Let’s kick off the week with an outfielder and an infielder…

Rajai Davis | OF | Blue Jays | Owned: 13% Yahoo! and 16.0% ESPN

This probably isn’t the best time to suggest grabbing Davis for your outfield — he’s currently mired in an ugly 0-for-23 slide (27 total plate appearances) with more ground ball double plays (three) than walks (two). He’s only struck out six times during the slump, so he’s not completely lost at the plate just yet. Rajai’s season batting line is down to .243/.300/.376 after sitting at a much more respectable .273/.324/.412 prior to this slump.

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With the All-Star break upon us, we finally don’t have to worry about our fantasy teams for a few days. It’s always nice to have that little break, especially when you run multiple teams. Rather than the usual daily waiver wire shtick, let’s take a look at four players who have gone from undrafted and afterthoughts to key contributors in all formats.

Carlos Ruiz | C | Phillies | Preseason ADP: 290 | Owned: 89% Yahoo! and 100% ESPN

Chooch has been, my far, the best hitting catcher in baseball this season. He came into the year with a .265/.357/.393 career batting line which is solid but not exactly worth a fantasy roster spot. The 33-year-old Ruiz carries a .350/.412/.584 (!) line into the break this summer, having already hit a career-best 13 homers with 21 doubles that are just eight shy of his career-high. He’s moved into a more premium lineup spot — fourth or fifth depending on whether or not Ryan Howard plays — and the result has been 46 RBI that are the second most among qualified catchers and eight short of his career-high. His 523 ottoneu points lead all catchers by a significant margin.

Ruiz’s production will likely step back for a number of reasons in the second half, mostly because catchers tend to wear down in August in September. A .362 BABIP and 18.3% HR/FB don’t exactly scream sustainable either. That said, Chooch’s first half production is already in the bank and anyone who grabbed him off waivers in April is surely thrilled.

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With Independence Day in the rear-view mirror and all but two teams (Royals and Nationals) having played their 81st game, it’s time for a midseason update to our first base rankings. Due to popular demand, the catchers (Buster Posey, Mike Napoli, Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana) have been left out of the rankings, ditto the middle infielders (Michael Young and Howie Kendrick). Here are the preseason, May, and June tiers for reference.

Tier One
Joey Votto
Miguel Cabrera
Paul Konerko
Albert Pujols
Prince Fielder

Votto is clearly the better hitter in baseball and at least in the conversation for the best all-around player in the game. Konerko has slowed down a bit since his “minor” wrist procedure but not enough to derail his season or dampened his expected fantasy production. The other three are pretty self-explanatory.

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Let’s kick off this week’s waiver wire updates with two East division players, an AL pitcher and a NL outfielder…

Franklin Morales | SP, RP | Red Sox | Owned: 20% Yahoo! and 18.6% ESPN

When the Red Sox put Daniel Bard in the rotation, they were supposed to be able to fall back on using him as a reliever if it didn’t work out. Instead, he’s gone to Triple-A and continued to struggle. Morales, 26, has kinda done the opposite. Expectations were relatively low coming into the season, but he pitched very well in a relief role (3.04 ERA and 3.48 FIP in 23.2 IP) before moving into the rotation to take Bard’s spot (2.00 ERA and 0.88 FIP in 18 IP). Those 18 innings as a starter feature 24 strikeouts and just three walks.

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Got two young players finally stepping into more prominent roles this week…

Brandon Belt | 1B, OF | Giants | Owned: 32% Yahoo! and 49.2% ESPN

It took yet another Aubrey Huff (knee) injury, but it appears as though Belt has been freed for good. The 24-year-old has started 15 straight games at first base — even against left-handed starters — and he owns a .362/.483/.702 line with more walks (ten) than strikeouts (nine) during that time. Over the last two weeks, his 236 wRC+ leads all of baseball.

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Two youngsters this week, one a corner bat off to a dreadful start and another a starting pitcher yet to throw a big league inning…

Ike Davis | 1B | Mets | Owned: 38% Yahoo! and 27.0% ESPN

Things seem to be slowly coming around for Davis, who at -0.8 WAR, is no longer the worst player in baseball (Brennan Boesch at -1.1 WAR). He has a neat little eight-game hitting streak going that includes a monster three games against the Rays — 6-for-11 with a double, a homer, three walks, and two strikeouts — and has raised his OPS nearly 100 points. More importantly, his batted ball profile is starting to look like a power hitter’s…

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Today’s waiver wire brings you two rookies who have come into more important roles of late, one an outfielder and one a relief pitcher.

Norichika Aoki | OF | Brewers | Owned: 3% Yahoo! and 1.7% ESPN

Aoki turned 30 years old earlier this year, but technically he’s a rookie after coming over from Japan. He opened the season as a reserve player with Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez/Nyjer Morgan entrenched in the outfield, but he’s seen more playing time lately because Mat Gamel’s season-ending knee injury has forced Hart to play some first base. It wasn’t just Gamel’s injury though, Aoki earned his spot.

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It’s time to update our first base tiered rankings now that we’re into June and more than one-third of the way through the season. Due to popular demand, I’m leaving the catchers (Mike Napoli, Buster Posey, Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana) and middle infielders (Michael Young, Howie Kendrick) out of the rankings since they’re so obviously more valuable at other positions despite having first base eligibility in most leagues. Here are the preseason and May tiers for reference.

Tier One
Miguel Cabrera
Joey Votto
Paul Konerko
Prince Fielder
Albert Pujols

Konerko makes the long overdue jump into the top tier thanks to his MLB-best 189 wRC+. That latest minor wrist procedure doesn’t concern me much, the man has gotten better and better with age.

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Following the defections of Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols this offseason, RotoGraphs readers voted that Mike Morse was the second-best fantasy first baseman in the National League behind Joey Votto. He received 42.89% of the vote while Lance Berkman trailed at 32.23%. The conglomerate of “Someone Else” brought up the rear at 24.87%.

Less than two months into the season, the NL first base situation is a mess. Morse hasn’t played at all due to a lat problem and Berkman managed just 49 plate appearances between injuries. His latest knee problem will have him on the sidelines for weeks. Ike Davis, one of my preseason breakout picks, has been the worst player in all of baseball at -1.2 WAR and is painfully close to being optioned to Triple-A. Ryan Howard’s hurt, Paul Goldschmidt has only hit two homers, Gaby Sanchez was sent to the minors … it’s ugly out there.

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Got a pair of back-end starting pitchers for you this week, one young and one old…

Anthony Bass | SP, RP | Padres | Owned: 26% Yahoo! and 16.9% ESPN

The Padres currently have four starting pitchers on the disabled list including three of their Opening Day rotation guys, forcing them to use retreads like Jeff Suppan and Eric Stults. Bass, 24, is the one replacement who doesn’t qualify as a retread. The right-hander owns a 2.89 ERA and a 3.29 FIP through eight starts and two relief appearances, and only once has he allowed more than three runs in an outing.

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