Athlon Sports takes a look at what took place this past weekend on the fantasy baseball diamond.
Stay tuned each week to Athlon Sports for a 2012 Fantasy Baseball Weekend Waiver Wire every Monday and a Weekend Rundown every Thursday.
Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters of last week (6/25-7/01):
| Name | Pos. | Team | R | HR | RBI | SB | BA | OPS | |
| 1. | Alex Rios | OF | CHW | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | .467 | 1.234 |
| 2. | Ryan Zimmerman | 3B | WAS | 7 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .364 | 1.158 |
| 3. | Robinson Cano | 2B | NYY | 5 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .414 | 1.311 |
| 4. | Michael Morse | 1B/OF | WAS | 9 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .484 | 1.210 |
| 5. | Daniel Murphy* | 1/2/3B | NYM | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .409 | 1.346 |
| 6. | Ian Kinsler | 2B | TEX | 8 | 2 | 5 | 2 | .355 | 1.000 |
| 7. | Hunter Pence | OF | PHI | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .414 | 1.280 |
| 8. | Ike Davis* | 1B | NYM | 7 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .320 | 1.188 |
| 9. | Giancarlo Stanton | OF | MIA | 6 | 3 | 6 | 1 | .381 | 1.337 |
| 10. | Carlos Ruiz | C | PHI | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | .234 | 1.175 |
| 11. | Michael McKenry* | C | PIT | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .455 | 1.435 |
| 12. | Ian Desmond | SS | WAS | 7 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .414 | 1.383 |
| 13. | Alexi Amarista* | 2B | SD | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .412 | 1.412 |
| 14. | Shin-Soo Choo | OF | CLE | 7 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .458 | 1.331 |
| 15. | Andrew McCutchen | OF | PIT | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .407 | 1.170 |
| 16. | David Ortiz | 1B | BOS | 9 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .320 | 1.219 |
| 17. | Edwin Encarnacion | 1B/3B | TOR | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2 | .391 | 1.113 |
| 18. | Austin Jackson | OF | DET | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .387 | 1.022 |
| 19. | Mike Trout | OF | LAA | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | .345 | .988 |
| 20. | Jose Bautista | 3B/OF | TOR | 7 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .250 | .966 |
| 21. | Josh Hamilton | OF | TEX | 5 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .269 | 1.002 |
| 22. | Freddie Freeman | 1B | ATL | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .476 | 1.282 |
| 23. | Miguel Cabrera | 1B | DET | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .462 | 1.255 |
| 24. | Elvis Andrus | SS | TEX | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .357 | .848 |
| 25. | Tyler Moore* | OF | WAS | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .381 | 1.172 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
The Waiver Wire
The Mets have been beaten and battered all season long but are starting to show signs of fantasy life. Only four players in the majors have more RBI over the last month than Ike Davis' 24. He has raised his average from .158 (June 8) to a still paltry .203 today. Yet, he has been moved to clean-up and David Wright is hitting in front of him. He should be in for a big second half. His teammate and position guru, Daniel Murphy (1B/2B/3B) is third in MLB in RBI over the last week. He finally connected on his first three dingers and can provide solid production across the board at weak positions (2B and 3B). Keep an eye on the Mets offense.
MLB Debuts
Anthony Rizzo appears to be the real deal in Chicago. He has five hits in his first 19 at-bats thus far in 2012, including four RBI and one huge home run. He may not help your team batting average much, but it looks like he can add some pop in the power cats. Trevor Bauer pitched four innings while allowing two runs with three whiffs and three walks. He gets a nice start this week against the Padres on Tuesday. Wil Myers connected on his 27th homer of the year and will be a busy man during the All-Star break. Can the Royals get this kid into the line-up please?
Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:
| Name | Team | IP | W | K | ERA | WHIP | |
| 1. | R.A. Dickey | NYM | 23.0 | 2 | 26 | 1.96 | 0.65 |
| 2. | Travis Wood* | CHC | 20.2 | 3 | 15 | 0.44 | 0.82 |
| 3. | Felix Hernandez | SEA | 16.0 | 2 | 23 | 0.56 | 0.81 |
| 4. | Tommy Milone* | OAK | 21.0 | 2 | 13 | 0.86 | 0.81 |
| 5. | Michael Fiers* | MIL | 14.1 | 1 | 19 | 0.00 | 0.77 |
| 6. | Hirok Kuroda | NYY | 21.0 | 2 | 24 | 2.14 | 0.95 |
| 7. | Justin Masterson* | CLE | 22.0 | 2 | 18 | 2.05 | 0.82 |
| 8. | David Price | TB | 21.0 | 3 | 19 | 2.57 | 0.95 |
| 9. | Johan Santana | NYM | 20.0 | 2 | 14 | 0.90 | 0.95 |
| 10. | Mat Latos | CIN | 22.0 | 2 | 24 | 3.68 | 0.73 |
| 11. | Yu Darvish | TEX | 22.0 | 2 | 29 | 3.68 | 0.95 |
| 12. | Zack Greinke | MIL | 15.0 | 2 | 7 | 1.20 | 0.67 |
| 13. | Lucas Harrell* | HOU | 16.0 | 1 | 16 | 0.56 | 0.94 |
| 14. | Travis Blackley* | OAK | 22.0 | 1 | 12 | 1.64 | 0.73 |
| 15. | Matt Harrison | TEX | 19.0 | 3 | 14 | 1.42 | 1.26 |
| 16. | Jered Weaver | LAA | 12.2 | 2 | 9 | 0.71 | 0.87 |
| 17. | Clayton Kershaw | LAD | 21.1 | 1 | 24 | 1.71 | 1.10 |
| 18. | Aaron Cook* | BOS | 14.0 | 2 | 2 | 1.29 | 0.57 |
| 19. | Mike Leake* | CIN | 24.0 | 1 | 13 | 1.50 | 0.92 |
| 20. | Chris Sale | CHW | 15.0 | 1 | 12 | 1.20 | 0.80 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
Top 5 Spot Starts for the Week (Tues. - Sun.):
1. Max Scherzer, DET: Minnesota (Tues.)
He has won two of his last three starts with 26 Ks and only 3 BBs over that span.
2. Jarrod Parker, OAK: Seattle (Sun.)
The youngster has been stellar with two earned runs and 19 Ks over last three starts.
3. Trevor Bauer, ARI: San Diego (Tues.)
He was about as good as can be expected in a shorten MLB debut. Look for more on Tuesday.
4. Tommy Milone, OAK: Seattle (Fri.)
The soft-tosser has been the No. 4-rated pitcher in the league over last two weeks.
5. Edwin Jackson, WAS: San Francisco (Wed.)
Got shelled last time out (3.0, 8 ER), but posted nine straight quality starts before that.
Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:
| Name | Team | IP | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | |
| 1. | Tom Wilhelmsen* | SEA | 16.2 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.72 |
| 2. | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | 11.0 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0.82 | 0.27 |
| 3. | Tyler Clippard | WAS | 12.2 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.63 |
| 4. | Huston Street | SD | 11.1 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 1.59 | 0.79 |
| 5. | Joel Hanrahan | PIT | 11.0 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 1.64 | 0.91 |
| 6. | Brayan Villarreal* | DET | 16.0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 1.69 | 0.75 |
| 7. | Ronald Belisario* | LAD | 14.0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0.64 | 0.64 |
| 8. | Ernesto Frieri | LAA | 11.1 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 0.00 | 1.06 |
| 9. | Jason Motte | STL | 15.0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 3.00 | 0.93 |
| 10. | Jim Johnson | BAL | 12.2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2.13 | 0.79 |
| 11. | Rafael Soriano | NYY | 11.1 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1.59 | 1.32 |
| 12. | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 10.2 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 2.53 | 0.56 |
| 13. | Joe Nathan | TEX | 12.0 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.92 |
| 14. | Ryan Cook* | OAK | 11.0 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 3.27 | 1.18 |
| 15. | Rex Brothers* | COL | 14.2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4 | 1.23 | 0.75 |
| 16. | Casey Janssen* | TOR | 10.0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0.90 | 0.60 |
| 17. | Sean Marshall* | CIN | 12.2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 0.71 | 0.71 |
| 18. | David Hernandez* | ARI | 10.2 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 1.69 | 0.75 |
| 19. | Fernando Rodney | TB | 10.0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0.90 | 0.80 |
| 20. | Jared Burton* | MIN | 13.1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 0.68 | 0.98 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
Keep up to date all season long with Athlon Sports' Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid
- by Braden Gall
