When Hanley Ramirez came on the fantasy scene in 2006, he immediately became a top option at the shortstop position. For the remainder of that decade, he sat on or near the podium for fantasy shortstop value and real world shortstop value.

(BM Rank in this table refers to his position rank by Baseball Monster’s fantasy valuation tool, using batting average as the rate stat for the league.)

Basically, “been pimpin since been pimpin…” Hanley Ramirez has been one of the top shortstops in baseball his entire career, topping the position’s leaderboard in wins above replacement with 34.1 in that span. This isn’t really news, but it’s worth a reminder since some may have forgotten just how good he was. Somehow, he seems underrated at this point in his career.

And that’s because he took a dip over the past few years, only to return to peak levels in the last six weeks.
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Erasmo Ramirez is coming. Last year, the changeup was enough to star in Orgazmo. This year, there have been some bumps in the road. Just how sexy will he be for mixed leaguers isn’t quite so obvious.

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Only one other first baseman has as many homers as Chris Davis over the past 14 days. Since you are reading this post you can surmise that it is Eric Hosmer, and the hot streak over the past few weeks has pushed his wRC+ up to 109. Prior to that streak, his year was looking much more 2012 like than 2011, and although Hosmer generated some value in his legs last year, it is great to see him finally starting to hit for a bit of power.
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What’s the biggest thing we look for when putting together our daily fantasy offenses? Home runs. Homers are the fastest way to rack up points, and they absolutely can lead to big days.

Though in a scoring system like Draftstreet, players get the same number of points any way that they get to their total number of total bases, when a player hits a home run, that’s four points you lock up in just one plate appearance. Conversely, it takes a 4-for-4 night with a player only hitting singles, to get to that same total. (Runs and RBI apply separately.)

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Yesterday, I took a look at the hitters whose BABIP marks most exceed their xBABIP marks. Aside from a looming batting average decline, a lower rate of hits on balls in play could take a bite out of a hitter’s RBI and run totals, which all combined could really take a toll on his rest of season fantasy value. Today I check in on the opposite side of the coin, those hitters whose BABIP marks are most below their xBABIP marks. These could potentially be your group of buy low candidates.

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Rarely does the present author wade into the waters of fan subjectivity, however tomorrow his beloved Oakland A’s are being showcased to a national audience. They’ll be taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates on ESPN at 7:00 pm eastern in a clash of two division leading teams. For some clubs a national spotlight is nothing new, however for A’s fans and (assuming as much on behalf of) Pirates fans, a national broadcast is a rare and special thing.

On today’s agenda:
1. The Milwaukee Brewers swap sluggers
2. Ryan Howard to have surgery
3. Lonnie Chisenhall is all right
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• Joe Nathan is on quite a tear at the moment after pitching a perfect ninth picking up two Ks along the way tonight for his 30th save of the year, sharing the league lead with the one and only Jim Johnson. Nathan lowered his ERA to 1.40 and hasn’t given up a run in his last eleven appearances, striking out 14 batters in those 11.1 innings. Nathan’s strikeouts have dipped a little this year (9.53 K/9) compared to last (10.91) K/9 but since posting a particularly low rate in April (7.30 K/9), he’s upped it in each subsequent month. Nathan might not finish 2013 with an ERA starting with a one, but he’s still a top option for saves both in real life and our fantasies.

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Today, I will examine five pitchers who came off the DL this past week and give a top 30 ranking for HURT and PAIN.

• Yesterday, Joakim Soria made his 2013 debut after his 2nd Tommy John Surgery. He came out only throwing fastballs with an average velocity of 90.2 mph.

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Ricky Nolasco has a career FIP of 3.81. Ricky Nolasco has a career ERA of 4.44. If the season ended today, it would be the second time he’d ever shown an ERA under four. Given his skill set (good strikeout rate for a starter, excellent control) and home park (both versions of Miami’s home park were pitcher-friendly), it’s a bit surprising. But since that breakout second, full season in 2008, Nolasco has frustrated his owners. Now that he’s finally on the move to Los Angeles, which boasts a pitcher’s park, but also a better team, are all systems go? What about the fact that ERA becomes a better tool when you’re talking about 1000-inning samples? Is Nolasco somehow fatally flawed?

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The Oakland Athletics currently lead the AL West by 0.5 games over the Texas Rangers. They haven’t made any splashes in the trade market this month, but they just made a substantial move on Sunday evening by promoting Grant Green — one of their top prospects — to the big leagues in an attempt to upgrade their offensive output at second base.

Slotting in Green at second base will give the Athletics the flexibility to shift Jed Lowrie to shortstop on a more permanent basis, allowing the organization to upgrade the offensive production of two positions simultaneously. When Lowrie had been playing shortstop, the Athletics were coping with Eric Sogard (.305 wOBA) and Adam Rosales (.268 wOBA) at second base. Green, who was tearing up Triple-A with a .385 wOBA in 81 games, has a chance to provide better numbers at the plate without being a trainwreck on defense.

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