Roto Chronicles: National League–May 26

Pitchers dominated my list. Find out where they landed.

Pitchers dominated this week’s segment of Ruts and Royalty. Let’s jump into it. Here’s who made royalty and who didn’t.

Ruts:

John Maine: Even though Maine started off the season well, he’s tailed off as of late. His previous start against the Rockies he was rocked pitching only 6 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits, walking 4 in the process. The start before that against the Braves he pitched 4 innings giving up 4 runs in that span. While his WHIP is still a respectable 1.34, and ERA of 3.30, he has slowed down significantly. It could be due to the season wearing on his young body, but he still maintains his normal velocity of 85-90 on his fastball. His next start will be against the Dodgers, a resilient team that is surging in the NL West. My advice is to sit him until he wins a game or two, especially against offensive clubs.

Shawn Chacon: Chacon finally registered a win in 10 starts, but he’s still not the player to start. Don’t let that one win fool you. He’s been sporadic, and he doesn’t get many strikeouts (40). He once was a dominant pitcher when he pitched for the Rockies, but it’s obvious that he’s slowed down significantly. His WHIP is 1.40 and ERA is 4.11. These aren’t very good numbers for a player that’s in the starting rotation. What’s worse is that he’ll be facing a high-octane St. Louis ball club this week. Keep him on the bench or get rid of him.

Brandon Webb: I know, a 9 game winner shouldn’t be here, but he’s dropped his last two decisions and he isn’t displaying the fast ball very well. His first loss against Florida wasn’t entirely his fault because the D-backs only got him 3 runs of support. His previous loss to the Braves, there was no excuse for. He just played so badly that he was rocked hard and taken out in the 5th inning and giving up 10 hits. He did strikeout 8 batters, but he still took the loss. He’ll bounce back. In fact he has Washington this week. Start him and get a win.

Jacques Jones: He was cut by the Tigers earlier in the year, and he resurfaced in Florida where he has 5 at-bats, but 0 hits. He was struggling in Detroit, but Detroit got impatient with him. The Marlins look to exercise more patience with Jones and he should be good to go after a while. It’s best to place him on the bench until he gets his groove back. Perhaps a change in league was the best thing for him, but he hasn’t it yet.

Adam Dunn: Dunn is a spotty hitter, and he seems to want to concentrate on hitting for power as opposed to base hits. That’s evidenced with his 42 strikeouts, which is a quarter of his at-bat. He has been streaking of late, but in the same span he’s been striking out as much as he’s hit. He goes against Pittsburgh and Atlanta which have some good pitching, but he is worth the start. Should Dunn go 0 for at-bats in a game, bench him the next game. He does have 13 homeruns, which is pretty good, and he might produce more against Pittsburgh, but not Atlanta.

Royalty:

Clayton Kershaw: Kershaw made his first start Sunday night against a high-powered Cardinals team. He pitched 6 strong innings giving up 5 hits and 2 earned runs. What’s amazing is that he struck out 7 on a team that doesn’t strikeout very much. Not bad for someone who was called up from Double A. That’s right, it was Double A. He didn’t last very long in Spring Training, but now he’s improved so much on his mechanics that he should be a viable option for your team. Sure, one start doesn’t reveal much, but he kept a high powered team at bay for 6 innings. Pick him up while you can.

Mark Teixeira: It looks like he is finding his groove at the plate once again. His stride is better and he is showing patience at the plate. Even though he has an average of .267 he can show that he can hit again. He is 0 for his last 11, but look for him to break out of that this week. It seems as if one hit for him goes a long way in his confidence level. He’ll be playing Milwaukee and Cincinnati this week so it is likely he’ll hit well this week.

Aaron Cook: Cook is pitching like the ace of the club. In his last outing against the Mets, he pitched a complete game giving up only 4 hits and one run. His strikeout totals aren’t very high, but you still have to respect his stuff. He only has 35 strikeouts on the year, which isn’t dazzling, but he does have a quiet 7 wins and an ERA of 2.83. If strikeouts aren’t that important for you and WHIP and ERA are, then play him until he absolutely gets rocked. Of course, we have no way of finding out until the game is over, but he is a good player to use when you need a pitcher to use. He will be going against the Cubs this week at Chicago, but he could be the pitcher to cool down their offense.

Jimmy Rollins: It doesn’t look like his injury from the beginning of the season is lingering and he is showing it on the base pads and the plate. He has 7 stolen bases and a .301 batting average to boot. He doesn’t hit for power and he never has, but his ability to get on base is uncanny. His OBP is .367 which means he gets on once every 3 chances which is pretty good, especially in the National League where play is contingent on small ball. Rollins has a 5 game hit streak which coincides with his 5 game doubles streak. Keep him around; he is the only player that’s batting well on a consistent basis for the Phillies.

Hunter Pence: Pence is finally playing up to his standards. He’s batting .297, with 7 homeruns and 29 RBIs. To go with his stellar at-bats, he is also fielding well making 0 errors on the season.

DL Watch: This week, star players were placed on the DL, but fortunately not for more than 15 days. Here are some of the notable names:

Clint Barmes: Barmes is shelved by a strained MCL (placed May 24th.), which usually doesn’t linger after it’s healed, but it is one of the hardest injuries to heal.

Matt Holliday: He was hampered by a strained hamstring. He could see more time after 15 days (placed Sunday May 25th).

Andruw Jones: Jones was placed on the DL on May 24th with a knee injury, but he may miss more time. Knee injuries are one of the toughest injuries to heal and even when they heal, there’s no guarantee that it’ll be 100 percent.

Ryan Doumit: Doumit is showing signs of improvement and he might come back as early as this Friday of this week. Watch out for his status.

Jake Peavy: Peavy went down with an elbow injury, but he went in for an MRI. He could be back soon, but I wouldn’t start him in his first few starts after an elbow injury. You know he won’t get to throw many pitches, and his elbow will likely see inflammation and soreness.

Chris Young: Young got hit by a line drive hit by Albert Pujols. He did go to the hospital, and stitched up. Surprisingly he was placed on the 15-day DL on May 22nd. He’s recovering quickly and shouldn’t be pushed back.

Players to watch:

Jay Bruce: The top prospect for the Reds is expected to be called up this week. Bruce has been hailed as the best minor league prospect in all the minors. He can come in blazing hot or ice cold, but you can’t ignore his numbers in the minor leagues. He is batting .367 and has 10 homeruns with 37 RBIs. Those numbers may not dazzle you, but he is a complete package. Grab him early; if nothing else, grab him and bench him for a few days until he finds his groove in the Majors.

Ian Stewart: Stewart has only officially played 2 games and is batting .167, but give him time and see what he can do. With injuries to Holliday, Barmes, Tulowitzki, and Hawpe, Stewart will be in the lineup for some time. Starting him would be a risk, but he can prove to be a big asset if he breaks out.

Clayton Kershaw: Mentioned earlier, Kershaw pitched his first game against the Cardinals. If he keeps his composure he’ll see more time in the bigs, but he may be that dominant pitcher the Dodgers have been looking for.