1. Michael Pineda (SP - Mariners) - Just your typical 4-hit QS for Michael Pineda. He went 7.0 shutout innings while striking out 9 and recording just 1 BB. It was his 12th quality start out of 15 starts for the season as he basically cruises to the top of the Rookie of the Year boards. Aside from posting a K/I of almost 1.0 (0.98 to be exact), Pineda has also kept the walks in-check with a K/BB of 3.5 and a BB/9 of 2.5. Its all good for a WHIP of exactly 1.00 and an ERA of 2.45. He's simply a fantasy stud right now and probably the most exciting thing to happen to Seattle in quite some time.
2. Delmon Young (OF - Twins) - Young may have gone 0-for-4 yesterday, but he has woken up in June and is starting to show flashes of 2010. After sputtering the first two months hitting .228 in April and just .197 in May, Young is back at it with a .321 in June. Of course with Young, that only includes 2 BB this month, so his OBP of .338 is only slightly better than his average for the month. For his career, he is a notorious free swinger, drawing 1 BB for only 24 plate appearances while striking out every 5.6. We that approach, I don't think anyone was surprised to see an extended slump for Young as he began 2011 and I'd be shocked if Young could equal his 2010 FPI value of 0.64 for the remainder of the season. While last season was tremendous with 20+ HR, 100+ RBI, and 68 XBH, it was most likely a career year and an anomaly. I'm not spending a lot chasing Young in mixed leagues.
3. Ichiro Suzuki (OF - Mariners) - There have been numerous articles citing Ichiro's gradual decline and they make a valid point. Taking a look at the short-term though, Ichiro looks to be emerging from his 6-week slump and is creeping back into form. With an 11-game hitting streak under his belt, Ichiro has raised his average .252 on June 9th to .278 heading into the weekend. He's swinging away through this hit streak as well, drawing only 1 walk during that time frame which has kept his OBP numbers a little more modest than in years past (.325 overall this year vs. a 3-year OBP from 2008 - 2010 of .368). A player of Ichiro's caliber just doesn't forget how to hit. He makes the necessary adjustments and breaks out quickly. I would be shocked if Ichiro finished the season under .300 and I bet, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, that he'll get really hot and flirt with the 200-hit mark again. Right now, he's on pace for somewhere in the 185-190 range.
4. Jemile Weeks (2B - A's) - After an 0-for-6 on Wednesday that lowered his average 40 points, Weeks was back at it on Thursday with a 1-for-3 and 2 SB. Since being called up in early June, Weeks has been a solid fantasy option at 2B. He's hitting .321 with a .367 OBP and has flashed speed with 6 SB in 8 attempts. As we expected (and unlike his brother) there is little power from Weeks with no HR to date. But he does have 7 XBH out of his 18 total including 3 triples in just 56 AB. Not sure why his ownership is still only about 33% in some of the more popular league commissioner services. With Weeks' speed and hot-hitting at a weak position, I don't expect that low ownership rate to stick around for too long.
5. Dustin Ackley (2B - Mariners) - The Mariners had originally planned to "ease" Ackley into action at the big league level, but those plans lasted about a week. After being held out of the lineup on Wednesday for a quick rest, manager Eric Wedge has basically said they plan to go full-steam ahead with Ackley. He won't stay near the bottom of the lineup too long, so expect some juggling to happen with Ackely very soon. Check out last week's post about Ackley's potential, but his ownership has already jumped up to about 75% in all leagues according to ESPN, CBS, etc. If you already have 2B covered with some of the upper-tier options, consider a claim for Ackley for trade bait or as a backup. He was posting a .908 OPS in the minors before being called-up and had recorded hits in his first 5 games before going 0-for-3 last night.
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