Roto Roundup

Roto Roundup: Cashner, Hanrahan, Simmons and Others

Ray Guilfoyle highlights some of the top fantasy performer from Monday's MLB action.

By Ray Guilfoyle@faketeams May 7, 2013, 9:29am EDT

Just a little reminder that you can post any questions you have in the comments section in the Roto Roundup, so go ahead and post any trade offers you have received, roster decisions you need help with, or any question you may have about your rosters or specific players.

A peak into what Andrew Cashner can do

If i told you at the beginning of the year that Andrew Cashner would dominate the Marlins in one start after Roy Halladay got absolutely rocked, you would call me nuts, right? Well, that is what happened last night. Cashner shutout the Marlins on 4 hits, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts over 7.1 innings last night. Cashner has all kinds of potential, but is prone to the injury bug, so he has not thrown more than 58.1 innings in any one season of his career, including the minors.

The Padres have taken it easy with Cashner, as they included him as part of their bullpen to start the season. Now in the rotation, Cashner has made four starts, giving up 2 runs or less in three of those starts. He is now 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and an unspectacular 24-15 strikeout to walk rate in 30.2 innings.

Andrelton Simmons flashing some power

Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons is known for his gold glove potential, as he is already considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Last night, he showed off some of his hitting potential, going deep twice in the Braves 7-4 win over the Reds. Simmons went 3-4 with 2 HRs and 4 RBI last night, and is now hitting .252-.305-.402 with 4 HRs, 17 runs, 15 RBI and an excellent 12-9 strikeout to walk rate in 107 at bats. He currently ranks fourth among all shortstops in HRs and RBI.

Melky Cabrera struggling

I just read this in Buster Olney's blog post this morning and felt it was worthy of including:

So on Monday night, I sent out this Tweet, about Melky Cabrera's slow start: "So far, Melky Cabrera's OPS is about 300 pts lower this season than last,and closer to what it was with NYY 2006-2009."

And Chipper Jones, a teammate of Cabrera during Cabrera's sluggish 2010 season, responded with this: "Hard to believe!"

I read that as a sarcastic response from Chipper Jones. We will see if Cabrera getting caught taking PEDs will have any impact on his performance this season.

More Roundup

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt absolutely owns Dodgers starter Chris Capuano, and last night was no different, as he went 4-5 with a HR and 3 RBI. He is now 12-15 with 3 HRs and 3 doubles vs Capuano in his short career. He raised his triple slash line to .316-.411-.530 with 6 HRs, 19 runs, 24 RBI and 4 stolen bases on the season. Note to Don Mattingly: pretend Goldschmidt is Barry Bonds and walk him whenever Capuano is on the mound.

What happened to Jarrod Parker? Parker once again got knocked around last night in Cleveland. He gave up 4 runs, all on solo home runs, on 7 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He is now 1-5 with a 7.34 ERA, 6.51 FIP, 1.98 WHIP and a 25-18 K-BB rate in 34.1 innings thus far in 2013. Certainly not the Top 40 starter we drafted back in March.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera started the season in a slump, but he is hitting his way out of the slump over his last 10 games. He went 2-4 with 2 HRs, 3 runs and 2 RBI last night, and is now hitting .233-.307-.437 with 4 HRs, 16 runs, 15 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Over his last 10 games, he is 14-35 with 2 HRs, 9 runs and 10 RBI, raising his batting average from .162 to .233.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria is one of the more talented third baseman in the game, but has had trouble staying healthy over the last few seasons. When he is healthy, he puts up solid fantasy stats for his owners. Last night, he went 2-5 with a grand slam. and is now hitting .305-.371-.542 with 7 HRs, 21 runs and 19 RBI. He is on pace for 37 HRs, and he has the power and hitting tool to reach that total, he just needs to stay healthy and play 150+ games to do so.

Phillies starter Cliff Lee out-dueled fellow lefty Madison Bumgarner last night, limiting the Giants to 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks and 6 strikeouts over 8 innings. Lee is now 3-2 with a 3.26 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 40-7 K-BB rate in 49.2 innings this season. If the Phillies fall out of the wildcard race, I can see the Phillies dealing him to a contender for prospects.

A few weeks ago, there was talk that the Cubs should demote first baseman Anthony RIzzo to work on his hitting. Well, it appears he has figured things out at the big league level, as he went 3-4 with a HR and 4 RBI last night in the Cubs 9-2 win over the Rangers. He is now hitting .262-.348-.557 with 9 HRs, 17 runs 25 RBI and 4 stolen bases on the season. He has hit in 8 of his last 10 games, raising his batting average from .195 to .262 over that time.

For those of you looking for Adrian Gonzalez to start hitting for more power may want to read this from Craig Calcaterra over at Hardball Talk.

Closer News

On the day the Red Sox placed closer Andrew Bailey on the 15 day DL, back up closer and set up man Joel Hanrahan will probably be joining him, as he left his appearance last night with right forearm tightness. He left the game after giving up a game-tying home run to Brian Dozier. Who closes for the Red Sox now is anyone's guess, but Craig Breslow, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa will be considered. We will learn more about Hanrahan's injury later today, as he is scheduled for an MRI on his right elbow.

Rays closer Fernando Rodney entered the game in the 9th inning, looking to preserve a one run lead, but proceeded to give up 2 runs on a hit and 2 walks, to blow his second save of the season. Rodney set a record last year with his 0.60 ERA, now owns an ERA of 5.06. It might be time to stash Joel Peralta in case the 36 year old Rodney gets hurt or loses the closer role.

Royals closer Greg Holland blew his second save of the season, giving up a run on 4 hits and a walk in the Royals 2-1 loss to the White Sox. Teammate Kelvin Herrera was no better as he gave up a a run on 3 hits in 2 innings of work.They both spoiled a solid outing from James Shields.

More Yasiel Puig bat flips

I don't know about you guys, but I cannot get enough of the Yasiel Puig bat flips that Carson Cistuli has been posting over in the NotGraphs section of FanGraphs. Here is the latest, from what appears to be batting practice during spring training.