J.D. Martinez, OF, Houston Astros

Martinez was a bright spot for the Astros at the beginning of the season, but he’s cooled off of late. In his last seven games he hasn’t even recorded a hit, let alone an RBI or homerun. Young players tend to go in slumps, so that’s probably what this is for Martinez.

Nick Hundley, C, San Diego Padres

Hundley also started the season at a torrid pace, but he too has cooled off of late. The Padres young catcher is hitting just .080 over his last seven games, and has only recorded one RBI. Hundley is also young, so this too is probably just a mini slump.

Erick Aybar, SS, Los Angeles Angels

The whole Angels lineup is in a rut, and Aybar is just adding to the collective effort. Aybar is hitting just .125 over his last seven ballgames, but has also only stolen just one base. Speed is usually Aybar’s best asset, so that’s also a concerning sign.

Dee Gordon, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

Gordon is another struggling Los Angeles shortstop whose speed is also his best asset. Ironically Gordon hasn’t stolen a base over his last seven games, and is hitting just .161 during that stretch. Gordon can go on long slumps because he doesn’t have any power or line drive hitting abilities so, we will see what happens.

Rickie Weeks, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Weeks has been in a season long funk, but this slump has been particularly bad over his last seven games. Weeks is hitting just .080 over his last seven games, and he’s hitting just .157 on the year. The Brewers need his bat, though, so he should continue to be in the lineup.

Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

Hosmer was a highly touted fantasy first baseman coming into the season, but that hasn’t shown of late. He’s hitting just .200 over his last seven games with only two runs batted in. Hosmer is a guy I expect to breakout soon because he’s just a solid hitter in general.

Adam Lind, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

I think fantasy owners have expected a few more homeruns from Lind this season. So far he only has three dingers, and is hitting just .143 over his past seven games. But last year Lind went on a torrid streak, so let’s give a few more weeks before taking action.

This year couldn’t be confirming that axiom any more clearly. Closers are dropping all over the place either because of injury or ineffectiveness. All kinds of jobs are changing hands, which is probably why these guys are universally owned. A couple of them aren’t great pitchers, but all you are looking for is saves.

The five closers are in the order that I would add them, but they are all worth the risk at this point.

(The number in parenthesis is the percentage a guy is owned in a standard Yahoo Sports league. Only guys owned in less than 50% of leagues will appear in the column.)

Dale Thayer, RP, Sand Diego Padres (28%)

If nothing else you have to root for Dale Thayer. He’s a 31-year-old career minor leaguer with a major league mustache. If it wasn’t for Huston Street’s injury, Thayer would still be chasing the minor league record for saves. With three saves in the past week, he’s a guy who will help you and make you feel good doing it.

Addison Reed, RP, Chicago White Sox (36%)

Sure Reed got blown up his last appearance, but sometimes that happens to releivers. It’s probably good news for you as he might be more available now. For my money, he will be the White Sox leader in saves by the end of the year.

Casey Jassen, RP, Toronto Blue Jays (29%)

Noticing the theme of today’s column yet? Jassen’s ERA is a little ugly, but he is a solid reliever that has only allowed one hit in his last five appearances. He doesn’t have a closer pedigree, but he has opportunity.

Rafeal Dolis, RP, Chicago Cubs (35%)

Yet another closer at less than 40 percent ownership, which is something I can’t quite understand. He isn’t dominant, but in fantasy a closer is a closer. You need saves, especially in a roto league, so grab one or more of these guys.

Brian Fuentes, RP, Oakland A’s (37%)

It definitely isn’t always pretty with Fuentes and he will probably end up hurting your WHIP and ERA a bit, but as Oakland’s closer he has clear value. The A’s haven’t produced a ton of save opportunities, but those are almost impossible to predict. If you need saves, Fuentes is one of a couple options right now.

Jake Westbrook, SP, St. Louis Cardinals (49%)

Westbrook is right on the threshold of the ownership limit, but he really shouldn’t be this close. He is the 59th rated player overall and is a classic every other year guy. There will be some regression clearly, but he has the backing of a good offense and at worst he is a guy who will get you some wins.

