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1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

Tulo reached over 100 RBI for the first time in his career in 2011 despite playing in just 143 games.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins

Last year was extremely disappointing for Ramirez, but if he’s healthy, his power and speed make him one of the best fantasy options in baseball.

3. Jose Reyes, Miami Marlins

Reyes would thrive leading off for any lineup, especially the Marlins.

4. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers

Andrus was second and third among shortstops in runs and stolen bases in 2011.

5. Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians

Not enough credit went to Cabrera for the season he had last year—a season that included 25 HR and 92 RBI.

6. Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs

Castro was the only shortstop in baseball with at least 200 hits in 2011.  He hit .307 in 674 AB.

7. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies

He’s been in the league for more than a decade, but Rollins is still stealing 30 bases a season like he did in 2011.  Keep in mind that he only played in 142 games.

8. Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox

Ramirez is an unsung hero in Chicago’s lineup.  He hit 15 HR and 70 RBI in 2011.

9. Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers

Peralta had one of the best seasons of his career while helping the Tigers to the playoffs.  He eclipsed 20-plus HR and 80-plus RBI in the same season for just the second time in nine seasons.

10. J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles

Hardy and Tulo were tied for most HR among shortstops with 30 in 2011.

11. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

It was a ho-hum kind of a season for Jeter in 2011, but he was still tied for sixth among shortstops with 162 hits.

12. Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels

Aybar ranked second among shortstops in doubles in 2011 (33) and fourth in stolen bases (30).

13. Emilio Bonifacio, Miami Marlins

Bonifacio hit .295 while leading shortstops in stolen bases with 40 last season.

14. Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks

It looked like the makings of a great season before Drew broke his right ankle in late July of last season, but in just 321 ABs, he brought in 45 runs.

15. Dee Gordon, Los Angeles Dodgers

Gordon was a late addition to L.A.’s lineup last season, but it didn’t take long for him to prove that he belonged.  In just 56 games, he stole 24 bases.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Since Citi Field opened in 2009, the Mets‘ home ballpark has been the hardest to hit a home run in. Citi Field has only allowed 1.43 home runs per game, the lowest of any stadium.

With a 415-foot power alley in right center and a wall 16 feet high in some places, it’s easy to see why this was such a pitcher-friendly park.

Citi Field will have new, smaller dimensions, however, for the 2012 season. Most notably, the wall in right center field will be moving in 17 feet. In addition, most of the outfield will have eight-foot walls, which will also help make this park a more hitter-friendly one.

Let’s take a look at how this may affect the fantasy values of a couple of Mets heading into the upcoming season.

David Wright

All of the Mets sluggers should benefit from Citi Field’s alterations, but especially David Wright. Wright hit a home run every 20.4 at-bats prior to 2009, compared to every 28.5 at-bats since.

He is the only Met to surpass 20 home runs since their new park opened.  He has a lot of power to the opposite field, and will be glad that right-center will be getting a face-lift.

Look for a boost in production from Jason Bay, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and especially David Wright, who could have his first 30 home run season since 2008.

Johan Santana

While the new dimensions won’t make it easier for any of the Mets’ pitchers, it will be especially tough on Johan Santana. Of the starters, Santana has the worst GB/FB ratio.

Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee all induce about the same amount of ground balls as fly balls.

Santana, on the other hand, has generated only 0.61 ground balls per fly ball in his career. This ratio was even worse the last two years, at 0.56 and 0.61 in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

You can expect that some of the fly balls that would have fell harmlessly in the huge outfield will now be leaving the yard for a home run.

Even if it weren’t for the dimension changes, I would have passed on Santana in upcoming fantasy drafts. His velocity has been in steady decline and his strikeout rate has followed suit.

Add in his recent shoulder surgery and the new Citi Field dimensions, and you’re looking at a very high-risk player. Let someone else pay for the name.

For more fantasy baseball insight and to join the Beat the Kings fantasy league challenge, visit us at http://www.fantasysportskings.com/.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

You’ve made it—the championship game—now it’s time to bring it home.

These are five two-start sleeper pitchers who will help you win that coveted championship this week.

Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers—Despite his 14 losses, Kuroda has actually pitched pretty well this season, he just doesn’t get any run support. He has a 3.03 ERA, for crying out loud! This week he faces the Nationals and Giants on the road. I wouldn’t be surprised if he racks up two wins.

Chris Capuano, Mets—Capuano doesn’t blow away opposing batters with his lethal stuff, but he gets the job done. This week he’ll get the job done against weak Marlins and Cubs teams. Those are pretty good matchups for  championship week, don’t you think?

