This will be a short one today as the SB Nation Fantasy War Room chat kept me busy last night. Let's take a look at some of Wednesday MLB action:
I wrote about Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre a few days ago here in the Roto Roundup. Last night, Beltre had his best game of the season as he hit 3 HRs and drove in 5 runs in the Rangers shellacking of the Orioles. He was 3-5 at the plate, raising his triple slash line to .307-.344-.501 with 22 HRs and 73 RBI. Beltre may not get the press and hype by other fantasy writers, but he puts up solid numbers for fantasy owners consistently year in and year out.
On my drive home from the beach yesterday, the guys on the Inside Pitch show on MLB radio, Casey Stern and Jim Bowden, interviewed Rangers outfielder David Murphy, saying that he is having an outstanding year at the plate. I said to myself "outstanding?". Murphy went 3-3 with 2 runs and an RBI last night and is now hitting .315-.394-.497 with 11 HRs, 46 runs, 49 RBI and 8 stolen bases. Murphy has raised his walk rate from 7.5% to 11.2% this season, while his strikeout rate has increased slightly.
Diamondbacks pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs won his first major league start, but he did have problems with his command. Skaggs limited the Marlins to 2 runs on 3 hits, but he walked 5 and struck out 4. He induced just 5 groundball outs and 10 fly ball outs, so fantasy owners should watch if this trend continues. Allowing fly balls at Chase Field is not a good thing.
White Sox starter Chris Sale is sure to get some Cy Young votes this offseason, and he did not hurt his chances last night. Sale dominated the Yankees last night, allowing just one run on 3 hits, a walk and 13 strikeouts in 7.2 innings to earn his 15th win of the season. Sale is now 15-4 with a 2.65 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 4.17 K/BB rate in 153 innings pitched.
Mets starter Matt Harvey could be the recipient of lots of hype from fantasy writers this offseason, as he continues to excel in his first taste of the big leagues. Harvey limited the Rockies to one run on 3 hits, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts in 6 innings of work last night. He was not involved in the decision, but is now 2-3 with a 2.75 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 43-15 strikeout to walk ratio in 36 innings pitched in his 6 big league starts. He has given up 2 runs or less in 5 of his 6 starts thus far.
A couple injury updates:
Angels first baseman Albert Pujols injured his right calf while running the bases last night and was pulled from the game. You can read more about Pujols injury at Baseball Nation.
Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is enjoying the best year of his short career this season, but he also injured his leg running out a ground ball late in the Nationals game vs the Braves last night. He appeared to have pulled a muscle in my opinion, as he hobbled to first base. He stayed in the game to finish out the 9th inning, so we should learn more about his injury today.