Bud Norris, SP, Houston Astros (44%)

Norris’ numbers are finally coming around after a slow start for the popular sleeper. He will probably never be a great WHIP guy, but he makes up for that with a strikeout an inning. The Astros aren’t terrible either, so he might end up with a few more wins than anticipaged.

Jason Vargas, SP, Seattle Mariners (42%)

Vargas is right on the border between a guy you can start all the time and a guy who you just use in favorable home matchups. He is a former second round pick who is a good strikeout pitch away from being a must-add. He is still off to a great start and someone you should be thinking about.

Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers

Saying that Josh Hamilton has been completely dominating the American League over the past week wouldn’t do him much justice. On Tuesday, Hamilton became the 16th player in Major League history to hit four homeruns in a game, but Tuesday’s monster performance was just the beginning of a historical week from the Rangers’ slugger.

Hamilton launched another homerun on Thursday against the Orioles, and he blasted two more against the Angels on Friday evening. So what happened Saturday? Yes, you probably guess it, he hit another dinger adding to his total of 17 on the early season. It’s clear that the Ranger’s star has one of the best power bats in the league, and if you combine that with the ability to go on torrid streaks, you have a recipe for complete dominance (or disaster for his opponents).

Jered Weaver, P, Los Angeles Angels

There haven’t been many bright spots for an Angels team that is currently sitting in last place in the A.L West, but their ace pitcher, Jered Weaver has been one of the few positives. Last year Justin Verlander won the MVP award which was shocking to many fans around the game because pitchers have their own award. But with Verlander winning it last year he might’ve opened the door for other pitchers to take home this honor in the future.

Weaver is certainly off to a stellar start, a start that already includes two complete games with one of them being a no-hitter against the Twins. Despite getting roughed up for eight runs against the Rangers on Sunday night, Weaver is very respectable 5-1 with a 2.83 ERA. Right now he’s one of the frontrunners to win the Cy Young award in the American League, and if he keeps pitching like he has all year, the MVP award isn’t out of the question for the Angels ace.

Adam Jones, OF, Baltimore Orioles

At 22-13, the Orioles have the second best record in the American League, and much of that success falls on the back Adam Jones who is having a career year.

Jones has always played a great center field, but now the hitting component is finally starting to come into play with the Orioles budding star. He is hitting .292, but he has jacked ten home runs which is fifth in the American League. Along with the basic stats, Jones has a 2.2 WAR (Win Above Replacement), and that’s the third highest WAR in the American League. There are several factors that go into this stat, but it’s a good barometer for a player’s success.

It would certainly be a shock if a player from the Orioles remains in MVP contention throughout the entire season, but Adam Jones will definitely have an outside chance at the award.

Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers

Over the past week, Josh Hamilton has hit nine dingers. Is there really anything else I can say? If the the season ended today, Hamilton would win the triple crown. Hamilton is also on pace to break Barry Bond’s all time single season homerun record of 73. I could go on for days, but in a nutshell- this guy is on fire.

Carlos Beltran, OF, St.Louis Cardinals

As each day passes, Carlos Beltran is looking like a steal for the Cardinals who signed him for two years with an annual salary of $13 million during the winter. The veteran is leading the National League in homeruns with 13 and runs batted in with 32, and yes, I did not forget about Matt Kemp. Maybe the loss of King Albert won’t be so hard after all.

Brandon Inge, 3B, Oakland Athletics

Brandon Inge is just a guy you want to cheer for. After getting released by the Tigers a couple weeks ago, the Athletics took a flyer on him, and suddenly Billy Beane looks like a genius once again. In 11 games in an A’s uniform, Inge has batted in 17 runs to go along with four homeruns, two of them being grand slams. Obviously he isn’t going to keep this up, but he’s worth a look in deeper leagues.

Allen Craig, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

Craig has shown some pretty good power since his return from a knee injury. Over his last seven games Craig has hit five homeruns and 12 runs batted for the Cards. Craig is definitely worth a look in all leagues.

Joey Votto, 1B, Cinncniati Reds

Votto had a historical performance on Sunday afternoon. He hit three homeruns and one of them was a walk off grandslam. Those were his only big flys in week seven, but he drove in 18 and batted a spectacular .400.

