2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Advice & Analysis
As desperation grows in the tightest of fantasy leagues fewer options for a boost to your team remain. The slightest of adjustments can raise or drop you in the current standings. Players like Yadier Molina and Ryan Raburn offer great available help this week. Sitting players like Garrett Jones and even the talented Michael Young in favor of other stronger starters could prove to be the winning push your team needs.  Sit Em Garrett Jones | Pittsburgh Pirates | 82.1 percent Jones has been on a steady decline in the last half of the season (.211 average since the break). This week he faces both the Cardinals and the Astros. Two of his opposing pitchers are left-handed. This is extremely important due to his poor performance against lefties (.216 average against). This year the Cardinals and the Astros have held Jones to a combined .190 average in 84 at-bats. His current shoulder ailments also warrant some second-guessing on starting him. Michael Young | Texas Rangers | 100 percent This is the “guts” pick of the week. The Ballpark in Arlington has had a Coors Field effect on Michael Young. Good for him, except all of his games this week are on the road where he experiences a huge power drop-off (his OPS drops from .893 to .682). His two opponents this week, Oakland and LA Angels, have held Young to a .264 average in 110 at-bats this year, which is sub-par for him. Start Em Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals | 71.1 percent Yadier has been picking up steam lately, hitting .476 through his last seven games. All of his games will come on the road this week where he hits 50 points higher. He fairs well in his previous matchups against both opponents (Cubs, Pirates). Against the Pirates this year Yadier is hitting .438 with a 1.017 OPS through 32 at-bats. Against the Cubs this year he is hitting .303 through 30 at-bats. Ryan Raburn | Detroit Tigers | 85.7 percent If your league is close and your team is shallow on hitters, then Raburn should be your waiver wire acquisition in mind. So far in September he’s scorching opposing pitching at a .404 clip with an OPS of 1.167. He owns the KC pitching staff with a career .315 average and four home runs in only 54 at-bats against.  Two-Start Pitchers To Avoid Phil Hughes | New York Yankees | 85 percent Hughes will be facing a battery of hitters this week against the Rays and Red Sox. Unfortunately for him, both of his starts this week come at Yankee Stadium where his ERA balloons nearly a point and a half to 4.88. Since the All-Star Break, Hughes has been spiraling down while his ERA climbs higher (from 3.65 to 5.37). In previous outings this year Hughes was hit by the Rays, leaving him with a 4.97 ERA against. Also, against the Red sox this year, Hughes has 4.50 ERA through three starts. Mike Pelfrey | New York Mets | 47.5 percent Pitching on the road spells trouble for Pelfrey this week. On the road this year, Pelfrey’s ERA climbs from a superb 2.87 to a horrendous 5.30…what a difference a field makes. Both of his starts this week will come on the road, first against the Marlins, and then against the Phillies. Earlier this year Pelfrey was racked, giving up four runs in 4.2 innings against the Marlins. Historically, the Phillies line-up has a .277 average and a .341 OBP against Pelfrey. Two-Start Pitchers To Use Gavin Floyd | Chicago White Sox | 66.2 percent Through a couple outings this year and historically, Floyd has held this week’s opponents in check. Against the A’s, Floyd held them to one run in 7.1 innings earlier this year. The collective A’s lineup hits a meager .150 through 80 at-bats against him. Earlier this year Floyd was also able to keep the Angels limited to one run in 7.1 innings. Much like Oakland, Floyd has limited the Angels lineup to a weak .244 average against through 123 career at-bats. J.A. Happ | Houston Astros | 65.8 percent Happ runs into two weak offensive teams this week in Washington and Houston. Happ has faired poorly away from home this year, posting a 4.97 ERA. However, look for him to build on his dominance against both of these scrawny lineups this week. In previous action this year Happ has held the Nationals to three hits in five innings and has also kept the Pirates to only two runs in six innings, limiting both teams to a combined .176 average. All Statistical Information was obtained through ESPN.com Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by James Bryce. James is a Grad student at UCSD and is currently in his 13th year of fantasy sports. Follow James on Twitter @BoltLife4Me Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, Two-Start Pitchers, Sit Em, Start Em, MLB, James Bryce, Garrett Jones, Michael Young, Yadier Molina, Ryan Raburn, Phil Hughes, Mike Pelfrey, Gavin Floyd, J.A. Happ, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros Add Comment  As your fantasy baseball marathons come down to the wire look to these players to help your team or keep them from hindering your team. Rookies’ Starlin Castro and Ike Davis should have stellar weeks for your team. Start ‘Em Starlin Castro |Chicago Cubs| 81 percent This 20-year old phenom has been a work in progress with his glove but clearly has been on offensive asset. This week Castro faces the Cardinals and Marlins. In 36 at-bats this year against, Castro has hit .361 and .359 since the All-Star break. This should be a strong sign that his numbers will keep pace for these games. Ike Davis |New York Mets| 35.4 percent Ike faces two opponents this week that really haven’t given a problem all year and on top of that they are at home where he’s hitting a solid .294. This is over a 50 point jump from his away splits. Pittsburgh is up first where Ike is hitting .500 in 10 at-bats. Ike’s next opponent has been more of a challenge. This year against Atlanta Ike has only hit .233. However, his OBP is .421 and his isolated power is fairly strong at .189. Look for him to buck that average trend and hit for some power against the Braves. Sit ‘Em Adam Jones |Baltimore Orioles| 84.5 percent Jones faces a tough road ahead this week with the Blue Jays and then the Yankees. Against the Blue Jays this year, Jones is hitting a weak .217 through 46 at-bats. His next opponent, the Yankees, have held him to a .216 average through 51 at-bats. Making matters worse for Jones, he will be facing three left-handed pitchers, against which he is only hitting .261, with a .293 OBP. Mike Napoli |Los Angeles Angels| 87 percent Napoli will be playing on the road for both series this week. His first stop is in Cleveland, at Progressive Field. His next stop is in St. Petersburg at Tropicana Field. Collectively at both stadiums, Napoli has an unimpressive career average of only .170, through 48 at-bats. Worse is the fact that all but one of the starting pitchers that Napoli will face is right-handed. Against righties this year Napoli is hitting .212 with a .279 OBP. All Statistical Information was obtained through ESPN.com Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by James Bryce. James is a Grad student at UCSD and is currently in his 13th year of fantasy sports. Follow James on Twitter @BoltLife4Me Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, Two-Start Pitchers, MLB, James Bryce, Adam Jones, Mike Napoli, Starlin Castro, Ike Davis, Barry Enright, Bronson Arroyo, Joe Blanton, Jon Lester As fantasy leagues wind down and head into playoff mode, most owners generally have similar goals in mind at this juncture. Some owners are right smack in the middle of a battle for playoff position while others are looking forward to next season and the opportunity to start over. What you can expect to find in this week’s edition is a smattering of young players trying to impress their club and hopefully cement a spot on next year’s big league team. The three players in this week’s spotlight also happen to be the top three most added free agents in CBS Sportsline leagues. Leading off is Mr. Number Three…  Jhoulys Chacin, SP – Colorado Rockies – Owned in 45 percent of CBS leagues Jhoulys (pronounced Yo-lease) has been up from the minors, pitching primarily in the Rockies’ rotation for most of 2010. The spotlight shines brighter on him now mainly because he has begun to exhibit the skills to be a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher for years to come. In Chacin’s last four starts he is 3-1 and has allowed only four runs in those starts for an ERA of 1.38. He has also recorded 24 strikeouts while walking only eight batters. His ERA now stands at 3.65 on the season. He is showing that he belongs in the rotation for the remainder of the season as well as next season. The 22-year old Venezuelan righty was signed back in 2004 by the Rockies. He has ascended through the organization starting in rookie ball and all the way up. Last season for AA-Tulsa he started 18 games and was 8-6 with an ERA/WHIP of 3.15/1.18. Chacin also had an 86:35 K:BB ratio in those starts. His ownership will rise to 56 percent and with the Rockies holding onto an outside shot of earning a wild card berth, it’s time to strike. The Rockies are riding a nine game winning streak and they will continue to lean on Jhoulys to anchor the back-end of their rotation. You can add him with confidence, especially in keeper leagues as Chacin has proven that he belongs.  