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 (6/18-6/24):
| Â | Name | Team | Pos. | R | HR | RBI | SB | BA | OPS |
| 1. | Will Middlebrooks | BOS | 3B | 6 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .625 | 2.007 |
| 2. | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .440 | 1.157 |
| 3. | Jason Heyward | ATL | OF | 9 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .522 | 1.672 |
| 4. | Aaron Hill* | ARI | 2B | 7 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .462 | 1.483 |
| 5. | Justin Upton | ARI | OF | 7 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .391 | 1.119 |
| 6. | Jason Kubel | ARI | OF | 9 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .348 | 1.233 |
| 7. | Jose Bautista | TOR | 3B/OF | 7 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .318 | 1.328 |
| 8. | Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | 1B | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | .421 | 1.478 |
| 9. | Jimmy Rollins | PHI | SS | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | .391 | 1.332 |
| 10. | Andrew McCutchen | PIT | OF | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .500 | 1.515 |
| 11. | Brett Lawrie | TOR | 3B | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | .320 | 1.134 |
| 12. | Edwin Encarnacion | TOR | 1B/3B | 7 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 1.262 |
| 13. | Cody Ross* | BOS | OF | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .318 | 1.212 |
| 14. | Aramis Ramirez | MIL | 3B | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 1.577 |
| 15. | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 1.410 |
| 16. | Nelson Cruz | TEX | OF | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .333 | 1.154 |
| 17. | Colby Rasmus* | TOR | OF | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .320 | 1.134 |
| 18. | Robinson Cano | NYY | 2B | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .286 | 1.232 |
| 19. | Matt Holliday | STL | OF | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | .478 | 1.169 |
| 20. | Miguel Montero | ARI | C | 3 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .455 | 1.182 |
| 21. | Coco Crisp* | OAK | OF | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .350 | .930 |
| 22. | Josh Reddick | OAK | OF | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | .316 | 1.067 |
| 23. | Ryan Braun | MIL | OF | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | .348 | .966 |
| 24. | Chris Nelson* | COL | 2B/3B | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .429 | 1.239 |
| 25. | Gordon Beckham* | CHW | 2B | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | .409 | 1.071 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
The Waiver Wire
The middle infield has been a serious point of contention for one of my teams this fall. Names like Weeks, Kendricks and even Brian Roberts were got a shot to hold down my "MI" spot. But Aaron Hill was the add this weekend. His complete roto line plays in any format (35-10-32-6, .291/853). Don't expect his average to stay that high as he is a career .268 hitter, but he has always had pop in his bat. With the way Justin Upton and the rest of D-Backs appear to be playing, Hill could easily get to 20/20 this year. Don't be scared to snag this Rattler.
Chris Nelson needs regular playing time before I add him to my contending roster but Gordan Beckham is making a huge push to be owned. He is the classic post-hype prospect. He has gotten a hit in 24 of his last 28 games and has raised his average from .204 to .249 over that span. And over the last month, only four other two-sackers have more RBI than his 18.
MiLB Debuts
I cautioned about many potential 2012 debuts coming soon and it looks like two big ones will happen this week. Anthony Rizzo is slated to join the Cubs for his Northside debut on Tuesday against the Mets while Trevor Bauer is scheduled to start Thursday in his major league debut against the Braves. He is a two-start pitcher next week. Both are must-adds at this point. They are both worth the risk. Still no word on Wil Myers as the Royals are apparently shopping some pieces to make room for the MiLB slugger.
The Greek God of Walks
I am not going to lie. Kevin Youkilis is one of my favorite players of this generation. He can play just about any position on the diamond effectively and is a middle of the order on-base machine. Yet, he has dealt with a multitide of injuries over the past few seasons and it has significantly dropped his fantasy value. So after a four-game hitting streak that raised his average from .212 to .233, he has been shipped to the White Sox. He will never be the 91-29-115-3 (.312/.958) roto montster of 2008, but he has plenty of talent. And in that order, his bat should play for the rest of the year. His .875 career OPS over 3,352 at-bats will come around at some point â and can likely be had for very cheap at the moment.
Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:
| Â | Name | Team | IP | W | K | ERA | WHIP |
| 1. | Johnny Cueto | CIN | 23.0 | 3 | 24 | 0.78 | 0.74 |
| 2. | R.A. Dickey | NYM | 24.0 | 2 | 28 | 1.88 | 0.50 |
| 3. | Jason Hammel | BAL | 17.0 | 2 | 18 | 0.00 | 0.47 |
| 4. | Wade Miley | ARI | 22.2 | 2 | 23 | 1.19 | 0.75 |
| 5. | Justin Masterson* | CLE | 16.0 | 2 | 18 | 0.00 | 0.63 |
| 6. | Matt Cain | SF | 21.0 | 2 | 25 | 1.71 | 0.71 |
| 7. | Justin Verlander | DET | 24.0 | 3 | 18 | 1.88 | 0.83 |
| 8. | Ervin Santana* | LAA | 17.0 | 1 | 15 | 1.06 | 0.35 |
| 9. | Michael Fiers* | SEA | 15.1 | 1 | 14 | 0.59 | 0.78 |
| 10. | Ivan Nova* | NYY | 20.1 | 2 | 17 | 1.33 | 1.08 |
| 11. | Clayton Richard* | SD | 21.1 | 3 | 15 | 1.69 | 1.17 |
| 12. | Jose Quintana* | CHW | 21.1 | 1 | 14 | 0.42 | 0.98 |
| 13. | Madison Bumgarner | SF | 21.2 | 2 | 22 | 2.49 | 1.02 |
| 14. | Yu Darvish | TEX | 16.0 | 2 | 19 | 2.25 | 1.06 |
| 15. | Stephen Strasburg | WAS | 13.0 | 2 | 18 | 2.77 | 1.00 |
| 16. | Jake Westbrook* | STL | 15.0 | 2 | 6 | 1.80 | 0.73 |
| 17. | Zach Greinke | MIL | 24.0 | 1 | 18 | 1.88 | 0.96 |
| 18. | Max Scherzer | DET | 20.0 | 1 | 27 | 2.70 | 1.05 |
| 19. | James McDonald | PIT | 15.0 | 1 | 10 | 0.69 | 0.77 |
| 20. | Jarrod Parker* | OAK | 13.0 | 1 | 10 | 0.69 | 0.77 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
Top 5 Spot Starts for the Week (Tues. - Sun.):
1. Vance Worley, PHI: Pittsburgh (Tues.)
Has been sterling in last three starts (3 ER, 20.0 IP) and faces worst offense in MLB.
2. Jarrod Parker, OAK: at Seattle (Wed.)
Has this line over the last 30 days: 32.0 IP, 2 W, 24 K, 1.97 ERA, 1.09 WHIP.
3. Trevor Bauer, ARI: at Atlanta (Thur.)
His upside is totally worth a shot in his first-ever major league start.
4. Andy Pettitte, NYY: Cleveland (Wed.)
Finally got hit around a bit this weekend, but has been near Pettitte of old. In AP I trust.
5. A.J. Burnett, PI: at Philadelphia (Thurs.)
Take away May 2 disaster at St. Louis (12 ER on 12 H in 2 2/3 IP) and Burnett is 8-1 with a 1.87 ERA in 11 starts, nine of those being quality starts.
Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:
| Â | Name | Team | IP | W | SV | K | HLD | ERA | WHIP |
| 1. | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | 11.0 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.18 |
| 2. | Tyler Clippard | WAS | 11.1 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.53 |
| 3. | Tom Wilhelmsen* | SEA | 12.2 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.63 |
| 4. | Joel Hanrahan | PIT | 11.1 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1.59 | 0.88 |
| 5. | Ernesto Frieri | LAA | 13.1 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.90 |
| 6. | Brayan Villarreal* | DET | 16.2 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 1.62 | 0.84 |
| 7. | Jonathan Broxton | KC | 12.0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0.75 | 1.33 |
| 8. | Rafael Soriano | NYY | 11.0 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0.82 | 1.18 |
| 9. | Jim Johnson | BAL | 12.0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.50 |
| 10. | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 10.2 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2.53 | 0.94 |
| 11. | Joe Nathan | TEX | 12.0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.83 |
| 12. | Heath Bell | MIA | 9.2 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 0.93 | 1.14 |
| 13. | Chris Perez | CLE | 9.0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 2.00 | 0.78 |
| 14. | Ronald Belisario* | LAD | 14.2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1.84 | 0.89 |
| 15. | J.J. Putz | ARI | 9.0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2.00 | 0.78 |
| 16. | Rex Brothers* | COL | 10.2 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 0.84 | 0.66 |
| 17. | Huston Street | SD | 7.1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2.45 | 1.09 |
| 18. | Joaquin Benoit* | DET | 13.2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 0.66 | 0.88 |
| 19. | Sean Marshall* | CIN | 12.2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 0.71 | 0.63 |
| 20. | Alex Burnett* | MIN | 11.1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.44 |
* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues
- by Braden Gall