Nelson Cruz, OF, Texas Rangers

The Rangers have just been waiting for Cruz to get hot, and it looks like he did just that in week seven. Cruz hit just one homerun, but hit .500 to go along with seven runs batted in. Once this guy gets hot he goes on these torrid streaks,so take that for what it’s worth.

Mark Trumbo, 3B, Los Angles Angels

Trumbo had a great weekend in Texas, and a great week overall. He hit three dingers and drove in six, while Albert Pujols did nothing. Hmmmm…..

Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins

Stanton is just like Cruz. If he gets a big hit he goes on streaks that last for days. Stanton got that big hit on Sunday, a walk off grandslam, his second homerun of the week. Watch out National League.

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Mike Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins

All it takes to get Stanton going to put him in two parks that are known as pitchers parks. Those two parks were At&t Park and Petco Park, and he has hit a total of four homeruns over his past seven games. Once this guy gets going he usually keeps it going, so watch out N.L. East.

Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves

The old man still has it. Over his last seven games he’s hitting .367 with two homeruns and he’s also driven in a total of eleven runs to add to his season total of 21. Let’s remember that he can still hit, and this hot streak might keep up for awhile.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies

Cargo started the season extrememly slugglish, but ever since the second week he has been mashing the ball. Over his last seven games Cargo is hitting an incredible .425 with four homeruns and ten runs driven in. Oh and playing in that ballpark helps too.

Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cleveland Indians

You wouldn’t expect the little man to have much power, but Kipnis has hit two homeruns over his last seven games and that adds to his season total of five. Over that seven game stretch, Kipnis is hitting .423 with two stolen bases as well.

Hunter Pence, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

There is a lot of pressure on Pence to perform out of the cleanup spot in a depleted Phillies lineup, and I think he’s finally coming around the corner. With Ryan Howard and Chase Utley out, Pence has hit three homeruns and has driven in nine over his last seven games. We know this guy will get his stats, it was just a matter of when he started to get them.

Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

Freeman put his power stroke on full display in the mile high city over the weekend. He hit two homeruns and drove in seven, and that’s just in Colorado. On the season, Freeman is driving in runs like crazy with 26, and he’s hit six long balls. With Pujols and Fielder out of the N.L., Freeman could emerge as an elite first basemen.

Mark Reynolds, 3B, Baltimore Orioles

Did you really think that Reynolds was going to allow Wilson Betemit or Miguel Tejada to steal his job? All it takes is one homerun to get this guy going, and he got that one homerun in Boston. The next day he hit another homerun, so can you expect at least 35 this year? I think so.

J.J. Hardy, SS, Baltimore Orioles

Hardy is another Oriole who’s been hitting the long ball of late. Hardy, like Reynolds, got off to a very slow start, but after a two homerun weekend in Boston, things look a lot better for Hardy and his owners.

(The number in parenthesis is the percentage a guy is owned in a standard Yahoo Sports league. Only guys owned in less than 10% of leagues will appear in the column.)

Chris Johnson 3B, Houston Astros (6%)

Johnson just had a huge to inflate his season stats, but they do stand at .311, 12 runs, and 14 RBIs for the plucky Astros. He does have a history of being useful as you can see by his second half of 2010 when he put up 11 homers, 44 RBIs, 33 runs and batted .316 in 263 ABs.

Michael Saunders, OF, Seattle Mariners (7%)

Anyone who has read by columns knows I love leadoff guys (especially in AL lineups) because I value runs so much, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Saunders here. He is not a high ceiling guy, but with the rash of injuries ripping through fantasy rosters he deserves a look at least. In the past two weeks, he has scored six runs, ripped 10 RBIs, three homers and batted .286.

Rafael Soriano, RP, New York Yankees (10%)

It hasn’t been released how bad Mariano Rivera’s injury was but all reports say it didn’t look good and Rivera is getting old so everything harder to overcome. David Robertson might be the interim closer, but he is already about 40 percent owned. Soriano has been effective in the role before (45 saves in 2010) and sometimes managers really value that experience, so he may get the nod anyway.

