Roto Chronicles: National League–June9

A surprise name appears in my “Up and Coming Players” section.

There weren’t too many surprises this week, but a very important player went down for the season and there were some players suspended for fighting. There’s never a dull week in baseball.

Royalty:

Prince Fielder: He’s starting to tear up the ball and is leaving behind the slow start. In his last 7 games Fielder is hitting .357, and has 5 RBIs and 3 homeruns. While he played against subpar pitching it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and play him this week. Though he doesn’t have great speed to stretch out singles into doubles he can still get you some valuable hits when you need them. Any smart manager will not give him up in a trade, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it try.

Cole Hamels: He didn’t have a great week, but he had a great last start. He pitched a complete game, his 4th of his young career. Grant it, the team he pitched against was the Reds, but the Reds aren’t a push over team anymore. The Reds’ players are young and they’re tearing up opponents’ pitching, but Hamels cooled them down to the tune of 3 hits and 3 walks and 4 strike outs. Hamels always had the type of pitching to be dominant, but he never put everything together. It looks like he is coming together as a more complete pitcher. His 1.07 WHIP is fantastic, but what’s even better is his 73 strikeouts. That averages 6 a start for Hamels. It’s not a bad idea to keep starting him.

Homer Bailey: Bailey made his first start opposite Cole Hamels. While Bailey didn’t get the win, he pitched well going 6 innings. He gave up 5 runs, but 2 only two were earned. Coming into the season Bailey was the top pitching prospect for the Reds. He didn’t get the win, but he showed a lot of promise. Bailey was able to pitch out of two bases loaded jams and gave up 4 hits. His control is a bit of a problem. He surrendered 4 walks, but despite that he is worth taking a chance on. Bailey will get more opportunities to pitch because the Reds are in a reshaping mode and relying more on younger players to pick up the load.

Ken Griffey, Jr.: Over his last 4 games he’s hitting .645, raising his average a whole .14 points in the process. Griffey is still searching for his 600th homerun, but that isn’t deterring him from his appearances at the plate. Too bad leagues don’t give out extra points for players who hit milestones, but Griffey may soon be there when he bats against Florida and St. Louis this week. Fortunately, he’s not facing any aces on those respective teams. Look for his batting average to rise this week.

Hiroki Kuroda: Like Hamels he didn’t have a solid week, but had a solid game. Not only did he pitch a complete game against the Cubs, he shut them out. Kuroda struck out 11 Cubs’ batters and allowed 4 hits. That’s not an easy task to do against a strong offensive team in the Cubs. His next start will be against the Pirates which are struggling at the plate. Look for Kuroda to duplicate his performance. His 3-5 record is misleading, to say the least. In 3 of his 5 losses, his defense has let him down, allowing him to lose those games. He doesn’t strike out many batters primarily because of his sinker ball which results in many ground outs.

Ruts:

Carlos Zambrano: Zambrano gave up 7 earned runs against the Dodgers lasting 6 and 2/3 innings. In his previous start against San Diego, he only lasted 5 innings, but he gave up 3 runs. The stat that sticks out is his walks total that game, with 4. He isn’t quite the dominant pitcher he was last season, but he still has a wicked fast ball. His strikeout totals are down, and his WHIP is up slightly, however, it’s still not a bad idea to keep him as your starter for your team. All players are entitled to bad days and Zambrano is no exception. It’s one thing for players to stay down, but Zambrano will break through this “slump”.

Pedro Feliz: Feliz is the starting third baseman for the Phillies. In his last 7 games, Feliz is hitting .198. That’s not good for your everyday starter. His average now stands at .248 for the season. While that’s not good by any stretch, I suggest keeping him on the bench until he can get his hitting groove back. There are better third baseman in the league (Kouzmanoff), but he may be at the end of his rope. Greg Dobbs, Feliz’s back up at third looks promising and is hitting .358 on the season in limited play.

Khalil Green: Things aren’t looking good for this guy. The once promising short stop from Clemson seems to have hit a snag and he’s not getting himself out of it. On the season he is hitting .211 with only 3 homeruns and 24 RBIs. When it comes to busts, Barry Zito and Khalil Green come to mind. It’s not a bad idea to leave him be. Drop him as it is highly doubtful that Green will regain his form this season. He is one major reason the Padres are slumping this season. Batting .143 with Runners In Scoring Position isn’t going to help your team succeed. Look for better options at SS.

Roy Oswalt: Suffice it to say Oswalt has definitely fallen from grace this season. His fastball has dropped significantly and he’s not striking out as many batters as he has before. Oswalt, over his last two starts, has given up 7 runs, 14 hits, and only struck out 3. That’s not going to win you games. I’ll honestly say that it’s not a bad idea to start Oswalt against lesser opponents: Washington, Colorado, San Diego. He stands a better chance of winning a game or two. If you’re team is okay on wins then don’t feel pressured to start him. We haven’t seen from the past if he has what it takes to bounce back from poor performances so this will be a good test of his mettle.

Edwin Encarnacion: He had a fantastic first two months of the season, but has dropped off significantly. However, he still has the ability to put on some good numbers, just not on a consistent basis. I must admit, his .233 average is misleading. He has gone in spurts where he’s gone hitless in 5 or 6 straight games, only to come back with 3-4, 2-4 nights for a week. Whichever way you slice it this is still detrimental to the team. If you see his average go over .250 you know he’s shown massive improvement. There’s no reason yet to drop him or offer him up as trade bait if you get him. He has the mechanics to be really good and there is a lot of baseball to be played. Keep your eye on him.

Rick Ankiel: He has suffered a little bit of a set back. A knee infection early in the week caused him to see some bench time. Before that he was in mired in a 1 for 20 slump. Ankiel will bounce back from his injury and his slump. However, I suggest placing him on the bench until he can come back from his injury 100 percent and he starts to get a few hits under his belt.

DL Watch:

John Smoltz: He is the biggest name on this list. Why? Because he’s now lost for the season. This is a huge blow for the Braves. Smoltz was an anchor in the bullpen and now the Braves must make due without him. He had hopes of returning this season, but that won’t transpire because of the extent of the shoulder surgery. Shoulder surgeries tend not to heal very quickly even it’s been rehabbed correctly. If he doesn’t take adequate care of his shoulder he may miss part of next season as well.

Tadahito Iguchi: Iguchi was placed on the 15-day DL on June 7th but it may extend beyond that. He wasn’t a consistent producer anyway so it’s not a bad idea to drop him altogether for a better option at 2nd base. My suggestion is to get Mark DeRosa if he’s still available.

The San Diego Padres’ Pitching Staff: They have 7 pitchers currently on the DL (4 starters, 3 relievers). Enough said.

Up and Coming Players:

Jesus Flores: Flores catches for the Washington Nationals, however, it would be an injustice for the Nationals to cut him loose when Paul LoDuca and Jhonny Estrada come back from the DL. Flores is batting .325 with 2 homeruns and 16 RBIs in limited action this season. He was called up from Triple A on May 9th (his second time being called up), and hasn’t disappointed since. While the other two catchers are on the DL, watch Flores shine. For a youngster he has good poise at the plate, but he does strikeout often striking out 23 times in 86 at-bats. That will have to be corrected, but he does hit for extra bases pretty well. 12 of his 27 hits are doubles. At an early stage in his career, Flores could fill the shoes of Ivan Rodriguez as a player that can be dominant at the plate and behind it.