Danny Espinosa, 2B – Washington Nationals – Owned in 6 percent of CBS leagues Mr. Number Two in the spotlight this week has exploded onto the scene in Washington after being called up on September 1. Espinosa had a hit in his first game and a HR in the second. His coming out party was against the Mets on Sept. 6 when he went 4-5 with two HR’s, six RBI and 11 total bases. Espinosa is simply crushing NL pitching with an obviously unsustainable .355 average, and if you think that number is gaudy, how about his 1.079 OPS?? Allow me to clarify why these numbers are unsustainable (outside of the common sense factor). Espinosa has less than two full seasons of professional ball under his belt after being drafted in the third round in ’08. In ’09 Espinosa batted .264 and before his call-up he batted .264 this year. The power numbers however are different story because he did hit 18 bombs and drove in 72 runs in ’09 and 22 HR’s this year with 69 RBI. Besides the power, Espinosa adds speed to his repertoire as he showed by swiping 29 bases in ’09 and 25 this year. Washington has an obvious void at second base and will give Espinosa every chance to nail it down with a strong performance in the remaining games. His ownership rate will rise 13 points to 19%. This number is still quite low, especially if you need some pop from the 2B/MI positions. Espinosa is another no-brainer in keeper leagues.  Chris Narveson, SP – Milwaukee Brewers – Owned in 9 percent of CBS leagues Number one this week’s list, as well as CBS’s list, is the 28-year-old journeyman pitcher for Milwaukee. While his overall numbers may not blow you away (11-7 and a 5.20 ERA), his recent stretch has been quite impressive. He has not lost since July 28th. In his last seven outings, Narveson is 3-0 and has allowed a stingy 15 runs over 40 innings while posting a 3.38 ERA. Since the all-star break, he has posted a 3.95 ERA with 44 K’s and only 14 walks issued. Impressed yet? If not, consider this, opposing batters are hitting .237 against him in that span. I am not about to try to blow you away with impressive minor league stats. I will only mention that Narveson has posted an ERA as low as 1.98 and as high as 5.77 in nine minor league seasons. The range on his WHIP will not give you any better of an insight into his skills as those numbers ranged from 0.860 to 1.602. So you will have to go by this year’s stats and the fact that he has never had as much of an opportunity as he has this season. Narveson has logged 143 innings and started 24 games for the Brew Crew. With little pressure on him for the remainder of the season and with teams constantly searching for pitching help, Narveson‘s ownership will surge to 28 percent. He may not be a strong keeper candidate, but he can help fantasy teams in the final weeks. Honorable Mention: Mike Morse – 1B/OF – Washington Nationals – Owned in 9 percent of CBS leagues Snuck into the OF picture for the Nat’s. Batting .484 in his last eight games. As long as he’s getting regular AB’s, you can take a flyer on Morse. Dillon Gee – SP – New York Mets – Currently owned in 0 percent of CBS leagues Gee had an admirable first outing for the Mets – 7 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 4 K’s – and earned the win against Washington. He lines up to be a two-start pitcher if the Mets don’t limit his innings (168 innings total in ’10) Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter@TheSportsFariah Who are your NL waiver wire gems of the week? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, Fantasy Baseball, NL Only, Waiver Wire, National League, Jhoulys Chacin, Danny Espinosa, Chris Narveson, Mike Morse, Dillon Gee, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Milawaukee Brewers, New York Mets The NL-Central boasts a few great pickups this week and one real surprise Sit ‘Em candidate. While there is great outfield help abound, a couple could use some rest on your bench. Low-percentage owned pitchers rounds out the help in this week’s fantasy baseball forecast. Congratulations to those of you who followed last week’s advice in starting Neil Walker and sitting Dexter Fowler.  Start ‘Em Jonny Gomes | Cincinnati Reds | 36.1 percent He hasn’t been as hot as he was before the All-Star break, but Gomes might be able to find a spark this week against some weak pitching and playing in hitter-friendly parks. His lifetime stats at Coors field include a .409 average and three home runs in 22 at-bats. Against the four starters for Colorado, Gomes is hitting .474 with five home runs in 19 at-bats for his career. He’s also hitting .310 with two home runs through 29 career at-bats against the Pittsburgh starters. Colby Rasmus | St. Louis Cardinals | 78.7 percent Look for the newly disgruntled Cardinal to have a great week. Against Atlanta this year Colby is hitting .600 in ten at-bats with one home run. His bigger strength though, is hitting against the Brewers. This year against the Brewers Colby is hitting .393 with a .514 OBP and three home runs in 28 at-bats. Also, all of Colby’s games are away games this week, in which he’s hitting .305 (79 points higher than at home).  Sit ‘ Em Luke Scott | Baltimore Orioles | 96.7 percent One of the streakier players in baseball, Scott is headed for a cold-snap this week. All six of his games are away from Camden Yards. On the road Scott is hitting .222 with a .294 OBP (128 points lower than his home split!). You’d think that Scott was playing for Colorado with those splits. In 137 career at-bats against the Yankees, Scott has a .204 average and slugs a weak .365. Jayson Werth | Philadelphia Phillies | 100 percent This is the “do you or don’t you have the stones” call of the week. The Phillies start their week off against the Marlins in which Werth is hitting .189 in 37 at-bats against them. Against the three Marlins starters that Werth will face, he has a career line of 1-23 (.043). While their second opponent, the Mets, Jayson has great numbers against overall. However, when you isolate his Citi Field stats they lose all value. At Citi Field this year, Worth is hitting .190 in 21 at-bats. You should also keep in mind Werth’s stats with runners in scoring position (.150 113 at-bats this year)  Two-Start Pitchers To Use Madison Bumgarner | San Francisco Giants | 16.5 percent Bumgarner's season has been nothing impressive so far, unless you look at his away game stats (2.62 ERA, 5-2 record), where both of his starts will take place. Against both Arizona and San Diego, Bumgarner has a 2.57 ERA and two wins this year. Pitching away at PETCO Park should give him a boost too. Kevin Slowey | Minnesota Twins | 39.2 percent You may hesitate starting him this week because of his recent stint on the DL, but Slowey has posted great stats against the Royals and Indians. Against Cleveland he is 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA. Against the Royals he is 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Also in Slowey's favor is his one start at home this week, in the best park for keeping the long-ball contained, Target Field.  