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 (6/11-6/17):
| Name | Team | Pos. | R | HR | RBI | SB | BA | OPS | |
| 1. | Brandon Moss* | OAK | 1B/OF | 7 | 5 | 10 | 0 | .348 | 1.530 |
| 2. | Trevor Plouffe* | MIN | 2/3/SS/OF | 8 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .391 | 1.587 |
| 3. | Brandon Phillips | CIN | 2B | 4 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .407 | 1.170 |
| 4. | Mark Reynolds* | BAL | 1B/3B | 7 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .429 | 1.315 |
| 5. | Casey McGehee* | PIT | 1B/3B | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .435 | 1.258 |
| 6. | Ryan Braun | MIL | OF | 4 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .357 | 1.240 |
| 7. | Pedro Alvarez* | PIT | 3B | 4 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .261 | 1.146 |
| 8. | Jim Thome* | PHI | UTL | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .261 | 1.022 |
| 9. | Joey Votto | CIN | 1B | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .476 | 1.464 |
| 10. | David Murphy* | TEX | OF | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | .259 | 1.556 |
| 11. | Brandon Belt* | SF | 1B/OF | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .400 | 1.400 |
| 12. | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .435 | 1.110 |
| 13. | John Mayberry* | PHI | 1B/OF | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .316 | 1.192 |
| 14. | Kirk Nieuwenhuis* | NYM | OF | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 1.174 |
| 15. | Michael Cuddyer | COL | 1B/2B/OF | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .296 | .988 |
| 16. | Ike Davis* | NYM | 1B | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .450 | 1.192 |
| 17. | Tyler Moore* | WAS | OF | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | .667 | 2.583 |
| 18. | Seth Smith* | OAK | OF | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .333 | 1.288 |
| 19. | Cliff Pennington* | OAK | SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | .333 | .986 |
| 20. | Curtis Granderson | NYY | OF | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .308 | 1.150 |
| 21. | Steve Pearce* | BAL | 1B/3B/OF | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .381 | 1.036 |
| 22. | Adam Dunn | CHW | 1B/OF | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .235 | 1.174 |
| 23. | Scott Podsednik* | BOS | OF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .417 | .879 |
| 24. | David Ortiz | BOS | 1B | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .353 | 1.220 |
| 25. | Matt Holliday | STL | OF | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .348 | 1.139 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
The Waiver Wire
Obviously, it was a great week for the waiver wire. Hopefully, you added Pedro Alvarez for the weekend series in which he cranked four home runs. But, no, it's not time to give him another chance. But there are plenty of 3B options left on the wire. Trevor Plouffe is worth rostering if you need some short-term pop, but beware once the homers stop coming as he is a career .232 hitter. Pirate three-sacker Casey McGehee raised his average nearly 30 points over the course of his six-game hitting streak. But like his teammate Alvarez, this Pirates offense is still going to struggle to score runs and won't get to face Kansas City, Baltimore and Cleveland every week.
The name that stands out for me is Mark Reynolds. At 43% owned, he seems to be wildly underrated at this point. It is no secret as to what Reynolds will provide for your fantasy team: Home runs, RBIs, playable OPS, strikeouts and a poor batting average. Since coming back from the DL on May 28, he has raised the BA from .191 to .238, elevated the OPS from .661 to .785, has hit three dingers and drove in 12. He hasn't hit fewer than 28 homers in any of his four full major league seasons so if you need power in the second half, Reynolds is a dependable place to turn.
I need to see more from Brandon Moss, Brandon Belt, Steve Pearce and John Mayberry before I consider adding them to any of my rosters.
DL Watch
- The Braves can't catch a break (neither can my rotation) as they had to place the majors' leader in ERA (2.00) Brandon Beachy on the DL with elbow soreness. Elbow soreness is almost always worse than is seems. Handle with care.
- The BoSox also placed Josh Beckett on the 15-day DL this weekend. His shoulder has been acting up (inflammation) and his line reflected it: 21 hits, 10 ER over his last three starts.
- Scott Rolen is on a Triple-A rehab assingment and should be back either Monday or Tuesday.
- The Rockies' star OFer Carlos Gonzalez is questionable for Tuesday's game against the Phillies with a knee issue.
- The Mets placed Jason Bay on the 7-day concussion DL but he might miss more time due to a history of head injuries. This should open up playing time for the sneaky valuable Kirk Nieuwnhuis.
- The Twins' Joe Mauer is questionable for Tuesday's bout with the Pirates due to a quad issue.
- Josh Hamilton is questionable for Monday's game with San Diego with his serious illness. He appears he will be ready to go later this week though.
Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:
| Name | Team | IP | W | K | ERA | WHIP | |
| 1. | Ryan Dempster | CHC | 22.0 | 3 | 12 | 0.00 | 0.64 |
| 2. | Matt Cain | SF | 16.0 | 2 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| 3. | R.A. Dickey | NYM | 16.1 | 2 | 20 | 0.00 | 0.43 |
| 4. | Colby Lewis | TEX | 24.0 | 2 | 20 | 1.50 | 0.63 |
| 5. | Ivan Nova* | NYY | 22.2 | 3 | 15 | 0.79 | 0.84 |
| 6. | Johnny Cueto | CIN | 23.2 | 3 | 21 | 1.90 | 0.85 |
| 7. | Clay Buchholz* | BOS | 16.0 | 2 | 15 | 0.56 | 0.75 |
| 8. | Lance Lynn | STL | 13.1 | 2 | 23 | 1.35 | 0.90 |
| 9. | Wade Miley* | ARI | 15.2 | 1 | 13 | 1.15 | 0.45 |
| 10. | Andy Pettitte* | NYY | 20.1 | 1 | 24 | 1.77 | 0.93 |
| 11. | Ryan Vogelsong | SF | 21.2 | 3 | 12 | 2.08 | 0.97 |
| 12. | Matt Harrison* | TEX | 16.1 | 1 | 7 | 0.00 | 0.80 |
| 13. | Justin Masterson* | CLE | 14.0 | 1 | 15 | 0.64 | 0.86 |
| 14. | Garrett Richards* | LAA | 20.0 | 2 | 17 | 0.90 | 1.20 |
| 15. | Hiroki Kuroda* | NYY | 13.0 | 2 | 15 | 1.38 | 1.00 |
| 16. | Trevor Cahill* | ARI | 14.1 | 2 | 15 | 1.26 | 1.05 |
| 17. | Madison Bumgarner | SF | 21.2 | 2 | 20 | 2.49 | 0.97 |
| 18. | Matt Moore | TB | 13.0 | 2 | 17 | 2.77 | 0.85 |
| 19. | Zack Greinke | MIL | 22.0 | 1 | 26 | 2.05 | 1.05 |
| 20. | Stephen Strasburg | WAS | 12.0 | 2 | 21 | 3.00 | 1.00 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
Top 5 Spot Starts for the Week (Tues. - Sun.):
1. Wade Miley, ARI: Chicago (Sun.)
Get him into the line-up on Monday for Seattle if you can, as well.
2. Clay Buchholz, BOS: Miami (Tues.), Atlanta (Sun.)
A two-start week for a guy who is hot at home against those offenses?
3. Andy Pettitte, NYY: at NY Mets (Fri.)
Pitched well against Mets last weekend and is close to old self — miraculously.
4. Trevor Cahill, ARI: Seattle (Wed.)
On a roll, at home and against that offense.
5. Francisco Liriano, MIN: at Pittsburgh (Wed.)
Has been much more effective of late and the Pirates are the worst offense in baseball.
Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:
| Name | Team | IP | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP | |
| 1. | Joel Hanrahan | PIT | 12.1 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 1.46 | 0.89 |
| 2. | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | 10.0 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.20 |
| 3. | Tyler Clippard | WAS | 11.1 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.53 |
| 4. | Aroldis Chapman | CIN | 13.2 | 1 | 8 | 23 | 1 | 2.63 | 0.66 |
| 5. | Ernesto Frieri* | LAA | 13.2 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.88 |
| 6. | Brayan Villarreal* | DET | 17.0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 1.59 | 0.82 |
| 7. | Tom Wilhelmsen* | SEA | 14.1 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 1.88 | 0.70 |
| 8. | Frank Francisco | NYM | 11.1 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0.79 | 0.71 |
| 9. | Chris Perez | CLE | 10.0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0.90 | 0.80 |
| 10. | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 11.2 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 2.31 | 0.94 |
| 11. | Tim Collins* | KC | 14.0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 1.29 | 0.86 |
| 12. | Jonathan Broxton | KC | 12.0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0.75 | 1.17 |
| 13. | Rafael Soriano | NYY | 11.1 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0.79 | 1.24 |
| 14. | Santiago Casilla | SF | 9.2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0.93 | 1.14 |
| 15. | Jim Johnson | BAL | 11.0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2.45 | 0.45 |
| 16. | Fernando Rodney | TB | 13.0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2.08 | 0.68 |
| 17. | Joe Nathan | TEX | 9.0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.44 |
| 18. | Heath Bell | MIA | 11.2 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 2.31 | 1.37 |
| 19. | Jake McGee* | TB | 9.1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0.96 | 0.32 |
| 20. | Ronald Belisario* | LAD | 16.0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 1.69 | 0.94 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
