Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: Aug 27

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

Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters of last week (8/20-8/26):


	Name	Team	Pos.	R	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OPS
1.	Adrian Beltre	TEX	3B	7	5	9	0	.433	1.533
2.	Jason Heyward	ATL	OF	5	4	8	2	.393	1.254
3.	Allen Craig	STL	1/2/OF	8	2	9	0	.440	1.220
4.	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	OF	7	5	8	0	.286	1.167
5.	Dustin Pedroia	BOS	2B	6	2	6	3	.357	1.133
6.	Ian Kinsler	TEX	2B	7	2	9	0	.407	1.278
7.	Aaron Hill	ARI	2B	5	3	7	2	.308	1.049
8.	Pedro Ciriaco*	BOS	2/3/SS	8	1	4	1	.464	1.126
9.	Jimmy Rollins	PHI	SS	5	1	7	3	.346	.956
10.	Mitch Moreland*	TEX	1B/OF	6	2	10	0	.360	.986
11.	Andre Ethier	LAD	OF	7	2	6	0	.440	1.200
12.	Angel Pagan*	SF	OF	10	0	2	2	.414	1.090
13.	Michael Saunders*	SEA	OF	5	3	6	1	.333	1.345
14.	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B	6	3	6	1	.296	1.116
15.	Derek Jeter	NYY	SS	7	3	4	0	.357	1.129
16.	Alex Rios	CHW	OF	6	1	3	3	.348	.984
17.	Edwin Encarnacion	TOR	1B/3B	5	3	6	0	.368	1.350
18.	Matt Holliday	STL	OF	6	0	8	0	.444	1.111
19.	Jacoby Ellsbury	BOS	OF	5	0	4	3	.379	.848
20.	Josh Hamilton	TEX	OF	6	1	9	0	.333	.886
21.	John Mayberry*	PHI	1B/OF	5	2	7	0	.346	.910
22.	Jonathan Lucroy*	MIL	C	3	2	7	0	.467	1.489
23.	Will Venable*	SD	OF	7	0	3	1	.476	1.236
24.	Jon Jay*	STL	OF	6	0	3	2	.407	.888
25.	Jose Reyes	MIA	SS	4	2	6	1	.300	.964

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Backstop Help

It is a shame that his wife dropped a suitcase on his hand, because Jonathan Lucroy was assured of his best season of his short three-year career. He is now up to .333 with a .937 OPS on the season with eight dingers in 207 at-bats. But if you need help at catcher for the final title push, the Brewers backstop is a great place to start.

Outfield Speed

If you need some outfield speed, it looks like there are plenty of options on the waiver wire. Will Venable (18 SB, 6% owned), Coco Crisp (28 SB, 43%), Ben Revere (30 SB, 38%), Cameron Maybin (24 SB, 39%) and even Juan Pierre (32 SB, 19%) should be available in most formats and all can provide a bump in one or two categories. Crisp offers the most complete line while Revere will help your team batting average as well.

First Baggers

Mitch Moreland (23% owned), Garrett Jones (56%) and John Mayberry (5%) could all be useful for teams with first base or corner infield concerns. Jones is the No. 5-rated 1B over the last month while Moreland and Mayberry have had great last weeks. All three can offer some pop while not hurting your team in any other way. They are low-risk, high-reward pick-ups.

Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:


	Name	Team	IP	W	K	ERA	WHIP
1.	Max Scherzer	DET	21.0	3	27	0.86	0.90
2.	Kyle Kendrick	PHI	21.2	3	16	0.83	0.69
3.	Felix Hernandez	SEA	16.2	2	17	0.54	0.48
4.	Hiroki Kuroda	NYY	25.0	2	15	1.44	0.56
5.	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	24.0	2	26	2.63	0.71
6.	Matt Harrison	TEX	22.1	2	14	1.21	0.67
7.	Adam Wainwright	STL	20.2	3	19	1.74	0.87
8.	David Price	TB	15.0	1	16	0.00	0.53
9.	Kris Medlen*	ATL	16.0	2	13	0.00	0.81
10.	Madison Bumgarner	SF	23.1	2	21	1.93	0.90
11.	Matt Cain	SF	15.0	2	11	1.20	0.73
12.	Yovani Gallardo	MIL	14.0	2	18	1.93	0.86
13.	Matt Harvey*	NYM	13.2	1	17	1.32	0.73
14.	Wade Miley	ARI	14.0	2	10	0.64	0.93
15.	J.A. Happ*	TOR	13.1	1	15	1.35	0.75
16.	Cliff Lee	PHI	21.1	1	26	2.53	1.03
17.	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	12.0	2	17	2.25	1.08
18.	Mark Buehrle*	MIA	19.2	3	11	2.29	1.07
19.	Chad Billingsley (DL)*	LAD	18.1	2	10	1.47	1.04
20.	Zach Britton*	BAL	13.2	2	11	1.32	1.10

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* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Top 5 Spot Starts for the Week (Mon. - Sun.):

1. Kris Medlen, ATL: at SD (Tues.) 65% owned
I told you to start him last week and he delivered 7.0 shutout innings with a 7:1 K:BB ratio and the win. Now, he gets San Diego.

2. Jonathon Niese, NYM: @ PHI (Thur.) 61% owned
This kid has been lights-out for the Mets of late. The last time he didn't finish the sixth inning was May 28 and has 11 quality starts in his last 15 starts, including three straight. He has allowed three ER in three starts this year against the Phillies.

3. Derek Holland, TEX: at CLE (Sun.) 53% owned
The lefty from Ohio has been frustrating to owners all season with his up and down play. But he has been solid in his last three outings: 1-0, 20.1 IP, 17 K, 3 BB, 8 ER. He also gets the Rays on Monday.

4. Tommy Milone, OAK: at CLE (Tues.) 40% owned
On the year, Milone has useful 3.87 and 1.19 ERA and WHIP season-long ratios. He last time out, he pitched 8.0 innings with one earned run. He has 36 Ks and only 4 BBs in his last six starts. He gets Boston on Sunday.

5. Hisashi Iwakuma, SEA: at Min (Tues.) 21% owned
He hasn't allowed four earned runs in a start since July 15 and has allowed one earned run over his last two outings. He has won three of his last four decisions and gets the Twins offense. He gets the Angels on Sunday.

Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:


	Name	Team	IP	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP
1.	Aroldis Chapman	CIN	13.1	1	11	19	0	0.68	0.75
2.	JJ Putz	ARI	11.2	0	8	16	0	0.00	0.51
3.	Greg Holland	KC	14.1	2	7	12	0	0.63	0.84
4.	Fernando Rodney	TB	14.0	0	11	12	0	0.64	0.86
5.	Jim Johnson	BAL	10.0	0	9	8	0	0.00	0.40
6.	Jonathan Papelbon	PHI	12.1	1	7	15	0	0.73	0.81
7.	Grant Balfour	OAK	12.2	0	7	13	2	1.42	0.39
8.	Tyler Clippard	WAS	13.0	0	10	13	0	2.08	1.08
9.	Rafael Betancourt	COL	11.1	0	9	6	0	0.79	0.88
10.	Kenley Jansen	LAD	8.1	1	5	13	0	2.16	0.48
11.	Wilton Lopez	HOU	12.2	2	2	12	0	1.42	0.71
12.	Rafael Soriano	NYY	11.2	0	7	9	0	1.54	0.86
13.	Glen Perkins*	MIN	11.2	1	3	11	0	1.54	0.60
14.	Jose Valverde	DET	12.0	0	7	10	0	2.25	0.83
15.	Jason Motte	STL	9.2	0	7	16	0	2.79	1.03
16.	Craig Kimbrel	ATL	8.0	0	2	18	0	0.00	0.50
17.	Huston Street (DL)	SD	6.1	0	4	6	0	0.00	0.00
18.	Adam Occtavino*	COL	23.1	3	0	18	1	2.70	1.03
19.	Luke Gregerson*	SD	14.0	0	1	14	9	0.00	0.71
20.	Steve Cishek*	MIA	11.0	0	8	11	0	2.45	1.18