James McDonald, Pirates—McDonald has been flying under the radar this entire year. He has some great matchups as well against the Astros and Marlins. He’s coming off a loss, but he pitched fairly well in that loss—6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K. If he pitches like that against Houston and Chicago, you’ll be glad you started him.

Doug Fister, Tigers—Fister and Kuroda have been in the same boat in 2011. They both have a scary amount of losses, but a respectable ERA (remember, he pitched for the Mariners the first half of the season); Fister’s being 3.28. He should get enough run support this week at Cleveland and versus Minnesota to make owners happy.

Matt Garza, Cubs—This is probably the riskiest sleeper start out of the five. He’s coming off a nice win, which will give him momentum against Cincinnati. His second start is in Citi Field, which is definitely a pitcher’s park. If you have Garza, go ahead and start him.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Still struggling in the run category? Here are some reasonably available players that can help you out.

Austin Jackson:  Jackson is hitting .317 over the past 15 days with 17 runs scored, four home runs, 12 RBI and three stolen bases. He plays outfield and is owned in a little over a third of Yahoo! and half of ESPN leagues.

James Loney, Los Angeles Dodgers:  “Only the Loney” is hitting .429 over the past 15 days with 14 runs scored, four home runs, and 15 RBI. James plays first base and is owned in about as many leagues as Austin Jackson.

Justin Sellers, Los Angeles Dodgers:  Sellers has hit .283 over the past 15 days with 14 runs and six RBIs. He plays shortstop and is available in just about every fantasy league out there. Will you be a buyer?

Trevor Plouffe, Minnesota Twins:  Plouffe the Magic Dragon is hitting .316 over the past 15 days with 11 runs, two home runs and two RBI. You can plug him in just about anywhere and he is barely owned.

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels:  Fishing for some production? Trout is hitting .357 over the past 15 days with 11 runs, four home runs and seven RBI. Trout plays outfield and you have no shot at him in dynasty leagues, but he is owned in less than 20 percent of fantasy leagues otherwise.

Nyjer Morgan, Milwaukee Brewers:  Morgan is hitting .277 with ten runs, four RBIs and four stolen bases over the past 15 days. He plays outfield and is owned in n less than 20 percent of fantasy leagues.

Lucas Duda, New York Mets:  Duda is hitting .333 over the past 15 days with 11 runs, three home runs and 123 RBI. He is eligible at first base and outfield and is owned in 15 percent of Yahoo! and less than half of ESPN leagues.

Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies:  Fowler is hitting .226 with ten runs, two home runs, four RBI and one stolen base over the past 15 days. Dexter plays outfield and is owned in a little over 20 percent of fantasy leagues.

Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners:  Seager is hitting .385 over the past 15 days with 10 runs, two home runs, and five RBIs. Kyle plays third base (2B eligibility in Yahoo) and is owned in a little over ten percent of fantasy leagues.

Also check out:

• Simmering September Stretch Run
• Will Zack Greinke Fade in September Like Last Year?
• Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 Speed Demons Vol. 10
• Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 RBI Guys Vol. 9
• Can Torii Hunter Stay Hot?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Keeper leagues add an entirely new element to fantasy baseball.

They put you even deeper into the position of a major league GM, forcing you to balance risk and reward. Anyone who has been successful in these leagues will tell you that there are three major factors in gauging the value of a player as a keeper—production, age and potential.  

These five guys give you all that and more.

Follow me on Twitter: @Nick_Marro

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Still struggling in the run category? Here are some reasonably available players that can help you out.

Orlando Hudson, San Diego Padres:  Hudson is hitting .354 over the past 15 days with 13 runs, seven RBI and two stolen bases. O-Dog plays second base and is owned in 9.0 percent of Yahoo! and 13.6 percent of ESPN leagues.

José Constanza, Atlanta Braves:  Constanza is hitting .370 with 13 runs, two home runs, seven RBI and six stolen bases. Constanza plays outfield and is owned in 28.0 percent of Yahoo! and 67.4 percent of ESPN leagues.

Jason Bay, New York Mets:  Bay is an 0-for-20 funk, but is still hitting .240 over the past 15 days with 11 runs, two home runs, five RBI and a stolen base. Bay plays outfield and is owned in 45 percent of Yahoo! and 52.5 percent of ESPN leagues.

Will Venable, San Diego Padres:  Venable is hitting .341 with 11 runs, one home run, seven RBI and four stolen bases over the past 15 days. Venable plays outfield and is owned in less than 10 percent of fantasy leagues.

Kyle Blanks, San Diego Padres:  Blanks is hitting .365 with 11 runs, four home runs and 12 RBI over the past 15 days. Blanks plays outfield and is owned in less than 10 percent of fantasy leagues.

