBI. He has slowed down quite a bit in May, hitting just .216-.286-.466 with 5 HRs and 13 RBI, so the few days off may be a blessing in disguise for fantasy owners.

Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez has been dominating this season. He limited the Nationals to an unearned run on 3 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts over 7 innings last night, and is now 3-3 with a 2.57 ERA, a 2.63 FIP and a 3.06 xFIP and a 1.07 WHIP. He has struck out 67 and walked 17 in 66.2 innings this season and has given up 2 runs or less in 8 of his 10 starts this season. What's actually shocking about his season thus far, is that coming into the game, he was pitching waaaay better on the road -1.83 ERA-than he is at home - 4.26 ERA.

Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija is having one heckuva breakout season. Pitching for one of the worst teams in baseball, Samardzija held the Padres to 3 runs on 8 hits, a walk and 8 strikeouts in 7 innings yesterday. He is now 5-3 with a 3.09 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 65-19 strikeout to walk ratio in 64 innings. He has given up 3 runs or less in 7 straight starts, and 8 of 10 starts this season.

Ron Shandler from Baseball HQ projected that Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina could put up a 20 HR, 80 RBI and .300 BA season in 2012. Well, Molina is showing that Shandler was a little light in his projection, as he went 4-4 with a HR and 3 RBI last night. For the season, he is hitting .337-.379-.556 with 8 HRs, 32 RBI and 25 runs scored, and is on pace to out up a 26 HR, 104 RBI season. In his last 10 games, he is 19-39 with 3 HRs and 12 RBI.

Orioles outfielder Adam Jones recently signed a 6 year, $85.5 million deal and if he keeps playing like this, his deal will appear cheap. Jones reached base 5 times in the Orioles loss to the Blue Jays last night. He went 3-3 with 2 walks, 2 HRs, 3 runs and 3 RBI and is now hitting .317-.362-.624 with 16 HRs, 38 runs, 34 RBI and 8 stolen bases thus far. If he doesn't start the All Star game, it will be a crime.

White Sox outfielder Dayan Viciedo is probably the second hottest White Sox hitter behind teammate Paul Konerko of late. He went 3-4 with a HR, 3 runs and 2 RBI last night and is now hitting .280-.301-.503 with 11 HRs and 27 RBI. In his last 10 games, he is 19-41 with 5 HRs and 15 RBI.

Athletics starter Jarrod Parker has the potential to be a #1 starter in the big leagues, and is starting to look like one already. Or pretty close to it. He shut out the Twins for 6 innings last night, holding them to 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4. He would have won for just the second time in 7 starts, but closer Brian Fuentes served up a two out, 3-run HR to Josh WIllingham in the bottomg of the 9th to blow it for Parker. Parker has pitched well in all but one of his 7 starts, as he has given up 2 runs or less in 6 of his 7 starts. He lowered his ERA to 2.88 and his WHIP to 1.35.

Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie may not be a top 5 third baseman for fantasy purposes, but I wouldn't bet against him. He went 3-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI last night and is now hitting .283-.323-.378 with 3 HRs 23 runs, 20 RBI and 7 stolen bases thus far. Certainly not what fantasy owners expected when they drafted him on draft day, and he is on pace for just 10 HRs, 65 RBI and 23 stolen bases, but I think the power will improve as the season goes along.