Two-Start Pitchers To Avoid Mike Pelfrey | New York Mets | 48.5 percent This week poses a tough challenge for the Mets' Mike Pelfrey. He might not be facing the most formidable lineup in the Nationals, but they have proven a difficult challenge for him this season (4.63 ERA in 12 innings). Historically against the Phillies, Pelfrey has allowed a horrendous ten home runs in only 70 innings pitched. That doesn't exactly make for winning ball games. His numbers against the heart of the Phillies order is horrible too (.330 BAA in 88 at-bats). Tommy Hunter | Texas Rangers | 47.8 percent This week Hunter faces a murderer’s row of offensive opponents against the Blue Jays and Yankees. Combined against the two teams during his career, Hunter has given up 15 runs in 16.1 innings of work. During this week he’ll be pitching in the fourth and seventh best ballparks for home runs. Since the All-Star break Hunter has been crushed by giving up home runs. Before the break he gave up three in 42 innings. Since the break he’s given up 14 in 56 innings. That’s a jump from 0.64HR/9 innings to 2.25HR/9 innings, almost a 400% increase in HR/9. All Statistical Information was obtained through ESPN.com Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by James Bryce. James is a Grad student at UCSD and is currently in his 13th year of fantasy sports. Follow James on Twitter @BoltLife4Me Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, Two-Start Pitchers, MLB, James Bryce, Jonny Gomes, Colby Rasmus, Luke Scott, Jayson Werth, Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Slowey, Mike Pelfrey, Tommy Hunter, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets  Don't be fooled, Sabermetrics can be simple too! SABR has provided us with some complex statistics to interpret Baseball production, but sometimes we need to take a step back and look at some simple stats to uncover telling information. In part three of our Sabermetric Series, we're looking at K/9 and how to use it for Fantasy pwnage. There is no better counting statistic to measure the dominance of a pitcher than the Strikeout. The Strikeout is one of the few statistics which the Pitcher has the ability to allow his skill to show as compared to statistics where defense is a factor. It's no coincidence that the league leaders in Strikeouts make up a list of the who's who in our Fantasy game. But to look simply at the number of strikeouts a pitcher tallies would devalue pitchers who have thrown in a limited number of innings.... Say hello to K/9, Strikeouts per nine Innings The formula for K/9 is: K/9 = Strikeouts / (Innings Pitched / 9) A simple percentage of Strikeouts to batters faced is a telling statistic, but K/9 presents the Strikeouts against the base of one full baseball game. The baseline allows for interpretation in meaning full baseball terms, as compared to a percentage. For example, Bud Norris strikes out 23.4% of the batters he faces and Norris tallies 9.20 Strikeouts per nine innings. The strike out percentage doesn't indicate how well he'll tally Strikeouts while K/9 does. When evaluating K/9, any pitcher approaching a Strikeout per Inning has pitched very well. Anything above that is very special for starting pitcher, but for a reliever it could be skewed by appearances where the pitcher is in a favorable situation. The only starting pitchers to produce a K/9 of nine or more in at least 100 IP this year according to Fan Graphs are: Brandon Morrow - 10.95 Yovanni Gallardo - 9.99 Jered Weaver - 9.89 Clayton Kershaw - 9.75 Francisco Liriano - 9.69 Jon Lester - 9.51 Tim Lincecum - 9.47 Jhoulys Chacin - 9.39 Jonathan Sanchez - 9.27 Mat Latos - 9.25 Bud Norris - 9.20 Manny Parra - 9.13 Cole Hamels - 9.10 One name that may stand out in that list could be Manny Parra, but as an owner of his I can attest that many of his poor outings have been full of Strikeouts. I've owned him in a points league where his Strikeout tallies have helped me fade the negative points he racked up in his worst appearances. This probably goes a long way to explaining the persistence of the Brewers as they keep sending him out there every fifth game. With that said, you don't want to own Parra. Let him and the Brewers figure things out and keep an eye on the situation, but for the rest of this year, hes a very risky start. Instead, take a look at Norris as the playoffs start this summer, at only 12% owned in Y! leagues, Bud Norris could be available in your league. Jhoulys Chacin is another great option and is only owned in 11% of Y! leagues, but there is a risk that the Rockies will move Chacin between MLB and AAA. As I said earlier, anything above nine K/9 is special. But a pitcher who finds his K/9 above seven is still doing a lot of the right things. Like Gio Gonzalez for example, who has put up a 7.49 K/9 and is only owned in 52% of leagues. Or how about the 23% owned Travis Wood and his 7.19 K/9 and his 10% owned teammate Homer Bailey, with a 7.17 K/9. It doesn't matter what your format is, Strikeouts matter in your league. Anyone of the guys listed above is going to help you increase your strikeout numbers. On the other end of the spectrum, there are guys that "pitch to contact" or just haven't been pitching well. Nick Blackburn at 3.52 and John Lannan at 3.73 have put up the lowest K/9 with at least 100 IP. It should be no surprise that both of these pitchers have high ERA's, WHIPs, and have been disappointing pitchers in 2010. Written by James Weston for theFantasyFix.com. When James isn't spittin' statistics down on paper he's hacking away at Fantasy apps at http://valuetownfantasy.com You can also find him on Twitter @TheRealJamesA Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, K/9, Sabermetrics, SABR, Fangraphs, Brandon Morrow, Yovanni Gallardo, Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, Francisco Liriano, Jon Lester, Tim Lincecum, Jhoulys Chacin, Jonathan Sanchez, Mat Latos, Bud Norris, Manny Parra, Cole Hamels The FantasyFix.com is proud to present part two of our final fantasy baseball roundtable of the 2010 Major League Baseball season. We asked five prominent voices in the fantasy sports industry the following question: As the conclusion of the 2010 Major League Baseball regular season approaches, identify one pitcher that you are keeping close tabs on, in anticipation of the 2011 season. Briefly describe their 2010, why you are keeping tabs, and what you expect from them in the 2011 season.  Bud Norris Bud Norris | RHP | Houston Astros One of the best ways to find value on draft day is late round pitching. Mat Latos and Clay Buchholz are prime examples for this season. With that in mind, the player I am going to be keeping a keen eye on in September is Astros’ starter Bud Norris. As a prospect, Norris had been highly touted due to a plus-fastball and power breaking ball. However, the lack of a true third pitch (his changeup) and concerns over the combination of his size and high-effort delivery had caused many prospect gurus to foresee a late inning role in the bullpen. Norris, at least for now, has silenced any of those concerns. ERA aside, which we’ll get into later, Norris has been one of the most dominant starters in baseball since July 1st. Now with over 100 innings under his belt this season, Norris has compiled a 9.27 K/9, good for eighth best among major league starters. That K/9 ranks him above Jon Lester, Mat Latos, Josh Johnson and Felix Hernandez to name a few. His command was poor to start the season, but in July Norris posted a respectable 3.45 BB/9 and this month he has shown tremendous improvement in his BB/9 rate, lowering it to 2.48. Stuff wise, Norris can miss bats with the best of em. His 24.6 percent whiff rate puts him among names like Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw. About that five-plus ERA…Norris has been a victim of his environment this season. His BABIP against is probably a bit high (.331), but his strand rate (runners left on base) is quite low. Norris’ strand rate is at 63.8 percent, which is well below the league average of 72 percent. Both his BABIP against and strand rate have been products of one of the worst defenses in baseball and both rates should improve next season. These are two factors that Norris can’t control on his own and two big reasons that his xFIP is at 3.91, over a full run lower than his ERA. The best part about targeting Norris in the late rounds of 2011 drafts is that he is all upside with just about no risk. Sure, the Astros are not going to give him a lot of run support and the defense may not improve much, but you know that Norris is going to rack up the strikeouts when he’s out there. If he continues to show the strikeout potential and improved control/command in September, Bud Norris is going to be a player I target in every league on draft day 2011.  Charlie Saponara is the owner/author of FantasyBaseball365.com and can be contacted at cs.fb365@gmail.com. Twitter @FB365. You can also read his work at Fire Brand of the American League and Project Prospect.  