José Altuve, Houston Astros:  Altuve is hitting .291 over the past 15 days with 11 runs, two RBI and two stolen bases. Altuve plays second base and is owned in fewer than five percent of fantasy leagues.

Also check out:

• The Bruce Is Loose
• Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 Speed Demons Vol. 9
• Is J.J. Hardy Back?
• Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 RBI Guys Vol. 8
• Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 Strikeout Kings Vol. 8

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Brett Lawrie, 2B Toronto Blue Jays (23 percent owned in Yahoo, 22.7 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 2/4, 1 RBI

Brett Lawrie has finally arrived! He tore up AAA pitching this season going .353/64/18/61/13. In my opinion, the call-up should have happened much earlier—but it didn’t. Then Lawrie suffered a hand injury on May 31st which kept him out of the game for a while. Now that it is completely healed, expect him to rake for the Blue jays.

Projection (rest of season): .280 AVG / 23 R / 6 HR / 26 RBI / 4 SB

Hideki Matsui, OF Oakland Athletics (32 percent owned in Yahoo, 70.6 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .268 AVG / 39 R / 10 HR / 54 RBI / 1 SB

I try not to mention players two weeks in a row, but I need to make an exception here. It seems like ESPN has caught on to Matsui but Yahoo leaguers haven’t. In the past six games he has gone .524/4/1/3. In Yahoo, some of the players owned ahead of him are Alex Rios, Jason Kubel, Juan Pierre and Delmon Young.

Projection (rest of season): .279 AVG / 22 R / 6 HR / 23 RBI / 0 SB

Josh Willingham, OF Oakland Athletics (23 percent owned in Yahoo, 39.1 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .245 AVG / 41 R / 16 HR / 61 RBI / 4 SB

Willingham has been a streaky hitter all season, but he had a monster month of July, going .324/.429/.618. His HR/RBI numbers are actually pretty impressive considering he only has registered 314 AB. If you extrapolate his power numbers over 600 AB you get 30/116. He is batting cleanup for the Athletics so the RBI opportunities should continue.

Projection (rest of season): .240 AVG / 21 R / 7 HR / 29 RBI / 2 SB

Rick Porcello, SP Detroit Tigers (21 percent owned in Yahoo, 29.6 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 11 W / 6 L / 73 K / 4.49 ERA / 1.36 WHIP

Now that August is upon us, it’s time to start looking at matchups for fantasy baseball playoffs. From September fifth through the 25th the Tigers face: @CLE, MIN, @CHI, @OAK, @KC and BAL. They have a pretty good schedule leading up to September fifth, too: @CLE, @BAL, MIN, CLE, @TB, @MIN, KC and CHI. Porcello’s BB/9 of 2.21 and 49.1 percent of groundballs will keep him out of serious trouble going forward.

Projection (rest of season): 4 W / 3 L / 34 K / 3.65 ERA / 1.24 WHIP

Doug Fister, SP Detroit Tigers (15 percent owned in Yahoo, five percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 4 W / 12 L / 89 K / 3.29 ERA / 1.17 WHIP

I know it’s a bit unorthodox to suggest two starting pitchers from the Tigers on the same waiver wire article, but you can’t argue with the schedule and I actually like Fister more. Fister’s K/9 is only slightly worse at 5.24 and he is a control freak (1.88 BB/9, 64.3 first pitch strike percentage). For what it’s worth, I picked him up in our league.

Projection (rest of season): 4 W / 4 L / 32 K / 3.40 ERA / 1.10 WHIP

For other entries in our waiver-wire gems series, click here!

Brian “Killboy” Kilpatrick is a Senior Writer for 4thandHome.com, where this, and other work, can be found. Additionally, he is co-host of The 4th and Home Show on Blog Talk Radio.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Ryan Dempster was a roller coaster ride last year. Check out his ERA by month:

April: 2.75
May: 4.54
June: 3.24
July: 5.03
August: 2.89
September/October: 4.59

This year Dempster started off in the outhouse with a 9.58 ERA in April. He then went 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA in May and 1-2 with a 3.13 ERA in June. I wouldn’t quite call that the penthouse, but he has his numbers at least looking respectable at 5-6 with a 4.99 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.

Since his back-to-back seven run disasters Dempster is 4-3 with a 3.11 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He’s not going to fool anyone for Justin Verlander of Cliff Lee, but at least he’s looking like the pitcher that we’ve come to know over the past couple of seasons. We knew he wasn’t as good as the 17-6, 2.96 season he posted in 2008, but he combined to go 26-21 with a 3.75 ERA and 380 strikeouts in 415.1 innings in 2009 and 2010.