Steve Cishek, RP, Miami Marlins (9%)

Heath Bell is going to be hard to supplant and Ozzie Guillen has a reputation for sticking with his guys beyond reason, but this column is for deep speculation. If Bell is hurt or needs a couple weeks to get straight, Cishek has been Miami’s best bullpen guy posting an ERA and WHIP under 1.00. Always be on the lookout for saves.

Sandoval injured his hamate bone in his left hand on Wednesday night against the Marlins by just taking a swing. He didn’t get hit by a pitch or anything that you would think, the injury was just a freak incident.

Ironically, Sandoval had surgery on his hamate bone in his right hand last year on May 3rd. It’s funny how things work.
Sandoval’s injury comes at a bad time for a Giants team that is struggling to score runs, and without their best hitter, that mission won’t be any easier. Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera are the only real threats in a slumping San Francisco Giants lineup, and I doubt opposing pitchers will give those two batters anything good to hit with Pablo out of the lineup.

Fantasy Analysis

As I mentioned, Sandoval could’ve had a 30 homerun season with at least 90 runs batted in, but those lofty expectations will be almost impossible to achieve considering that the powerful switch hitter will be out of the lineup for at least a month.

Depending on how the Panda returns, it will most likely be a frustrating season from the Panda and his fantasy owners. Remember that he’s a switch hitter. Sandoval couldn’t hit from the right side of the plate when he returned from the same injury last year on his opposite hand, and if that’s any indication of his future, Sandoval will have a hard time finding a groove when he does return.

So let’s get into it. From thrown-in-the-garbage to new and shiny, here’s your dumpster-filled Week 4 in Review.

5. Heath Bell is not yet earning his keep.

We’ve already seen one of the game’s top closers in Brian Wilson go down for the season, needing Tommy John surgery, only after Joakim Soria went down with the same injury, and Andrew Bailey went down with a thumb injury. Jordan Walden and Sergio Santos have been, at least temporarily, removed from their closer roles, and now we’re left to wonder what’s going on with Heath Bell. In two outings this past week, Bell blew his 3rd save of the season, and followed that up by allowing 2 more runs (BB, HBP, single, 2 sacrifices) in garbage time on Monday.

It’s not clear what the Marlins will do with Bell. Given his 3 year contract, they’re not about to completely give up on him. At the same time, they can’t allow him to continually blow leads, especially when those leads have been few and far between this season. Look for either Eduardo Mujica or Steve Cishek to get some save opportunities soon. They’ve gotta do something to shake things up, but the closer spot is far from the worst of Miami’s problems. The offense scored fewer runs in the NL last week. The only reason they even broke double digit runs scored is because Giancarlo finally hit his first home run on Sunday. The Marlins desperately need his bat to heat up.

4. The Red Sox appear to be back on track.

After beginning the week in the AL East’s proverbial dumpster with a 5-10 record, the Red Sox went 5-1, improving to 10-11. A win on Monday brought them up to .500, though they’re still hanging out in the dumpster. See, some teams that find themselves in the dumpster early on get food poisoning from a rotten banana, and just give up. Other teams, like the Red Sox, remain hungry and use their situation as motivation to climb out of the dumpster, wash up in a Citgo bathroom, get a job holding a spinning arrow or guitar on the sidewalk, and pay for some schooling.
Someday, the Red Sox will have their Master’s degree, and they’ll drive past this dumpster on occasion (road trips to Baltimore), just to keep themselves grounded. Or, you know, the garbage truck will haul them away while their sleeping.

3. The Baltimore Orioles.

A nearly perfect 5-1 week for Baltimore left them sitting atop the AL East going into Monday. With the week’s most dominant pitching, they outscored their opponents 27-11. That’s an average difference of 3.67 runs per game. The O’s pitching staff only allowed more than 2 runs per game once all week. Who needs Jeremy Guthrie when you have Wei-Yin Chen and Jason Hammel?