Madison Bumgarner Madison Bumgarner | LHP | San Francisco Giants On a San Francisco Giants team that is loaded with terrific starting pitching, Madison Bumgarner is currently a gem tucked away at the back end of the rotation. The former number ten pick overall of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft has provided the Giants with a reliable option this season behind Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, and Jonathan Sanchez. Bumgarner, 21, is a 6'4'', 215 pound left-handed youngster who demonstrates good strike zone control with all of his pitches. Prior to the 2010 season, Bumgarner was praised for having a mid-90's fastball with an above-average slider and change-up and was ranked as the number fourteen overall best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. Madison was making a name for himself and was easily the favorite to land the number five spot in the rotation when Spring Training ended. Then something happened; Bumgarner lost velocity on his fastball. His fastball was sitting in the high-80's to low-90's, allowing hitters to tee-off against him near the end of March. Bumgarner would open the season in Triple-A Fresno where the Giants could work on his mechanics, hoping to reestablish his fastball to a respectable level. After compiling a 7-1 record with a 3.16 ERA over 14 starts in the Pacific Coast League, which included a 59/22 K/BB ratio over 82 2/3 innings, Bumgarner was finally ready to join the Giants during the month of June. Since his callup, Bumgarner hasn't been Stephen Strasburg dominant, but he's been consistently good during every outing (minus his last start against the Cincinnati Reds - yikes). During his first full month at the Big League level, he held a 4-2 record over six starts with a 2.27 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP and posted a 7.0 K/9 ratio and three home runs over 39 2/3 innings. While AT&T Park is known as a "pitcher's park", Madison has struggled while pitching at home this season, as he's posted an 0-2 record over five starts with a 6.04 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and has allowed five home runs. On the road, Madison has posted a 5-2 record with a 2.62 ERA over seven starts. So what does Madison need to do so that he can be successful for the rest of 2010 and 2011? First thing is first, Madison will need to do a better job against right-handed hitters. RHH are hitting .299/.340/.473 against him with seven home runs. As expected, he's held lefties to hitting just .239/.311/.418 with just three home runs. To this point of the season, Bumgarner has also received some help from hitters, as according to FanGraphs, batters have swung at 30% of his pitches that were outside of the strike zone, which can be attributed to Bumgarner's ability to remain around the strike zone as the game moves along. As far as pitch types, Bumgarner will need to steer clear of throwing his low-90's fastball over and over to the hitter during one at-bat. I've noticed that he will pump 4-5 fastballs in a row to the hitter, instead of mixing in his change-up or slider when he falls behind. For fantasy purposes, Madison Bumgarner should be targeted on your keeper teams and NL-Only teams for next season. Depending on how the Giants decide to handle his innings the rest of the way (He's already surpassed his 2009 total of 141 innings between the minors and bigs) - he becomes a late-round number five or six starter for your fantasy team. Remember, Bumgarner will be 21-years old for a good chunk of the 2011 season and while he hasn't been the dominant lefty we all thought he would be, Bumgarner still has the talent to become a number two or three starter for the Giants down the road. Along with Bumgarner pitching in "pitcher friendly" AT&T Park, he also plays in the weak NL West, which is up for grabs every season. For the 2011 season, Bumgarner will certainly be back in the Giants' rotation as a number three or four starter. Fantasy owners should expect more development from Bumgarner's off-speed pitches, which will surely help his low-90's fastball against right-handed hitters. With Madison get a full workload in 2011, he's capable of posting a ~4.00 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP and just over six strikeouts per nine innings.  Reggie Yinger is a programmer in the IT field and also writes for BaseballPress.com. He previously worked for a Minor League Baseball team and hopes to return to baseball full-time in some fashion. You can follow Reggie on Twitter @sacksjacked.  Chris Tillman Chris Tillman | RHP | Baltimore Orioles My love for Orioles pitchers runs pretty deep, for whatever reason. I mean there’s nothing better than a starting pitcher on a losing team in the worst division for pitchers in the league. Yet there I’ve been, on guys like Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Hayden Penn, Jeremy Guthrie, Adam Loewen, and even Sidney Ponson to name a few recent ones. I can pretty much count on one finger how many of those guys have been successful. Enter Chris Tillman. After putting up high strikeout totals to go along with high walk totals over his first three years in the minors, it looked like we had another Daniel Cabrera on our hands: lots of missed bats, just as many missed strike zones. But last year it finally started to come together after he put together a nifty 9.22 K/9 to go along with a 2.42 BB/9 in the minors. But as soon as he entered the majors, balls stopped missing bats and started getting planted into the outfield bleachers. Still, a 5.40 ERA from a rookie pitcher in the AL East is probably what should be expected. Heck, even everyone’s favorite rookie pitcher two years ago, David Price, put up a 4.42 ERA in his first year starting. Then came 2010. Again, Tillman was pretty much a train wreck in the majors, while finding success in the minors. In fact, Tillman has seemed to regress since last season. He’s basically mixed good start with awful start this year, while seeing his K/9 decrease and BB/9 increase since last year. His ERA is inflated due to an absurd 54.8% strand rate, but it still sits well above 5 when all is accounted for. However, when he has had some success, it has been against some pretty solid offenses: Toronto, the Yankees, and Texas in Texas, in the middle of summer. So when he puts it together, he can be pretty solid. Tillman’s working on adding a two-seamer to his repertoire, which could help some. Even more, not getting jerked around by the organization, getting bounced up and down from the big league club could help just as much. Either way, I’ll be watching his September call-up closely, and even more so his offseason. He’s still young at 22 years old, and is super talented, so it’s just too soon to write him off just yet. If he shows any encouraging signs of improvement, I wouldn’t be afraid to grab him with one of my last picks next year. Might as well take the plunge on a guy with big strikeout upside.  Written by Eric Yeomans. If you’re tired of the same old number-crunching fantasy sites, and can’t fill your fix of fantasy shenanigans over at my friend’s www.milliondollarsleeper.com, then swing by my blog at http://mister52pickup.wordpress.com/. Here you’ll find daily coverage on basically whatever comes to mind on any of the big four fantasy sports, and even the occasional sports story that has no fantasy relevance. But if numbers are your thing, then check out http://www.profootballfocus.com/, where there is an absolutely insane amount of statistical analysis that goes on there that is completely unmatched by the rest. There, you can check out my weekly IDP columns The Monday Morning Cornerback, where I take a look at the week that was, and The Pick-Six, where I take a look at some solid buys for the week to come. Also, feel free to follow me on twitter @PFF_Yoms.  