NL Quick Pitch: In the National League, Cole Hamels rebounded with seven strong innings after a tough debut, while Anibal Sanchez and James McDonald continued their struggles. … Matt Holliday (appendectomy) returned after just nine days on the shelf, while Ryan Zimmerman is closer to being back himself from an abdominal injury. … In Arizona, Stephen Drew notched a four-hit day while Ryan Roberts staked his claim to the 3B job with his second home run. … In St. Louis, Ryan Franklin (three blown saves) has us checking out Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs, while Drew Storen and Sean Burnett continue to battle for saves in the Nation’s capitol. … For the Reds, Mike Leake struggled Sunday and should be replaced once Homer Bailey or Johnny Cueto returns from injury, while Casey Coleman predictably struggled and James McDonald put his second consecutive “unquality” start. … Chris Young (the pitcher) continued to impress in his second start, while ex-Padre / son-of-icon Tony Gwynn Jr. is now batting .350 and is staking his claim to a large amount of the LA OF at-bats.
Darwin Barney (2B-CHC) – Barney was 2-for-4 with an RBI on Sunday to bring his batting line to .333/.316/.333. Yes, you can certainly have an OBP that is lower than your batting average due to sacrifice hits. Barney has had just 18 at-bats so far this year, but he’s the preferred option versus RHP with Jeff Baker getting at-bats versus southpaws. This leaves Blake DeWitt an afterthought which is probably where he belongs. I wrote this about Barney back in September: “The 24 year-old is a solid defender, but he batted a so-so .299/.333/.378 for Triple-A Iowa with two homers and 11 stolen bases in 479 at-bats.” I didn’t give him a ringing endorsement as you can see, but Barney is at least worth owning in deeper leagues.
Tony Gwynn Jr. (OF-LAD) – Leading off Sunday in his hometown San Diego, Gwynn was 1-for-3 with a walk and his third stolen base of the season. Gwynn is now batting .350/.381/.450 with a 2:1 K:BB in 19 at-bats. Gwynn got the nod at leadoff due to Rafael Furcal sitting to rest a wrist injury, so don’t expect this to be a normal occurrence. Gwynn played all three games against the Padres over the weekend, going 5-for-10 with a walk and three stolen bases. Jay Gibbons (eye) is close to returning, but at this point it’s tough to see him supplanting Gwynn given Gwynn’s far superior defense and the fact he’s actually hitting right now.
Nick Hundley (C-SD) – Hundley flew under the radar a bit in drafts this year, but after going 1-for-2 with his second homer and a pair of walks Sunday against the Dodgers, Hundley is now batting .440/.517/.840 in 25 at-bats. The seven strikeouts are a bit much, but did I mention he has a 1.357 OPS? Hundley hasn’t shown he’s a candidate for even a .250 average considering his minor league track record, but .250 with 15 homers and 60 RBI are certainly attainable numbers.
Ryan Roberts (3B-ARI) – Roberts continued to make his case for the starting third base job Sunday, going 1-for-3 with a walk and his second home run of the young season. Roberts is now batting a healthy ,286/.412/.714 with a 3:3 K:BB in 14 at-bats. Don’t get too excited due to the small sample size, but Roberts also has these guys ahead of him for 3B at-bats: Melvin Mora and Geoff Blum. Not exactly Mike Schmidt and Alex Rodriguez there. Roberts batted a decent .265/.365/.444 with a 0.77 EYE, 11 homers, and 16 stolen bases in 347 at-bats for Triple-A Reno a year ago, so he does have some skills. Now whether he can do that over an extended period in the big leagues is in question, but I have a buck in NL-only leagues reserved to find out.
Ryan Franklin (RP-STL) – Franklin got the dreaded vote of confidence on Sunday from Tony La Russa, this despite Franklin already notching three blown saves with a 9.82 ERA and 2.18 WHIP. Ouch. Franklin sports a career 5.9 K/9, so is this really a big surprise given that he turned 38 last month? So let’s say Franklin goes out and blows another save early next week. Where does La Russa go next? The contenders would seem to be Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs in order of likelihood. Motte though is off to a slow start (5.40 ERA) himself, and Boggs has zero track record as a late-inning reliever, so this opens up the possibility for a trade or a promotion for prospect Eduardo Sanchez.
