2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Advice & Analysis
 Mike Stanton, FLA, 46% owned 5 R / 4 HR / 8 RBI / .583 A big week from a big guy. We've been waiting to see exactly what kind of damage Stanton can do in the majors and owners have tasted blood. Back to back to back games with homers and a six game hitting streak, should bump Stanton over 50% ownership by mid-week. Michael Brantley, CLE, 8% owned 7 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / 2 SB / .375 Third times the charm. After struggling the first two call-ups, Brantley seems to have gotten it right. He's raised his average 33 points since the August 6th call-up. The talent has always been there and with even less pressure towards the end of the season for the Indians, Brantley should be here to stay. J.D. Drew, BOS, 41% owned 5 R / 4 HR / 6 RBI / 1 SB / .333 It's been a relatively slow season for Drew, partially due to the fact that half the Red Sox offense has been injured at one point or another. This week though, has awakened the giant and Drew has homered in three games. He's got a six game hitting streak too. Ryan Raburn, DET, 6% owned 4 R / 3 HR / 5 RBI / 1 SB / .400 Utility man out the Wazoo, Detroit is realizing how valuable Raburn can be. He has homered in three of the last four and had five multi-hits in the seven. From Jackson to Boesch and now to Raburn, Detroit has a bright future. Jeremy Hellickson, TB, 40% owned 13 IP, 2 W, 12 K, 0.69 ERA, 0.54 WHIP We knew he was going to be good, but wow! The Tampa Bay rookie is the first in team history to win his first three and it looks like more good things are to come. Three earned runs in 20 innings is sweet but even more impressive is Hellickson's .60 WHIP and .136 BAA. R.A. Dickey, NYM, 37% owned 9 IP, 1 W, 7 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.22 WHIP The knuckleballer is having a season to remember. Friday's game against Philadelphia was utter dominance, bouncing back from poor outing against Philly as well and throwing a complete game one-hitter. Dickey has never looked anywhere this good in his eight year career and I can't imagine it carrying into next year, but ride it while you can. Mike Rzepczynski, TOR, 1% owned 7 IP, 1 W, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.29 WHIP Rzepczynski is a spell checker's worst nightmare. Filling in for Brandon Morrow to give him a little extra rest, Mike apparently thought he had to pitch just as well as him too. Seven innings of two-hit ball against Los Angeles proved he belongs with the already strong Toronto rotation. He pitches again this Wed against Oakland and should be a solid start. Written by Evan Marx exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Evan will be sexting himself while his girlfriend is away on business. Is that weird? Who will you be picking up for the playoffs? 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, Must or Bust, Mike Stanton, Michael Brantley, J.D. Drew, Ryan Raburn, Jeremy Hellickson, R.A. Dickey, Mike Rzepczynski, Florida Marlins, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays Add Comment  5 R / 1 HR / 4 RBI / 2 SB / .367 Torres has been Torrid in the past month. He's batting .317 with 23 R, Seven HR, and 20 RBI. Not to mention the five steals. From Huff to Posey to Torres, the Giants have some hot hitters as of late. Juan Pierre (43% owned) 7 R / 5 RBI / 4 SB / .440 In what world does the leader in stolen bases, only owned in less than half the leagues? (its a rhetorical question if you didn't figure that out). Pierre can hands down win you this category every week, so besides his low average he should be on your team. Danny Valencia (5% owned) 5 R / 1 HR / 7 RBI / .565 Since being called up and owning third base for Minnesota, Valencia has batted a sweet .384. Nicknamed "The Franchise", Valencia became the first Twins rookie this week to have back to back four-hit games. Chris Johnson (8% owned) 3 R / 2 HR / 5 RBI / 1 SB / .500 The hot bat of Johnson is on a 14-game hitting streak. His power has finally found its way into the majors too, hitting four homers in the past 11 games. Matt Joyce (1% owned) 3 R / 3 HR / 10 RBI / .261 It's hard not to join in the fun when playing for a good team. In the past fifteen games, Joyce has increased his average from .175 to .232. Raul Ibanez (59% owned) 5 R / 2 HR / 5 RBI / .435 Ibanez has been on the top of his game for the past four years so this year was a bit of a surprise to fantasy owners with a poor first half of play. He has picked up recently with a ten-game hitting streak and three homers in that span. At 59% owned, there is a chance Ibanez is on the waiver wire in lighter leagues.  HURLERS Anibal Sanchez (23% owned) 9 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.22 WHIP In Thursdays game against the Giants, Sanchez was one walk and one hit away from a perfect game. This was Anibal's only win in the month of July for five starts though. Hopefully this will lead into a strong August. Kevin Slowey (57% owned) 14 IP / 2 W / 7 K / 0.64 ERA / 0.64 WHIP Total season numbers aren't anything to brag about but the past two games have been gems – although against two of the worst teams in the league, Baltimore and Seattle. One amazing stat though is that Slowey hasn't walked more than one batter in a game in the past 16 starts. R.A. Dickey (32% owned) 14 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.57 WHIP Although Dickey has struggled to get a win in the past seven starts (1-4, 2 no decisions), his ERA is only a measly 2.33. At least we know its not Dickey's fault for the dreadful 9-17 record in July. Brett Myers (44% owned) 9 IP / 1 W / 12 K / 1.00 ERA / 0.56 WHIP Myers manhandled the Cubs, pitching a complete game four-hitter while striking out 12. Myers seems to like the heat and has dominated teams in July. In those five games Brett has a 1.69 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and averaged 7.5 K/9. Josh Tomlin (3% owned) 12.1 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 1.46 ERA / 0.73 WHIP In his second career start, Tomlin picked right back up from where he started in his dominance over the Yankees. Josh has only allowed one run in both games. Now don't get too excited, Tomlin is in no way supposed to be this good. As of right now he is a lucky rookie, trying to make an impression but I do wonder how he amounted a 51-24 minor league record… Brad Mills (0% owned) 7 IP / 1 W / 4 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.71 WHIP In his first start of the season, Mills destroyed Baltimore (shocker!) and only gave up two hits over seven innings. I'd like to see him pitch well against a better team before deciding if he'll stay in the majors. Miguel Batista (0% owned) 7.1 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.95 WHIP Reliever Miguel Batista had the honor to fill in for rookie phenom, Stephen Strasburg (jeez… no pressure or anything). Well fill in he did, pitching five innings of scoreless ball, allowing only three hits and striking out six. Unfortunately its only a nice story, seeing as how he has given up 25 runs in only 56 innings. Article written by Evan Marx exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. That's right exclusively... I ain't no cheatin man. Think Valencia or Johnson are the real deal? Leave a comment at the top or respond to us on Twitter! Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Blog, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Must or Bust, Week 18, Fantasy Baseball, Juan Pierre, Danny Valencia, Chris Johnson, Matt Joyce, Raul Ibanez, Andres Torres, Kevin Slowey, R.A. Dickey, Anibal Sanchez, Brett Myers, Josh Tomlin, Brad Mills, Miguel Batista, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Starlin Castro is a hitting machine. Pedro Alvarez back to back double dingers. Fausto Carmona bringing it back to 2007. Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust.  Pedro Alvarez SLUGGERS Jack Cust (6% owned) 8 R / 4 HR / 10 RBI / .444 Jersey Boy Cust was the number one batter for this last week. The one thing he does extremely well is hit home runs and has six homers in the past nine games. Not bad numbers recently considering he only has eight home runs all season. Cust will see increased at-bats with this kind of production and we know he has the ability to hit 30+ dingers in a season. The best part is Jack is batting 60 points above his career average. Good cheap pick-up right now! Pedro Alvarez (25% owned) 8 R / 4 HR / 8 RBI / .346 The Pirates only saving grace this season is to jump ahead of Houston for second to last place. Still though, they have somehow found a way to score a lot of runs recently, even without Andrew McCutchen. Rookie, Pedro Alvarez, has clearly pushed Andy LaRoche aside and in the past ten games has bumped his average from .214 to .252. The big-boy (6'3" 223 lbs) has shown his power this week going yard twice in back to back games. "El Toro" should be on every owners watch list, since he will have all the playing time he needs to adjust to the Bigs. Luke Scott (19% owned) 5 R / 4 HR / 8 RBI / .458 Since returning from the DL, Scott has been on FIRE! Had he not missed the two weeks, we could be looking at 20-22 homers instead of 16. I'd look for a very strong second half, seeing as how Scott is one pace to score more runs, homers and RBIs than in years past. Plus he's batting .292, way above his dismal .268 career average. Scott is a little shy of the minimum plate appearances but would be tied for sixth in the league for slugging (.567) and tied for 11th in OPS (.924). Chris Denorfia (1% owned) 6 R / 3 HR / 5 RBI / .429 Taking advantage of an injured Will Venable, Denorfia is trying to prove he deserves to be a starter in an already crowed San Diego outfield. In just 131 ABs, he has 20 Runs and 20 RBIs. The good news is that although the OF is crowed, none of them are doing anything spectacular, leaving Denorfia a fighting chance. Starlin Castro (23% owned) 5 R / 1 HR / 6 RBI / 2 SB / .481 With Aramis Ramirez back to form, the Cubs have been putting up some big numbers. Castro has been as solid as you could wish for from a rookie and has bumped his average up 34 points since July 1st. In the past ten games he has seven multi-hit games. The home run swing has yet to come (only three in 234 AB) but as he trains more, the muscle will develop. Great keeper option! Jose Tabata (5% owned) 8 R / 1 HR / 6 RBI / 2 SB / .355 WIth Andrew McCutchen missing the past six games and possibly a handful more, Tabata has stepped in and performed quite well. Another Pirate Rookie looking to make his mark - so keep an eye as to how much the Pirates can play him once McCutchen returns. Jim Edmonds (1% owned) 5 R / 3 HR / 7 RBI / .500 One of the best Center Fielders since the early '90s is most likely in his final season. At 40, Edmonds has said he is playing harder than ever knowing this is the final stretch. As much as I love the veteran, he is only a possible pickup in a very deep NL only league. Delwyn Young (1% owned) 7 R / 2 HR / 7 RBI / .412 Delwyn has managed to get a small amount of playing time considering he is blocked by Neil Walker at 2B and Pedro Alvarez at 3B. Good week but don't expect a lot here. Gaby Sanchez (32% owned) 4 R / 2 HR / 7 RBI / 1 SB / .400 Sanchez continues to be a pleasant surprise and is still barely owned in leagues. He has certainly locked up first base for the season and possibly the near future. Marlins prospect Logan Morrison will have to wait a while longer unless Florida can find a way to play them both. Sanchez should end with at least 90/20/90. Chris Johnson (2% owned) 5 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / .455 Johnson looks like he is taking over third in Houston and if the playing time continues so will the homers. Minor League showed us he can hit for power, so just a matter of time…  Hong-Chih Kuo HURLERS John Axford (57% owned) 4.2 IP / 1 W / 3 SV / 5 K / 1.93 ERA / 1.07 WHIP Dethroning the all-time saves leader is quite an accomplishment, although it was more of Trevor Hoffman dethroning himself. Hoffman has pitched much better since his early season woes but Axford has proven to the staff that he can be the Brewers closer of the future. Three saves this week plus a win ain't bad. Jeff Francis (6% owned) 7 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.43 WHIP Colorado's shutout win over Florida was Francis' best game in an otherwise mediocre season thus far. Low Ks (38), High ERA (4.63), with batters hitting .289 against him doesn't sound too appetizing. He's actually given up as many runs as strikeouts. Fausto Carmona (30% owned) 5 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.40 WHIP Remember when Fausto was really, really good in 2007? I doubt Fausto even remembers, but after two dismal years, he is actually putting together a pretty decent 2010. Three straight wins (and 6-2 in last eight) on a horrible team that can barely score is impressive. Vin Mazzaro (7% owned) 13.2 IP / 2 W / 10 K / 1.98 ERA / 1.02 WHIP The pride of Hackensack, New Jersey is off to quite an impressive start. Since being named a starter on June 8th, Vinny really has only had one bad game, but only gave up four runs. In the past five games, he's pitched 41 innings and only given up nine runs. Mazzaro is definitely outperforming his seven percentage ownership. Barry Enright (5% owned) 8 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 1.12 ERA / 0.75 WHIP In his fourth career game, Enright pitched an absolute gem against the Mets, going eight strong, striking out eight and only surrendering one run. His first three games weren't half bad either although two were for losses. His minor league stats were never anything to write home to Ma about, but they weren't bad either. Owners may be able to get a few more solid starts from him before batters figure him completely out. Mark Buehrle (55% owned) 9 IP / 1 W / 2 K / 1.00 ERA / 0.44 WHIP Buehrle is pretty much right on par for his career averages. You can count on him for a sub four ERA and 13-15 wins a season. In Mark's last eight, he is 6-2 and lowered his ERA a whole point! This last