Fantasy Baseball: Sunday’s Roto Roundup

Sunday was chock full of news and here are my thoughts after reviewing Sunday’s boxscores:

The Rangers wasted no time in naming pitching prospect Neftali Feliz their temporary closer after Frank Francisco blew his second save of the season on Saturday. Feliz should be picked up in all AL-only leagues and in mixed leagues, as Feliz could very well keep the job with a few good weeks.

Nationals pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg won his major league debut by throwing 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and striking out 8. Strasburg will more than likely be called up by June 1st.

Reds pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman was more dominant in his first major league start in AAA as he threw 4 2/3rd shutout innings, giving up 5 hits. 1 walks and striking out 9. He will more than likely be called up before Strasburg.

Another Reds pitching prospect, Mike Leake, threw 6+ innings in his major league debut, gving up only 1 run, on 4 hits, but 7 walks, and struck out 5. Leake should be picked up in all NL-only leagues. The Reds have a good problem on their hands with Chapman and Leake pitching so well in their major league debuts.

Tigers starter Justin Verlander gave up 6 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings on Sunday. He only struck out 3 and his ERA sits at 9.00 after two starts.

Tigers centerfielder is proving the naysayers wrong in the early going as he went 2-4 with a runs scored, two walks and his 2nd SB of the season. I hope he succeeds with the Tigers as he gave my daughter a baseball coming off the field a few years ago when he played for the AA Trenton Thunder.

The Diamondbacks scored 13 runs in the 4th inning, with outfielder Chris Young belting his 3rd HR of the season. Young appears to have turned things around in the early going, and maybe being sent down to AAA last August was just what he needed to get on track.

Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez left Sunday’s game with tightness in his hamstring. Seth Smith will fill in for him should he require a trip to the DL.

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury left Sunday’s game with a ribcage injury after colliding with third baseman Adrian Beltre on a pop fly. Jeremy Hermida will replace Ellsbury should he be for any length of time.

After a very good first start of the season, Padres pitcher Chris Young was placed on the DL with shoulder tightness. Not a good sign after returning from shoulder surgery.

Cardinal’s pitcher Chris Carpenter was rocked for 7 runs, 5 earned, in 5 innings of work. He walked 2 and gave up 7 hits, 3 of which were HRs to Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart and Ryan Braun. Carpenter’s ERA is approaching 6.00 after two starts.

Giants starter Tim Lincecum must have been working on a new pitch in spring training as he got lit up in almost every spring training start. But, after Sunday’s performance, Lincecum is proving that spring training stats are meaningless. Lincecum threw 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and striking out 10.

Angels third baseman Brandon Wood has started out of the gate very cold in 2010, as he is hitting .053 in the early going. How long of a leash does manager Mike Scioscia give him?

Jake Fox made his first start of the season at catcher going 0-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. How soon before he makes 10 appearance at catcher? By June?