FANTASY BASEBALL: HOOTS & HOLLERS

LOOKIN’ AT RECENT CALL-UPS:

#37 gets an "A" on his Rookie Report Card and is head of the class fpr June call-ups...

This is a section of Hustle Points on theFantasyGeek.com

June has been quite a month for rookie prospect call-ups in Major League baseball. Some were coveted keepers in many leagues. Some were surprises that were unexpected bits of hope to many, as many fantasy players went rushing to their waiver wires quick as news came. While they haven’t all has the success of the highly awaited Stephen Strasburg has, we have seen success for some of these rookies. At the very least, the slow-starters have shown promise. So let’s look at a few of these guys and see what they’ve done and where we stand by owning them:

Stephen Strasburg has been the best of the best. He’s been brilliant with 2-1 record, a 1.78 ERA, a WHIP under 1.00 and 41 Ks in 25+ innings. True that three of his four games have been against Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Kansas City, and ignore one slightly wild outing with five walks, the rookie is absolutely flawless. His mechanics are incredible to view. His fastball goes as high as 100 mph. Yes, in time his opponents will figure out how to hit him a bit more, but this Nationals’ phenom has a bright future ahead. Grade so far: A

Pittsburgh infielder Neil Walker is doing everything we expected, including striking out 22 times in 112 ABs. But he does have .295/3/12 with 2 SBs in his favor and seems to enjoy taking the big swing. Hopefully in time, he’ll lower his K/AB ratio, which will bring his batting average over .300. Grade so far: B

Buster Posey is a good hitting catcher who is playing 1b this season, meaning he will play everyday, something we don’t always get out of true catchers. He’s at .310/1/10, not showing a much power as expected. He was hitting over .400 for quite a  while, but a period of about seven games recently brought him down to earth. If you discount those seven games, Buster is a B+, but since I don’t: Grade so far: B

Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana was long-awaited by many of his owners. At .320/4/14 in 15 games, he was worth waiting for. When you figure that the shortage of playable catchers can be hazardous, the arrival of Santana and Posey, with good stats to boot, is welcome. Santana, like anyone else, will have his 0-fer nights, but his composite stats are sweet. Grade so far: B+

Michael Stanton has not been as impressive as we heard he was in the minors as of yet. After playing 16 straight games played and giving us .213/1/10, the Marlins gave him today off to regroup. He is worth owning in any league as he will streak like most players do, but he is sittable for the time being. Grade so far: C-

RIPE FOR THE PICKIN’:

It's been a hard road for Erik Bedard, but don't sleep on him, cause he's coming back... plus sleeping on "Bed" might hurt his arm... again!

I love Brennan Boesche! I use him in a very deep league and he is producing on a regular basis, yet he is so unrecognized. This guy is probably available in your league. GRAB HIM! .337/11/39 is nothing to sneeze at. Go now! Click Add… Erik Bedard is on his way back. Most teams have DLs so he might not be available, but in non-DL leagues, he is worth a flier. He was a # pitcher at one time. He could pitch a gem or two. With Edwin Encarnacion being sent down by Toronto, Fred Lewis again holds some weight in deep leagues for average, runs and stolen base purposes… Madison Bumgarner is the latest rookie call-up, via San Francisco. He pitched for the Giants on Saturday. While not spectacular, he was steady and should be a useable pitcher in mixed leagues with the match ups being right.

INJURY WATCH:

Keep an eye on these players before using them for the week to come: Placido Polanco (elbow), Brad Hawpe (ribs), Jason Heyward (thumb), Billy Wagner (ankle), Victor Martinez (thumb), Carlos Crawford (shoulder), Ryan Ludwick (calf).and Clay Buchholz (shoulder)

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE:

Two-start pitchers for the week ahead:

Use ‘em:

C Carpenter

U Jimenez

A Wainwright

Cl Lee

Y Gallardo

S Strasburg

M Cain

Steady and Willing:

F Liriano

D Haren

P Hughes

T Hudson

R Romero

B Zito

J Shields

J Cueto

R Nolasco

M Leake

T Lilly

M Buerhle

F Carmona

RA Dickey

D Braden

J Hammel

C Billingsley

Only if you have to, but take an antacid first:

B Morrow

J Pineiro

B Myers

J Bonderman

J Blanton

W LeBlanc

J Westbrook

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ You’ll be sorrrryyyyy ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫:

H Takahashi

B Matusz

R Wells

S Feldman

K Correia

M Parra

K Kendrick

N Blackburn

O Maholm

B Norris

Follow me on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute fantasy stuff. If you have a fantasy sports question, feel free to Tweet it or e-mail me at psykorot1@gmail.com. Join us for the Hardball Help Live Chat Monday at 3pm ET… And check out our Geekspeak Podcast that we did on Saturday morning. It was da Bomb!