Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.One of the most prized prospects in baseball is blossoming before our eyes. And his timing couldn't be better as the Colorado Rockies are in the thick of a Wild Card hunt.
Carlos Gonzalez did it all in the minor leagues. Before being called up he hit ten home runs and batted .339 in 48 games. He struggled a bit upon arriving in Denver, but now is really turning it on.
Over the last month, Gonzalez is batting .432 with a home run and three stolen bases. His 1.114 OPS shows that he's really creaming the ball and his eruption is fueling the Rockies' winning ways. On Sunday Gonzalez went 3-for-5 and brought his season batting average up to .283.
His speed/power combination is not only causing fantasy GM's to run out to the waiver wires (he's only owned in 1% of fantasy leagues) to grab him, but we're seeing a glimpse towards what this young 23-year-old kid will look like for many years to come.
Don't be worried when you look over his stats and see he's only had 44 at-bats over the last month. He's started every game for the last week and he's surely going to get a whole lot of playing time over the final 51 games.
Bits From the Box Scores
• Michael Cuddyer has 19 home runs on the season after he hot two jacks on Sunday. He's batting .409 over the last week.
• As a result of stealing third base on Sunday, Curtis Granderson joins Ian Kinsler and Mark Reynolds in the 20/20 club for 2009.
• I am frequently asked whether or not Marco Scutaro is for real. On Sunday he belted tenth home run and is now batting .300 on the season. The longer you leave this guy off your roster, the longer you're missing out on a career season. And yes, he can keep this up.
• Josh Johnson pitched six innings of four-hit baseball, only giving up one earned run. It was his 11th win of the season and his ERA now is below three (2.92).
• Asdrubal Cabrera swiped his 15th base on Sunday as is batting .435 with four stolen bases over the last week. He's still only owned in 60% of fantasy leagues.
• Rajai Davis is 18 home runs away from becoming a 20/20 guy, but it's not his pop that makes him valuable. He stole two bases last night and over the last month is batting .369 with ten stolen bases.
• What a gem Derek Holland threw on Sunday. He struck out eight in a complete game shutout of the Angels, only allowing three hits and one walk.
• When I say left, you go right. I no longer have any clue how to predict results for Aaron Harang. He hadn't won since late May and going into Sunday I didn't feel he would break that streak facing Matt Cain and the Giants. But, he struck out seven over seven innings and out-dueled Mr. Cain.
• The Mets won. The must have been playing the Padres or Johan Santana must have been on the mound... Oh, it was both.
• It was rumored that Scott Kazmir was headed to Seattle before the trade deadline. That didn't happen but Kazmir still decided on Sunday to help the Mariners. He gave up seven earned runs over 4.1 innings, taking his seventh loss of the season.
• Run support for Javier Vazquez. What a novel concept. Vazquez struck out seven in eight innings in Sunday to earn his tenth win.
The Afflicted: Carlos Zambrano is back on the 15-day disabled list with a bad back. He can return on August 21st if healthy enough to do so. Jason Schmidt has a mysterious shoulder injury and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. His career may be over. Brett Cecil has a knee injury and will miss his next start. Roy Oswalt should make his next start, which is scheduled for Tuesday. Lance Berkman may also return for this series. Jed Lowrie is back on the disabled list with a wrist injury; thus continuing the never-ending "we need a shortstop" saga that's been going on since 2004 (that's when Nomar was run out of town). I hear Gary Sheffield will be back in the Mets lineup tonight.
Lineup Lock Time: Baltimore hosts Oakland and the Yankees welcome Toronto tonight as they start things off at 7:05 PM ET.
