Here are seven players for your consideration to either acquire or send packing.

BUY

Carlos Lee – In his first 44 games, Lee was absolutelIn his first 44 games, Lee was absolutely dreadful. He was hitting for neither AVG (.192) nor power (5 HR in 167 ABs). But in the last two weeks, Lee has broke out of his slump in a big way and is batting .340 with 12 RBIs in 13 games. ZiPS (R) sees a .280 AVG with 15 HR and 62 RBIs the rest of the way and that might be selling him short. There is still a lot of room for growth with his BABIP (.227) and even with the awful start, when he did not hit a HR in April, his HR/FB rate is at 9.2 percent.

Ted Lilly – He got off to a late start to the season and then got knocked around in both his second and third outings of the year. But in his last six starts, Lilly has been as good as ever, even though his 0-3 mark in that frame does not show it. Lilly has recorded a Quality Start in each of those past six outings and has a 2.49 ERA over 43.1 IP. With a 4.62 xFIP, Lilly’s current owner may be in a mood to sell. Most of that number comes about because of a decrease in Ks and an increase in BB. But Lilly has picked up the pace with his strikeouts and in his last outing he did not walk a batter in 8 IP.

Clayton Richard – It is easy to see a Padres pitcher with a low ERA and an xFIP one and a quarter runs higher and make the conclusion that he is succeeding thanks to Petco Park. But Richard has pitched just as well on the road so far this season and his ERA was consistent in both April (3.00) and May (3.00). Richard has shaved nearly a full walk off his BB/9 from a year ago while his K/9 has remained steady. Some will point to his 81.0 LOB% as the main reason for his success. But Richard gets grounders, has a low LD% (16.7) and his O-Swing% is up to 28.5 percent. And he helps himself by having one of the toughest pickoff moves in the game.

SELL

Adam Dunn – One of the three true outcome kings, Dunn is walking less and hitting fewer HR this year. But the most surprising thing is his .280 AVG, which would easily be a career high. Of course, that comes with a .362 BABIP, which eclipses last year’s personal-best .324 mark. The additional base hits have Dunn just as valuable as ever with a .396 wOBA. But his fantasy value will fall when the AVG drops and unlike past years, Dunn will not prop it up with 40-HR power.

Derek Lowe – Great run support, especially early in the year, has helped Lowe to 8 W so far this season. But the rest of his fantasy numbers are underwhelming. His ERA is 5.04, his WHIP of 1.45 is just barely better than last year’s disappointing number and his K/9 of 5.28 is below-average. Lowe did real off wins in three straight outings before getting roughed up in his last start. His FIP and xFIP are three quarters of a run better than his ERA. See if that or his win total or his reputation can get someone to bite on him and take him off your hands. The slider which was such an effective pitch for Lowe while he was with the Dodgers is now a below-average offering.

Jon Rauch – After getting quality fantasy numbers from Rauch for two months, the time has come to try and sell high on Rauch and his 15 Saves. The 6-11 Rauch has done an admirable job filling in for Joe Nathan. But his WHIP is nothing special, he no longer is a big strikeout pitcher and his ERA is being propped up by a 5.9 HR/FB rate. Rauch has yet to give up a HR in 13 road innings and has allowed just 2 HR at home despite a 63.6 FB% in Target Field.

HUNCH

Troy Glaus – In the seven seasons prior to 2010, Glaus played in 115 games or fewer four times, including last year when he appeared in just 14 games and had only 29 ABs. But when healthy, Glaus has delivered consistent numbers, as good or better than the .377 OBP and .480 SLG he holds currently. Playing time is the big concern with Glaus, but he has already exceeded the amount of action he saw in two of his four injured seasons. I like Glaus’ chances to stay healthy and appear in 140 or more games this season and top his ZiPS (U) line of .271-22-92-64-1.

With all the hubub surrounding two nice prospects getting their first licks in the major leagues, let’s not neglect the waiver wire. We all need a little waiver love, and almost none of us have a certain Nationals pitcher on our wire. Instead, let’s look at a couple players that should almost definitely be on your waiver wire today.

