Roto Roundup: Bryce Harper, Jorge Soler, Clay Buchholz, and Others

Blue Jays starter threw just 9 pitches on Monday night and took himself out of the game, and is now on the DL with a strained oblique which will probably sideline him for more than 15 days. Morrow is having the best year of his career so far, going 7-3 with a 3.01 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and 67 strikeouts ad 24 walks in 77.2 innings. We will learn more about the seriousness of his injury later today.

The Cubs were the winners of the bidding for Cuban outfield prospect Jorge Soler. I wrote about Soler about a week ago here with some excerpts from a Baseball America scouting report. Baseball America stated that Soler would be a top 20 prospect in 2013, but I'd like to see what he can do in the minors before ranking him that high. He is very young and has not played a lot, so it will be interesting to see at what level the Cubs start him this season.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Angels outfielder Mike Trout seem to be trying to one up each other lately. Trout homered and stole two bases on Monday night, and last night, Harper went 3-4 with a long HR, but did get picked off first base. Harper is now hitting .307-.390-.553 with 7 HRs, 30 runs, 19 RBI and 4 stolen bases in 150 at bats in 40 games. Multiply that over a full season and you get close to 30 HRs, 100+ runs scored and 15+ stolen bases. Can he, along with Mike Trout, be top 10 outfielders in 2013? Second or third round picks?

If he keeps hitting like this, he could eclipse the MLB record for most home runs hit by a teenager, set by Tony Conigliaro who hit 24 HRs back in 1964.

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Orioles outfielder Adam Jones has broken out in a big way this season. He went 4-5 with a HR, 2 runs and 2 RBI last night, raising his triple slash line to .310-.353-.589 with 18 HRs, 44 runs, 39 RBI and 9 stolen bases. His HR/FB rate of 25.8% will more than likely regress at some point, but he has a great chance of hitting 30+ home runs this season as he certainly won't maintain his 48 HR pace this season.

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts played his first game in more than a year and responded by going 3-4 with an RBI. I don't see him running as much as he has in the past, but he could certainly help fantasy teams should he be able to stay healthy this season.

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz had his second best start of the 2012 season last night, limiting the Marlins to just one run on 5 hits, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. He is now 7-2 with a 5.38 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a 55-33 strikeout to walk ratio in 80.1 innings pitched. His overall stats are masking how well he has pitched of late. He has given up 2 runs or less in each of his last 4 starts, where he has pitched at least 7 innings. In those 4 starts, covering 31 innings, he has 28-6 strikeout to walk ratio and has given up just 3 home runs.

Mets first baseman Ike Davis has struggled so much that many are calling for him to be sent down to the minors to work on his swing. Davis went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI last night, and Mets fans are certainly hoping this is the start of a hot streak. Davis has struck out 60 times, with 21 walks, in just 190 at bats, so he will need to make more contact going forward or he could see himself in the minors for a confidence boost.

It appears the Giants have had internal discussions about how to fix Tim Lincecum as news came out last night where the team said he will not be skipped in his next turn in the rotation. Apparently, there as the team also discussed putting him in the bullpen. Why not place him on the DL to see if rest can cure his woes?

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright pitched well again last night, giving up two runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 7 innings. He is 5-7 with a 4.75 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 3.17 xFIP, 1.33 WHIP and a solid 72-23 strikeout to walk ratio in 77.2 innings. Over his last 10 starts, he has given up 3 runs or less in 7 of them, lowering his ERA by about 2.5 runs. He has been unlucky with the long ball as his 15.7% HR/FB rate indicates, and his strand rate of 64.5% stands to norrmalize toward 70% as the season progresses. If you can trade for him now, I would do it, as he is close to returning to the old Wainwright from two years ago.