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Roto Roundup: Anthony Rendon, Dylan Bundy, Hiroki Kuroda and Others

By Ray Guilfoyle
August 14, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley (58) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
August 14, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley (58) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Yesterday we learned that Nationals third base prospect Anthony Rendon was promoted from High A Potomac to AA Harrisburg. Rendon hasn't had more than 30 at bats at any of the three levels he has played thus far in 2012, so I am a little surprised he has moved up to AA already. Here are his season to date stats, along with his stats for each level played this season:

Year Lev G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2012 A+-A--Rk 22 65 14 20 5 3 3 9 0 12 13 .308 .423 .615 1.038
2012 Rk 5 11 2 4 1 0 2 6 0 3 3 .364 .500 1.000 1.500
2012 A- 8 27 7 7 2 0 1 3 0 4 6 .259 .375 .444 .819
2012 A+ 9 27 5 9 2 3 0 0 0 5 4 .333 .438 .630 1.067
1 Season 22 65 14 20 5 3 3 9 0 12 13 .308 .423 .615 1.038
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/14/2012.

Then we learned last night that Rendon could actually be called up to the big league team in September, according to Amanda Comak from the Washington Times:

I really don't see what the rush is for calling him up in September, as he hasn't played a full season of minor league ball yet. It will certainly be interesting to see what the Nationals do with Rendon next season. I could see him starting in AA or AAA, but with Ryan Zimmerman at third base for the long term, and Danny Espinosa at second base. where will he play? Could they move him to first base, or make him trade bait? Stay tuned.

Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy made his first start for AA Bowie last night, lasting 5.1 innings, giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts, and earned his first AA win in the process. Bundy threw 96 pitches, 56 for strikes, and induced 8 ground ball outs vs 3 fly ball outs. Bundy is another prospect who could get called up in September.

The Pirates are considering moving starter James McDonald to the bullpen when the team goes back to a 5 man rotation next week. McDonald has struggled in the second half, after pitching so well in the first half. He was 9-3 with a 2.37 ERA and 0.973 WHIP in the first half, but followed that with a 1-2 record with a 8.71 ERA and 2.032 WHIP, where he has given up 8 home runs in 31 second half innings.

More Roundup after the jump:

As a Dodgers fan, I was not happy that the team allowed Hiroki Kuroda to leave via free agency last offseason. He was such a battler and he pitched very well for the Dodgers for the four seasons he was with the team. Last night, Kuroda pitched a gem, throwing a complete game 2-hit shutout of the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Kuroda gave up just 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5 to win his 11th game of the season. He is now 11-6 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 121-38 strikeout to walk ratio in 159 innings. I saw a Yankee fan ask on Twitter last night whether Kuroda should pitch game 1 of the Yankees first playoff series. Interesting.

A few hours after we all learned that 17 Red Sox players met with ownership back in late July in an attempt to convince ownership to fire manager Bobby Valentine, the team went out and lost 7-1 to the Orioles. Apparently Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were the ring leaders to have the meeting with ownership, going over Ben Cherington's head in doing so. I wonder how many of the current Red Sox players will be traded this offseason.

Braves starter Tim Hudson shutout the Padres for 6.1 innings last night, allowing just 3 base runners and striking out 4 to win his 12th game of the season. Hudson is now 12-4 with a 3.59 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP and a 55% ground ball rate. Hudson has never been a big strikeout pitcher, but keeps the ball on the ground and strands base runners at about a 74% clip over the course of his career.

When looking over the game schedule for Tuesday, I saw Kyle Kendrick matched up against Josh Johnson and thought Johnson had a very good shot at his 8th win of the season. Not so fast, Kendrick out pitched Josh Johnson and made a leadoff home run hit by Jimmy Rollins stand as the Philies beat the Marlins 1-0. Kendrick threw 7 shutout innings, holding holding the Marlins to 5 hits, while walking none and striking out 6. Kendrick is probably not rostered in most leagues, but is capable of putting up a solid outing every now and then, but fantasy owners need more than "every now and then".

What the heck has gotten into Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley? He has turned his 2012 season around over the last month or so. Billingsley walked into PNC Park and tossed 8 shutout innings, holding the Pirates to just 5 hits, a walk and striking out 5 to win his 9th game of the season. He is now 9-9 with a 3.62 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 123-40 strikeout to walk ratio in 139.1 innings pitched. Over his last 5 starts, he has given up 1 run or less in 4 of the 5 starts, allowing just 6 runs on 27 hits, 6 walks and 23 strikeouts. He is pitching to more contact this season, and has reduced his walk rate from 4.02 in 2011 to just 2.58 this season. If he can maintain his control, he could take a leap in our rankings come 2013.