game against Oakland was his first CG of the season and the 26th of his career. Daisuke Matsuzaka (43% owned) 6.2 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 1.35 ERA / 0.60 WHIP We are still far far away from Dice-K of two years ago, but significant strides have been made this year. In the past two game Daisuke has whiffed 11 and only given up three runs. Another strong start and Matsuzaka will be off the waivers wire in the blink of an eye. Hong-Chih Kuo (16% owned) 4 IP / 1 SV / 4 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.25 WHIP Kuo has been pure magic for the Dodgers this year. His numbers are just plain sick like Luke Gregerson, J.J. Putz and Evan Meek. Listen to this line and you tell me if you should pick him up – 32 IP / 40 K / 0.84 ERA / 0.74 WHIP / .119 BAA. So not a lot of Wins or Saves, but he will help even out ERA & WHIP for sure. Randy Wells (48% owned) 7 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 0.00 ERA / 1.14 WHIP In the past five games, Wells has only surrendered five runs and zero is his last two. He's also dropped his ERA from 5.21 to 4.07 in that span. Unfortunately as many gems Wells has pitched he also has as many bombs. Hopefully we will see a continued success for the remainder of the season. Who will you pickup off waivers? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Article written by Evan Marx exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, Fantasy Marx, Must or Bust, Week 17, Jack Cust, Pedro Alvarez, Luke Scott, Chris Denorfia, Starlin Castro, Jose Tabata, Jim Edmonds, Delwyn Young, Gaby Sanchez, Chris Johnson, John Axford, Jeff Francis, Fausto Carmona, Vin Mazzaro, Barry Enright, Mark Buehrle, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hong-Chih Kuo, Randy Wells , Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers  Justin Smoak A quick review of last week's least owned top performers in fantasy baseball. Justin Smoak goes yard in back to back games. Paul Maholm wins the Dr. Jeckyll / Mr. Hyde award. Edinson Volquez dominates in his return. Who will continue to dominate and who will disappear like a ninja? SWINGERS Chase Headley 47% owned 6 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB, .500 Chase started the season extremely strong, but fizzled around the end of May. The past month though has him been back on track (16 R/3 HR/11 RBI/.311). Padres are still on top... Gordon Beckham 45% owned 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .643 Analysts have Beckham on the top of their lists of sleepers for the second half. Everyone is still waiting for the former 1st round pick to turn the corner in his career. Remember it took his teammate Gavin Floyd a few years to really develop so hopefully Gordon is nearing his stride. He's batting .338 in the past month. Starlin Castro 16% owned 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB, .600 Well Starlin stole home last Thursday so isn't that reason enough to pick him up on your team? Ok, maybe not, but he has a six game hitting streak going into tonight and is batting just shy of .300 since the call up. I don't think we will see anything mind blowing from Castro this year, but he may just prove to a few owners that he is keeper material, especially in a weak SS position. Matt Diaz, 2% owned 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .417 Diaz saw a some extra playing time in the past week but Jason Heyward is back and no matter how good Matt play's he won't be forcing the Braves future all-star to the bench. Kevin Kouzmanoff 18% owned 3 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .385 Kouz is right on par with similar numbers to years previous. If he gets a full 600 AB, you may be able to squeeze 20+ homers from him. At least he's keeping the average above .270. Justin Smoak 10% owned 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .333 The Smoak has cleared and the Mariners are hoping they have found their future first baseman. Justin had back to back games with homers against the Angels this week and Drew Stubbs 28% owned 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .500 Stubbs has put up very respectable numbers in his 2nd year, considering how ice cold he started the season. He's already almost at 50 Runs and RBIs and I would be shocked if he doesn't end up with 30-35 stolen bases by the end of year. The power is a great addition too, having his second multi-homer game of the season against Colorado. HURLERS Paul Maholm 17% owned 9 IP, 1 W, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP Maholm wins the Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde award this month. Against Texas he pitched one inning and gave up 5 runs. In the next game against Chicago he turned it around and pitched eight strong while only gave up one. Then against Philly he imploded in three innings and gave up seven runs. Back comes Dr. Jeckyll against the Brewers and Houston, giving up 6 hits in 16 innings with the later being a CG. I'm scared shirtless (yes shirtless - there may be kids in the room) to pick him up in fear of another bomb. Edinson Volquez 51% owned 6 IP, 1 W, 9 K, 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP The long awaited return of Volquez was a nothing less than a gem. Going six strong while only surrendering one earned run and blanking nine. As George Constanza once said "I'm back baby!" Jeanmar Gomez 0% owned 7 IP, 1 W, 4 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP Don't get too excited with the fantastic line Gomez put up this week. Jeanmar was just optioned back to Triple-A today. Don't really get that one, seeing as how Cleveland is horrible and they should keep any pitcher up who can actually get them a win. Aaron Cook 2% owned 7 IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP Nice game against Cincinnati but there are other pitchers out there in the depths of the wire who have a better ERA (4.56), better WHIP (1.45) and more Ks (49). Jason Vargas 37% owned 7.2 IP, 1 W, 9 K, 1.17 ERA, 0.65 WHIP Vargas has been a pleasant surprise all season long and continued to show his dominance against the Angels, striking out nine. His 2.97 ERA puts him seventh in the AL and his 1.15 WHIP is eighth. Owners are slowly realizing what a gem Vargas is for their teams. Sean Marshall 22% owned 2.2 IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP There are few top notch set-up men this year and Marshall is definitely one of them. Sean is averaging more than a K per inning and already has amounted six wins. ERA under two, WHIP at one and batters hitting under .200. Find a spot on your roster for this guy, he'll help you in categories without you even realizing it. Alex Sanabia 1% owned 5.1IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.12 WHIP Sanabia got his first win this week against the Nationals. In the past two games, Sanabia has pitched 8.2 innings and given up zero runs, plus K'd seven. Certainly worth keeping this rookie on your watch list. Tags: Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, Week 16, Must or Bust, The Fantasy Marx, Chase Headley, Gordon Beckham, Starlin Castro, Matt Diaz, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Justin Smoak, Drew Stubbs, Paul Maholm, Edinson Volquez, Jeanmar Gomez, Aaron Cook, Jason Vargas, Sean Marshall, Alex Sanabia, Gavin Floyd, Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins  Clint Barmes A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Jim Thome's four homers. Clint Barmes' hit streak continues. Max Scherzer dominates yet again. Dexter Fowler is back and on a mission. Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust. SWINGERS Jim Thome - 4% of Y! Leagues 7 R / 4 HR / 8 RBI / .538 BA He's turning 40 this year and there really isn't much left in this once mighty bat, but this week was special for Thome. With two homers on Saturday, he passed Twins HOF Harmon Killebrew, on the all-time home run list. The next day he passed Andre Dawson for 34th place in RBIs. Although getting more playing time this past week, he is a hard pickup, since he is only a DH. Clint Barmes - 38% of Y! Leagues 8 R / 2 HR / 7 RBI / .400 BA Barmes has been great as of late – currently on a 12 game hitting streak. In that stretch eight have been multi-hit games. In the past month he's raised his average from .215 to .257! If you are going to jump on the Barmes train, now is the time. Andres Torres - 10% of Y! Leagues 6 R / 1 HR / 2 RBI / 3 SB / .381 BA Torres continues to add speed to the Giants lineup. He already has 16 stolen bases and 39 runs. Far from a power bat, Torres can certainly give you a boost in SB each week. Dexter Fowler - 7% of Y! Leagues 8 R / 3 RBI / 2 SB / .417 BA After getting a demotion at the beginning of the month, Fowler is back and a man on a mission. In the past four games against the Giants, he racked up 10 hits, 7 runs, 3 RBIs & 2 SB. Four games hasn't proved to me that he fixed himself, but its a step in the right direction. Sean Rodriguez - 24% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 1 HR / 3 RBI / 2 SB / .429 BA The proud owner of a 15 game hitting streak through June, Rodriguez is now on another run at six. Of those six games, five have been multi-hits. He started off very slow, so even after both hit streaks, his season average is still low at .276. 2B and OF eligible certainly helps make a case of Sean being owned especially with Pedroia & Utley on the DL. Corey Patterson - 4% of Y! Leagues 3 R / 1 HR / 3 RBI / 3 SB / .417 BA He hasn't played a full season since 2004, but a .292 average and 15 stolen bases could make Patterson a halfway decent pickup in deeper leagues. HURLERS Russ Ohlendorf - 2% of Y! Leagues 7 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.86 WHIP Okay so a 1-6 record isn't anything to write home to mom about, but the past two have been gems and Ohlendorf may have turned a leaf. Past 13 IP, zero runs and 11 Ks. Randy Wells - 47% of Y! Leagues 13.2 IP / 1 W / 11 K / 1.32 ERA / 0.95 WHIP Wells was a real nice surprise last year. In '10 things have been up and down. Although he's pitched nine quality starts so far, he's also imploded six times for five or more runs. Wells is certainly in the running for the bi-polar award. Brad Lincoln - 7% of Y! Leagues 7 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.71 WHIP The Pirates top pitching prospect finally put everything together in his fifth big league game. Confidence is a rookie's best weapon so let's see if this last game against the Cubs gets him going in the right direction. Max Scherzer - 43% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 1.12 ERA / 0.63 WHIP Scherzer continues to dominate since being called back up. In the past seven games, Max is averaging eight Ks, has a 2.64 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Under 50% owned, come on! Hong-Chih Kuo - 12% of Y! Leagues 3 IP / 1 W / 1 SV / 7 K / 0.00 ERA / 1.00 WHIP Kuo is turning out to be one of the best middle relief pitchers in '10. In 26.1 innings, he's only given up three runs for a low 1.03 ERA. He's blowing batters away with 36 Ks already and his WHIP is well below one at .072. Kuo has been rewarded with a three wins and a few saves as well. Bruce Chen - 1% of Y! Leagues 7.1 IP / 1 W / 3 K / 1.23 ERA / 0.41 WHIP In his 12th season and 10th team, Chen is trying to mimic his 2005 stellar performance. Since 2005 though, he certainly lost his mojo and has been coming out of the bullpen the majority of the time. This week's game against the Angels, started off with six scoreless and retiring the first 18 batters (2nd best in Royals history to start a game, only behind Bret Saberhagen's 20). Certainly a great game, but don't expect too much more this year. Tags: Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, Week 14, Must or Bust, The Fantasy Marx, Jim Thome, Minnesota Twins, Clint Barmes, Colorado Rockies, Andres Torres, San Francisco Giants, Dexter Fowler, Sean Rodriguez, Tampa Bay Rays, Corey Patterson, Baltimore Orioles, Russ Ohlendorf, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brad Lincoln, Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers, Hong-Chi Kuo, Los Angeles Dodgers, Bruce Chen, Kansas City Royals  Carlos Quentin A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Edwin Jackson's insane no-hitter. R.A. Dickey's 6th straight. Carlos Quentin's four dingers. Brandon Morrow & Jhoulys Chacin are strikeout machines. Is Jamie Moyer really father time in disguise? Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust. SWINGERS Carlos Quentin - 57% of Y! Leagues 6 R / 4 HR / 11 RBI /.389 BA Big Q is finally showing some of that swing from 2008. The average is still way low (.229) but at least he's raised it 22 points in the last month. In the last ten games he has hit .394, 4 homers, and 13 RBI's while posting a .487 OBP, and a .879 slugging giving him a 1.366 OPS! Way too low of an ownership for someone with that much potential. Even Aramis who is having ten-times worse a season, is owned at 67%. Will Venable - 8% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 3 HR / 8 RBI / 1 SB / .286 BA What a week for Venable. Not only has he homered every other game in the past eight but they were at key moments. Low average and high strikeout percentage makes Venable a tough pickup but for deeper NL leagues he isn't bad, plus he's sure to be on the wire. Don't expect this streak for much longer though, especially going against Jimenez tonight. Coco Crisp - 33% of Y! Leagues 7 R / 1 HR / 3 RBI / 1 SB / .368 BA Coco has never played more than 145 games in his career and this year is no different missing almost practically the whole season so far. Since coming back for the past five games, he's hit in four of five with two multi-hit games and six runs. The good news is that Crisp has the center-field job locked down and whatever little offense the A's have, Coco will be in the middle of it. Great pickup for runs and stolen bases. Ike Davis - 17% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 1 HR / 7 RBI / .333 BA It's amazing how much hype is around these rookies when they get the call-up and if they don't perform