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Roto Roundup: Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, George Springer and others

Ray offers his thoughts on some of the top fantasy performers from Wednesday's roto action, including Carlos Carrasco, Matt Duffy, Taijuan Walker and others.

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Top power hitters over the last 30 days

I think looking at how hitters have performed over the last few weeks to a month can give us an early look at some possible breakout hitters. A month may be a small sample size, and many hitters will outperform their averages in any given momth Today, we take a look at some of the top power hitters over the last 30 days, according to FanGraphs isolated power (ISO) data.

Rank

Name

PA

HR

R

RBI

SB

ISO

BABIP

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

1

Giancarlo Stanton

99

12

18

23

1

0.456

0.373

0.344

0.404

0.800

0.502

226

2

Albert Pujols

114

13

23

26

0

0.434

0.218

0.303

0.395

0.737

0.467

212

3

Nolan Arenado

119

12

24

33

0

0.411

0.253

0.304

0.319

0.714

0.425

158

4

J.D. Martinez

97

11

16

26

0

0.387

0.281

0.290

0.320

0.677

0.418

171

5

Mike Trout

114

8

18

16

1

0.340

0.411

0.320

0.412

0.660

0.443

196

6

Luis Valbuena

100

9

15

17

0

0.329

0.185

0.224

0.330

0.553

0.377

145

7

Bryce Harper

93

6

11

15

1

0.321

0.387

0.370

0.452

0.691

0.483

213

8

Mitch Moreland

105

9

16

25

0

0.313

0.365

0.323

0.362

0.636

0.427

174

9

Todd Frazier

126

9

20

23

2

0.311

0.292

0.287

0.310

0.598

0.385

145

10

Randal Grichuk

91

5

17

12

2

0.306

0.380

0.282

0.319

0.588

0.383

147

11

Maikel Franco

115

8

18

24

0

0.296

0.370

0.352

0.391

0.648

0.443

186

12

Justin Turner

96

6

16

17

0

0.284

0.338

0.330

0.385

0.614

0.428

180

13

Stephen Drew

84

6

12

9

0

0.284

0.183

0.230

0.310

0.514

0.352

124

14

Matt Duffy

103

5

19

15

1

0.281

0.333

0.313

0.359

0.594

0.407

168

15

Jose Bautista

121

8

20

20

2

0.280

0.183

0.226

0.388

0.505

0.385

147

16

Chris Carter

112

6

14

11

1

0.275

0.260

0.209

0.348

0.484

0.359

132

17

Yasmani Grandal

97

7

10

11

0

0.274

0.255

0.250

0.351

0.524

0.375

144

18

Joc Pederson

124

7

17

14

0

0.273

0.263

0.222

0.379

0.495

0.382

149

19

Manny Machado

124

8

23

22

4

0.270

0.362

0.365

0.411

0.635

0.447

191

20

Brett Gardner

124

5

27

18

3

0.270

0.425

0.351

0.411

0.622

0.439

185

21

Brian Dozier

121

7

19

15

4

0.269

0.304

0.287

0.355

0.556

0.390

153

22

Anthony Rizzo

119

6

15

15

2

0.269

0.259

0.269

0.353

0.538

0.382

143

23

Carlos Gonzalez

101

6

12

15

1

0.269

0.299

0.280

0.317

0.548

0.363

115

24

Salvador Perez

93

7

11

9

0

0.261

0.216

0.250

0.258

0.511

0.329

110

25

David Ortiz

106

7

11

18

0

0.258

0.211

0.237

0.321

0.495

0.349

121

26

Carlos Correa

97

5

13

15

4

0.255

0.319

0.287

0.309

0.543

0.365

136

27

Derek Norris

104

7

16

13

0

0.253

0.158

0.168

0.240

0.421

0.288

86

28

Curtis Granderson

116

7

15

11

1

0.252

0.354

0.291

0.371

0.544

0.395

158

29

Edwin Encarnacion

89

4

15

15

0

0.250

0.311

0.303

0.382

0.553

0.398

156

30

Mark Teixeira

101

5

10

19

0

0.247

0.270

0.259

0.366

0.506

0.375

140

I have written recently about the huge power month that Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is having so it is no surprise he is near the top of this list. The same goes for Marlins injured outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.who has been the focus of many MLB Network and ESPN highlight reels over the last month with his monster home runs. Then you have another hitter who is having a huge breakout season, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. But, there are a couple hitters in this list who are a bit of a surprise. Let's take a look.

