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Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: Aug 13

Athlon Sports takes a look at what took place this past weekend on the fantasy baseball diamond.

By: Braden Gall | 8/13/12, 10:35 AM EDT

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.

Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters of last week (8/6-8/13):

  Name Team Pos. R HR RBI SB BA OPS
1. Josh Hamilton TEX OF 7 3 9 1 .455 1.493
2. Adrian Gonzalez BOS 1B/OF 6 2 14 0 .393 1.290
3. Chase Headley SD 3B 6 3 11 0 .333 1.110
4. Billy Butler KC 1B 7 4 7 0 .333 1.305
5. Dustin Pedroia BOS 2B 8 0 4 2 .500 1.221
6. Desmond Jennings OF TB 9 1 2 2 .474 1.366
7. Alex Gordon KC OF 6 3 4 2 .333 1.022
8. Jon Jay* STL OF 6 0 4 2 .536 1.188
9. Erick Aybar* LAA SS 7 1 3 2 .458 1.105
10. Justin Morneau* MIN 1B 6 3 7 0 .375 1.194
11. B.J. Upton TB OF 6 2 7 2 .250 .933
12. Matt Kemp LAD OF 4 1 5 3 .400 1.044
13. Eric Chavez* NYY 3B 6 2 5 0 .536 1.651
14. Freddie Freeman ATL 1B 7 2 9 0 .273 1.021
15. Manny Machado* BAL SS 5 3 7 0 .375 1.500
16. Buster Posey SF C/1B 4 3 7 0 .421 1.466
17. Nick Markakis BAL OF 5 3 7 0 .323 1.063
18. Michael Bourn ATL OF 6 1 6 1 .375 1.083
19. Neil Walker PIT 2B 5 2 9 0 .321 .940
20. Mike Trout LAA OF 2 2 7 3 .261 .855
21. Ryan Howard PHI 1B 4 3 8 0 .304 1.072
22. Michael Morse WAS 1B/OF 5 3 6 0 .323 1.023
23. Matt Wieters BAL C 4 3 8 0 .292 1.162
24. Justin Ruggiano* MIA OF 4 2 4 2 .333 .985
25. A.J. Pierzynski CWS C 4 2 6 0 .435 1.197

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Manny Being Manny

The Orioles are going to be really good next season. The latest in a long line of very talented draft picks to make the big league roster, shortstop/third baseman Manny Machado made quite the debut this weekend. The third overall pick in the 2010 draft flew through the minors and made his debut last Thursday with a 2-4, 3B, R line to start. He then hit two bombs in his second game and then another on Sunday. He has six hits in 16 at-bats with 7 RBI and 5 runs. Just as important, he struck out only twice. Manny has huge upside and could easily be the next big star in the game. At a premium position, he is worth adding — especially, in keeper leagues.

Coors Field Delight

Look to add Marlins and Brewers this week as both will visit Coors Field in Colorado. With Giancarlo Stanton back in the line-up and Jose Reyes setting the table, names like Carlos Lee and Justin Ruggiano are worth a look this week. It also could be good news for the surging Rickie Weeks and always underrated Jonathan Lucroy. Get the rest of your Fish and Brewcrew into the line-up.

Aging First Basemen

Justin Morneau and Ryan Howard have seen former first-round fantasy value plummet to the waiver wire. Yet, both had solid weeks last week and both could provide plenty of pop down the stretch. Certainly, both could find the DL as well, but both seem to be showing signs of life, and while healthy, will provide HR, RBI and OPS help to most rosters.

Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:

  Name Team IP W K ERA WHIP
1. James Shields TB 24.0 2 19 1.13 0.50
2. Roy Halladay PHI 15.0 2 13 0.60 0.40
3. Clay Buchholz* BOS 24.0 2 13 1.13 0.71
4. A.J. Burnett PIT 23.1 2 25 2.31 0.86
5. Jered Weaver LAA 22.1 2 17 2.01 0.76
6. Patrick Corbin* ARI 19.0 2 19 1.89 0.89
7. Adam Wainwright STL 16.0 2 14 1.13 0.81
8. Alex Cobb* TB 14.0 2 13 1.29 0.71
9. Miguel Gonzalez* BAL 21.2 2 17 2.08 0.88
10. Yovani Gallardo MIL 21.2 3 17 2.08 1.11
11. Clayton Kershaw LAD 13.1 2 14 2.03 0.68
12. R.A. Dickey NYM 16.0 1 19 1.69 0.75
13. Johnny Cueto CIN 22.1 2 21 2.82 0.90
14. David Price TB 22.0 1 21 2.05 0.86
15. Mike Fiers MIL 14.0 2 13 1.93 0.79
16. Cole Hamels PHI 16.0 1 15 1.13 0.81
17. Mat Latos CIN 14.1 1 13 0.63 0.77
18. Chris Sale CWS 14.2 2 18 2.45 0.95
19. Kris Medlen* ATL 16.2 2 16 1.62 1.08
20. Paul Maholm* ATL 16.0 1 13 1.69 0.69

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

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

1. Doug Fister, DET: at MIN (Tues.) 74% owned
Has posted six straight quality starts with 41 strikeouts and only six walks over that span to go with four wins. The Twins won't get to him this time around.

2. Scott Diamond, MIN: at SEA (Sat.) 50% owned
It is absurd that Diamond is owned in only half of the leagues out there. Do people not know he has 10 wins, a 2.97 ERA and 1.19 WHIP — for the TWINS!?!

3. Jarrod Parker, OAK: at KC (Tues.) 44% owned
Parker has loads of upside and has shown flashes of brilliance, but needs to be more consistent. He has ironed out the free-pass issues of late (25K: 6BB last 5 starts). Gets second start against Cleveland.

4. Chad Billingsly, LAD: at PIT (Tues.) 64% owned
Has had a great last month with four straight wins in four straight starts. He has cut down on the baserunners and the Ks will always be there. Gives you a second start at Atlanta this week too.

5. Clayton Richard, SD: SF (Sun.) 19% owned
Gets two starts this week (at ATL, Tues.) and is coming off a complete game shutout of the Cubs. Won't pile up Ks but should help ratios against these two offenses this week.

Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:

  Name Team IP W SV K HLD ERA WHIP
1. Aroldis Chapman CIN 16.2 0 16 32 0 0.00 0.54
2. Huston Street (DL) SD 12.0 0 8 13 0 0.00 0.08
3. Fernando Rodney TB 15.1 0 11 13 0 0.59 0.78
4. Jason Motte STL 10.2 1 6 17 0 0.84 0.66
5. J.J. Putz ARI 9.2 0 6 14 0 0.00 0.41
6. Tom Wilhelmsen* SEA 13.0 0 9 15 0 2.77 0.77
7. Kenley Jansen LAD 12.1 1 7 17 0 1.46 1.14
8. Jonathan Papelbon PHI 14.2 1 7 16 0 1.84 1.09
9. Joel Hanrahan PIT 10.2 0 10 19 0 3.38 1.22
10. Craig Kimbrel ATL 9.0 0 5 16 0 1.00 0.44
11. Greg Holland* KC 15.0 3 3 16 1 2.40 1.13
12. Rafael Soriano NYY 11.2 0 7 12 0 2.31 0.77
13. Joel Peralta* TB 14.1 0 0 22 9 0.63 0.56
14. Kevin Jepsen* LAA 11.2 2 1 11 4 0.77 0.69
15. Steve Cishek* MIA 10.1 0 6 11 0 0.87 0.87
16. Jeremy Affeldt* SF 14.2 1 2 14 1 1.84 0.68
17. Glen Perkins* MIN 12.2 1 3 13 1 2.84 0.71
18. Octavio Dotel* DET 11.1 1 0 10 4 0.79 0.44
19. Vinnie Pestano* CLE 14.0 0 0 13 7 0.00 0.71
20. Jose Valverde DET 12.0 0 6 10 0 3.00 0.92

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Keep up to date all season long with Athlon Sports' Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid

- by Braden Gall

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