At some point, though, it might be time for the O’s to get a reality check. They’ve been red hot. They’re on top of the toughest division in baseball, and they’re flying high. They’re basically at the top of their class, and they’ve just gotten a great internship with the Baltimore police department. But don’t worry, it won’t last long. Soon they’ll become corrupted and start taking their piece off the top of the proverbial drug-money pie. That won’t be enough, so they’ll start running the drugs themselves. They’ll cross the wrong person, and some guy named Ray will shoot them right in the pitching wing. By June, they’ll be living out of a dumpster with the other birds of the division.

2. Mike Trout has been called up by the Angels.

The Angels couldn’t hit their way out of a paper bag, whatever that means. They couldn’t even scrounge 10 runs together last week. It’s gotten so bad that they’ve released Bobby Abreu, and called up Mike Trout sooner than was expected. Despite being in the majors for a nice chunk of time last season, MLB restored the 20 year-old Trout’s rookie eligibility in December, so he will still be in the hunt for Rookie of the Year.

Not that the Angels needed him to, but Trout really pushed the issue, batting .403/.467/.623 in 20 games at AAA. Sure, there’s a sample size warning there, but to bat over .400 through nearly 100 plate appearances is an impressive feat in rookie ball, let alone AAA. Look for Trout to reinvigorate the Angels lineup while Pujols heats up. May could turn out to be a great month to be an Angels fan.

1. Bryce Harper has been called up by the Nationals.

Speaking of young Rookie of the Year candidates, the Nationals made a similar move, despite being on the opposite side of the coin. First place Washington called up their 19 year-old prodigy, Bryce Harper over the weekend. The Nats have been winning with their pitching, but the offense is a different story. They easily have the league’s lowest team ERA, but only the Marlins, A’s, and Pirates have scored fewer runs. They miss Michael Morse and need a kick start. That kick start, they hope, comes in the form of 2010 #1 overall pick, Bryce Harper.

Harper hasn’t exactly been lighting it up in the minors since being promoted to AA last season. He’s hit roughly .250/.330/.380 between AA and AAA, but that shouldn’t take away from the incredible 5-tool talent that he is. Love him or hate him, he, like the rest of the Nationals, will be fun to watch this season.

J.P. Arencibia, C, Toronto Blue Jays

Arencibia is one of the emerging young catchers in the game, but he’s been in a bit of a rut here lately. He’s hitting just .188 on the season with just one homerun and ten runs driven in. I expect him to pick it up soon, though.

Howie Kendrick, 2B, Los Angles Angels

Kendrick started the season as hot as anyone, but now he can’t hit anything. Over his last seven games he’s hitting .136 with no homeruns and no RBI’s.

Albert Pujols, 1B, Los Angles Angels

Angel’s fans are starting to panic. We are in the first day of May and he has yet to hit a homerun. How much longer until he hits a homerun? That massive contract he signed in the offseason is going to be hard for him to make up for if he continues to struggle.

Emilio Bonifacio, OF, Miami Marlins

Bonifacio isn’t known as a power hitter, but he’s going to get his hits and he’s definitely going to steal some bases. Emilio hasn’t done any those things of late, though. The Marlins centerfielder is hitting just .138 over his past seven, with no stolen bases. No one on the Marlins is hitting, so maybe it’s contagious.

Yunel Escobar, SS, Toronto Blue Jays

A big year from Escobar was what many fantasy owners were expecting, but that statement now seems farfetched. Escobar is hitting just .143 with no homeruns or RBI’s in his last seven games. I don’t think this streak will last for long, though. Be patient and he will give some production sooner or later.

Mark Reynolds, 3B, Baltimore Orioles

Reynolds has yet to hit a long ball or drive a run in, and when you don’t hit for a high average, that’s not a good combination. His starting job is slowly diminishing for a rolling Orioles team.

Alex Avila, C, Detroit Tigers

After such a great 2011 campaign, Avila has had his share of struggles in 2012. Over his last seven games he’s hitting just .167 with a homerun and two driven in. He does have three homeruns on the season, so it’s his current woes aren’t as alarming as people might think.

Danny Espinosa, 2B, Washington Nationals

Espinosa put himself on the map by having a great first season in the bigs, but he’s yet to really prove his worth in 2012. Espinosa has hit just one homerun on the season, while only driving in two. A sophomore slump comes to mind.