Roto Roundup: Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Bryce Harper, and Others

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MLB Draft Results

SB Nation's Marc Normandin summarized the results of the first two rounds of yesterday's MLB Rule 4 Draft here. Included in the results are notes from Minor League Ball's John Sickels.

Yoenis Cespedes is getting hot

A's outfielder Yoenes Cespedes is doing his best not to be outdone by fellow countryman Yasiel Puig, as he homered twice in the A's 5-4 win over the White Sox. Cespedes went 2-4 with 2 HRs and 2 RBI, and is now hitting .245-.312-.510 with 13 HRs, 32 runs, 35 RBI and just 2 stolen bases in 7 attempts. While his power numbers are solid, his triple slash line is disappointing thus far. Cespedes has struggled in the first two months of the season, hitting just .228 in April and .220 in May. With the weather warming up, Cespedes has been hot in June, hitting .385-.429-.885 with 4 HRs and 7 RBI in 26 at bats. He has had trouble hitting right handed pitching thus far, hitting just .217-.252-.457 with 8 HRs and 24 RBI against them, with a 33-6 strikeout to walk rate in 138 at bats.

I projected Cespedes to hit 30 home runs and steal 20 bases back in the offseason, and while he won't come close to my stolen base projection, he is on pace to hit 34 HRs and drive in 91 runs.

To read more about Cespedes, and the A's in general, make sure you check out Athletics Nation, SB Nation's A's fan site.

Yasiel Puig silences the great Vin Scully

The start that Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig is having to his big league career is nothing short of amazing. Puig went 2-4 with a grand slam last night, and is now hitting .438-.438-1.063 with 3 HRs, 3 runs and 9 RBI in his four major league games. Last night, his eighth inning grand slam off of Braves reliever Corey Gearin left Dodgers announcer Vin Scully speechless in this video. At the end of the video, Scully says something to the effect that he has learned over the years that to capture the most from a rare and precious moment, that there is absolutely nothing better than silence. That is really saying something coming from Vin Scully.

While Puig has put on a show in his first four games, fantasy owners should expect him to slump as pitchers learn his weaknesses at the plate. But enjoy it while it lasts as he has been pretty amazing thus far. He has yet to steal a base, so you can expect him to start running at some point in the near future.

To read more about Puig, and the Dodgers, please check out True Blue LA, SB Nation's Dodgers fan site.

Bryce Harper: Is his knee injury more serious than we thought?

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was recently placed on the 15 day DL with bursitis in his knee. Yesterday, we learned that he was experiencing soreness while running in a swimming pool. He will now make a visit to Dr. James Andrews to see if there is more to his knee injury than we know at the moment. There is an outside chance he may need surgery to repair the knee, but we will learn more on Monday. Harper is slated to return from the DL on Tuesday, but that appears to be a long shot at this point.

For more on Harper's injury, make sure you check out Federal Baseball, SB Nation's Nationals fan site.

Round'em Up

Puig's teammate Zack Greinke had his best outing of the season last night, shutting out the Braves for 7 innings. Greinke gave up just 4 hits, walked 3 and struck out 7 in the Dodgers 5-0 blanking of the Braves. Greinke is now 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.49 WHIP and a 27-11 K-BB in 37 innings this season. Greinke has struggled since returning from his broken collarbone injury, giving up 14 runs on 33 hits and 7 walks in 18.2 innings before last night's gem. Hopefully, this start is a sign he is back to the old Greinke.

Victor Martinez may have been dropped in some of your leagues, as he has disappointed fantasy owners thus far in 2013. Yesterday, he showed us that he still might be a useful fantasy catcher, as he went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI in the Tigers 5-2 wi over the Rays. VMart is hitting .231-.282-.329 with 4 HRs, 17 runs and 29 RBI in 216 at bats this season. He will have to turn things around at the plate to sniff preseason expectations.

I think it is getting to the point where Ian Kennedy should be dropped, if he hasn't been dropped already. Last night, he got knocked around for 10 runs on 13 hits, including 3 home runs, in just 4 innings vs the Cardinals. Kennedy is now 3-4 with a 5.72 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a 61-26 K-BB rate in 72.1 innings. He has now given up 12 home runs in his 11 starts, and is on pace to give up 32 for the season.

Rarely used first baseman Matt Adams went 2-5 with a HR and 3 RBI last night, and is now hitting .313-.352-.552 with 4 HRs, 8 runs and 15 RBI in just 67 at bats this season. I think he is a candidate to be traded at the trade deadline, as the Cardinals have no room for him with Allen Craig at first base, and Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday in the outfield corners. He could bring back a very useful piece for the Cardinals at the deadline.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes bounced back from a rough outing in his last start, as he limited the Mariners to one unearned run on 3 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 7 innings in the Yankees 6-1 win last night. Hughes is now 3-4 with a 4.80 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 65.2 innings of work this season. If he could escape getting rocked every few outings, Hughes could be a top 40 starter.