Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Ryan Ludwick scuffled early this season, which was a sign to many about how much of a fluke his huge 2008 season was. Through June 29, Ludwick was hitting just .227 with a .718 OPS. Last season, he hit .299 with a .966 OPS in his career year, with a whopping 37 home runs and 113 RBI. Many thought it was an outlier, but he had never gotten a chance to play everyday in the majors until then.
In July, he's heating up and showing that he is no fluke.
Through Tuesday night's game in Houston, Ludwick is hitting .349 with a 1.104 OPS in July. He's homered 5 times for 23 RBI (in just 17 games). With Albert Pujols in front of him, there will always be RBI opportunities. Now that Mark DeRosa showed up -- 2 home runs Tuesday night -- some protection behind Ludwick will help as well.
Bits From the Box Scores:
- It's high time we started to recognize Michael Bourn as a must-start in all leagues. His BABIP is high, but that's partially a product of how insanely fast he is. Of course he's going to get on base more often via the ground ball than a prodding catcher. That's only common sense. Considering the 35 stolen bases and 62 runs scored, it's hard to complain about the lack of pop and the .285 average is more than serviceable.
- Ervin Santana picked up his second straight win, but this time it wasn't pretty. He allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs in 6 innings. He did strike out 7 and walk only 1, but he shouldn't be getting hit this hard, especially with his velocity being where it was last year. He's too good to drop, but you better have some cushion in ERA and WHIP (like a Dan Haren or Tim Lincecum) to leave him in the lineup for the short-term.
- I have a hard time understanding how Rich Hill remains in a major league rotation. He has a 7.64 ERA and 1.83 WHIP, so he most certainly doesn't belong in any fantasy leagues (dead horse beaten long enough yet? OK, I'll stop).
- Jimmy Rollins continues to scorch. He's hitting .388 since July 2 and he's now up to 8 home runs on the season.
- Rich Harden is 5-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 1.08 WHIP at night this season. He's struck out 42 and walked 13 in 44 1/3 innings. On the flip-side, he's been just awful during the day. Monitor his starts and use him only at night until the trend normalizes a bit.
- Scott Downs blew the save last night, but the rally against him was jump-started by an error. He still gave up the ensuing hits, but we can easily -- and, yes, conveniently -- blame the slip-up on an exterior factor. He's been a very solid closer this year, when healthy, and he is in no danger of losing his job.
- Tommy Hunter has been a solid starter for the Rangers this season. He's now 2-1, after outdueling Josh Beckett, sporting a 2.17 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. The 23-year-old right-hander isn't a big strikeout guy and he never showed the ability to maintain such a low ERA in the minors (3.57 career, 4.18 in 2009). Let's not get crazy just yet.
- Jeff Niemann continues to cement his role in the Rays' starting rotation. He's now 9-4 with a 3.61 ERA. In his last two starts, he's worked 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA, 13 Ks and only 3 walks. He's getting help from his defense, but that's not going to stop in Tampa. Nothing else in his peripherals suggest a huge change in his numbers, so you can expect a serviceable ERA with good win totals.
- Clayton Richard only lasted 1 inning last time out. Tuesday night, he went 8, only allowing 1 earned run, striking out 7. The potential is there, we just need to see some consistency. He's in the "watch" zone now for fantasy owners. Don't pick him up yet, but be cognizant of his progress.
- It's really too bad John Lannan is relegated to playing for the Nationals. Hopefully things get turned around for him in the future. For now, he's putting together quite the impressive season, if you can ignore the 7 (most of them hard-luck) losses. He has 7 of the Nationals' 27 wins.
- David Wright is now hitting .222 in his last 31 games. His power is gone, as is his supporting cast. He only managed to steal 3 bases during that time as well. Oh, and he's still hitting .417 on balls in play this season. Things don't look good.
- Ryan Doumit has been dreadful since returning from injury. He's now just 6-32 (.188) and hasn't hit a home run. His track record shows he's too solid a hitter to keep enduring such travails, so a turn around is near. His BABIPs the past two years were .324 and .333, and this year it's .234. Things will turn.
- Miguel Montero is a nice, cheap option at catcher. He's really swinging it right now. Since June 27, he's hitting .418 with a 1.159 OPS, 5 home runs, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored in just 71 plate appearances. Take a look in any league for now. Possibly while you bench and wait on Doumit.
- Kyle Blanks hit his first major league home run, and we're expecting many more. Watch him, but he's not really ready to be owned in most fantasy leagues just yet.
- Jonny Gomes is likely to keep the left-field job in Cincinnati for a while. The Reds desperately needed some power from the position and he's filling that at present. In just 105 at-bats, Gomes has 7 home runs and 20 RBI. His average and on-base percentage numbers are incredibly out of character, but the Reds are falling out of the race and won't be trading for anyone else. Grab him in deep NL-Only leagues and enjoy the power he provides in that nice hitter's home park.
- Rafael Furcal is also having a good July. He's hitting .328 with a 400 on-base percentage in the month. He's got 2 homers, 10 RBI and 15 runs in 16 games. Atop this lineup, he's going to score runs, and, remember, he's at his best in the second half. Over the course of his career, his best OPS' by month are, in order, July, September, August.
The Afflicted: Lance Berkman's going to miss at least the next two games with a strained calf. John Danks is going to miss Wednesday's start because of one of those dreaded blisters. Manny Ramirez got hit by a pitch in the hand, which can easily break it and ruin a season -- as us baseball fans know. His X-rays were negative, though. He may miss a day or two, but he'll be fine quite soon.
Lineup Lock Time: Hopefully you still have time. It's 12:35 PM ET today.