Matt Duffy, Giants

The Giants signed third baseman Casey McGehee in the offseason to replace free agent Pablo Sandoval after he signed with the Red Sox. McGehee was recently designated for assignment for the second time as Matt Duffy has taken over the full time third base duties in San Francisco. Duffy has been on fire over the last 30 days hitting .313 with 5 home runs, driving in 15 runs and scoring 19 runs. His .284 ISO ranks 14th in baseball and I wonder if this is just a hot month for the young third baseman, or a young hitter maturing at the plate.

Randal Grichuk, Cardinals

Grichuk was the second player involved in the trade that sent third baseman David Freese and reliever Fernando Salas to the Angels for center fielder Peter Bourjos and Grichuk. Freese was the main player in the deal at the time, but as it turns out Grichuk might be the best player in the deal. He's been playing every day with Matt Holiday on the disabled list, and has taken advantage. He has shown off some of his power over the last 30 days, and could keep the every day job even when Holiday returns.

Carlos Carrasco almost throws a no-no

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco had a breakout second half of the 2014 season, and has continued to dominate on the mound in 2015, pitching better than his ERA has shown. Last night, Carrasco continued his domination, coming within one strike from tossing a no-hitter. Carrasco left with two outs in the ninth inning after giving up a run on a hit, two walks and 13 strikeouts in the Indians 8-1 win over the struggling Rays.

The win moved Carrasco's record to 10-6 with a 3.88 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 2.74 xFIP, a 1.14 WHIP and a 110-21 strikeout to walk rate in 97.1 innings. He has given up two runs or less in just 7 of his 16 starts, but with an improved defense behind him after the call up of shortstop Francisco Lindor and third baseman Giovanny Urshela, that number should rise and his ERA should drop in the coming weeks and months.

I watched the ninth inning of this game and you could tell Carrasco was somewhat nervous about the no-hitter. But after he gave up the hit to Rays outfielder Joey Butler, he thanked his infielders and walked off the field with the biggest smile on his face. It was great to watch, as he didn't show disappointment at all over losing the no-hitter.

For more on Carrasco and his near no-hitter, make sure you check out Let's Go Tribe, SB Nation's Indians fan site.

Roto Roundup

Astros outfielder George Springer is putting up an excellent season at the plate, but he left the game last night after being hit on the right wrist with a pitch from Royals starter Edinson Volquez. After being hit, he stayed in the game and came around and scored in the Astros four run fifth inning, but was replaced by Domingo Santana to start the sixth inning. Losing Springer would be a tough loss for the Astros and Springer owners. Springer is hitting .264-.265-.547 with 13 home runs, 43 runs scored, 29 RBI and 14 stolen bases, and is on pace for 26 home runs and 28 stolen bases. Yeah, he's gonna be a star.

Mariners starter Taijuan Walker struggled with his command in his cup of coffee in 2014. After a rough April and May, he is limiting the free passes and is showing us some of the potential was saw in him as a prospect. Yesterday afternoon, he dominated the Padres, shutting them out on one hit, no walks and 7 strikeouts over 6 innings in the Mariners 7-0 win. The win moved his record to 7-6 with a 4.34 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 3.74 xFIP, a 1.28 WHIP and a 90-21 strikeout to walk rate in 91.1 innings. He has lowered his ERA by almost two runs since the end of May, winning five straight starts, while giving up three runs or less in each of his last six starts.

Could this be the beginning of a breakout for Walker?

Giants catcher Buster Posey had to leave last night's game after taking a ball to the mask/chin area. He passed concussion tests after the game but should be ready to go for today's early 12:00 start in Miami. It wouldn't surprise me to see Bruce Bochy sit him today to make sure he is fine going forward, especially since Bochy is a former catcher himself.

Dodgers starter Brett Anderson is pitching his way into a good free agent contract at the end of the season. Last night, he limited the Diamondbacks to one run on 7 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in 7 innings in the Dodgers 4-3 win. He is now 5-4 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 69-26 strikeout to walk rate over 96 innings this season. Over his last 10 starts, he has given up two runs or less in eight of those starts and continues to induce ground balls at an elite rate.

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