Jason Motte, St. Louis (2%)
Okay, maybe if your league counts holds, Motte won’t be available. Then again, he only has four holds on the season, and he probably won’t be closing any time soon unless Ryan Franklin goes down with a (possibly beard-related?) injury. But it’s worth pointing out that Motte has finally harnessed some of his raw power and is pitching the best ball of his career. Coming up through the system, we all knew this converted catcher had gas (95.9 MPH fastball career), but there were questions about his secondary stuff. Questions like: Does he even have another pitch? Well, he’s still throwing the fastball over 70% of the time, so he does like to bring the heat. And he’s gone into extended periods of focusing on the secondary stuff and then forgetting about it. But he’s finally throwing the curveball regularly (10.2% this year), and though linear weights don’t love the pitch yet (-1.1 runs this year), obviously something is working in the overall package. On June 6th, he gave his first run in 9 and 2/3 innings, and during that ten-game stretch, he had a 13-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. It’s that nice walk rate (2.31), combined with his booming fastball and developing curve, that makes him an interesting ratios and strikeouts reliever on teams in deeper leagues. Especially if you’re over your innings pace already.

Milton Bradley, Seattle (4% owned)
Yeah, I know. Groan. He’s struggling through a .274 wOBA, 67 wRC+ kind of season. He’s striking out at a career-worst rate (31.4%) and walking at a career-low rate (7.8%). His ISO is his worst since he was in Montreal, and we can’t even blame his BABIP (.283) much. He’s seeing a sports psychologist, and he’s a risk to leave the team at any time. In some ways, there couldn’t be a worse candidate for your fantasy team. All of that is true, and there is very little silver lining. One okay factor is that he still has an average-ish line drive rate (18.3%), and another is that at 32 years old and of above-average athleticism, he’s not so old that we would expect a drop off this precipitous. But the final, most important piece of information regarding Bradley is this: He’s playing. Every day. Even in an 18-team, 5-OF league, all 90 starting outfielders in baseball are relevant, and leagues come deeper than this. Put him on your bench if you can because warm, starting, bodies are valuable if your league is deep enough. Then all you can do is hope he recovers some of his old form. (Hey, the psychologist thing really “worked” for John Smoltz.)

Johan Santana’s career credentials are unquestioned. The Venezuelan southpaw, a Rule V gem who won two Cy Young Awards with the Twins, has a 3.39 FIP in the majors. He’s got over a K per inning during his career, and he topped the seven WAR mark each season from 2004-2006. Santana was “merely” a four-to-five win pitcher in 2007-2008, before elbow surgery to remove bone chips ended his ’09 season early and caused him to post 2.8 WAR.

On the surface, the 31-year-old’s 2010 season looks like vintage Santana — in 78.1 innings, he’s got a 2.76 ERA. But the process behind those results isn’t as impressive.

While the Queens version of Santana in ’08 and ’09 didn’t miss bats at the same rate as his halcyon days with the Twins, he still managed swinging strike rates in excess of 11 percent (8-9% MLB average) with an overall contact rate in the 77-78% range (80-81% MLB average). This season, Santana is getting swinging strikes 9.4%, with a contact rate right around the big league average.

As a result, Santana’s strikeout rate has declined — from 7.9 batters per nine innings in ’08 and ’09 to 6.55 K/9 in 2010. His walk rate has climbed somewhat as well (2.76 BB/9, from the 2.4-2.5 BB/9 range the previous two years), though not alarmingly so. Santana’s expected FIP (xFIP), derived from a pitcher’s K’s, walks and a normalized home run per fly ball rate, is 4.48.

