Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: Apr. 30

Stay tuned each week to Athlon Sports for a 2012 Fantasy Baseball Weekend Waiver Wire every Monday and a Weekend Rundown every Thursday.

I gave owners the standard "don't panic" speech last week and Jay Bruce completely proved me right. On April 18, Bruce was hitting .191, went 14 straight games without a home run and hadn't stolen a base all year. Yet, Bruce belted a home run in each of his last four games, raised his average to .296 since April 18, stole three bases and drove in 11 runs. In a matter of 10 days, Bruce vaulted himself into the top five of all fantasy hitters. Never fear Albert Pujols owners, he will come around. So will Jose Reyes, Justin Upton, Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Bautista.

Here are your current Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters:

	Name	Pos	Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OPS
1.	Matt Kemp	OF	LAD	23	11	24	2	.425	1.383
2.	Josh Hamilton	OF	TEX	20	9	25	2	.395	1.182
3.	Edwin Encarnacion	1B/3B	TOR	14	7	20	4	.310	1.005
4.	Adam Jones	OF	BAL	17	6	12	4	.330	.973
5.	Jay Bruce	OF	CIN	14	7	17	3	.296	.954
6.	Derek Jeter	SS	NYY	16	4	13	1	.396	.954
7.	Ian Kinsler	2B	TEX	23	5	12	2	.297	.972
8.	David Ortiz	UTL	BOS	14	4	18	0	.395	1.098
9.	Miguel Cabrera	1B/3B	DET	15	7	20	0	.298	.939
10.	Evan Longoria	3B	TB	15	4	19	2	.325	.994
11.	Curtis Granderson	OF	NYY	18	8	16	0	.272	1.002
12.	Carlos Gonzalez	OF	COL	16	4	16	4	.288	.892
13.	Paul Konerko	1B	CHW	13	5	15	0	.383	1.123
14.	David Wright	3B	NYM	14	3	14	2	.397	1.094
15.	Starlin Castro	SS	CHC	10	0	13	10	.326	.774
16.	Carlos Beltran	OF	STL	17	5	11	5	.256	.838
17.	Josh Willingham	OF	MIN	13	5	15	1	.353	1.163
18.	Desmond Jennings	OF	TB	18	3	9	6	.273	.757
19.	Jose Altuve*	2B	HOU	15	1	10	4	.373	.984
20.	Yadier Molina	C	STL	14	4	15	2	.316	.961
21.	Nick Swisher	1B/OF	NYY	10	6	23	0	.284	.972
22.	Corey Hart	OF	MIL	16	6	13	1	.286	1.049
23.	David Freese	3B	STL	10	5	20	0	.333	.935
24.	Mike Aviles	2B/3B/SS	BOS	16	4	13	3	.284	.832
25.	Andre Ethier	OF	LAD	11	5	24	0	.277	.887

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Rookies Unite

It happened a little sooner than maybe most fantasy GMs thought, but Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are both on major league rosters before May 1. Harper already has two hits in six at bats, including a double. He showed off his arm on Saturday night in center field and will hit seventh for now. With Harper's continued growth, and Ryan Zimmerman landing on the DL, there is certainly a chance for him to move up in the order. He plays every play at 100% and his talent is painfully obvious. I doubt he is on your waiver wire, but do not even finish reading this paragraph until you at least go and see if you can still add the 19-year old to your roster.

Trout has gone hitless in his first two games (0-7), but might actually have more fantasy value than Harper this summer. Trout has batted lead-off in his first two games and has 40 games and 123 major league at-bats under his belt already. He was crushing the ball in triple-A and has forced the flailing Angels to inject some energy into the line-up. Now, if they could just figure out a way to get Mark Trumbo into the line-up everyday. As a side note, Trumbo added 3B eligibity to his "1B/OF" status this weekend. Something tells me the Angels aren't done moving pieces around just yet. 

Big Moves

Part of the reason the Halos had space to call-up Trout was the release of Bobby Abreu. The aging on-base machine could have some value if he lands, oh let's say, in Boston or New York. Keep an eye on this guy as he generally can contribute to most fantasy rosters across the board.

Part of the reason the Nats called-up Harper was Ryan Zimmerman landing on the disabled list. After an MRI on his shoulder was negative, the Nationals are expecting their stud third-sacker to be back when eligible. It doesn't appear to be a long-term injury and it certainly explains his slow start to the season. But fans and fantasy GMs alike have to be nervous about a guy who has spent the better part of two seasons on the DL.

DL Watch

-Zimmerman lands on 15-day DL after second anti-inflammatory injection. Brad Lidge has also landed on the 15-day DL with an abdominal issue. Henry Rodriguez is clearly the full-time closer.

