Roto Roundup: Justin Upton, David Wright, Carl Crawford and others

David Wright: In his decline years?

It happens to even the best of major league hitters. You sit at the top of your game for many years, making multiple All Star game appearances, then the decline phase begins. For fantasy owners, attempting to project a decline is not an easy task, but what one can do is notice the trend in a hitters stats, his batting average, his slugging percentage, home runs, and others.

With that said, I think it is safe to say Mets third baseman might be in the beginning stage of his decline years, or he might be in the midst of his decline years. This season, Wright is hitting "just" .270-.329-.370 with 8 home runs, 47 runs scored, 56 RBI and 6 stolen bases. He is on pace for career lows in batting average, on base percentage, home runs, runs scored and stolen bases.

Last season, Wright hit 18 home runs in 112 games. This season, he has hit just 8 in 118 games, and his .106 ISO ranks in the bottom 30 among all qualified hitters this season, certainly not what we expected when ranking him among the top fantasy third baseman on draft day.

Wright will more than likely see s big drop in his ranking as we approach the 2015 season, but there is a decent chance he bounces back from his disappointing 2014 season.

For more on Wright and the Mets, make sure you check out Amazin Avenue, SB Nation's Mets fan site.

Round'em Up

Dodgers ace Zack Greinke has been dealing with some soreness in his right elbow lately. Here is more from True Blue LA's Eric Stephen, via Twitter:

Don Mattingly said Zack Greinke had elbow soreness recently but nothing that kept him from mound. Standard over a long season

- Eric Stephen (@truebluela) August 19, 2014

After the game, Mattingly had a slightly different tone on Greinke and there is a chance Greinke misses his Thursday start and could land on the disabled list.  Greinke is currently enjoying a very good season, as his strikeout, walk and ground ball rates have all improved compared to 2013.

There were reports last night that Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez had surgery yesterday to repair his left patella tendon, and could miss the beginning of spring training. Here is more from Nick Groke from the Denver Post:

Carlos Gonzalez said "everything went perfect" with surgery on his left knee Monday in Vail, but the Rockies outfielder might be looking at a rehab that will make him late for spring training.

Gonzalez will be in a walking brace for three weeks with limited mobility. And his rehabilitation will take several months - perhaps pushing back the start of his spring training, Rockies head athletic trainer Keith Dugger said.

Like teammate Troy Tulowitzki, Cargo should fall out of the first round in 2015, and in future years as well. Gonzalez has now missed 144 games over the last two seasons, mostly due to injury, so he presents an injury risk on draft day. There is also the chance he could miss the start of the 2015 season since he will probably miss the beginning of spring training. We should learn more about his rehab as we get into the offseason.

I haven't been a big fan of Braves outfielder Justin Upton, but with the drop off in power across major league baseball, Upton offers plenty of value to owners on draft day. Last night, Upton went 2-4 with a home run and 5 RBI in the Braves 11-3 win over the Pirates and is now hitting .287-.363-.520 with 24 home runs, 66 runs scored, 80 RBI and 7 stolen bases, and is on pace for 31 home runs and 101 RBI. He currently ranks 10th in baseball in home runs and RBI, so maybe he could be a consideration for my projected 2015 first round.

Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford is unowned in 45% of leagues right now, but if you are looking for some offense, grab Crawford now as he is on hot streak. Last night, he filled up the box score, going 3-3 with a walk, a home runs, 3 runs scored, 3 RBI and a stolen base in the Dodgers 8-6 win over the Padres. He has multiple hits in 6 of his last 9 games, raising his average from .234 to .268, and has stolen a base in 5 of his last 6 games, so if you need some speed, Crawford is available in almost half of the leagues out there.

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