Now, that mark likely exaggerates the extent of Johan’s struggles. His BABIP is pretty low at .268, but Santana has generally posted lower-than average BABIP figures (.286 career). Santana gets a lot of fly balls (35.8 GB% in 2010, 37.8 GB% career), which have a lower BABIP than grounders. He induces a lot of weakly hit pop ups, with a 12.7% infield fly rate this year and a 13.2% mark for his career. Santana’s rate of stranding base runners (79.7%) is well above the 70-72% MLB average, but his career rate is 77.5%. It seems reasonable to suggest he’ll continue to have a LOB rate above the big league norm. Santana’s home run per fly ball rate (5.5%) almost assuredly will rise, though.

So, Santana hasn’t performed near as well as his ERA suggests, but probably not as poorly as his xFIP indicates. His falling K rate is worth examining further, however. The velocity on Santana’s four-seam fastball has declined again this season, as has the zip on his slider. But those aren’t the root causes for the reduced number of whiffs. Take a look at Santana’s whiff percentage by pitch over the 2008-2010 seasons (data from Trip Somers’ texasleaguers site):

Perhaps as a result of hitters not anticipating it as much, Santana has actually gotten a higher whiff rate on his four-seamer. His two-seamer has a very low whiff percentage in 2010 after getting an above average number last season. That most glaring difference, however, is the whiff rate on the changeup. Santana’s signature change got a whiff 22.4% in ’08 and 17.4% in ’09, but just 13.6% this season (12.1% MLB average). That’s a substantial drop.

Though his ERA is pristine, Johan Santana really isn’t in the conversation anymore when it comes to the absolute best starters in the game. That doesn’t mean he’s done being a quality pitcher, but he’s not fooling hitters with the same regularity these days.

Francisco Liriano, Twins

Liriano, 26, has reclaimed his place as one of the game’s elite starters. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in November of 2006, the lefty posted back-to-back ordinary seasons in 2008 (4.31 xFIP) and 2009 (4.55 xFIP), lacking the power, control and strong ground ball tendencies which allowed him to wreak havoc in ’06. He also missed time last season with elbow and forearm injuries, again calling into question his durability.

In 2010, however, Liriano has 9.41 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, a 49.5% rate of grounders and a 3.12 xFIP that ranks second to Cliff Lee among qualified AL starters. His mid-80’s slider has always been wicked — it has a +2.49 runs/100 value during his career, and is at +2.71 this season. He’s going to that breaking pitch about 36 percent of the time. But it’s Liriano’s two-seam fastball that’s making a big difference.

Liriano’s heat has been hammered for a -0.8 runs/100 mark during his career, but the pitch (up to 93.5 MPH, from 91 MPH in ’08 and ’09) has a +0.5 runs/100 value this year. He’s throwing the pitch for strikes (64.6%, 61.9% MLB average). Couple the souped-up, well-located fastball with Liriano’s untouchable slider — he’s throwing the pitch for strikes 74.7% (62.7% MLB average) and getting whiffs 24% (13% MLB average) — and you have the recipe for pitcher’s counts and little contact. Liriano’s first pitch strike percentage is 61.6% (58% MLB average) and his contact rate is 75% (80-81% MLB average).

Mike Pelfrey, Mets

Speaking of improved pitches, Pelfrey’s splitter has helped him take a step forward this season. The 6-7 sinkerballer threw his tailing low-90’s fastball nearly 80% of the time in years past, getting ground balls put few punch outs. He experimented with sliders and curves, but neither pitch has been especially effective (-0.76 runs/100 for the slider, -0.2 runs/100 for the curve).

Pelfrey has shifted his pitching strategy this season, going to his fastball about two-thirds of the time and throwing a mid-80’s splitter nearly 19 percent. He’s still keeping the ball down (a career-high 52.5 GB%), but Pelfrey’s K rate has climbed to 6.53, his best showing in the majors. While he hasn’t morphed into the ace that his ERA (2.39) suggests, Pelfrey has a quality 3.87 xFIP. His strand rate (near 83 percent) and sub-six HR/FB rate will likely rise. Still, the changes in Pelfrey’s game make him an asset to the Mets and a guy worthy of fantasy consideration.

