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Roto Roundup: Jose Fernandez, George Springer, Jason Kipnis and others

Ray highlights some of the top fantasy performers from Tuesday's roto action, including Jose Fernandez, Josh Hamilton, Manny Machado, George Springer and others.

By Ray Guilfoyle
Mike Ehrmann

What prospects should be on your radar?

Now that the Astros have called up prospect George Springer, are you looking for who the next top prospect to be called up and possibly impact your fantasy roster? Well, Jason Hunt has you covered in his weekly Buy and Hold series.

Every Saturday morning, Jason updates his top 10 prospects who are nearing a call up. So, if you are in a league where you can roster a prospect in your bench spot, you need to check out this piece every Saturday morning. Here is his latest:

Buy and Hold: Week 4

In addition, new Fake Teams writer Kylan Easterling published his thoughts on which prospects are next in line to be called up for each MLB team:

Team by team: Next prospects in line

Spencer Silva breaks down Blue Jays pitching prospect Marcus Stroman, as he could called up to the big leagues in short order.

Young Guns: Marcus Stroman is beating down the door

Josh Hamilton to return sooner than expected?

Pedro Moura from the Ocean County Register reported yesterday that Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton had his cast removed from his thumb and will begin

Injured slugger Josh Hamilton (torn left thumb ligament) has had the cast on his left hand removed in favor of a small black splint.

He took one-handed swings Monday and is expected to resume standard baseball activities next week. The initial 6-8 week projection would have him returning between May 23 and June 6, but the Angels are hoping he can beat that.

"He's a little ahead of the curve, so that's encouraging," Scioscia said. "But there's still work to do."

This is great news for Hamilton owners, as there is a chance he could be back before May 23rd if all goes well in his rehab.

Archie Bradley shut down for two weeks

Well, so much for the Arizona Diamondbacks calling up top prospect Archie Bradley to help their decimated starting rotation. According to Jack Macgruder from Fox Sports Arizona, he will be shut down for two weeks:

If I owned Bradley in any league, I would be very concerned, especially with so many starting pitchers requiring Tommy John surgery this season. Coming into the season, Bradley was atop many top prospect rankings, ranked as the top pitching prospect in the game by some. But, he has struggled in AAA this season, going 1-4 with a 5.19 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and was walking more than four batters per nine innings prior to landing on the disabled list.

The Diamondbacks pitching staff is the worst in baseball with a collective 5.27 ERA, with only seven quality starts in their 29 games played this season.

For more fan reaction to the Bradley news, make sure you check out Arizona Snake Pit, SB Nation's Diamondbacks fan site.

Round'em Up

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez absolutely owns the Atlanta Braves. Last night, he shut out the Braves on two hits, two walks and eight strikeouts over eight innings in the Marlins 9-0 win. Over his last two starts, both vs the Braves, he has tossed 16 shutout innings, giving up just five hits, two walks and striking out 22. The win moved his record to 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and a 55-8 strikeout to walk rate in 39.2 innings. He is striking out more than 12 batters per nine, walking less than two per nine, and keeping the ball on the ground at a 46% rate. Coming into Tuesday's start, his strikeout percentage stood at just under 38%, which led the majors. He has to be the early favorite for the National League Cy Young award.

After tossing two consecutive complete game shutouts, Rangers starter Martin Perez was knocked around for eight runs on eight hits three walks and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings in the Rangers loss to the A's. The loss moved his record to 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 26-12 strikeout to walk rate in 42.2 innings this season.

Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis left Tuesday night's game with an apparent injury. Here is indian's beat writers Paul Hoynes, from the Cleveland Plains Dealer, via Twitter:

Hoynes later reported that he left with a right bdominal strain. Not good for Kipnis owners. Kipnis has struggled at the plate this season, hitting .234-.354-.394 with three home runs, 12 runs, 12 RBI, four stolen bases and an excellent 16-17 strikeout to walk rate in 94 at bats. He usually catches fire in May, so hopefully the injury is not serious.

Yesterday afternoon, Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports reported that Orioles third baseman Manny Machado would be activated from the disabled list for Tuesday's game, but the game was rained out. Machado will be in the Orioles lineup on Wednesday, assuming the field conditions are not bad enough where the team doesn't want him to risk re-injuring his surgically repaired knee.

Yankees starter Michael Pineda injured his back while throwing a bullpen during his 10 game suspension and will miss the next 3-4 weeks to recover.

Astros outfield prospect George Springer has struggled at the plate since his call up a few weeks ago. Last night, Springer doubled in four at bats, driving in two runs, but also struck out three times in the Astros 4-3 loss to the Nationals. Springer is now hitting .176-.263-.216 with one run scored, four RBI, a stolen base and a 18-5 strikeout to walk rate in just 51 at bats. He is walking at a decent 8.6% of his plate appearances, but is striking out in just under 32% of his plate appearances, so he will have to make some adjustments at the plate to make more contact. I think moving him out of the clean up spot in their lineup would help, as he could be pressing with men on base.

Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy is off to a solid start at the plate in 2014, and it appears his stolen base breakout in 2013 is for real. Last night, Murphy went 3-5 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base, and is now hitting .304-.339-.353 with 15 runs scored, 9 RBI and 6 stolen bases in 6 attempts. He has yet to hit any home runs, but if he can improve upon the 23 stolen bases from last season, and hit .290 or better, he will be a very valuable fantasy second baseman heading into 2015.

Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton did two things last night that you probably won't see happen too often this season - he hit a home run and got thrown out stealing. Hamilton had his best day at the plate in 2014, going 3-4 with a home run, a walk two runs scored, a stolen base and a caught stealing. Hamilton raised his slash line to .244-.281-.333 with a home run, 12 runs, six RBI, 10 stolen bases and a 19-4 strikeout to walk rate in 90 at bats. He has actually been thrown out in five of his 15 stolen base attempts, which is quite surprising for the guy known to be the fastest guy in baseball. Hamilton hasn't struck out in five straight games now, but has only one walk over that same time frame.

Fantasy Rundown

For more fantasy baseball (and football) news and rankings, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown, your one stop for all the fantasy news you need on a daily basis.