Thursday’s Roto Roundup: Is Ubaldo Jimenez The Top Pitcher Right Now?

In a pretty good matchup yesterday, Ubaldo Jimenez outdueled Francisco Liriano to record his 13th win of the season. To date, he now has a 1.13 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. I am riding this amazing hot streak in one league, but I am wondering when the other wheel is going to fall off for Jimenez. He can't keep up this performance, can he? And if he even goes back to a sub-3 ERA, would he still be the best pitcher in fantasy baseball right now?

Let's compare:

Ubaldo Jimenez: 101 IP, 13 W, 1.13 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 88 K
Roy Halladay: 107 IP, 8 W, 2.36 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 90 K
Tim Lincecum: 92.2 IP, 7 W, 3.11 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 106 K
Josh Johnson: 92 IP, 7 W, 1.86 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 89 K

Even if Jimenez regresses to say, 2.75 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, he's probably in the discussion for the top spot, as he's still likely to keep striking out batters at a very good rate.

Aaron Heilman was used to pitch the 8th inning last night, with the D'backs only down 2 runs. Well, he proceeded to cough up 2 more runs. He's been mentioned as the main closer candidate in Arizona at this point, but there are going to be outings like this from Heilman. I think I'd rather have a high strikeout middle reliever rather than guessing at the closer situation in Arizona at this point, unless you are extremely desperate for saves.

Pedro Alvarez showed whether some of the concerns about him were legitimate, as he went 0-4 yesterday with 3 strikeouts. He's still a rookie, just like many others, and is going to have days like this. I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock into it just yet.

R.A. Dickey raised his record to 5-0 yesterday with his victory over the Indians. In 6 innings, he struck out 7 and allowed only 2 earned runs. You're probably playing with fire here, as he is a knuckleballer and could have one of those super-ugly starts any day now. Caveat emptor, to be sure.

Robinson Cano went 2 for 4 yesterday, to raise his batting average for the season to .372. He is on pace for a 30-100 season and at least a .300 batting average. Could Cano end up as a top-10 pick in 2011 if he finishes at that pace?

Another top prospect is being called up, this time it's Dayan Viciedo of the Chicago White Sox. Viciedo has hit .288/.328/.515 with 13 HR and 31 RBI in 61 games. I'm not entirely sure where he's going to be playing yet, as it was my understanding that he was unlikely to stick at 3B at the Major League level, and had been playing mostly at 1B. Someone to watch to be sure, but his inability to draw a walk (8 walks vs. 52 strikeouts this season) really concerns me.