Jay Bruce, Reds

“The Boss” entered the season as a prime rebound candidate, given his history of pulverizing minor league pitching and his strong walk and power numbers that were obscured by a low BABIP in 2009. So far, so good for Cincy’s 23-year-old right fielder: Bruce has a .368 wOBA.

He hasn’t quite displayed the light-tower power of past seasons (.197 ISO), but Bruce is still putting a charge into the ball often enough while continuing to improve his plate discipline. His rate of swings on pitches outside of the strike zone has gone from 30.4% in 2008 to 26.1% last season, to 24.4% in 2010. Consequently, his walk rate has climbed — 7.3% in ’08, 9.8% in ’09 and 12.4% this year. Bruce has top-shelf secondary skills, and the best is yet to come.

Grady Sizemore, Indians

Eno was all over the news that Sizemore underwent microfracture surgery, a devastating blow to the Indians and fantasy owners who were looking for a rebound from one of the game’s best players — Sizemore averaged 6.4 WAR per season from 2005-2008, with a park-and-league-adjusted wOBA that was 33 percent above average (133 wRC+).

Sizemore declined to a 112 wRC+ during an ’09 season marred by abdominal and elbow injuries, both of which required surgical fixes. In 2010, he had a paltry 53 wRC+, as his normally excellent patience and pop were nowhere to be seen. Sizemore’s outside swing rate soared to 33 percent (19.1% career average) and his rate of swings on pitches within the zone dipped to 59.4% (65.3% career average). His ISO was just .078 (.204 career).

Hopefully the 27-year-old can return and resume being a franchise-type player, but the truth is, we just don’t know how the procedure will affect his play. Those in keeper leagues have to be feeling Sizemore’s pain.

Cameron Maybin, Marlins

Mike Stanton’s in the big leagues, and early indications are that Cody Ross will shift to center to make room for the 20-year-old masher. That means less PT for Maybin.

While fellow 2005 first-round fly catchers Justin Upton, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, Bruce, Jacoby Ellsbury and Colby Rasmus have established themselves in the majors, Maybin has scuffled. In 489 career PA, the 23-year-old has a .308 wOBA, with rough plate discipline (7.6 BB%, 31 K%).

Maybin’s at an uncomfortable, in-between state right now. He’ll either see reduced playing time in the majors, hardly optimal for his development, or perhaps he’ll head back to Triple-A, where he already proved himself last season (.387 wOBA). Ross could be headed out of town in the next couple of months, opening up an everyday job for Maybin. His long-term potential is still excellent. But for now, Maybin’s no longer a prospect and not yet an accomplished big leaguer.

J.J. Hardy Twins

Minnesota acquired Hardy during the off-season for CF Carlos Gomez, hoping that J.J. would provide superb D and produce offensively at a level closer to his 2007 (.338 wOBA) and 2008 (.355 wOBA) work than his .292 mark in 2009. While Hardy, 27, has lived up to expectations with the leather, he has been a near-automatic out at the dish.

When healthy enough to take the field (he served a DL stint with a left wrist sprain, which apparently is still bothering him), Hardy has a .268 wOBA. His .237 BABIP will improve to an extent (though his line drive rate is generally pretty low, and his pop up rate high). Hardy’s rest-of-season ZiPS projection has a .312 wOBA. Coupled with rangy defense, that’s good enough to make him a solid starter for the Twins. ZiPS doesn’t know about Hardy’s wrist, though, and fantasy players getting none of the benefits of Hardy’s glove will want to look elsewhere for shortstop help.

As soon as Jeff Karstens steps on the mound tonight, he’ll become the answer to a trivia question. That question, of course, asks who the opposing starter was when Stephen Strasburg made his big league debut.

It took two months, but the Nationals will finally turn the first overall pick in the 2009 draft loose on National League lineups this evening, starting with Karstens and the Pirates. He’s already owned in 87% of Yahoo! leagues, so there’s no chance of making a shrewd waiver grab now, but you knew that already. Instead, let’s focus on what Strasburg could provide fantasy owners the rest of the season.

