Saturday’s Roto Roundup: Josh Hamilton For MVP??
This article was written by Jason Hunt over at Fake Teams
Someone should tell Josh Hamilton that it really isn't this easy. He had another 2 hits yesterday to raise his batting average to .364, and hit his 26th homerun and drove in his 80th run. At this point, I think the AL MVP award is his to lose.
Apparently A-Rod heard me questioning why he hadn't hit as many homeruns as he usually does when he played yesterday, as he hit 3 of them against the Royals to bring his season total to 21. He's also driven in 97 runs now after his 5 last night.
Phil Hughes had a rather unusual line yesterday, as he got the win with his 6 1/3 innings, but struck out nobody. I am sure he's going to be back to normal for his next start, but it does seem very strange still.
Dan Uggla continues to have a very good season, as he hit his 27th homerun of the season yesterday in the Marlins' victory. On the season, he's now hitting .284 with the 27 homeruns and also 74 runs batted in. If the average is legitimate, he's pretty easily a top 5 2B for 2011. I am inclined to believe that it is.
Roy Halladay had another great start last night, striking out 7 over 8 shutout innings. The win was his 15th of the season, and I think that he's going to be right near the top of the Cy Young voting even if he doesn't match the win totals of Adam Wainwright or Ubaldo Jimenez.
Carlos Zambrano recorded his first win since being placed back into the rotation yesterday against the Cards. It wasn't an amazing start, as he went 5 2/3 innings, walked 2 and gave up 7 hits. But it's a good sign to see him last that long in a game.
Brian Duensing threw a shutout yesterday. Granted that it was against Oakland, but the numbers count the same. Only 2 walks and 4 strikeouts, but still a very good start. He outpitched Trevor Cahill, who also had a pretty good start with 7 innings of 1 run ball.
Signs of life from Hideki Matsui yesterday, as he went 4 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle. Matsui is hitting just .251/.331/.416 for the season, and I'm wondering if it could cost him after the season during free agency.
Pablo Sandoval hit another homerun yesterday, and has been showing signs of life as well. In the last week he is hitting .385 with 2 homeruns and a 1.023 OPS. If he is available in your league, now might be the time to take a shot if you need an upside play.
Brennan Boesch continues to struggle, as he went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts last night against the White Sox. Since the All-Star break he is hitting .130 with just 2 homeruns. I think he's getting closer to where his talent should put him, and would still hold him in keeper leagues.
Bud Norris remains a high risk high reward type, and yesterday was clearly the reward if you started him. 14 strikeouts over 7 innings of 2 run ball and a victory are pretty nice, and the clear difference this time versus some of his other starts is just 1 walk. I want to see more before I can recommend him against anybody but the Pirates.
