Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Adam LaRoche, he of the longest swing in the majors, is starting to heat up. In the last 9 games, he's hit .387 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 4 runs, 2 doubles, a .444 on-base percentage and 1.186 OPS. If his career history is any indicator, we can expect things to continue along this pace.
It's just that he's starting things up a bit early. In LaRoche's career, he's been two different players per season. Just look at his splits. He's a decent hitter with good power in through June. From July on, though, he's a good hitter with great power.
March (regular season) - June: .240 average, 51 home runs 208 RBI in 1,379 at-bats. If a normal season contains 550 at-bats, that's a home run pace of 20.
July - October (regular season): .307, 70 home runs and 211 RBI in 1,182 at-bats. Prorate that power pace to 550 at-bats? That's 33 bombs.
Despite the stigma carried by the general public toward Pittsburgh's baseball franchise, the Pirates don't have a bad lineup. In fact, LaRoche has Andrew McCutchen, Nyjer Morgan and Freddy Sanchez are the three guys hitting in front of him. Once Ryan Doumit returns to the lineup, it gets even stronger. There's also the possibility the Pirates trade him to a team in contention where he'll hit sixth and have tons of RBI opportunities.
The odds are pretty decent LaRoche is still sitting on your waiver wire. If you need power, he's a really good add right now. Hell, history tells us he'll help in batting average once the calendar turns to July. If he's on someone else's team, you might inquire to see what it would take to pry him away. You won't be able to do so next month at this time.
Bits From the Box Scores
- Welcome back Grady Sizemore. Thank you for the immediate production. Now let's continue to get that batting average up to where it should be.
- Edwin Jackson had really good stuff, but let's hope the control issues he displayed Tuesday night weren't a harbinger of things to come. That's twice in the past three outings he's walked 4 guys. Plus, he wasn't even close to the strike zone on most of the balls and was routinely falling behind some Cubs hitters who haven't exactly been patient this season. Still, he was good enough to escape with 7 strikeouts and good rate stats. He would have had a win had Joel Zumaya not inexplicably thrown Micah Hoffpauir a change-up instead of the triple-digit fastball he had already blown by him twice.
- There aren't many players hotter than Derrek Lee right now. Since May 16 (30 games), Lee is hitting .373 with 8 home runs, 7 doubles, 22 RBI and 18 runs with a 1.083 OPS. Also, brace yourself to start hearing about his hitting streak in the next week or so unless it's broken. His currently stands at 20 games (.370-6-18 in that time).
- Man, the ins and outs of interleague play can be maddening. David Ortiz has his power stroke back (.333, 5 bombs, 1.216 OPS in his last 14 games) and the Red Sox are facing the putrid Nationals' pitching staff. Meanwhile, the Sox are playing in an NL park and have to sit Papi because they don't have a DH. Ugh.
- John Lannan is only 24 years-old. Despite playing for the Nats, he's a quality pitcher. Notice his 3.44 ERA. In his last two outings he's had the pleasure of facing the Red Sox and Yankees (in the new bandbox, no less) and he put together 14 2/3 innings of good work. He allowed only 5 earned runs (3.07 ERA) against those high-powered offenses and didn't take a loss.
- Scott Rolen isn't old yet. At 34, there's still plenty of time for productivity. You can wait around for an injury, or you can enjoy him while he's hot and healthy. After another good night Tuesday, he's hitting .332. Also, the power is coming around. He's got a pair of homers and 6 RBI in the past 7 games.
- B.J. Upton promised he wouldn't make a fool out of me (OK, not really, but he should). Anyway, he's on an absolute tear right now, as he's hitting .432 since June 13. That's six multi-hit games in his last eight. He's also hit 2 home runs, driven home 9, stolen 2 bases and scored 6 times in that span. Hope you waited, because the payoff is going to be worth it in the second half.
