Sunday’s Roto Roundup: Aces under Fire

This article was originally written by Jason Hunt over at Fake Teams

In the marquee matchup of the day, Jon Lester outpitched Tim Lincecum in San Francisco for the victory. Lester threw a complete game and struck out 9, while Lincecum had his shortest start of the season. Lincecum only lasted 3 innings, striking out 4 but allowing 8 baserunners and 4 earned runs in the loss. I'm starting to get a bit more concerned about Lincecum, as he's really been struggling with his control in his last few starts. I think he'll still be a top-5 pitcher for the rest of the season, but my confidence in that selection isn't nearly as strong as it once was.

Tommy Hanson had his second straight poor outing in a row, giving up 5 earned runs and 10 baserunners in only 3 2/3 innings pitched. Coming into his start today, he had a lower FIP (3.48) than his ERA (4.17), so there could be the potential for a buy-low opportunity here.

Another game, another injured star for the Red Sox unfortunately. Victor Martinezfractured his thumb yesterday after having a ball fouled off of it early in the game. It won't be known until probably tomorrow whether or not he will be able to avoid the disabled list, but either way that's a big hole in both the Red Sox and your fantasy lineup.

Shin-Soo Choo has been really hot of late, and yesterday he hit his 11th and 12th homeruns of the season. He is now hitting .286 with 12 homeruns, 41 runs batted in, 46 runs, and 12 steals. I had him as my 15th ranked outfielder at the start of the season, and I am wondering if the ranking could actually end up being low overall.

In the same game, Joey Votto hit his 16th homerun of the season, and brought his RBI total to 50. He is looking like he is going to finish the season with a .300 batting average, 30+ homeruns, 100+ runs batted in, 100+ runs scored, and 15+ stolen bases.

David Wright hit his 14th homerun, and stole his 13th base yesterday. I am starting to work on my 3B rankings for the group, and I am going to have to think long and hard about whether he will be ahead of A-Rod or not.

Ryan Dempster always seems to have a very quiet, very good start every 5 days. He went 7 innings yesterday, struck out 8, and allowed only 3 earned runs en route to his 6th win of the season. His season to this point: 3.58 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 6 wins, and 105 strikeouts in 110 innings.

Alex Rios went 2 for 5 with his 21st steal of the season yesterday. Does he have any chance of getting to 50 steals this season? If he gets to 25 homeruns/40 stolen bases, is he more valuable than Carl Crawford?

Jaime Garcia had the worst start of the season, allowing 5 earned runs, 6 base runners, and didn't strike out anybody in just 2 innings. His ERA had been unexpectedly low, and had been stranding 84% of runners before yesterday's start. This blip in Garcia's season has been coming, but I wouldn't worry too much about him just yet.

Jhoulys Chacin had his highest strikeout total of his career yesterday, striking out 12 Angels and allowing only 2 earned runs over 6 innings in the loss. I think he's probably ownable in all formats at this point, as he really seems like he is pitching well enough to not be the odd man out when Jorge de la Rosa returns from the disabled list.