Jeremy Hellickson Jeremy Hellickson | RHP | Tampa Bay Rays Originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, Jeremy Hellickson entered 2010 rated as the 18th best prospect by Baseball America. Prior to getting the call, Hellickson appeared in 109 games in six Minor League Baseball seasons, earning a 49-16 record while posting a 2.71 ERA. More impressively, "J-Hell" racked up 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings and achieved a 4.63 strikeout to walk ratio through 588+ innings pitched. Since getting the call to the big show for his 8/2 debut, J-Hell is 3-0 in four starts with a 2.05 ERA and has recorded 8.54 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents have been hitting a measly .177 against Jeremy, and of those who reached base, 82.4% have been left stranded. The Rays sent him back to A+ after his 8/20 start versus Oakland as a technicality. While Hellickson is slated to get called back up when rosters expand, Jeremy is likely headed to the bullpen. His fantasy baseball value will be minimal, although he may be worth the stream if he earns a spot start versus the right opponent. Although many of the statistics used in this article are taken from the small sample of MLB appearances, I'm confident Hellickson's success in MiLB was not a fluke. I expect Hellickson to be a solid #3/4 starter for fantasy baseball owners in 2011. His excellent command leads us to believe he will provide owners with miniscule ratios and a plethora of strikeouts. Written by Fonzy for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow the Fonz on Twitter @TheFantasyFix  Jordan Zimmermann Jordan Zimmermann | RHP | Washington Nationals One of the most highly touted prospects in the minor leagues heading into the 2009 season, Jordan Zimmermann should be on your radar for 2011. Let's look at his minor league career averages prior to his callup in 2009 (2010 was rehab-focused on a pitch count, so not representative of his talent): 2.81 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 195.2 IP 9.9 K/9 3.1 BB/9 0.7 HR/9 Clearly, Zimmermann is a guy who gets a good number of Ks, doesn't walk too many batters, and keeps the in the park. It should come as no surprise that he had elite-caliber ratios on the way up. Looking at his 2009 numbers, we find a pitcher who had a little bit of bad luck (.339 BABIP, 67.5 LOB%, 12.2% HR/FB) behind his disappointing 4.63 ERA. By normalizing those numbers to league averages, though, his ERA should have been closer to 3.50 than 4.60 (FIP of 3.59). I chalk up some of his struggles, particularly in July of 2009, to the budding elbow injury that eventually shut him down until last week. During June, Zimmermann appeared to be turning the corner (8.9 K/9, 1.90 ERA, 0.97 WHIP), and I believe that is a glimpse of what he can offer us in 2011. The problem is that he had the surgery, returned about a year afterward as expected, and was promptly shelled for 5 ER by the Cardinals. Now, St. Louis can do that to nearly anyone, so you can't really draw much of a conclusion from that game. Regardless of the sample size, his luck was worse than ever in that game (.452 BABIP, 52.6 LOB%, and one shiny dinger from Sir Albert Pujols himself). The rest of 2010 will tell us a lot about Zimmermann. Can he keep the ball in the park like he did in the minors? His 43% GB rate suggests he will, although there are examples of GB pitchers who can't (Jorge De La Rosa, I'm talking to you). Can he continue to mow down batters post-surgery? Will his control hold up on a rebuilt elbow? These questions are important. Stephen Strasburg is following his path, pitching well for a large part of his rookie campaign, only to go down with a UCL injury that will result in Tommy John surgery as well. In other words, their "new" franchise pitcher is out for a year, while their previous franchise candidate will be more than 18 months removed from the surgery by opening day. This is Jordan Zimmerman's chance to take the rotation anchor role and run with it. I'll be watching you Jordan. And I expect you will be up to the task. Tommy Landry (http://twitter.com/tommy_landry), co-founder of RotoExperts.com and long time veteran of the fantasy sports industry, is the Fantasy Basketball Examiner for Examiner.com and is also a respected social media and marketing blogger on http://ReturnOnNow/. He was a finalist for the 2008 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Series of the Year. What pitchers will you be targeting in 2011? Let us know by leaving a comment or replying to us on Twitter @TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, 2011, Pitchers, Roundtable, Prospects, Madison Bumgarner, Jeremy Hellickson, Bud Norris, Chris Tillman, Jordan Zimmermann The FantasyFix.com is proud to present our final fantasy baseball roundtable of the 2010 Major League Baseball season. We asked eight prominent voices in the fantasy sports industry the following question: As the conclusion of the 2010 Major League Baseball regular season approaches, identify one batter that you are keeping close tabs on, in anticipation of the 2011 season. Briefly describe their 2010, why you are keeping tabs, and what you expect from them in the 2011 season.  Alexi Casilla | 2B/SS | Minnesota Twins Two seasons ago Casilla looked like a budding star at the second base position. He was a switch-hitter with speed, surprising extra base pop and a master manipulator of the strike zone. Not an easy commodity to find. He finished 2008 with a .281 BA, seven HR and 50 RBI before a thumb injury ended his season in July. Attitude concerns buried him deep in the doghouse in 2009, and his performance on the field took a nose- dive. He barely scraped above the Mendoza Line at .202. Most organizations would have cut ties with a troubled 26-year old, but the Twins never gave up on his potential (even when he was out of options). Injuries in the middle infield presented him with another opportunity to showcase his skills, and he ran with it. In 20 starts between July 24th and August 24th he posted very useful stats: .297 (22-74), 13 runs, 11 RBI, six doubles, 2 triples and four stolen bases. He has yet to flash the 50 SB potential he displayed in the minors, but the wheels are there. With Orlando Hudson signed to a one year deal, Casilla could be the Twins starting second baseman and number two hitter in 2011. Likely to be available at a bargain basement price, this risk/reward proposition is quite an attractive one. Adam Ganeles is a senior writer for TheFantasyFix.com. Additionally, Adam contributes to the famed NBADraft.net.Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamGaneles  Pablo Sandoval | 3B | San Francisco Giants Coming into the year, Sandoval was going off the board as a top-30 option in many drafts. At this point, he isn't even a top-30 infield option in the National League. At the same time, I think his down season this year leaves him as a player who will make a great bargain next season. After all, Pablo still owns a 3-year average of about .310-20-85-80 with a .850 OPS per 162 games played, and those numbers will play in any league. So why the struggles this season? His walk rate is slightly down, as is his K-rate, and the resulting 0.59 K/BB mark is virtually identical to his 0.63 mark from last season. Pablo also is sporting a 1.20 GB/FB mark that is right in line with his 1.25 career rate, so the type of ball he has hit hasn't changed much at all. The real issue this season has been an erosion of his line drive rate which has led to a .050 point drop in his BABIP mark. A little bit better luck next season, and a few more line drives, should allow him to once again hit over .300. The biggest issue for the Kung Fu Panda though might be his willingness to take care of his body. Only 24 years old, Sandoval reminds me of a 34 year old Mo Vaughn – and that's not a fattering, I mean flattering, comparison. If Pablo dedicates himself to an offseason regimen to get his body in shape, he'll be primed to be a solid bargain on draft day in 2011.  Ray Flowers is Managing Editor for Fanball.com Owners Edge and RotoTimes.com. You can also hear Ray’s thoughts at the Fanball.com Sirius XM Homepage (Ray is the co-host of a daily radio show on XM 147 and Sirius 211 satellite radio). Follow Ray on Twitter @BaseballGuys  Domonic Brown | OF | Philadelphia Phillies Domonic Brown is that special someone atop my watch list. I often find myself saying, “Sit on my face” in robotic voices when day dreaming about the Phillies Outfielder. Domonic, which I prefer to pronounce as Demonic, may very well be the main character in a J.P. Alex created video game and anyone who doesn’t want a piece of him in 2011 should be labeled as a Grandma’s Boy. The power/speed threat was the Phillies No.1 ranked prospect coming into this season and he should slide into an everyday role when Jayson Werth and his beard hit the free agent market this coming off season. Domonic has all the tools to become a superb fantasy option and the Philadelphia lineup/ballpark is a great environment to find big time production. Brown has power, speed and a good eye at the plate. He also has a track record of producing an above average BABIP, so if his strikeout rate is hovering near 30%, he should still be able to produce a respectable Batting Average. Splitting 93 minor league games between AA and AAA this season, Brown hit 20 HR and stole 17 bases before being promoted to the big leagues. He hit .318 in AA (65 games) and .346 in AAA (28 games). Brown has struggled a bit since his promotion, but he is far too talented to worry about the small sample size. He is getting his feet wet (he only played 28 games in AAA) and the poor numbers (.229 AVG, 2 HR, SB) only helps us get him at a cheaper price in 2011. Listen to my main man Dante, if you don’t draft the Brown Bomber, you may end up shitting your pants.  