Will Middlebrooks, 3B, Red Sox: After Kevin Youkilis' return from a back injury in late May, Middlebrooks was stuck in Fantasy no-man's land. The talent he showed when filling in for Youkilis made him almost impossible to drop in certain leagues, but he didn't play enough to make a relevant contribution in those leagues either. Well, after watching Youkilis bat .191 over the last three weeks, the Red Sox front office decided enough was enough, dealing Youkilis to the White Sox on Sunday to give manager Bobby Valentine the freedom to play his hot hand. And with a .625 (10 for 16) batting average and three homers over his last six games, Middlebrooks is no doubt a hot hand. His lack of plate discipline puts him closer to David Freese than Adrian Beltre among third baseman, but he's a top-12 option regardless. He's done nothing but rake since coming up from the minors and now gets the at-bats to make the most of it.
Drew Storen, RP, Nationals: Even during his long road back from elbow surgery, Fantasy owners in 70 percent of leagues have stuck with Storen, convinced he would eventually be an elite option closing out games for the pitching-heavy, first-place Nationals. Just look at what Tyler Clippard is doing. Um ... yeah, about that ...
"Right now, [Clippard is] my closer, and I can't see me going to somebody else," manager Davey Johnson told MLB.com Saturday. "[Another pitcher] would have to show up here probably in a setup role before they'd have the opportunity to close."
Come again? I'm no expert in coach speak or anything, but it sounds to me like Johnson is saying Clippard is his guy regardless of whether or not Storen is ready to return after the All-Star break. And looking at the numbers, you can hardly blame him. Since assuming the closer role on May 22, Clippard has 12 saves -- the second-most in baseball during that stretch, and has allowed only one hit. Dating back to the start of 2009, he has a 2.45 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings, so if anything, this ascension was long overdue. Of course, Johnson could simply be hedging his bets here, wanting to see Storen dominate for a few appearances before handing him back the role, but now he's left it open to speculation. Adjust accordingly.
Justin Masterson, SP, Indians: Believe it or not, Masterson has a 3.21 ERA over his last 11 starts, which is exactly the same as what he had last season, when he was considered one of the biggest breakouts among starting pitchers. Surprised? Yeah, he got off to a slow start, and has had a couple rough patches -- a seven-run outing and six-run outing -- during that hot stretch that may have convinced you he wasn't back on track. But the good starts have far outnumbered the bad and have shown that all the progress he made last season wasn't a flash in the pan. He lacks the strikeout potential of an ace, but he's the kind of pitcher you can trust on an every-week basis. If you wrote him off early, you're missing out now. Toss his current owner an offer just to make sure he feels the same way.
Carlos Zambrano, SP, Marlins: So much for all that. Zambrano re-entered the Fantasy discussion this season by posting a 1.96 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over his first eight starts, but few returns to normalcy have been as swift or definitive as his. With an 8.04 ERA and 1.75 WHIP over his last six starts, his season marks are up to 4.01 and 1.30, which, considering he's not a strikeout-per-inning guy anymore, are practically worthless in standard mixed leagues. And really, that lack of strikeouts should have signaled this demise all along. It's not like his command got any better during that eight-start stretch. He still issued 3.6 walks per nine innings. With his average fastball velocity down to a career-low 90.0 miles per hour, he couldn't avoid the damage forever. That's not to say he'll be quite this bad going forward, but now that the numbers have normalized, you can have more reasonable expectations going forward.
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