FanHouse B.j.Upton

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.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Rays seem to be putting it all together. The reigning American League champions left New York with a series victory over the Mets thanks to a big Sunday afternoon from B.J. Upton, who homered and had four hits. Tampa Bay is now 12-6 in the month of June and two games back of the Yankees in the AL wild-card race.

Upton has played a big part in the surge after slumping for the first two months of the season. The center fielder came into June hitting .204, but he's hitting .329 this month.

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We had to break the trend. Sure, the Dodgers might have a better record than everyone else -- but competition has to count for something, doesn't it? The Dodgers have mutilated the mediocre-at-best NL West to the tune of 26-9. This means they are 14-11 against everyone else. Is that a top-two team in baseball? Hardly, I'll take the heated-rivals: Yankees (who have overcome a slow start to go 19-7 since May 12) and Red Sox (18-8 against the best division in baseball) as the top two.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

The Mets are beginning to look like the Patriots when it comes to injury information. Just a couple of weeks ago, I told you to be worried about Jose Reyes' bum leg when we found out he had a "calf strain." Thursday night, the team confirmed Reyes has a torn right hamstring tendon and this is believed to be something new. Excuse me for being cynical, but this is the latest in a long line of sketchy diagnoses. Let's take a look at what else New York bungled, shall we ...

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Max Scherzer, the 24-year-old fireballer for the Diamondbacks, has worlds of talent. He also takes a step back every time you think he's finally hitting his groove. This past week, he was a two-start pitcher in the fantasy baseball world. His first start was pure gold (that's gold, Jerry!). He threw 7 shutout innings and struck out 10 before getting chased in the eighth inning -- after allowing a few earned runs. He followed that up with an absolute catastrophe on Sunday. The light-hitting Braves touched him up for 10 hits and 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.

So, what gives?

It's about time Fantasy FanHouse stuck its nose into all this podcast business. In our first fantasy baseball podcast segments of the year, Will Brinson, Knox Bardeen and I delve into expectations for uber-catcher Matt Wieters in anticipation of his major league debut Friday night for Baltimore.

We also talk about another young power hitter who's lost his luster, Chris Davis, and try to find out what's eating B.J. Upton. Oh, and if you're riding Juan Pierre's hot streak, you'd be wise to listen to the second segment, too.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

When you drafted Ryan Theriot as your shortstop or middle infielder, you were doing so for average, runs and steals. You were planning on getting no power from him, and rightfully so. Entering 2009 he had only 7 career home runs in over 1,400 major league at-bats. He only hit 5 home runs in 2,048 career minor league at-bats. At 29 years old, why would he all of a sudden develop power?

It's rather strange to say that 9-14 is a disappointing start for the Tampa Bay Rays, but they've put us in that position after their incredible emergence in 2008. Predicted by most to contend for another AL East title after last year's 97-win season, Tampa Bay disappointed in April, which has people wondering whether the Rays are for real, or if last year was just a fluke.

First off, there are a couple external factors that have negatively affected Tampa Bay in the early going. Residing in the AL East, it has to deal with a difficult schedule all the way through, but the first month was particularly tough. According to the advanced projection systems (PECOTA and CHONE), the average winning percentage of their opponents in the season's first month was .524. Over their final 139 games that SOS will drop slightly, down to .514.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Some NL-Only owners last night got a nice little (understatement) boost in steals last night, assuming that's where Dexter Fowler is mostly owned. The fleet-footed 23 year-old rookie stole 5 bases in the first five innings against the Padres -- giving him a National League-best 9 on the season.

Unbelievably, as noted in this morning's Starting Five, Fowler didn't even set a team record and it hasn't even been a full year since a Rockies' player had 5 steals. That doesn't mean it's common, though. Only 17 players have done so since 1954.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia owners eat your heart out. Relative unknowns -- and likely undrafted in nearly all mixed fantasy leagues -- Ricky Romero and Glen Perkins are straight dealing right now. And after three outings each, it's time to start wondering if the quick starts are not flukey.