By Andrew Holm aka Million Dollar Sleeper. Read more of his rants at www.milliondollarsleeper.com and follow him on Twitter@Andrewakamds  Chris Carter | 1B/OF | Oakland Athletics 0-for-19. When Oakland A's prospect Chris Carter tells his grandchildren the story of his major league career, he'll probably look back and chuckle. But living through the worst possible way it could start isn't so easy. After being among the minor league leaders in home runs, Carter was promoted from Class AAA Sacramento to make his big-league debut at age 23 … and in his first six games with the A's, he never collected a single hit. Then Conor Jackson and Travis Buck returned and Carter went back to the minors without so much as a souvenir from his time in The Show. But that horrible start doesn't make Carter any less interesting for 2011. He'll most certainly get another chance with the A's when rosters are expanded on Wednesday. And there's a lot to like about the 6-5, 230-pound slugger. First of all there's the raw power, which is something Oakland needs badly. (The A's are dead last in the majors in home runs.) Carter had 27 homers and 89 RBI when he was called up Aug. 9 -- and since he was sent back to Triple-A he's added four more dingers. His manager at Sacramento, Tony DeFrancesco, told ESPN.com earlier this year that Carter has "the most power I have seen from a young player coming up." That's high praise from someone who's spent 16 years as a minor league skipper. Sure, Carter amassed those gaudy numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but when you put up an ISO of .271 in any league, people will take notice. In six minor league seasons, Carter's already hit 149 homers. In fact, he has been such an intriguing prospect since he was taken out of high school in the 15th round of the 2005 draft that he's been involved in not one, but two high-profile trades. The White Sox dealt him to Arizona in 2007 for Carlos Quentin. Less than two weeks later, he was a key component in the blockbuster deal the Diamondbacks made with Oakland for Dan Haren. What makes Carter even more intriguing for 2011 is that he's become a more versatile player in the field. A first baseman throughout his pro career, Carter was moved to the outfield this season to help facilitate his path to the majors. That transition is still a work in progress, but with 25-year-old Daric Barton establishing himself as the A's everyday first baseman, Carter stands a better chance finding a starting spot in the outfield. Like most young power hitters, Carter does tend to rack up the strikeouts -- 138 of them in 465 minor-league at-bats this season -- so that will be his biggest challenge facing major league pitchers. (He did whiff nine times in those 19 at-bats with the A's.) To make an impression in 2011, Carter will need to improve his plate discipline. That will be one thing worth watching with the A's in September and in the Arizona Fall League. If he can improve in that area, his 0-for-19 start in the majors will be a distant memory.  Steve Gardner has been with USA TODAY in one form or another since 1993. He started at USATODAY.com in 1996, taking over as the website's baseball editor in 1999. See Steve's Fantasy Windup Here! Follow him on Twitter @SGardnerUSAT  Matt Wieters | C | Baltimore Orioles In 2009, keeper league owners drafted Matt Wieters hoping he would be the next Joe Mauer, or at the very least, a consistent top three fantasy catcher. Thanks to a .356 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play), Wieters posted a .288 average in his first 96 games of big league action with nine home runs. To be sure, Wieters’ 2009 campaign did not impress quite like Buster Posey has in 2010, but it was a respectable debut that seemed likely to be improved upon. Unfortunately, Wieters has taken a step back in his sophomore season. His 2010 BABIP is a more reasonable .280, and as a result, his batting average has tumbled all the way down to .244. On the bright side, his home run, runs scored and RBI totals are almost identical to what they were last season, and he is striking out less while walking more. So, is Wieters an elite fantasy catcher just taking a little longer than expected to adjust to the big leagues, or was he an overrated prospect that is destined to be an average major league player? Only time will tell. Written by Brett Talley exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Be sure to follow Brett on Twitter @TheRealTal  Gordon Beckham | 2B/3B | Chicago White Sox Beckham burned many a fantasy "expert" this season, including me. His woeful .216 batting average and horrific .581 OPS before the All-star break saw him dropped in all but the deepest of fantasy leagues. The fantasy world expected better of him after his solid major league debut in 2009, during which he put up a respectable .808 OPS with 14 homers and 7 steals in just 103 games. Fantasy owners couldn't help but salivate over a potential .300 hitting, 20/20 middle infielder (with position flexibility at both 2B and 3B). Hindsight is always 20/20, but we shouldn't have been surprised to see Beckham experience growing pains in 2010. He did play college ball at Georgia, but had only played 59 games in the minor leagues before his major league debut in 2009. Entering 2010, Beckham had played just 162 professional games in total. Every young player not named Albert Pujols, Ryan Braun or Evan Longoria faces adversity in the big leagues at some point, and has to make adjustments as the league adjusts to them. It may have been a lost season, but all hope is not lost. In July, Beckham hit .354 with 3 home runs and a .949 OPS, and had continued success in August. Beckham has yet to turn 24, and has the pedigree (8th overall draft pick in 2008, set the Georgia school record with 59 career homers). He's still a great keeper option, and next year I expect him to put up at least a .280/20/10 season. Maybe that's all he will ever be (and that ain't bad), but he may yet develop into a .300-hitting, 30 HR, middle of the order bat.  Written by Alex Shear. Follow Alex on Twitter @RotoSleeperz.  Mike Moustakas | 3B | Kansas City Royals Looking for an odds on favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year in 2011? Look no further than Kansas City's Mike Moustakas. Finally living up to the potential the Royals saw from him when they took him out of Chatsworth High School with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, Moustakas has had an all world 2010 season. Combined between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, the Moose is hitting an eye popping .323 with 38 Doubles, 30 Home Runs, and 107 RBI. Most impressive is that he's struck out just 63 times in in 443 at bats this season. Having seen Moustakas in person at both Double-A and Triple-A this season, I would label him as one of the top 5 most advanced young hitters in either the Texas or Pacific Coast League this year. While there may be a bit of an adjustment at the big league level, as there is for most young hitters, it would not surprise me at all to see a .280, 25HR, 80RBI season from Moustakas who should break camp as the Royals opening day third baseman in 2011.  Written by Ben Nicholson of TopProspectAlet.com. TopProsepctAlert.com is the premiere source for updates on Minor League Baseball. Follow Ben on Twitter @MinorLeagueBlog  Pedro Alvarez | 3B | Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates' Pedro Alvarez has the makings of a star. Sweet-swinging third baseman, college stud, 2nd overall pick in last year's draft, and tons of power. He has shown the ability to hit at every level of the minors, where he hit a combined .284 with 40 home runs and an OPS of .908 in A, AA, and AAA over 192 games (40 homers in a season and a third is pretty darn good), plus 10 more in just over 2 months in the majors. Pedro does, however, have three knocks against him - 1) he strikes out A LOT (197 K's in those 192 games, plus 87 more in his first 65 major league games); 2) he makes way too many errors (36 in the minors, 10 in two months the majors); 3) he's a Pirate, and the Pirates haven't had a top prospect pan out since Aramis Ramirez...and that was many years and a couple shoulder surgeries ago. If you're not in a keeper league, Alvarez isn't worth owning right now but is definitely someone to have on your radar for next year. He could become Ryan Zimmerman...or Alex Gordon. If you're in a keeper league, he should be (and probably already is) owned, but if not - GO GET HIM NOW. He's your classic stud prospect, and needs to at least in the keeper discussion next year. Jesse Mendelson, Partner and Senior Writer for www,fantasybaseball101.com,has been playing fantasy baseball almost as long as Ron Shandler with a long history of both tremendous successes and spectacular flameouts. You can contact him at fantasy_baseball101@yahoo.com, and be sure to follow Jesse's writing on www.fantasybaseball101.com and on Twitter @fb101. Stay tuned for Part II of the roundtable scheduled to be published Wednesday, where pitchers are discussed... Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or reply to us on twitter @TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Blog, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Baseball, MLB, Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins, Orlando Hudson, NBADraft.net, Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants, Ray Flowers, Fanball.com, Sirius XM, Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies, Jayson Werth, Andrew Holm, Million Dollar Sleeper, Chris Carter, Oakland Athletics, Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles, Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox Forecasting for the upcoming week brings relief to your infield. Three of the must-start players for the upcoming week can be had on the cheap and play some of the most vital positions and hardest to come by. Pitching help this week will come in the form of two new faces to baseball and will rely on their dominance against lefties and their ability to keep runners off the bags.  Neil Walker Start ‘Em Neil Walker | Pittsburgh Pirates | 25.1% - Four of the six pitchers that Walker will be facing this week are right-handed pitchers. Against righties Walker’s hitting .303 with a .346 OBP and .777 OPS. Against both the Cubs and Nationals, Walker has gone eight for 25 this year. His last seven games have yielded seven RBI and a .280 avg. as well. Erick Aybar | Los Angeles Angels | 78.1% - All of Aybar’s games this week come away from home where he’s hitting .303 (78 points higher than at home) on the year. His stats against both the Mariners and Athletics on the year are a combined .318 average, .358 OBP with 37% of his RBIs on the year. With an increased probability to get on base Aybar is increasing his stolen base potential as well. Chase Headley | San Diego Padres | 90.8% - Chase has the stars aligning for him in this week’s matchups. First up are the Diamondbacks at Chase Field where, ironically, Chase Headley is hitting .301 for his career (33 points above his career average) and is hitting .356 against the current pitching staff. Second, Chase will face the Rockies at home. This year Chase has hit .314 with a.386 OBP against the Rockies. He wont provide much power (his ISO is a horrible .125) but he will rake in some hits this week. Sit ‘Em Dexter Fowler | Colorado Rockies | 32.1% - Coming into this week Fowler has been heating up, hitting .305 in the last seven games. Look for this to change to a cooling trend. With the exception of a make-up game against the Phillies, all of his games will be coming on the road this week where he hits 96 points lower away from Coors Field. He’ll be facing the Padres for three of the seven games this week which is more bad news for Fowler. They put the “K” in “Keep Dexter Fowler on the bench.” Through 43 at-bats this year against the Padres, Fowler has only five hits and has struck out 21 times (nearly 50% of his ABs against the Padres). James Loney | Los Angeles Dodgers | 95.8% - Loney is facing the gauntlet of pitchers this week. He faces both Halladay and Oswalt of the Phillies and Zito, Cain and Sanchez of the Giants. Collectively throughout his career against all of the starting pitchers that he will face this week, Loney is hitting .260 in 104 at-bats (he is two for 26 lifetime against Zito!). Another disturbing fact for Loney, he’s hitting .197 during the second-half of the season.  Brian Duensing Two-Start Pitchers To Use Brian Duensing | Minnesota Twins | 39% - Duensing has been a dominating force against lefties this season. He is taking the bat out of their hands holding them to a .138 average. This should help neutralize the threats he faces this week against the Tigers and Rangers. The Ranger’s key player, Josh Hamilton, bats lefty while nearly half of Detroit’s lineup is left-handed. Both games are coming at home at Target Field for Duensing, where he has 1.36 ERA this year. Strengthening his case to start is Target Field’s weak HR-factor of .580 (worst in the majors). Travis Wood | Cincinnati Reds | 23.3% - Travis Wood is facing two strong opponents this week in Milwaukee and St. Louis. His stats show that he can likely overpower these teams though. His BAA for lefties is even stronger then Duensing’s previously mentioned .138 (Wood’s is .109!). This neutralizes Fielder’s big bat. Right-handed bats aren’t fairing much better, hitting only .209 against Wood. By keeping runners off the bases Wood has been able to afford the occasional long-ball. His WHIP is a stellar 0.98. Two-Start Pitchers To Avoid Phil Hughes | New York Yankees | 100% - Hughes has been more of himself in the second-half of this year. He’s posted a 5.19 ERA since the all-star game. Look for him to continue his bad second-half pace this week against Oakland and Toronto. Both games come at home in the most HR-happy place in baseball, Yankee Stadium. Toronto is the number one team for homeruns too. Hughes has also pitched bad numbers against Toronto in three previous starts this year. He has 6.60 ERA through 15 innings, giving up four homeruns, good if your fantasy position players are on Toronto. Jair Jurrjens | Atlanta Braves | 77.1% - Jurrjens has been fairly decent lately, a trend that you can expect to meet a speed bump with this week. Jurrjens has been Jekyll and Hyde this season in home and away starts. At home his ERA is a phenomenal 1.81. However, away, his ERA is 6.62. Collectively Florida is hitting .347 against him in 72 at-bats. Use caution when deploying Jurrjens this week. All Statistical Information was obtained through ESPN.com Did you start Ian Desmond last week like James suggested? Which of this week's suggested infielders were available in your league? Leave us a comment, or let us know on Twitter @TheFantasyFix Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by James Bryce. James is a Grad student at UCSD and is currently in his 13th year of fantasy sports. Follow James on Twitter @BoltLife4Me Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, Two-Start Pitchers, MLB, James Bryce, Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves, Phil Hughes, New York Yankees, Travis Wood, Brian Duensing, James Loney, Dexter Fowler, Chase Headley, Erick Aybar, Neil Walker, Week 22 Welcome back for this week’s edition of the NL Wire. Last week’s edition was focused mainly on a group of older, somewhat grizzled group of veterans. So for this week, I decided to return to the fountain of youth, so to speak. This week’s selections are focused on a trio of youngsters, two of whom are returning for another go-around with their big league club, while the other is in the process of transforming himself from a top prospect to a solid rotation contributor. Check ‘em out…  Homer Bailey, SP – CIN –Owned in 27 percent of CBS leagues Homer (the pitcher, not the poet) has been on quite an odyssey thus far in his professional career. He’s been given the opportunity to stick in the Cincy rotation for four seasons, starting in 2007. At one point, he was a highly touted prospect who began his tenure in the Reds’ system at 18, after being drafted seventh overall in 2004. Prior to the 2007 season, Bailey was named the top prospect in the Reds’ farm system by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. Since then, very little has gone Homer’s way in the majors. His first shot came in June of ’07 after 12 starts for AAA-Louisville where he went 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. However, in only nine starts split between June/July and a September recall, he was 4-2 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. Bailey surrendered 43 hits in 45 innings and had an underwhelming K:BB ratio of 28:28. His fortunes did not turn around until the tail end of the ’09. He finished the season with a 4.53 ERA in 113 innings with 86 K’s while posting a record of 8-5. Subsequently, he made the Reds’ rotation out of spring training, but his good fortunes came to an end. Bailey was forced to the DL in May and the Reds considered moving him to the bullpen during his rehab. However, a few weeks ago he was summoned back to the big league club and given another shot at the rotation. In his two starts since returning, Bailey is 2-0 and has allowed one ER in 13 innings with ten K’s and only two BB’s. He managed to lower his ERA by one full point in only two starts. We can only hope that Homer has finally found his way at the ripe old age of 24 and that he continues his hot streak. Bailey has always had the tools to succeed, but never seemed to stay on-track long enough. As a fresh arm for the playoff-contending Reds’, Bailey’s value is on the rise for this season (already up 12% this week), and surely for next season in keeper leagues.  