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Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: June 4

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

By: Braden Gall | 6/4/12, 2:30 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 and a Weekend Rundown every Thursday.

Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters of last week (05/28-6/4):

  Name Team Pos. R HR RBI SB BA OPS
1. Dexter Folwer* COL OF 13 2 8 3 .556 1.599
2. Carlos Gonzalez COL OF 8 4 9 1 .500 1.531
3. Hanley Ramirez MIA SS/3B 6 4 6 1 .500 1.625
4. Jason Kipnis CLE 2B 7 1 6 5 .320 .810
5. Michael Cuddyer COL 1/2/OF 8 2 9 1 .364 1.208
6. Curtis Granderson NYY OF 7 3 8 2 .286 .989
7. Mark Trumbo LAA 1/3/OF 6 3 7 1 .375 1.302
8. Justin Smoak* SEA 1B 7 3 8 0 .348 1.266
9. Carlos Quentin SD OF 5 3 7 0 .474 1.650
10. Willin Rosario* COL C 7 2 7 2 .318 .984
11. David Ortiz BOS UTL 5 3 7 0 .385 1.294
12. Darwin Barney* CHC 2B 6 2 5 1 .400 1.278
13. Mike Trout LAA OF 5 1 8 1 .385 1.138
14. Gordon Beckham* CHW 2B 5 3 8 0 .310 .954
15. Alejandro De Aza CHW OF 3 0 3 5 .421 .963
16. Josh Willingham MIN OF 5 2 8 0 .348 1.162
17. Marco Scutaro* COL 2B/SS 5 1 7 2 .320 .873
18. Miguel Cabrera DET 1B/3B 6 2 4 1 .355 1.117
19. Ty Wiggington* PHI 1/3/OF 4 2 8 0 .389 1.333
20. Joey Votto CIN 1B 6 1 4 0 .526 1.302
21. Hunter Pence PHI OF 7 2 4 1 .318 1.021
22. Paul Goldschmidt* ARI 1B 3 3 4 0 .455 1.475
23. Lucas Duda* NYM 1B/OF 4 3 8 0 .286 1.074
24. Justin Maxwell* HOU OF 5 2 5 0 .500 1.745
25. Kirk Nieuwenhuis* NYM OF 8 1 4 0 .400 .979

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Not Buying the Post-Hype

Justin Smoak and Gordon Beckham have been on fantasy sleeper lists for the last four or five seasons. And not once has it paid off for either of them. Both had excellenet weeks but I am not going anywhere near them. With options at both 1B and 2B a-plenty on the wavier wire, I would much rather take a risk with a player like Lucas Duda or Paul Goldschmidt. And while Darwin Barney and Marco Scutaro don't inspire greatness, I might lean that direction over Beckham too. I would watch list both and monitor the situation closely. Beckham, in the 2-hole for the White Sox, has a much better chance of performing than Smoak.

Colorado Avalanche

Dexter Fowler has avoided his dreaded yearly demotion and went directly to fantasy production. He can contribute in all five categories - especially with his ability to get extra base hits in that big park. And the Rockies offense has really taken off of late. Todd Helton has a nine-game hitting streak, CarGo is raking, Michael Cuddyer has delivered all season and names like Scutaro and Willin Rosario have started to produce. This team always has solid fantasy options, and when scouring the waiver wire, there are much worse places to look for help than Denver, Colo. If you are in backstop trouble, Rosario might be a must add. Fowler should already be rostered and Helton is a solid option if you are desperate at 1B.

The Farm Update

Names to keep an eye on who have either been called-up already or will be joining the big league ranks soon: San Diego switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal, Seattle flame-throwing reliever Stephen Pryor (2.1 IP, 4 K, ER thus far), Arizona's future ace Trevor Bauer, Dodgers outfielder Alex Castellanos (2/5, 2 RBI in debut) and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo should all be fantasy contributors in the second half of the season.

DL Watch

- Brian McCann took a pitch off the knee and is questionable for Tuesday's game against Miami.

- Adam Jones is still battling with his wrist issue but it doesn't seem to have affected him much while Nick Markakis landed on the 15-day DL on Friday with a hand injury.

- Dustin Pedroia still hasn't played since May 28 but has yet to land on the DL. At first, his thumb injury didn't seem too serious, yet a trip to the DL might still be in the cards.

- Alejandro De Aza didn't play Sunday due to an illness and is questionable for Tuesday's game against Toronto.

- Carlos Santana is on the 7-day DL and should begin a Class A rehab stint on Monday — which could get him back onto the field by Tuesday.

- Aramis Ramirez is questionable for Tuesday's game against his former club the Cubs with a quad issue. Ryan Braun is also dealing with both a hip and Achilles issue and is also listed as questionable for Tuesday.

- Desmond Jennings is set to return to the field on Tuesday for the Rays against the Yankees.

- Joe Mauer is questionable for Monday's game against Kansas City with a thumb problem.