ZiPS projects 20 starts with a 4.18 ERA and a rather gaudy 113/36 K/BB ratio in 114 IP (h/t BBTF), putting him somewhere around a 3.66 FIP. Looking at (R) ZiPS for some perspective, that projection puts Strasburg on par with what pitchers like Josh Beckett (he’s hurt though), Jered Weaver, and Roy Oswalt are predicted to do the rest of the year, though with a few more strikeouts. That’s a pretty significant pickup in the middle of June, but we’ve always got to watch out for innings limits when it comes to young pitchers.

According to Adam Kilgore, the Nats’ plan is for their prized prospect to throw about 150-160 IP total this season, between the majors and minors. He’s already thrown 55.1 glorious frames in the minors (seriously, look at these numbers), so assuming the high end of Kilgore’s range, we’re looking at 104.2 IP from Strasburg the rest of the way. That’s basically two fewer starts than what ZiPS projects.

Chances are, those two missing starts will come in September, which is fantasy crunch time. I think we all expect the Nats to continue to fall out of the race, so there wouldn’t be much pressure to keep running Strasburg out there late in the year. Losing what should be one of your three best starters in the fantasy playoffs is a rather massive hit; it’s a little like Peyton Manning in fantasy football. You can’t win a championship with the guy because he’s always on the bench resting in Week 17.

Strasburg’s going to provide a ton of value through the summer, but make sure you keep an eye on his innings. Once he approaches 80 or so big league innings, it might not be the worst thing in the world to cut bait and trade him. Most trade deadlines are set in mid-August, which should give you plenty of time to see where his workload sits. You’ll presumably get a valuable piece in return, one that could help you more down the stretch than Strasburg on a leash would. If you’re in a keeper league, forget about this option obviously.

Strasburg should step right in and be a rock solid fantasy starter tonight, but there’s nothing wrong with using the hype to your benefit if you happen to own him. Start him all summer, and then when the Nats are ready to start taking it easy on him, deal him for something else of value.

With Trevor Time becoming more terrifying than thrilling for the Milwaukee Brewers, the club has recently turned to John Axford to shut the door in the late innings. The 27-year-old righty has a 1.9 Leverage Index this season, highest among regular Brewers relievers. Who is this mustachioed man of mystery?

A Notre Dame product, Axford was once viewed as a high-round draft prospect. The lanky 6-5, 195 pound Canadian featured plus velocity and hard breaking stuff, but his hopes of draft day riches were dashed by Tommy John surgery in late 2003. He missed the 2004 college season and threw all of three frames for the Fighting Irish in 2005. The Cincinnati Reds took a flyer in the 42nd round of the 2005 draft. Here’s how Baseball America described Axford at the time:

RHP John Axford flashed first-round potential in the Cape Cod League in 2003, but had Tommy John surgery that December. He has been slow to come back, missing all of 2004 and working just three innings this spring. He had a low-90s fastball and a plus curveball before he got hurt, though his command was sporadic. Because he’s a redshirt junior, a team could take him as a draft-and-follow.

Axford didn’t sign on the dotted lined with Cincy, instead transferring to Canisius College of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the ’06 season. Unfortunately, he walked nearly 10 batters be nine innings for the Golden Griffins, and scouts fled in horror.

Our hero next took the bump north of the border, pitching in the collegiate Western Major Baseball League. Axford K’d plenty of batters in Canada, and the Yankees were impressed enough to give him an opportunity as a non-drafted free agent. But alas, he’d last just one season with the Bombers — Axford whiffed 9.6 batters per nine frames while pitching mostly in the short-season New York Penn League and the Low-A South Atlantic League (he also appeared in the High-A Florida State League and had a cameo in the Triple-A International League), yet he also issued 6.4 BB/9. New York axed Axford in December of 2007, giving him his release.

The Brewers snagged him in March of 2008 and sent him to Brevard County in the High-A FSL. Axford began the year as a starter, but he was shifted to the bullpen when his control woes again surfaced. Overall, he logged 95 innings (14 starts, 12 ‘pen appearances) with rates of 8.43 K/9 and 6.92 BB/9. Only a very low homer rate (0.47 HR/9) kept his FIP out of the fives — it was 4.47.