in the first week or two owners forget about them. Davis has been a big factor in the Mets recent success and already has 9 homers. He isn't even playing to his full potential yet so as the season progresses, he should shoot from someone only owned in 17% of leagues to possibly 50%. If first-base wasn't so heavy with talented hitters, Ike could be considered as a quality late-round keeper. Oh yeah, he's hit five home runs ranging from 434 to 450 so far too... booya! Gaby Sanchez - 17% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 1 HR / 4 RBI / .417 BA Sanchez is doing one hell of a job holding off rookie prospect Logan Morrison. Solid numbers all around from runs to RBIs to average. He should be able to hold off Logan for a while longer and possibly the year if he keeps playing like this. In the last 11 games, Gaby has nine multi-hitters. Clint Barmes - 16% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 1 HR / 3 RBI / 1 SB / .381 BA Great week but nothing super special here. A possible last resort pickup replacement for Dustin Pedroia (see here Filling The Void: Dustin Pedroia) HURLERS Jamie Moyer - 15% of Y! Leagues 15 IP / 2 W / 12 K / 1.80 ERA / 0.60 WHIP You certainly will not get better performances from a 47 year-old. Hell you can't even find another 47 year-old pitching in the Bigs. I'm sure Moyer would love to follow the footsteps of Satchel Paige and pitch into his 60's but something tells me that he only has another year at best left. Minus Moyer's complete meltdown against Boston (1 IP, 9 ER), his numbers last month have been very impressive with a sub 1.00 WHIP and four wins. Trevor Cahill - 37% of Y! Leagues 7.2 IP / 1 W / 10 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.65 WHIP The A's have been a source of solid pitcher development for a long time now and they seem to have another ace on their hands. In his sophomore year, Cahill has been lights out with eight out of twelve quality starts. He's yet to give up more than four runs in '10 and hit a benchmark in strikeouts with ten against Pittsburgh (yeah its Pitt but still). Absolute pickup if he's not taken already. Chris Narveson - 2% of Y! Leagues 13 IP / 2 W / 10 K / 2.08 ERA / 0.92 WHIP Since being converted to a starter, Narveson has had a few ups-and-downs, but pitched his best performance this week against Seattle and shut them down for only four hits in eight innings. Not convinced yet, but he has had four games of seven or more strikeouts, so he is certainly one to watch. Brandon Morrow - 27% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.75 WHIP Morrow had a rough start to the season but the bad losses seem to be a thing of the past. His last game against St. Louis showed how good he can be, going eight innings, zero runs and eight strikeouts. In the last five games Morrow has a 1.32 ERA, .094 WHIP and 27 strikeouts. Like Cahill, Morrow is turning out to be a solid pickup. J.J. Putz - 8% of Y! Leagues 3 IP / 2 W / 1 SV/ 1 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.00 WHIP One thing is for sure J.J. certainly hasn't been pitching like a putz! In the past 16 appearances he hasn't given up a single run and amassed an amazing 4 wins with a save too! Putz has turned into one of the best options for middle relief out there and if Jenks goes down, I think we know who they are handing the ball over to. Luke Gregerson - 26% of Y! Leagues 3 IP / 1 W / 1 SV/ 3 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.33 WHIP What a year this set-up man is having! A 1.60 ERA and 51Ks in only 39.1 innings puts him with the best. On top of that he has a crazy low WHIP (0.51) and batters are only hitting .121 against him. Great guy to have on your team to lower a few categories plus get the occasional win. Edwin Jackson - 59% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.89 WHIP The talk of the week, Jackson pitched the leagues fourth no-hitter this year, albeit a strange one with eight walks. Since getting hammered against Colorado and Chicago (18 total earned runs) at the end of April, Jackson has turned it around with a 3.46 ERA, 68 Ks & 1.29 WHIP in 70.2 innings. Although owned much higher, it's still worth taking a peak to see if he's out there. Just keep a close eye since he did throw 149 pitches for the no-hitter. Jhoulys Chacin - 11% of Y! Leagues 12.2 IP / 1 W / 17 K / 1.42 ERA / 1.34 WHIP After a monster start to his career and then falling out of the light, its time to put Jhoulys back on the radar. One thing we know is Chacin can strike batters out! 12 Ks against the Angels wasn't enough for the win because of three unearned runs but a magnificent game nonetheless. If Jhuoulys can turn some of the losses into wins for the second half, we will have a fantasy stud on our hands! R.A. Dickey - 31% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 4 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.75 WHIP The unusual Mets staff has been light outs this year with Dickey, Niese and Pelfrey. Dickey has six straight wins and a sick 2.33 ERA. No signs of the Mets slowing down anytime soon. Who is the best waiver wire pickup this week? Who do you think is just getting started? Leave a comment, or reply to us on Twitter Twitter.com/thefantasyfix Tags: Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, Week 13, Must or Bust, The Fantasy Marx, Carlos Quentin, Will Venable, Coco Crisp, Ike Davis, Gaby Sanchez, Clint Barmes, Jamie Moyer, Trevor Cahill, Luke Gregerson, Edwin Jackson, Jhoulys Chacin, R.A. Dickey, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks  Max Scherzer A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Justin Smoak is smoking the ball and Max Scherzer dominates twice. Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust. SWINGERS John Buck - 40% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 3 HRS / 8 RBI / .389 BA With all this hype around catchers this year, most owners seem to overlook guys like Buck. If you are a win-now kinda of fantasy player, then having Buck on your team may very well benefit you over a guy Weiters. Buck's problem has always been hitting for a decent average and so far he's 33 points above his career numbers. Three multi-homer games already, he could easily hit 25 by seasons end. Chipper Jones - 53% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 1 HR / 7 RBI / .471 BA Yes he's older and hitting 50 points below his career .306 average but he's still one of the best 3B of the past 20 years. If Glaus can have a comeback year, then Chipper can too. Expect better numbers in the second half assuming he doesn't get injured like the past few years. Scott Podsednik - 53% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 1 HR / 7 RBI / 2 SB / .286 BA I'm so tempted to call the Royals the worst team in the league but the truth is that the Indians and Orioles are certainly worse. Regardless, Speedy Scotty is back to his old form and running the bejeezus out of the bases. Injuries have really dropped Podsednik off the radar but he's healthy this year and on track to at least 40 stolen bases. Justin