- John Mayberry is doing his best Raul Ibanez impression with the Phillies' everyday left-fielder on the shelf. Mayberry has gone 7-for-24 (.292) with 3 home runs and 7 RBI in just 24 plate appearances. Zero walks compared to 7 strikeouts, along with the fact that he was only hitting .257 in the minors -- and a .255 career minor league hitter -- say it's an aberration and will soon stop, though.
- Joel Pineiro now has 2 shutouts in just over a month. He's actually compiled quality starts in five of his last seven outings. His ERA is a sweet-looking 3.40. Also remember his pitching coach is Dave Duncan, who has ways of making average guys looking like All-Stars from time to time. Keep an eye open here.
- Tommy Hanson is now 3-0, after holding the Yankees scoreless for 5 1/3. He's walking far too many guys right now (14 in his last three starts), but the 3.13 ERA is nice and he's got enough talent to fix the K/BB ratio over the course of a season. He's worth adding in most formats.
- This is why I never draft guys who start the season injured (kidding, see Upton, B.J. above). Alex Rodriguez just can't find his way. He's 4 for his last 42 (.095). History tells us he's gotta get it going, so be patient. You can't exactly deal him for first round value right now.
- Andrew Miller has a respectable 3.47 ERA since returning from injury and has struck out 44 guys in those 46 2/3 innings. As Knox pointed out last week, he's a good strikeout guy. Oh, and props to Brinson for calling the good outing. Too bad the bullpen blew it.
- Billy Butler was our pick (well, OK, mine, but that totally counts) for the Royals' breakout this season. He's plugging along as a decent-to-good hitter, but he's been lacking power. He's been hitting quite well in June, though, and the power is slowly coming around. He's hitting .333 in his last 17 games with 3 homers and 9 RBI. He's homered in two of his last four games, too.
- Matt Wieters (you may have heard of him) got off to a slow start. I'm sure there were some owner impatient enough to move on, which is downright insane. Now, he's showing why he was so highly touted. In the past 10 games, Wieters is hitting .351 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 6 RBI and 6 runs. Here we go ...
- Casey McGehee is making Brewers fans forget about Rickie Weeks. The 26-year-old who was claimed off the waivers from the Cubs last year is hitting .352 for the Crew. He's even hotter recently, though, as he's hit in 10 of his last 11 games -- a stretch where his batting average is .452 and he has 2 home runs, 7 RBI, 10 runs and 5 doubles. In June, he's got a 1.152 OPS. It's time to start taking a look if you need middle infield help in deep leagues.
- Francisco Liriano accrued a victory, but he didn't do anything to change my mind. Let him be someone else's problem for the rest of the year. He still hasn't learned how to pitch without that devastating slider the arm surgery stole from him. He might eventually, but it won't be this year.
- That's three straight victories for Max Scherzer (5-4 on the season), who has trimmed his ERA down to 3.53 after only allowing 4 earned runs in his past 4 starts. On the season, the soon-to-be 25-year-old has 81 strikeouts in 79 innings. He's establishing himself as a must-own in all leagues before our eyes.
- Did we say something about Troy Tulowitzki? Add 2 home runs in 3 at-bats to the ledger.
- Chad Gaudin had 11 strikeouts Tuesday night, giving him 19 in his past two outings and 65 on the season (in only 62 2/3 innings). I wouldn't expect that to continue by any stretch, but if you are desperate for Ks in an NL-Only league, it's not an egregious move.
- Wladimir Balentien will continue to fight for playing time as long as the Mariners stick around in the AL West. He's a good, young talent, so keep an eye on him in deep AL-Only leagues. He's 5 for his last 12 (.417) with a home run and 2 RBI in that stretch. It's modest, but still worth watching considering his upside.
The Afflicted - Dave Bush is on the disabled list with what the Brewers are calling a tired arm. Mike Burns will take his place until about the All-Star break. Jason Varitek seems to have a bum shoulder, but reports are sketchy. Still, this isn't why he's slumping. He's slumping because he's not a good enough hitter anymore to keep up the early pace he set.
Lineup Lock Time: 7:05 PM ET