In 2009, Axford went on a whirlwind tour that took him from High-A to the majors, with stops at Double-A and Triple-A in between. Pitching 68.1 combined innings in the FSL, Southern League and the Pacific Coast League, Axford punched out 11.7 hitters per nine frames. He still handed out free passes generously, with 5 BB/9. Though he didn’t get a ton of grounders (45%, according to Minor League Splits), Axford surrendered 0.4 HR/9. His FIP was in the low threes.

Reaching Milwaukee in September of ’09, Axford posted a 9/6 K/BB ratio in 7.1 IP, allowing three runs while mopping up (0.18 Leverage Index). True to that BA scouting report years earlier, Axford displayed 94 MPH heat and sharp breaking stuff — a mid-80’s slider and an 80 MPH curveball.

Axford opened 2010 back at Triple-A Nashville, where he struck out 19 and walked five in 13.1 innings, coughing up seven runs (three earned). Promoted to the big leagues in mid-May, Axford has a 15/5 K/BB ratio in 12 IP, with four runs allowed. He’s sitting between 95 and 96 MPH with his fastball and getting swings on pitches out of the zone 39.2 percent (it’s an extremely small sample).

Given his Wild Thing Vaughn-like control, Axford’s big league projections aren’t kind. ZiPS thinks he’ll post a 4.78 FIP for the rest of 2010, with 8.74 K/9 and 7.41 BB/9 (be warned, Carlos Marmol — your reign as king of reliever free passes may be over). CHONE forecasted a 4.75 FIP, 8.61 K/9 and 6.07 BB/9 leading up to the season.

That being said, Axford is well worth taking a chance on. He has excellent stuff, misses bats and is owned in just one-quarter of Yahoo leagues. Maybe his tendency to lose the zone will doom him long-term. But Axford’s career path has been anything but conventional, and if he does succeed in a high-leverage role, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a reliever emerges out of relative obscurity.

Adam Lind must feel left out. Most of his Blue Jays teammates are mashing — Toronto leads the majors in Isolated Power (.225) by a wide margin, and with a .339 wOBA, the Jays trail only division foes New York and Boston among AL teams.

Lind, however, is scuffling. The 26-year-old busted out last season for a .305/.370/.562 line and a .394 wOBA. ZiPS and CHONE figured that Lind’s bat wouldn’t be as potent this season…

Lind’s Preseason projections

ZiPS: .277/.339/.488, .359 wOBA
CHONE: .293/.350/.502, .368 wOBA

..but those lines still projected well above-average hitting from Toronto’s 2004 third-round pick.

Unfortunately, Lind’s hitting just .210/.279/.370, with a .286 wOBA. That’s bad for any player. But it’s abysmal for a guy who spends most of his time at DH, while occasionally lumbering around left field. After putting up 3.5 Wins Above Replacement in 2009 and signing a long-term deal with Toronto this past April, Lind has been worth -0.7 WAR.

Some of Lind’s lackluster offensive showing can be explained by a low batting average on balls in play. His BABIP is .247, well south of his career .305 BABIP. Lind’s expected BABIP (xBABIP), based on his rate of long balls, K’s, stolen bases, line drives, fly balls and pop ups, is .316. So, it’s reasonable to say that the lefty batter has had some poor luck to this point. However, he’s still falling short of expectations when it comes to driving the ball and laying off of junk pitches.

Lind’s power output surged last season — he popped 35 home runs and had a .257 Isolated Power. Coming into 2010, ZiPS projected a .211 ISO and CHONE a .209 ISO. So far, he’s got a .160 mark. His home run per fly ball rate, 19.8% last year and 14.9% for his career, sits at 11.3%.

