Roto Roundup: Matt Wieters, Jarrod Parker, and Others

Going into yesterday's start, Athletics starter Jarrod Parker's home/road splits indicated he doesn't like pitching away from home, especially in Coors Field. Well. Parker certainly made fantasy owners think he was pitching at home yesterday, as he shut out the hot hitting Rockies for 7 innings, giving up just 3 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts. He induced 10 ground ball outs and 12 swinging strikes, so he was on his game yesterday. He is now 3-3 with a 2.82 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 4.51 xFIP, 1.25 WHIP and a 45-30 strikeout to walk ratio in 60.2 innings pitched. He has given up 2 runs or less in 8 of his 10 starts this season, but he did give up 12 earned runs in the other two starts, covering 7 innings. Parker walks too many hitters at the moment, but that should improve as he gains more experience.

I was high on Carlos Santana before the season started, and I would have ranked him as my top fantasy catcher coming into the season. I liked the power and thought he could improve his BA this season, but it appears he will always be a low BA hitter. Santana went 1-3 with a run and an RBI yesterday, and is now hitting .229-.348-.356 with 5 HRs, 25 runs and 28 RBI thus far. He owns a solid BB rate of 16.1% and K rate of 20.0%, but his BABIP sits at just .268 and his slugging and ISO are both down significantly. He is hitting more line drives this season, and less fly balls, yet his BA is down a bit from 2011. He may just a low BA, solid power hitting catcher who has more value in leagues that value OBP vs BA.

in one of my NL-only keeper leagues, I recently traded a $14 Ryan Howard and a $5 Trevor Bauer for a $29 Andrew McCutchen and a $29 Jay Bruce. I need the power as I am in the lower half of the 10 team league in HRs and RBI. I dealt Howard and Bauer to an owner who decided to bail on the 2012 season. i thought I gave up good value for McCutchen and Bruce, but one owner sent a message to the league saying the deal should be overturned. We never overturn any deal in this league, so I was surprised to see the email. I sent this owner a separate email to find out what his beef was. It all came down to valuing Howard for 2013, and he thinks Howard will not be the same player as he was before the injury.

Is Howard done? DId I give up enough for Bruce and McCutchen?

More Roto Roundup after the jump:

Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo had a down year in 2011, for a variety of reasons, but he appears to be close to the hitter he was in 2010. He went 2-5 with 2 HRs and 2 RBI. He is now hitting .273-.365-.418 with 5 HRs and 20 RBI in 220 at bats this season. His power is down compared to years previous to 2011, and one reason could be his 6.8% HR/FB rate, which is about half of his career HR/FB rate. His SLG and ISO should improve going forward, and he could return to the .300-.400-.500 hitter he was from 2008 - 2010.

White Sox DH Adam Dunn certainly must not have liked playing for Ozzie Guillen last season, but now that he is no longer in Chicago, Dunn is back to hitting like he did prior to his down 2011 season. He went 1-3 last night, with a HR and 3 RBI, and is now hitting a Dunn-esque .227-.365-.573 with 22 HRs, 39 runs and 50 RBI. He is still striking out a ton, 99 times in 220 at bats, or 36.5% of his at bats. But fantasy owners can accept he strikeouts for the power.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters started the season off hot, hit a rough spot in May, but has hit well in June thus far, He went 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs and 5 RBI last night, and is now hitting .258-.338-.451 with 9 HRs, 29 runs and 32 RBI, and 44-22 K-BB rate in 213 at bats.

I know where Ike Davis will sign should he decide to leave the Mets once he becomes a free agent. Tampa Bay. It appears Davis is slowly turning his season around, as he has had multiple hits in his last 3 games, and has hit in his last 5 games. He has raised his BA 30 points in his last 5 games and has driven in a run in each of his last 4 games. He is still below the Mendoza line at the plate, but I think he has quieted those fans who wanted him sent down to AAA for the time being.

Davis' teammate Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been a pleasant surprise for the Mets and fantasy owners since his call up to the big league club. He went 2-5 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI yesterday, and is now hitting .298-.360-.429 with 5 HRs, 37 runs, 20 RBI, 4 stolen bases and a 62-20 strikeout to walk rate in 205 at bats. He should continue to get playing time with the way Jason Bay and Andres Torres are hitting this season.