Roto Roundup: Adam Wainwright, Justin Upton, Dallas Keuchel and others

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Adam Wainwright out for the season?

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright is one of the best fantasy aces in the game, and it appears he could be out of action for quite a long time, possibly for the rest of the season after injuring what appears to be his achilles tendon attempting to run out of the batters box on Saturday night. He was quoted as saying that he thought the catcher's mask or his bat had hit the back of his left ankle.

The team reported last night that he had suffered a "left ankle injury", yet all indications are that it was his achilles tendon. Here is a tweet from FoxSports Ken Rosenthal this morning:

Sources: Expectation is that #STLCards’ Wainwright is done for season with Achilles injury. Has not yet undergone MRI.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 26, 2015

Should Wainwright be out for the season, the Cardinals have several alternatives in the minors including Marco Gonzalez (currently on the minor league DL), Tyler Lyons, Tim Cooney, Carlos Villaneuva and Jaime Garcia. Some decent options, but none of the ace caliber.I am sure this will lead to speculation that the Cardinals could look to deal for Phillies ace Cole Hamels, and that is a possibility, but I see them waiting till later in the summer before making a deal, if they do at all.

If his season were to end due to the injury, Wainwright would finish with a 2-1 record with a 1.44 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and a 18-3 strikeout to walk rate in 25 innings.

For more on Wainwright's injury and the Cardinals, make sure you check out Viva el Birdos, SB Nation's Cardinals fan site.

Dallas Keuchel: Fantasy Ace

I recently posed a question on Twitter asking if the Astros, with Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, have two of the top three starters in the AL West. I didn't get many responses, but I think they do have two of the top three starters in the AL West.

On Friday night, Keuchel went head to head with Athletics starter Scott Kazmir, tossing 9 shutout innings, while limiting the A's to just four base runners, while striking out 4 and inducing 15 ground ball outs. In his four starts thus far, Keuchel has given up just two earned runs on 13 hits, 11 walks, 18 strikeouts and 55 ground ball outs in his 29 innings of work. Of the 87 outs he has induced in his 29 innings this season, 73 have come via the ground ball or the strikeout.

After Friday's gem, Keuchel is 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP in his four starts. He won't strike out batters like other aces will, as his K/9 rate sits in the 5-6 range, but no other starter induces ground balls at an elite 69% rate either. He is currently walking more than three batters per nine innings right now. but I see that coming down as the season progresses. For me, he is a fantasy ace, capable of winning 13-15 games this season with a sub-3.00 ERA and sub 1.10 WHIP.

For more on Keuchel and the Astros, check out The Crawfish Boxes, SB Nation's Astros fan site.

Roto Roundup

I had all intentions on writing the Roto Roundup yesterday morning, but a stomach virus laid me up all day yesterday. It started around 6am and lasted till around noon, but afterwards all I wanted to do was sleep. I actually felt like I had a really bad hangover. So here's a look at what I saw in Saturday's MLB action.

Well, it was a matter of time before the wheels came off the hot start to the season for Tigers starter Shane Greene, right? Coming into his start on Friday night, Greene was 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA, giving up just two runs, one earned, in his first three starts. That all changed last night, as he lasted just 4 innings, giving up 8 earned runs on 9 hits, 2 walks and just one strikeout in 4 innings of work. He left with the Tigers down 9-1, so barring a huge comeback, he will end the night with a 3-1 record with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 27 innings in his four starts. Prior to the season, if someone told you he would be 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA after four starts, you'd be pretty happy.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira probably will never hit for a high average again, but he still has good power, and he plays in a park that is very friendly to left handed power hitters. On Friday night, Teixeira hit not one, but two home runs, and driving in four runs in the Yankees win over city rivals, the hot New York Mets. Then on Saturday, facing Mets ace Matt Harvey, Teixeira had another big day at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run and an RBI. The big nightS at the plate improved his slash line to .254-.356-.729 with 8 home runs, 12 runs scored, 18 RBI and an excellent 11-11 strikeout to walk rate in 65 plate appearances. Despite hitting just .254, Teixeira ranks second in the majors with 8 home runs behind Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz who has 9, and is tied with Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez with 18 RBI, two RBI behind Cruz.

The Padres made a lot of big moves this offseason to improve their lineup, and thus far the results have been positive. They are currently in second place in the NL West with a 10-8 record, 1.5 games behind the Dodgers, who currently sit at 11-6. The Padres are in the midst of a three game series with the Dodgers, but have lost the first two games of the series, including last night's slugfest, with the Dodgers winning 11-8. The game featured 19 runs scored, 21 hits and 7 home runs. In Petco Park!!! I would love to know what the one record for home runs at Petco Park is. I have to imagine last night's game set a record. The Padres offense was led by outfielder Justin Upton, who went 2-3 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI, raising his slash line to .303-.347-/606 with 5 home runs, 13 runs scored, 13 RBI and a stolen base in 71 plate appearances.He is well on his way to his second 30+ home run season, but we have seen Upton start off the season very hot, only to not hit for a few months, so I wouldn't count on him putting up a breakout season just yet.

Heading into Saturday's start vs the Marlins, one had to think that Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg had a good chance to turn around his cold start to the 2015 season in Marlins Park. Well, it didn't work out too well, as the Marlins knocked Strasburg around for 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings of work in their 8-0 win over the Nationals on Saturday afternoon. Strasburg struck out 6 and induced 11 ground ball outs, but this was his third non-quality start of the season. Strasburg has given up at least 3 earned runs in three of his four starts in 2015, and is currently 1-2 with a 4.88 ERA, a woeful 1.63 WHIP, and a 23-7 strikeout to walk rate in 24 innings. While the strikeouts are nice, hitters are hitting .317 against him this season. These are not the stats of a fantasy ace.

Injury Roundup

There was other injury news over the last two days that fantasy owners should be aware of. Athletics infielder Ben Zobrist was placed on the disabled list on Saturday and will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He should be out 4-6 weeks, and more than likely will need the full 6 weeks.

The Dodgers are dealing with several injured players right now, including outfielder Yasiel Puig, who aggravated his hamstring injury on Friday night, after missing four games from the same injury. He may need a stint on the disabled list, so start scouring the waiver wire now just in case. His replacement in the Dodgers lineup last night was Andre Ethier, who had a big night going 3-4 with a home run, double 2 runs scored and 3 RBI, so he is an option.

Dodgers current closer Joel Peralta is nursing a dead arm and could land on the disabled list as a result. The Dodgers have several relievers who could replace Peralta, and at the top of the list is Yimi Garcia who earned the save in Friday night's 3-0 win. Garcia has been downright dominant this season striking out 16 batters in 9.2 innings.

Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy left Saturday's start vs the Padres after giving up a home run to Padres outfielder Justin Upton. After the pitch, McCarthy was seen shaking his right arm and motioning for the team trainer to come out for a visit. Tests on his elbow ligament after the game came back negative, but he will have an MRI to confirm the initial tests, and we should learn more about the extent of his injury in the next day or so. McCarthy earned the win, but has struggled with the long ball, giving up 9 home runs in his four starts, covering 23 innings. He could need a 15 day DL stint as a result.

Fantasy Rundown

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