In 2009, Lind hit for power to all fields. This season, he’s hitting a lot of balls weakly to the middle field. Check out his spray splits for ’09 and 2010:

He’s still pulling the ball better than the average lefty batter, and his opposite field performance remains well above average despite a big dip in BABIP. Lind’s BABIP on balls hit up the middle is extremely low (.132), but he’s not showing any pop to center — a .058 ISO, compared to .273 in 2009 and the .140 average for lefty batters.

Lind’s power has been disappointing, but it’s probably too soon to make much of the 50 point gap between his actual and projected ISO. The steps backward that he has taken in controlling the strike zone, however, are more worrisome.

He was pretty jumpy at the plate from 2006-2008, chasing 32.4 percent of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone (the MLB average was about 25% during those years). During his banner ’09 season, Lind laid off more out-of-zone pitches — his O-Swing dipped to 24.7%. This year, he’s hacking at 31.1% of pitches tossed out of the zone, compared to the 27.9% MLB average.

Lind’s strikeout rate has spiked as well. He’s whiffing in 27.4% of his PA this season (18.7% in 2009 and 20.6% for his career). He’s swinging and missing at more of those out-of-zone pitches (64.9 outside contact rate in 2010, compared to 70.5% in ’09 and a 67.6% career average), and his in-zone contact rate has declined a point, from 87.9% to 86.9%.

Adam Lind probably hasn’t forgotten how to hit. Even if he keeps his current, hack-tastic approach, he’ll perform much better as his BABIP climbs. But bad luck aside, he’s doing a pretty good job of getting himself out right now — Lind’s expanding his zone, and the result is weaker contact, and less contact overall.

Here are three players with low ownership rates who could pay immediate dividends in fantasy leagues:

Eric Hinske, Atlanta Braves (owned in 6% of Yahoo! leagues)

Anyone in a league with daily transactions should have Hinske on their roster. He may only be a platoon player, but he is destroying RHP this season. He has a .974 OPS versus righties, including a .326 AVG with 4 HR in 89 ABs this season. Yes, that comes with a BABIP of .379 versus RHP. It may not last the whole season. But there is no reason not to pick him up and ride him while he is hot.

Nick Hundley, San Diego Padres (owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues)

In his last seven games, Hundley is batting .522 with 2 HR and 8 RBIs. Hundley most likely will not keep his current .306 AVG but he does have pretty good power and currently has an 11.8 HR/FB rate. (U) ZiPS forecasts him to finish with 11 HR and even 15 would not be a surprise for the 26-year old. Hundley splits time with Yorvit Torrealba although no strong patterns have emerged. Hundley catches Mat Latos for the most part while Torreabla has a similar relationship with Kevin Correia. If Hundley breaks away to become the primary catcher for the Padres, he could be a boon to fantasy owners.

Ronny Paulino, Florida Marlins (owned in 5% of Yahoo! leagues)

Since John Baker went on the disabled list on May 15th, Paulino has a .308 AVG with 8 R and 13 RBIs in 18 games and 16 starts. Baker is still several weeks away from returning and even when he does come back, Paulino should still see the bulk of the playing time versus LHP. Versus southpaws, Paulino has a .377 AVG with 2 HR and 14 RBIs in 61 ABs this year. Lifetime versus lefties Paulino has a .339/.393/.494 mark in 494 PA.

Some low ownership starting pitchers coming to a rotation spot near you…

Dana Eveland | Pirates | 1% owned

Yeah, it is odd to talk about Eveland on a fantasy site considering that all of his pitching independent stats stink dating back to his 2.7 WAR season in 2008. The only reason I’m mentioning him is because he’s got a date with the lefty heavily and certifiably awful Indians later this week, so you’ve got a prime opportunity to steal a cheap win, or at least a few strikeouts and a possible ERA/WHIP boost come next weekend.