Dempster has turned his season around, but I would be cautious using him on the road. He was blasted for six runs in five innings as recently as June 3. With a 6.86 ERA away from Wrigley I would only use him when the matchup is favorable. For instance, he faces the Nationals on the road on the Fourth of July. With Americana in the air I would roll the dice on that road start. It’s early enough in the week that you can make some adjustments if it doesn’t go your way.

While I don’t think it will be entirely smooth sailing for Dempster the rest of the way, I do feel he will be a solid option for the most part.

Also check out:

Michael Cuddyer:  The Glue Guy
Fantasy Baseball Youth Movement: This Year or Not?
Is Brandon Morrow a Viable Fantasy Option
Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 Speed Demons Vol. 6
Can Scott Rolen Keep Rolling?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As a follow up to our popular 5 offensive surprises for the 2011 season, I thought it would be fitting to provide a list of the top 5 pitching surprises as well.  2011 has been a pitching dominated season, with offensive numbers down across the board for every player not named Jose Bautista. 

This list was difficult to compile, as there were numerous pitching surprises over the first third of the season.  While strong bounce back performances by Josh Beckett and Dan Haren were strongly considered, we decided to focus our attention on players who were complete surprises in 2011.   

Here are the 5 biggest pitching surprises of the 2011 season: (Through 70 Games)

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Derrek Lee, 1B Baltimore Orioles (26 percent owned in Yahoo, 28.8 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .247 AVG/26 R/5 HR/19 RBI/2 SB

Lee has certainly not lived up to expectations so far in 2011, but his bat seems to be coming alive. In the past seven games, Lee has hit .438 with five XBH and six runs.

He has been shuffled between the fourth and sixth spot in the lineup, so if he can stay healthy, he should help your team in AVG and RBI.

Projection (rest of season): .283 AVG/39 R/11 HR/44 RBI/2 SB

Alexi Casilla, 2B/SS Minnesota Twins (28 percent owned in Yahoo, 55.6 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .260 AVG/32 R/2 HR/15 RBI/11 SB

Casilla has been on fire for the past month. Since May 24th he has hit .327 AVG/9 R/2 HR/11 RBI/8 SB. Casilla is currently batting second for the Twins and he should stay there. I don’t expect him to hit .327 for the rest of the year, but he should be a solid contributor in AVG, R, SB. 

Projection (rest of season): .280 AVG/36 R/4 HR/23 RBI/11 SB

Jemile Weeks, 2B Oakland Athletics (20 percent owned in Yahoo, 35 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .305 AVG/11 R/0 HR/6 RBI/6 SB

Weeks started out with a .400 BABIP and one walk in 44 AB. Since then he has shown more patience at the plate with four walks in 19 at bats and he is batting leadoff for the Athletics.

The stolen bases is a huge plus, but it will only be a matter of time before pitchers start adjusting to him. Pick him up while he is hot but don’t expect a long-term fix.

Projection (rest of season): .260 AVG/26 R/2 HR/19 RBI/10 SB

Alcides Escobar, SS Kansas City Royals (29 percent owned in Yahoo, 73.5 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .246 AVG/34 R/1 HR/21 RBI/12 SB

In the minors, Escobar was an annual three category producer in AVG, R and SB. When called up by the Brewers, he was planted in the eight hole where he was unable to showcase his true potential.

Now that he is batting ninth for an AL team, he will have more opportunity to steal bases and score runs. Since June 7th he has hit, .411 AVG/13 R/8 RBI/6 SB. I would rather roster Escobar than Chone Figgins, Gordon Beckham, Darwin Barney and Omar Infante.

Projection (rest of season): .265 AVG/40 R/2 HR/27 RBI/15 SB

Carlos Carrasco, SP Cleveland Indians (39 percent owned in Yahoo, 47.1 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 7 W/4 L/53 K/3.62 ERA/1.21 WHIP

Carlos Carrasco, a regular on “Spot Starting,” has been untouchable on the mound in his last four starts. During that time he has thrown 29.2 IP/2 ER/21 K/5 BB. His current K/9 sits at 5.48, but last year it was at 7.66 even though his current SwStr% of 8.4 is nearly identical to his 8.7 mark in 2010.

Expect a slight uptick in strikeouts. 

Projection (rest of season): 6 W/4 L/78 K/3.5 ERA/1.20 WHIP

For other entries in our waiver-wire gems series, click here!

Brian “Killboy” Kilpatrick is a Senior Writer for 4thandHome.com, where this, and other work, can be found. Additionally, he is co-host of The 4th and Home Show on Blog Talk Radio.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com