Smoak - 13% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 2 HRS / 8 RBI / .320 BA After a dismal start, Smoak has put together a solid last month (15 RUNS / 4 HRS / 21 RBIs /.278 avg). With the influx of all the call-ups owners have forgotten to come back around and take a look at what Smoak is doing. He won't be available for much longer, go get him. Angel Pagan - 33% of Y! Leagues 3 R / 5 RBI / 2 SB / .417 BA Pagan has been on fire the past month, batting .327, 15 Runs, 13 RBIs and 9 SBs. I seem to be less and less worried about Beltran coming back and squeezing Pagan out. Angel really has been at the center of the revitalized Mets. HURLERS Carl Pavano - 16% of Y! Leagues 16 IP / 2 W / 7 K / 2.25 ERA / 0.63 WHIP Despite Pavano's 8-6 record, this is actually his best season since 2004. There's still plenty of time for Carl to get back to his usual mediocre numbers, but right now he is pretty much pitching career bests in ERA, WHIP & BAA. His last game was a gem against the struggling Phils, going nine and only giving up one. 10 of 15 have been quality starts! Max Scherzer - 34% of Y! Leagues 13 IP / 2 W / 17 K / 2.77 ERA / 1.15 WHIP There is so much talent in this kid. Owners were expecting a lot more out of Scherzer this year and a few have jumped back on the boat since his return. In 5 games since returning, he has a 3.48 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 41Ks. If you lack strikeouts, Mad Max is your guy! J.J. Putz - 3% of Y! Leagues 3 IP / 1 W / 1 SV/ 3 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.33 WHIP It's truly amazing how quickly Relief Pitchers fall from grace. In 2006 through 2007 Putz amassed an amazing 76 saves with just a 1.86 ERA. Those days are long gone and J.J. has been reduced to a set-up guy, just silently waiting for Jenks to get injured or implode. Unless you are in a crazy deep league, there are better middle relievers out there. Joel Pineiro - 27% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 5 K / 1.12 ERA / 0.50 WHIP I feel like a broken record saying this, but Pineiro is a roller-coaster ride. He pitches well against the tough teams then blows-up against teams like the Royals. There is no rhyme or reason to whether he will have a good game or not and so I've always stayed away. When he is on though, he can be as good as they come. In his last two games, Pineiro has pitched 17 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs and 12 K's while only giving up 2 walks! Like clockwork though, Joel will have a bad game in the next one or two, regardless of who they is playing. Jason Vargas - 29% of Y! Leagues 7.2 IP / 1 W / 4 K / 1.17 ERA / 0.65 WHIP Past his first game, Vargas has put up a quality start in all of his games since (1 game was only 5 innings, but he still only gave up 2 runs). Honestly if the Mariners we're any better we could be looking at 9-2 record instead of a 5-2. Season ERA is under 3.00, WHIP is just above 1.00 and batters are only hitting .225. In his fifth year, Vargas may have finally figured it out. Who is the best waiver wire pickup this week? Who do you think is just getting started? Leave a comment, or reply to us on Twitter Twitter.com/thefantasyfix Tags: Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, MLB, Week 12, Must or Bust, Double Dippers, The Fantasy Marx, John Buck, Chipper Jones, Scott Podsednik, Justin Smoak, Angel Pagan, Carl Pavano, Max Scherzer, J.J. Putz, Joel Pineiro, Jason Vargas. Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners  Ted Lilly A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Jonathan Niese and Ted Lilly throw a 1 hitter. Aubrey Huff and Gaby Sanchez's hit 2 bingers each. Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust. BATTERS Sean Rodriguez - 9% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 2 HRS / 5 RBI / .478 BA I really like what we're seeing from this kid. Riding a 14 game hitting streak, he's boosted his average from a measly .245 to respectable .288. He even had a 9 game tear of 1 run per game. We'll see exactly how good Rodriguez is in the next few weeks, but if he's gonna do it anywhere it will be on the hard hitting Rays. Gaby Sanchez - 7% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 3 HRS / 7 RBI / .409 BA A big guy who can hit for power that is owned in under 10% of leagues? Slightly larger than Cody Ross, we may have a winner on our hands. Ryan Spilborghs - 1% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 3 HRS / 3 RBI / .625 BA Well we all know that playing in Colorado always produces big numbers but not for a part-time player. He's got real competition in the OF with CarGo and Hawpe but if Smith doesn't produce Spillborghs could see increased time. Good numbers for the week but let's not get crazy here. Brennan Boesch - 36% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 3 HRS / 5 RBI / 1 SB / .360 BA A fantastic start for a fantastic rookie. The average, homers and rbi's are all there. Only category that is low is the runs, but they will come. Aubrey Huff - 30% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 3 HRS / 7 RBI / .348 BA Huff is starting to heat up and must I remind you that we are only 1 year removed from 32 homers? 6 of his 10 bingers have come in the last month. The potential is absolutely there. Erick Aybar - 46% of Y! Leagues 6 R / 3 RBI / 2 SB / .419 BA Switching to the leadoff spot has turned things around for Aybar. Aybar wont ever get you homers or rbis but if you lack runs and stolen bases he's your guy. Aybar already has 11 stolen bases - he had 14 in twice as many at bats in '09. 12 multi-hit games in the past month too. Garrett Jones - 55% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 2 HRS / 4 RBI / 2 SB / .333 BA Garrett grabbed everyone's attention last year with monster numbers in half a season. The beginning of this year hasn't been all-star worthy but he's started to heat up again. In the past 12 games, Jones has 7 multi-hit games and 5 homers. He's also raised his average 39 points in the last month. PITCHERS Ted Lilly - 51% of Y! Leagues 16 IP / 1 W / 11 K / 0.56 ERA / 0.38 WHIP What a week for Lilly! First a 4 hitter, 1 run game against MIL then a shutout, 1 hitter against CHW. The Wins have been few and far between but can you really blame a pitcher with a sub 3 ERA? 8 Quality Starts out 10. He is a MUST in all leagues right now. Jason Hammel - 9% of Y! Leagues 15.1 IP / 2 W / 9 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.98 WHIP Hammel is on a lot of people's watch-lists as a break through for 2010. He has put the groin injury behind him and dominated the past two starts, giving up zero runs and only 3 runs in the past 4. (for more detailed numbers see Tommy Landry's take - The Fantasy Fix Roundtable: Post All-Star Break Targets) Jonathon Niese - 9% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.11 WHIP Santana seriously needed the backup after getting absolutely nothing from Perez and Maine, so Niese and Pelfrey have stepped it up. A 1-hitter against San Diego has him on everyone's watch list… is another dominant