- It is doubtful he will miss the start but King Felix Hernandez is questionable for his Wednesday start against the Angels.

- Edwin Encarnacion is questionable for Tuesday's game against the White Sox with a wrist issue.

- Jemile Weeks is questionable with his own hip injury.

- Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Kemp both landed on the 15-day DL last Thursday.

- According to the official Tigers website, Alex Avila, Joaquin Benoit and Gerald Laird are all questionable for Tuesday's game against the Indians.

- Santiago Casilla is dealing with a knee injury as Sergio Romo has picked-up a pair of vulture saves. It doesn't seem to be too serious.

- Huston Street has begun his Class A rehab assignment and could return to the closer's role in San Diego sometime this weekend.

- JJ Putz is questionable this week with an illness...and a sore neck...and control issues.

Top 20 fantasy Starting Pitchers of last two weeks:

  Name Team IP W K ERA WHIP
1. R.A. Dickey NYM 23.1 3 30 0.39 0.69
2. Chris Sale CHW 23.1 3 29 1.16 0.69
3. Johan Santana NYM 24.1 2 22 1.48 0.78
4. James McDonald PIT 21.0 2 21 0.86 0.81
5. C.J. Wilson LAA 20.0 2 17 0.45 0.75
6. Dan Haren LAA 21.0 2 23 1.29 1.00
7. Brian Matusz* BAL 19.2 2 21 2.29 0.92
8. Homer Bailey* CIN 15.0 2 11 1.80 0.67
9. Gio Gonzalez WAS 17.2 2 24 2.55 1.13
10. A.J. Burnett* PIT 12.1 2 9 0.00 0.97
11. Matt Cain SF 21.2 3 19 2.49 1.20
12. Jonathon Niese* NYM 18.2 2 22 2.41 1.12
13. Felix Doubront* BOS 18.1 2 22 2.95 1.04
14. Matt Harrison* TEX 21.2 3 14 2.49 1.11
15. Madison Bumgarner SF 21.2 1 28 2.91 1.06
16. Shaun Marcum MIL 20.0 2 22 3.60 1.00
17. Felipe Paulino* KC 18.1 2 18 1.47 1.31
18. Mike Leake* CIN 18.2 2 17 2.41 1.12
19. Cole Hamels PHI 22.2 2 22 3.57 1.06
20. Adam Wainwright STL 21.1 2 17 3.38 0.98

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

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

1. James McDonald, PIT: Kansas City (Sat.)
Was the No. 4 starter in the game over the last two weeks and will get a start against the Royals.

2. Homer Bailey, CIN: Pittsburgh (Tues.)
When he gets hot, he is very useful. He's won three straight with 18 Ks and only 3 BBs.

3. Edwin Jackson, WAS: NY Mets (Wed.)
Has allowed three or fewer earned runs in five straight starts.

4. Bud Norris, HOU: St. Louis (Wed.)
Was scortching hot until last start (9 ER) with four total ER in five previous starts. Lots of Ks.

5. Philip Humber, CHW: Houston (Sun.)
Gets two starts this week, including a home games against lowly Astros.

Top 20 fantasy Relief Pitchers of last month:

  Name Team IP W SV K HLD ERA WHIP
1. Aroldis Chapman CIN 14.2 2 5 27 3 0.00 0.48
2. Fernando Rodney TB 14.0 1 8 13 0 1.29 0.79
3. Ernesto Frieri LAA 14.1 0 4 30 3 0.00 0.84
4. Craig Kimbrel ATL 9.0 0 7 14 0 0.00 0.33
5. Santiago Casilla SF 13.2 1 10 11 1 1.32 1.17
6. Jim Johnson BAL 12.1 0 9 6 0 1.46 0.57
7. Joel Hanrahan PIT 12.0 1 10 12 0 2.25 1.08
8. Kenley Jansen LAD 10.0 2 4 14 1 0.90 0.80
9. Nate Jones* CHW 18.0 3 0 20 2 1.50 0.94
10. Joe Nathan TEX 12.0 0 5 16 0 0.75 0.75
11. Alfredo Aceves BOS 17.0 0 9 15 0 3.18 1.00
12. Heath Bell MIA 13.0 2 9 10 2 3.46 1.31
13. Tyler Clippard* WAS 10.2 0 4 15 4 0.84 0.56
14. Chris Perez CLE 9.2 0 7 12 0 1.86 0.83
15. Sergio Romo* SF 8.2 1 2 15 6 1.04 0.46
16. Jonathan Broxton KC 12.0 0 8 7 0 1.50 1.17
17. Jake McGee* TB 10.2 2 0 12 3 0.84 0.75
18. Scott Atchison* BOS 16.1 0 0 13 2 0.00 0.80
19. Rafael Soriano NYY 10.0 0 7 10 2 1.80 1.10
20. Jason Motte STL 13.1 2 4 9 0 3.38 0.98

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

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