Tommy Hunter | Rangers | 3%

Hunter returned from a strained oblique just in time to replace the injured Derek Holland, and all he did was allow one run over nine innings of work against the Rays in his first start of the year on Saturday. He’s not going to set the world on fire with such a low strikeout rate ((R) ZiPS calls for a 5.03 FIP and 4.55 K/9 the rest of the way), but his next few starts come at home against the Mariners, at the Marlins, then at home against the Pirates and Astros. If you’re lagging behind some of the pitching categories, Hunter could give you a decent boost in an AL-only or deep mixed league.

Vin Mazzaro | Athletics | 0%

Brett Anderson’s injury isn’t quite the worst case scenario, but it’s pretty bad. His absence opens up a spot for Mazzaro, who’s been pretty dreadful in limited action so far. (R) ZiPS calls for a 5.45 ERA (4.72 FIP) with 5.45 K/9 that’s considerably worse than his 7.7 K/9 mark in over 125 IP at the Triple-A level. Mazzaro’s fastball-slider heavy approach is best suited for the bullpen, but like Eveland he gives you a chance at a cheap stats boost when he starts against the Giants in San Francisco next weekend.

Jonathon Niese | Mets | 3%

Oliver Perez is finally off the Mets’ active roster, though not in the way many had hoped. He’s currently on the DL with a case of suckitis knee tendinitis so suspicious that the league is investigating. His roster spot went to Niese, who returned from his second hamstring issue in as many seasons to hold the Marlins to one run over seven innings on Saturday.

(R) ZiPS calls for a 4.60 ERA (4.02 FIP) with 6.61 K/9 the rest of the way, but I love him as a matchup starter in the back of a fantasy staff. His home park certainly suppresses offense and he has no discernible platoon split, so a righty heavy lineup won’t kill him. Niese’s next two starts come at the Orioles and at the Indians, so he’s got that going for him. I’m a fan, especially in NL-only or deep mixed leagues.

Adam Ottavino | Cardinals | 0%

Erik Manning called it, Brad Penny’s injury is going to require a lot more time off than just the 15 day DL stint, opening up a spot for Ottavino. His minor league track record suggests lots of walks (4.2 BB/9) but a decent amount of strikeouts (7.9 K/9) and groundballs (46.7% GB). Sticking with the theme of this post, Ottavino has a pair of favorable matchups coming up: at the hacktastic Diamondbacks and home against the A’s. In an NL-only or a deep mixed league, he could be a decent play the next two times out.

Ownership rates based on Yahoo! leagues.

After a short hiatus, here are your catcher rankings. I’m going to experiment with not including any numbers next to the players names, for various reasons. If you really feel like you need them, let me know in the comments.

The Big Three
Victor Martinez
Joe Mauer
Brian McCann

Things change, people. I never thought Mauer would show the power like he did last year, but he has fallen way back. Martinez will give you a more balanced attack, so he gets the number one spot.

Happy to Have
Jorge Posada
Geovany Soto
Kurt Suzuki
Ryan Doumit
Mike Napoli

Even though Jorge is fresh off a DL stint, I had to give him the number four slot. Kendry Morales getting hurt was a godsend for Napoli. He won’t have to play behind the plate all of the time, and his bat sticks in the lineup. The Angels may look to trade for a first baseman, but until then, Napoli has great value.

I am Jack’s Catcher
Matt Wieters
Russell Martin
Miguel Olivo
Yadier Molina

What’s up, Wieters?

Buckaroos
Carlos Ruiz
John Buck
Buster Posey
Bengie Molina
Rod Barajas
Miguel Montero

Miguel Montero should be back soon, so keep an eye on him. He was in my top-10 before he got injured, and he’s only this low because he’s not back yet and knee injuries scare me when it comes to catchers.

The Prospect
Carlos Santana

Santana should be up within the week.

The Rest of ‘Em
Ronny Paulino
Ivan Rodriguez
Chris Snyder
Chris Iannetta
A.J. Pierzynski
Jeff Clement
Nick Hundley

I still have a little hope left for Clement. Just a little. I’ve heard the name Ryan Hanigan thrown around a lot in the comments, but he just doesn’t get enough AB’s to justify a spot. Hundley gets slightly more playing time, and the two are probably interchangeable.