game in order against the lowly Indians? Couldn't pick a better team to follow up against! Justin Masterson - 7% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.44 WHIP The potential is certainly there and his last game against his former team sure was magical (CG, 2 hits). My only concern is that Masterson has only pitched over 7 innings twice this year. Batters are hitting .287 against him and he has a crazy high WHIP (1.64). I won't say his last game was a fluke but I will need a bunch more quality starts to get on this train. Wade LeBlanc - 11% of Y! Leagues 13IP / 2 W / 6 K / 0.69 ERA / 1.15 WHIP After 4 straight losses, Wad has turned it around the last two only giving up 1 run in 13 innings. The Padres pitching this year has been outstanding, and LeBlanc is right there in the mix. A high WHIP but a low ERA, keeps me with a watchful eye. Joel Piñeiro - 25% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 1.00 ERA / 0.67 WHIP I've said it before and I'll say it again - Pineiro is a ROLLERCOASTER! He pitches 1 good game he gives up 6 runs the next. He pitches 2 great games, he give up 9 the next. I don't have the stomach for him. As many weeks that he will win for you, he will singlehandedly lose the rest. Someday, Joel, someday. Gavin Floyd - 51% of Y! Leagues 14 IP / 1 W / 17 K / 1.29 ERA / 1.00 WHIP 2008 may be the best we will ever get from Floyd, but there is a reason why he was the Phillies 1st round pick. He has amazing control and can win a game without dominating the batters. Two solid starts in row hopefully has Floyd back on track. Higher owned, but still worth taking a peek to see if he's out there. Is Niese the real deal? Will Lilly keep it up? Leave a comment or reply to us on Twitter. Twitter.com/fantasyfix_evan or Twitter.com/thefantasyfix Tags: Waiver Wire, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, The Fantasy Fix, Must or Bust, Fantasy Marx, MLB, NL, AL, Sean Rodriguez, Gaby Sanchez, Ryan Spilborghs, Brennan Boesch, Aubrey Huff, Erick Aybar, Garrett Jones, Ted Lilly, Jason Hammel, Jonathon Niese, Justin Masterson, Wade LeBlanc, Joel Piñeiro, Gavin Floyd, Mike Pelfrey, Johan Santana, Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez, Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, Los Angels Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Saint Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox.  Troy Glaus A quick look at last week's Fantasy Baseball top performing and least owned players on the waiver wire. Since no one else is, we are giving Armando Galarraga a no-hitter. Glaus is finally back to his dominant ways on the red hot Braves and Smoak is coming around. Plus 2 young stud pitchers in Toronto. Can they really keep it up for another week? Check out who's a Must or a Bust. BATTERS Troy Glaus - 59% of Y! Leagues 8 R / 4 HRS / 10 RBI / .308 BA Glaus should be owned in all leagues now. As long as Troy can stay healthy he will produce and playing for the red hot Braves has certainly helped his numbers. Looks like Glaus is on his way to at least 2008 numbers (69/27/99) and we can certainly pray for 2006 numbers (105/28/104). 5 homers in the past 7 games... Chris Coghlan - 47% of Y! Leagues 7 R / 1 HR / 3 RBI / 1 SB / .533 BA This is Coghlan's first real sign of quality numbers in 2010. He's got a lot of catching up to do – even after batting over .500 this last week he is still hitting a measly .262. Hopefully the sophomore slump is over and we can have faith again in the 2009 NL ROY. Bill Hall - 2% of Y! Leagues 8 R / 1 HR / 5 RBI / 2 SB / .368 BA A great utility guy but until we see that Hall can get a permanent spot on a roster, don't expect anything like his 2006 stats (101/35/85). Justin Smoak - 12% of Y! Leagues 7 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / .444 BA After a huge jump in ownership from the callup, owners dropped Smoak as quick as Tyson dropped Sphinx. In the past week Smoak has raised his average 37 points. He's the was the Rangers top hitting prospect this year so it looks like a little patience was needed. Keep a very close eye, ownership will easily double if he puts up one more solid week. Kevin Kouzmanoff - 9% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 3 HR / 6 RBI / .400 BA It's highly unlikely Kouz can put up better numbers in Oakland than he did two years ago in San Diego (71/23/84/.260). Only a viable option in deep leagues. Delmon Young - 13% of Y! Leagues 3 R / 2 HR / 9 RBI / 1 SB / .321 BA Minnesota has been waiting for Young to wakeup since acquiring him in 2008. A thinner Delmon has so far produced solid numbers. It certainly helps to play with all-star hitters like Mauer and Morneau. PITCHERS Armando Galarraga - 13% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 3 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.00 WHIP We at The Fantasy Fix don't much care for Jim Joyce's poor eyesight and Selig being his usual mule-self, so we are changing the WHIP line from 0.11 to a perfect ZERO. Congrats Armando, you are a standup guy and as deserving as your halfway decent counterpart Dallas Braden. Don't expect any more games like this though out of Galarraga any time soon - he's only pitched 3 shutouts in his career with only 1 over 7 innings. Brandon Morrow- 11% of Y! Leagues 14 IP / 1 W / 9 K / 1.29 ERA / 0.71 WHIP Morrow is jumping on the Blue Jay bandwagon with Marcum and Cecil. 2 quality starts in a row and a handful of relatively good games. He held the two best hitting teams in the league (TAM & NY) to 7 hits over 14 innings. Morrow has 4 good pitches and one thing is for sure - he can strike batters out (74 in 64 innings). Yes he's been tagged for 6 runs against Boston and then against Arizona but he's also thrown a handful of gems. I'm predicting good things for Morrow here on out. Brett Myers - 16% of Y! Leagues 13.2 IP / 1 W / 16 K / 1.98 ERA / 1.17 WHIP Brett is one of those Vets who has good years and then decent years, but never terrible. He can get you 10-13 wins and even 150-175Ks, but he also owns a career 4.31 ERA. Certainly a player worth owning while he's hot but also an easy player to drop if he starts affecting your teams stats. Good in the ERA and Ks so far but batters are hitting a whopping .275 off him and unfortunately thats not a new thing with him. Tommy Hunter - 4% of Y! Leagues 9 IP / 1 W / 4 K / 1.00 ERA / 0.56 WHIP In Hunter's first game of the season he absolutely manhandled Tampa for a complete game 5 hitter plus it's the 2nd of his career. With Derek Holland on the DL, he has at least 1 more game to prove he belongs in the rotation. Feldman and Harden haven't pitched well so far, but its doubtful they are going anywhere. It will be interesting to see how this plays out if Hunter pitches another gem. Felipe Paulino - 2% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 7 K / 1.12 ERA / 0.88 WHIP After losing his first 6 games, Paulino has put up 4 quality starts in a row, but playing for the last place Astros has only amounted to 1 win. If Paulino was on a team that could actually win, we might be looking at a 7-1 