Eric Young, 2B – COL – Owned in 10 percent of CBS leagues EY2 was summoned from AAA-Colorado Springs on August 14 and has started every game since. He had a previous stint for the Rockies in ’09 which lasted 30 games, but he was in the starting lineup only 11 times. The speedster led all minor leaguers back in ’06 with 87 stolen bases, but at 25 is hardly a top prospect. Throughout his minor league career, Young’s batting average has hovered between .290 - .300 and his OBP between .359 - .407. In addition, he’s been a legit stolen base threat compiling 303 SB’s in 5+ seasons. He’s been a consistent run-producer scoring over 100 runs twice and driving in as many as 63 runs. Needless to say, he’s a well-seasoned minor leaguer ready for an opportunity. The Rockies would like to get a long look at Young through the rest of the season and give him that long-awaited opportunity. They are hoping he can be the spark-plug and offensive catalyst teams look for in the leadoff spot. In ten games since his recall, Young has 12 hits, five stolen bases and a .293 average. His on-base percentage is a respectable .341 and he has been crushing right-handed pitching with a .417 overall batting average in 19 total games this season. Young is garnering attention in mixed leagues as well as NL-only leagues. His ownership will jump to 18% next week, but is still low enough that he’s flying under the radar in most leagues. Whether you play in a rotisserie league or a H2H points league, Young can be a valuable contributor down the stretch. He will be firmly entrenched in the leadoff spot and will be playing his home games at Coors field where he’s hitting .333 on the season.  Bud Norris, SP – HOU – Owned in 22 percent of CBS leagues David Norris, more commonly known as “Bud” in baseball circles, was previously considered the top pitching prospect for the Astros. He was drafted in the 6th round in 2006 and got his first taste of the majors in 2009. That audition lasted only ten starts before he was shut down to prevent injury after logging 175 combined innings. Bud did manage to garner national attention when he was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year after leading the league with a 2.63 ERA. In 19 starts he posted only four wins but he had a 112:53 K:BB ratio in 120 innings to add to his league-leading ERA. His performance clearly earned him a shot at the Astros’ rotation to start the ’10 season. Norris has had a rocky season thus far for the lowly Astros. In 18 starts he has only five wins and a 5.42 ERA to go along with his mediocre 1.50 WHIP. On the bright side, he has 108 K’s in 99.7 innings. Norris seems to struggle the second and third time against the opposing lineup posting a 5.86 ERA versus 3.69 the first time through. Norris appears to be turning the corner as of late going at least six innings in seven straight starts. In his last three starts, he hasn’t allowed more than two runs and has thrown in a 14 K effort against the Pirates. Since the All-Star break, he is 4-1 with a 4.14 ERA and 43 K’s in 43 innings with an opponents’ batting average of .232. It’s time to strike while the iron is hot and pick up Norris. He’s putting together a nice run of starts and has logged slightly less than 100 innings. He’s in no danger to be pulled from the rotation as the Astros have very little left to play for this season. Norris should be a mainstay in the Astros rotation for years to come. Honorable Mention: Joe Blanton, SP – PHI – Owned in 40 percent of CBS leagues Blanton is 4-1 since the break with a 3.63 ERA. He has 44 K’s in 52 innings and is a solid starter for a playoff-contending team with a potent offense. Randy Wolf, SP – SF – Owned in 50 percent of CBS leagues Wolf is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA in the month of August and a 20:6 K:BB ratio over that span. He seems to be finally finding his groove in Milwaukee. Blake DeWitt, 2B – CHC – Owned in 13 percent of CBS leagues DeWitt has been hitting leadoff for the Cubs recently and is batting .338 with three HR’s in 22 games since his trade from LA. He’s batting .304 since the break – solid production from the 2B position. Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter@TheSportsFariah Who are your NL waiver wire gems of the week? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, The NL Wire, Waiver Wire, Homer Bailey, Eric Young, Bud Norris, Joe Blanton, Randy Wolf, Blake DeWitt, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs  SLUGGERS Coco Crisp, OAK, 52 percent owned 8 R / 1 HR / 4 RBI / 5 SB / .323 AVG The Fantasy Gods commend any courageous Coco Crisp owner. His speed paid off with eight runs and five stolen bases last week, possibly single-handedly winning you stolen bases. It would be hard to keep this pace up, but looks nice as of now. Lyle Overbay, TOR, 27 percent owned 7 R / 3 HR / 11 RBI / .273 AVG Streaky hitter who had no more than 1 hit in 17 straight games, but blasted three home runs in two games this past week. His power is recharged and could help out the next few weeks. Bats in the middle of a potent Toronto offense too. Yuniesky Betancourt, KC, 32 percent owned 3 R / 3 HR / 10 RBI / .296 AVG Gearing for one of his best seasons yet, this guy is hitting .358 in August with six home runs and 15 runs batted in. Among the top five home run hitting short stops, ownership percentage should rise by next week. Don Kelly, DET, 0 percent owned 4 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / .381 AVG Seems to have taken over as the main utility man in Detroit. As manager Jim Leyland mix-and-matches his starting roster, Kelly has found time to play almost every game at different positions. He’s a versatile utility man who has sprung to life and emerged as a hitting threat to opposing pitchers. HURLERS Homer Bailey, CIN, 34 percent owned 13 IP, 2 W, 10 K, 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP What a return for Bailey. Allowing one run in 13 innings helped his team win two games. He missed most of the season but is back and already making an impact on the Reds. He is one of Cincinnati’s top starting pitchers and deserves to have the ball each week. Jonathon Niese, NYM, 68 percent owned 12 IP, 1 W, 10 K, 1.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP Niese got the win in a rain-shortened match against Pittsburgh last week. Besides his good fortune from Mother Nature, his last four starts before this one were all one-earned run/seven innings pitched gems. Alex Sanabia, FLA, 2 percent owned 7.2 IP, 1 W, 5 K, 1.17 ERA, 0.52 WHIP This Triple-A stud was recalled again from the Marlins, and continued to dominate. In four of his five Marlins starts, he has allowed one or no runs. Last week he got to the eighth inning allowing one run, striking out five, and walking no one. Armando Galarraga, DET, 13 percent owned 12 IP, 1 W, 13 K, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP In round two of Galarraga vs. Cleveland, the Detroit pitcher took a perfect game into the 5th, and ended the day scoreless through seven innings of three hit ball. In his first start last week, Galarraga had five strikeouts in five innings, and ended the week with a 9.75 K/9 ratio. Written by Tyler Becker exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Look for Tyler’s weekly insight into MLB, NFL, & NHL. You can follow Tyler on Twitter @FantasyProdigy Who do you think is a Must from this list? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on twitter @TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Blog, Fantasy Baseball, MLB, Coco Crisp, Lyle Overbay, Yuniesky Betancourt, Don Kelly, Homer Bailey, Jonathon Niese, Alex Sanabia, Armando Galarraga, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Florida Marlins | 
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