-Jim Johnson is dealing with an illness that has made him questionable of late for late-inning usage. Pedro Strop looks like the hand-cuff option for now.

-After seeing multiple experts, Carl Crawford appears to be out for at least a few months. For you keeper leagues, look to pick him up off the wire in late June.

-Kevin Youkilis is questionable for this week's early games with a back issue.

-Paul Konerko is questionable for Tuesday's game with a neck injury.

-Shin Soo-Choo hasn't seen the field since April 24 and is questionable with a hamstring issue for Tuesday's game.

-Josh Hamilton left Sunday night's game with back stiffness and is questionable, however, it appears he will give it a try today. Monitor closely!

-Carlos Lee is questionable for Tuesday with an ankle issue.

Current Top 25 fantasy pitchers:

	Name	Team	IP	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP
1.	Jake Peavy	CHW	37.2	3	0	33	0	1.67	0.69
2.	Lance Lynn	STL	27.0	4	0	24	0	1.33	0.81
3.	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	32.0	2	0	34	0	1.12	0.88
4.	Kyle Lohse	STL	33.1	4	0	21	0	1.62	0.84
5.	Jered Weaver	LAA	35.2	3	0	36	0	2.02	0.95
6.	Justin Verlander	DET	37.1	2	0	35	0	2.41	0.86
7.	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	29.2	2	0	34	0	1.82	0.94
8.	Roy Halladay	PHI	37.0	3	0	24	0	1.95	0.95
9.	Joe Saunders*	ARI	30.0	2	0	18	0	0.90	0.87
10.	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	30.1	2	0	28	0	1.78	0.89
11.	Matt Garza	CHC	33.2	2	0	36	0	2.67	0.89
12.	Colby Lewis	TEX	32.2	3	0	29	0	1.93	1.04
13.	Matt Cain	SF	30.1	1	0	26	0	2.37	0.63
14.	Johnny Cueto	CIN	32.1	3	0	22	0	1.39	1.05
15.	Jason Hammel*	BAL	26.0	3	0	25	0	1.73	1.00
16.	Fernando Rodney	TB	9.1	1	7	8	0	0.96	0.64
17.	Bartolo Colon*	OAK	42.2	3	0	26	0	2.53	0.94
18.	Wade Miley*	ARI	21.0	3	0	15	0	1.29	0.81
19.	Aroldis Chapman	CIN	12.1	2	0	21	3	0.00	0.73
20.	Brandon Beachy	ATL	25.2	2	0	20	0	1.05	0.97
21.	Kenley Jansen*	LAD	14.2	2	2	24	5	2.45	0.89
22.	Jordan Zimmerman	WAS	27.0	1	0	16	0	1.33	0.70
23.	Cole Hamels	PHI	26.1	3	0	30	0	2.73	1.03
24.	Jake Westbrook*	STL	27.2	3	0	15	0	1.30	1.01
25.	Felix Hernandez	SEA	36.1	2	0	33	0	2.48	1.02

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

The Ninth Inning

The ninth inning revolving door has been a clear issue for most fantasy teams this year. Matt Thornton, Sergio Santos, Brian Wilson, Drew Storen and Jordan Walden were all quality options come draft day. Hector Santiago is now closing games for the White Sox, however, Addison Reed has yet to allow a run and could figure in should Santiago struggle. Santos, Wilson and Storen are all out for the time being. Brad Lidge was going to close in place of Storen but is hurting himself now. Henry Rodriguez and his unpredictable 100-mph fastball is now firmly entrenched in the ninth. And aging lefty Scott Downs is filling in for Walden while he tries to regain his control. Walden won't be used in even eighth or seventh innning roles either (so don't expect holds) for the time being. He should be the closer at somepoint, but track his "down-by-six-run sixth inning outings."

Keep this link handy as Athlon keeps its Closer Grid up to date all season long.

Timm-Ah!

One of my favorite pitchers of the last decade has been Tim Hudson. He made his season debut this weekend and his tidy line (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) allowed him to get the win. First, it was against the Pirates, so he will deal with some lumps. But Huddy should be rostered and close to a near-start every time to the bump. With Jair Jurrjens down on the farm, it appears that Randall Delgado's spot in the rotation appears to be safe. 

Waiver Wire Starts This Week

1. Lance Lynn, STL: at PIT (Wed.) Stats:
2. Wandy Rodriguez, HOU: NYM (Wed.) Stats:
3. Mark Buehrle, MIA: at SD (Sat.) Stats:
4. Daniel Bard, BOS: OAK (Wed.) Stats:
5. Jeff Niemann, TB: SEA (Thur.) Stats:
5a. Jonathan Niese, NYM: at HOU (Tues.) Stats:

-by Braden Gall

 Follow @bradengall