instead of a 1-7 record. But he not on a winning team and he will struggle to get Wins all season. Brett Cecil - 34% of Y! Leagues 8 IP / 1 W / 5 K / 1.12 ERA / 0.75 WHIP I'm finally a believer in this guy. 4 solid starts in a row, the last being a total dominance over the Yankees. He only has one really bad game and all the rest have been quality starts. I say pick Cecil up now before its too late. Do you think Galarraga will breakout this year or go back to his usual self? Leave a comment or reply to us on Twitter. Twitter.com/fantasyfix_evan or Twitter.com/thefantasyfix Tags: Waiver Wire, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, The Fantasy Fix, Must or Bust, Fantasy Marx, MLB, NL, AL, Troy Glaus, Chris Coghlan, Bill Hall, Justin Smoak, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Delmon Young, Armando Galarraga, Brandon Morrow, Brett Myers, Tommy Hunter, Felipe Paulino, Brett Cecil, Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres  Rajai Davis A quick look at Week 8's top performing and least owned players. Max Scherzer's 14Ks, Brett Cecil on a roll and more. Who will continue the hot streak in week 9? BATTERS Drew Stubbs - 20% of Y! Leagues 6 R / 2 HRS / 6 RBI / .435 BA So when is a .235 season average a good thing? Its good when you've raised your average 32 points in the past week. Stubby move from leadoff to the bottom of the lineup has taken the pressure off and we are slowly seeing why he is one of the better 2nd year players out there. With his speed and power we should see some continued success. Angel Pagan - 20% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 1 HR / 2 RBI / 4 SB / 360 BA In 343 AB last season Angel stole 14 bases and already has 9 (4 coming this week) in only 176 AB. He can maintain close to a .300 average so as long as he can find the ABs over the course of the season, he should be able to put up decent numbers. Omar Minaya said Beltran is still 4-6 weeks away from returning giving Pagan decent fantasy value for another month or longer. Seth Smith - 5% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 3 HRS / 6 RBI / .353 BA In slightly over 300 AB last season Smith put up awesome numbers and everyone is excited to see what he can do with 500+ AB. If Smith actually gets that many at bats, he'd be on pace to hit around 30 homers and 90 runs/rbis. Like all Rockies, playing in Colorado vs Away has been night day (7 hrs .333 avg vs 1 hr .200 avg) Rajai Davis - 50% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 5SB .381 BA In less than 400 AB last year Davis swiped 41SB. In only 167 AB this year he already has 20 and is leading the league. Rajai's average dipped to a low .212 towards the end of April but he's raised it 50 points. It's beyond me why he would only be owned in half of leagues. Just having him for the 1 category should be enough. Jason Kubel - 50% of Y! Leagues 4 R / 2 HRS / 7 RBI / .375 BA Again another player only owned in 50% of leagues. A slow start had a lot of owners drop him early on but for a guy who hit 28 hrs / 103 rbis / .300 avg in '09, there isn't a reason in the world why he won't pick it up from here on out. Juan Uribe - 54% of Y! Leagues 5 R / 2 HRS / 4 RBI / .429 BA There aren't that many 3 position players to begin with and Juan is one of the deserving ones on your roster. Uribe slowed down in early may but has picked it up this past week raising his average back up to .288. Corey Hart - 50% of Y! Leagues 3 R / 3 HRS / 8 RBI / .240 BA 5 bingers in the past 8 games has gotten Hart back on the radar. His low average is a bummer and has been for the past two years but he has already matched his 12 homers of 2009 in 369 at bats less. PITCHERS Brett Cecil - 16% of Y! Leagues 15.1 IP / 2 W / 10 K / 1.17 ERA / 0.52 WHIP Brett's last two starts have been…DOMINANT. His past three starts have all been wins and only gave up 4 runs in 21 2/3 innings. Owners were starting to catch on until his blow up game against the Rangers for 8 runs in 2 innings but Brett seems to have gotten past that and is on his way to a superb season. You have to keep a radar on any guy who can strike out 10. 16% owned, come on! Carlos Silva - 44% of Y! Leagues 7 IP / 1 W / 11 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.20 WHIP Silva is 7-0 and had his strongest outing of the year against the Cardinals giving up zero runs and whiffing 11. What more does a guy gotta do to get on your team? Max Scherzer - 30% of Y! Leagues 5.2 IP / 1 W / 14 K / 0.00 ERA / 1.06 WHIP Dontrelle Willis down, Max Scherzer up. When Max got the demotion two weeks ago he had a 7.29 ERA and had only struck out 26 in 42 innings. He clearly needed to go back to basics. It was no fluke Scherzer had 174 Ks last year. 14 Ks in only 5.2 innings against the A's on Sunday! If you wait to see what he does in his next game, he might not be there. Add him now and take the risk, hopefully Max is Back! Anibal Sanchez - 21% of Y! Leagues 13 IP / 2 W / 13 K / 1.38 ERA / 1.15 WHIP Anibal is now 5-2 for the year with a sub 3.00 era. He has won 4 straight giving up 4 runs in 26.3 innings and 28K. Anibal is about as hot as any pitcher out there right now. Luke Gregerson - 15% of Y! Leagues 4 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.00 WHIP If you're looking for a middle reliever to even out your numbers Gregerson may be your guy. He only has 1 win for the season but in 27 innings he's struck out 32. His WHIP is only .43 and batters are hitting a measly .109. Hisanori Takahashi - 23% of Y! Leagues 6 IP / 1 W / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.83 WHIP After being promoted from the bullpen, Hisanori has pitched 12 scoreless innings, stuck out 11 and walked 1. With injuries to Niese, Maine and Perez - Takahashi has the opportunity to prove he belongs in the rotation. STILL ROLLING AND STILL AVAILABLE? SAY WHAATTT? Johnny Cueto - 69% of Y! Leagues 6 IP / 1 W / 9 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.83 WHIP I usually try to keep this under 50% or so owned but Cueto at this point should be owned in all leagues. 4 straight wins (one of them being a CG 1 hitter) has shot Cueto back to the top. The only thing we have to watch for is his performance in the 2nd half after his poor 2nd half in 2009. Mat Latos - 62% of Y! Leagues 6 IP / 1 W / 8 K / 3.00 ERA / 1.17 WHIP Another guy who just has to be owned in every league. His 1 hitter was just the beginning of good things. I expect Latos to dominate the remainder of the season. Do you think Scherzer is back for good? Will Davis lead the league in swipes? Leave a comment or reply to us on Twitter. Twitter.com/fantasyfix_evan or Twitter.com/thefantasyfix Tags: Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, The Fantasy Fix, Must or Bust Fantasy Marx, MLB, NL, AL, Drew Stubbs, Angel Pagan, Seth Smith, Rajai Davis, Jason Kubel, Juan Uribe, Corey Hart, Brett Cecil, Carlos Silva, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Luke Gregerson, Hisanori Takahashi, Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins | CategoriesAll  ArchivesFebruary 2012 |
