Athlon looks back at another weekend of fantasy baseball action.
Stay tuned each week to Athlon Sports for a 2012 Fantasy Baseball Weekend Waiver Wire every Monday and a Weekend Rundown every Thursday.
The first weekend is in the books.
No, the New York Mets are not going to finish 162-0 and David Wright will not lead the majors in hitting (.667). No, the Red Sox and Yankees are not going to go winless and finish tied for last in the AL East. No, the Rangers will not finish 12th in the American League in runs scored. No, Miguel Cabrera and Matt Kemp won’t finish as the No. 1 and 2 fantasy players in baseball – okay, well, that one could be 100% true.
So the first weekend of action is more about kicking back and enjoying the fact that America’s pastime is back in action. So be sure to take the current fantasy baseball rankings with a grain of salt. Yet, it doesn’t mean that we can learn a few things to tweak our rosters.
Each weekend, Athlon will analyze the hottest names from around the fantasy diamond and break down who needs to be added to your roster or who needs to be ignored. Here is how the rankings shake out after one weekend of action:
Week 1's Top 25 Hitters:
| Name | Pos. | Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | BA | OPS | |
| 1. | Matt Kemp | OF | LAD | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .412 | 1.213 |
| 2. | Miguel Cabrera | 1B | DET | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .455 | 1.806 |
| 3. | Carlos Pena | 1B | TB | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 1.654 |
| 4. | Yoenis Cespedes | OF | OAK | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .308 | 1.477 |
| 5. | Eric Hosmer | 1B | KC | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | .286 | 1.000 |
| 6. | Carlos Beltran | OF | STL | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | .389 | 1.143 |
| 7. | Rafael Furcal* | SS | STL | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .526 | 1.234 |
| 8. | Alex Avila | C | DET | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .417 | 1.500 |
| 9. | Corey Hart | OF | MIL | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .444 | 2.101 |
| 10. | Jay Bruce | OF | CIN | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .273 | 1.341 |
| 11. | Nick Markakis | OF | BAL | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 2.111 |
| 12. | Starlin Castro | SS | CHC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .385 | .847 |
| 13. | Prince Fielder | 1B | DET | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .417 | 1.346 |
| 14. | Cameron Maybin | OF | SD | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .294 | .839 |
| 15. | Adam LaRoche* | 1B | WAS | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .417 | 1.379 |
| 16. | David Freese | 3B | STL | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .421 | 1.000 |
| 17. | Dustin Ackley | 2B | SEA | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | .316 | .790 |
| 18. | Austin Jackson | OF | DET | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .571 | 1.482 |
| 19. | Emilio Bonifacio | OF | FLA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .777 |
| 20. | Zack Cozart | SS | CIN | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .545 | 1.765 |
| 21. | Evan Longoria | 3B | TB | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .600 | 1.792 |
| 22. | Kelly Johnson | 2B | TOR | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .357 | 1.097 |
| 23. | Shane Robinson* | OF | STL | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 1.834 |
| 24. | Chone Figgins* | 3B | SEA | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .412 | 1.000 |
| 25. | Dee Gordon | SS | LAD | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .222 | .578 |
* - unowned in the Athlon Sports Fantasy League
Find Your Middle Infield Help Now
Cincinnati’s Zach Cozart is had a top 25 weekend after hitting in the two-hole all three games of Opening Weekend. That puts the rookie directly in front of Joey Votto, Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce. Don’t buy Top-10 shortstop value just yet, but he certainly has the bat to be an adequate producer at a shallow position all season long.
Washington’s Ian Desmond also had a key weekend, hitting with a .385/.429/.462 line for the weekend. He led off all three games and has a chance to provide big return on investment when it comes to stolen bases and runs scored in a much-improving line-up. But he could also easily get to double-digit dingers and a sound slash-line.
St. Louis’ Rafael Furcal might have been the biggest surprise of the weekend, however, don’t go wasting a top waiver priority on the aging shortstop. He has topped the 400 at-bat mark only one time since 2007 and has failed to top the 200 AB plateau in three of the last five years. He should be helpful when in the line-up, but like much of the Cardinals' batting order, he needs to stay fully healthy to be valuable.
Kelly Johnson, Aaron Hill, Chris Getz and Rueben Tejada all had solid first weekends that require more observation time.
Yoenis Cespedes is For Real
Normally, it takes time for imports to get acclimated with the speed, control and raw talent of big league pitching. Well, Cespedes is putting that myth to bed as he stroked three home runs in his first four games. He has seven RBIs and has the raw athletic ability to swipe some bases too. I cannot imagine the Cuban defector didn’t get drafted in your league, but if he happens to be sitting on your wire, do not hesistate to snap him up.
Week 1's Top 25 Pitchers:
| Name | Team | IP | W | SV | K | ERA | WHIP | |
| 1. | Chad Billingsly | LAD | 8.1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0.00 | 0.48 |
| 2. | Jared Weaver | LAA | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| 3. | Roy Halladay | PHI | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.25 |
| 4. | Frank Francisco | NYM | 3.0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.67 |
| 5. | Jeff Samardzija* | CHC | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1.04 | 0.46 |
| 6. | Fernando Rodney | TB | 1.2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 7. | Zack Greinke | MIL | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0.00 | 0.57 |
| 8. | Lance Lynn* | STL | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1.35 | 0.45 |
| 9. | Clayton Richard* | SD | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.29 |
| 10. | Lucas Harrell | HOU | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.43 |
| 11. | Justin Masterson | CLE | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1.12 | 0.38 |
| 12. | Justin Verlander | DET | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.00 | 0.38 |
| 13. | Duane Below* | DET | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.38 |
| 14. | Jake Arrieta* | BAL | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.57 |
| 15. | Kyle Lohse* | STL | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1.23 | 0.27 |
| 16. | Johnny Cueto | CIN | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.71 |
| 17. | Aroldis Chapman | CIN | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.33 |
| 18. | Brandon League | SEA | 3.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.67 |
| 19. | Jeremy Hellickson | TB | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.81 |
| 20. | Jason Hammel* | BAL | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1.12 | 0.63 |
| 21. | Javy Guerra | LAD | 2.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| 22. | Ryan Dempster* | CHC | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1.17 | 0.65 |
| 23. | Josh Lindblom* | LAD | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| 24. | Jim Johnson | BAL | 1.2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.00 | 1.20 |
| 25. | Luis Perez* | TOR | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.75 |
* - unowned in the Athlon Sports Fantasy League
Bullpen Happenings
It wasn’t a good weekend for bullpens. Boston’s group is in complete disarray and I would not be rostering any of the names (Alfredo Aceves, Mark Melancon, Franklin Morales, Vincente Padilla) who could get the potential save chances. Look for the Red Sox to go after a rental in early summer — aka Jonathan Broxton, Huston Street, Frank Francisco, Matt Thornton, etc. Speaking of...
Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain and Addison Reed were all preseason picks to land in the closing role on the Southside of Chicago. Yet, it appears that Hector Santiago, who pitched a perfect ninth on Saturday to earn his first career save, might be the guy to close games for the White Sox. Robin Ventura still might play the match-ups, but Santiago is worth an add this week.
With Drew Storen still a few weeks away from returning to action — should his elbow injury not be (gasp) anything worse — it appears that Davey Johnson’s decision to platoon Brad Lidge and Henry Rodriguez was no empty threat. Both Lidge and Rodriguez were effective this weekend, combining for 2.0 scoreless innings with five total strikeouts and one save for each.
-by Braden Gall
