Roto Roundup: Carlos Gonzalez, Julio Teheran, and Others

I started a new Fantasy Baseball Questions thread yesterday where you can post all of your questions, including trade offers, add/drop decisions, and more.

Injuries to aces mounting

Yesterday was filled with injury news to some of the top fantasy starting pitchers, so I will give you a quick rundown, and Daniel Kelley will provide updates in his Injury Report on Monday.

Stephen Strasburg - the Nationals placed Strasburg on the 15 day DL with a right lat strain, a day after saying he could still make his scheduled start on Saturday. I see the Nationals taking it slow with their ace, meaning he could miss more than the required 15 days. The Nationals are hopeful that he can come off the DL on June 16th, but I am not optimistic.

Johnny Cueto - Cueto was placed on the 15 day DL with a right lat strain, the same injury he had earlier this season where he missed more than a month. The Reds aren't providing a time table for his return, so I don't expect him back when the 15 days are up. Tony Cingrani will most certainly be called up for his next scheduled start early next week.

Jake Peavy - I failed to include his injury in the Roundup yesterday, and yesterday we learned he will miss 4-6 weeks with a non-displaced fracture of a rib in his left rib cage. Not good for the White Sox who were probably looking to deal him at the trade deadline. He probably won't return till mid-late July, so there is an outside chance he could still be traded.

Fantasy owners will be hard pressed to replace pitchers like Strasburg, Cueto and Peavy, but utilizing a streaming strategy could help. Make sure you check out the daily Streamer Report here at Fake Teams for streaming starter selections.

For more on these injuries and fan reaction, check out Federal Baseball, Red Reporter and South Side Sox, SB Nations' Nationals, Reds and White Sox fan sites.

Julio Teheran: another Braves ace?

The Braves have developed ace starting pitchers going back to the days of John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. Once upon a time, Adam Wainwright was a Brave as well. Now, the Braves have developed Mike Minor and Julio Teheran, who are not quite aces yet, but are moving in the right direction.

Teheran had his best start as a big leaguer on Wednesday afternoon, as he flirted with a no-hitter for 7 2/3rds innings. Teheran gave up a hit to Brandon Inge and ended up giving up just one hit in eight innings, walking two and striking out 11 in the Braves 5-0 win. Teheran is now 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 55-15 strikeout to walk rate in 71 innings. After giving up 13 runs in his first 16 innings this season, he has given up just 13 runs over his last 55 innings, covering eight starts.

And just think about the Braves rotation when Brandon Beachy returns in a little more than a week.

To get the Braves fan reaction to Teheran's performance, make sure you check out Talking Chop, SB Nation's Braves fan site.

Carlos Gonzalez homers three times

Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is usually one of the top outfielders taken off the board on draft day, and a first round pick as well. But, maybe we should start thinking about him as the #1 outfielder taken and one of the Top 5 picks off the board. Last night, CarGo had a huge night at the plate, going 3-5 with 3 HRs and 6 RBI, raising his triple slash line to .313-.393-.625 with 17 HRs, 49 runs, 42 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

Conventional thought is that Mike Trout is a top 3 pick in most fantasy drafts, but, right now, Gonzalez has put up better stats in every category HRs, runs, RBI, batting average and is just one stolen base behind Trrout. He is on pace to hit 46 HRs, score 132 runs, drive in 113 and steal 32 bases. The issue with Gonzalez in the past was staying healthy. He has played with all kinds of minor injuries here and there, affecting his production at the plate. This season, he looks plenty healthy and his fantasy owners are benefitting.

Round'em Up

Is Cole Hamels back? Hamels has struggled in a big way this season, and I had opined here in the Roundup that he could be hurt. Well, maybe not. Hamels dominated the Marlins for 7 innings, giving up just one run on four hits, a walk and 11 strikeouts. Hamels has been a disappointment this season, but maybe this start will get him going moving forward. Hamels is now 2-9 with a 4.56 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 77-26 K-BB in 81 innings.

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had a big night at the plate, but not as big as his teammate Carlos Gonzalez. Tulo went 5-5 with 2 HRs, 3 runs and 3 RBI and is now hitting .349-.412-651 with 15 HRs, 14 doubles, 36 runs and 48 RBI. Tulo is healthy and is on pace for a huge season. He is on pace for 41 HRs and 130 RBI. Sshhhhh......the injury prone Tulowitzki could also be a Top 5-6 pick in fantasy drafts in 2014 should he stay healthy all season.

The Mariners and White Sox played a very crazy game yesterday. They played 13 scoreless innings, then the White Sox scored 5 runs in the top of the 14th inning. They were a slam dunk to win, right? Wrong. The Mariners responded with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the 14th, four of them on a Kyle Seager grand slam. The White Sox scored two runs in the 16th inning to win the game, with closer Addison Reed throwing 55 pitches across 3 innings to get the win.

It appears Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager is proving that his 2012 breakout was no fluke. Seager went 3-5 with a HR and 4 RBI, courtesy of the 14th inning grand slam. Seager is now hitting ..283-.349-.483 with 8 HRs, 31 runs, 28 RBI and 2 stolen bases, and is on pace for 22 HRs, 84 runs and 76 RBI.

The Blue Jays fans and his fantasy owners finally saw the R.A. DIckey they traded for/drafted in San Francisco yesterday. I am not sure where he has been all season, but he finally looked like the Dickey from 2012. Dickey shut out the Giants on two hits, two walks and five strikeouts over 8.1 innings yesterday to win his 5th game of the season. Dickey is now 5-7 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 64-34 K-BB rate in 84 innings this season. HIs strikeout rate is down and his walk rate is up compared to 2012, so maybe yesterday's performance is the start of a series of solid starts from him.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is having one heck of a breakout year so far in 2013. Goldschmidt hit a grand slam to break open a tight game last night in St. Louis, going 2-5 with the HR and 4 RBI, and is now hitting .336-.417-.608 with 14 HRs, 42 runs, 53 RBI and 6 stolen bases. He is on pace for 38 HRs, 115 runs, 146 RBI and 16 stolen bases and i can't help but think about how Keith Law didn't think he was an everyday player last season.