1. Adam Dunn (1B - White Sox) - Is he back? Probably a little too soon to say definitively, but the power stroke has at least shown signs of returning through the first month of 2012. He has 4 in...

Summary: Saves Sunday came from Kenley Jansen (2), Sean Marshall (5), Craig Kimbrel (8), John Axford (5), Santiago Casilla (4), and Ramon Ramirez (1). Don't get excited about Ramirez. It was an extra-inning game and Frank Francisco had already pitched...

Just to preempt some questions that I'll get this week ... I see Prospect Central as a way to talk a little more in depth about some prospects that don't get a huge amount of copy in the fantasy...

1. Yadier Molina (C, STL) - While many Fantasy players draft Molina for his steady batting average and predictable production, the most talented of all the Molina brothers keeps rewarding them with more than they could possibly have hoped for....

Scott Downs RP (LAA) - In his first day as the Angels' closer (with the role temporarily being removed from Jordan Walden's hands), Downs worked a perfect 9th inning to record his first save of the year. Downs struck...

1. Bryce Harper (OF - Nationals) - The day has come. Bryce Harper was called up to the big leagues and joined the Washington Nationals. He will make his major league debut today against the Dodgers. Harper was hitting...

Francisco Cordero - Filling in for the injured closer Sergio Santos, Francisco Cordero did what Francisco Cordero do - he blew a save. The Mariners touched Cordero for two runs in the ninth inning on Friday. Last season, Cordero posted...

Matt Moore (SP-TB)- Moore did not earn a decision in the Rays win over the Angels, but he did pitch well in his 5.2 innings of work. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits (one home run)...

Huston Street- SD- Hot- Like the Maytag repairman, the life of a closer on a victory-challenged team can be a lonely one. Street got his second save of the season last night and has performed well whenever called upon. He...

NL Quick Pitch: The Rockies and Pirates split a double-header on Wednesday and once again no team topped 5 runs in a game played by the Pirates. Charlie Morton and Juan Nicasio had good results pitching in each end...

Scott Feldman- TEX- Drop Value- If the Rangers' off day this week had been Monday instead of Wednesday, Feldman wouldn't have had to have been used as a spot starter last night. However, that's not the way the schedule was...

American League 2 Mike Trout LAA OF A+ First 18 games - .400/.463/.600. Wells and Hunter? Both with sub-.700 OPS's. 3 Jesus Montero SEA C A .241/.259/.370, but then again, no one in Seattle is hitting right now. 4 Manny...

Brandon Morrow SP (TOR) - During Spring Training both Morrow and his manager, John Farrell, commented that they would like to see Morrow use his offspeed stuff more often and attempt to get some weak contact earlier in counts....

Jose Altuve - Altuve had another pair of singles and a steal yesterday, and I'm beginning to think that hitting in the #8 slot benefits Altuve and his natural selectiveness. Altuve pressed a bit upon coming to the bigs last...

Elvis Andrus - Before diving into a review of Elvis Andrus, let's remember he doesn't turn 24-years old until August. There is a ton of room for improvement with this kid, who went 2-for-4 with two singles on Monday. He...

NL Summary: Saves Sunday came from Rafael Betancourt (5), Sean Marshall (3), and J.J. Putz (5), while we had a pair of East Coast games postponed due to rain. ... Meanwhile, Rafael Furcal had three more hits to raise his...

AL Quick Pitch: Josh Hamilton continued his assault on the AL with his 7th HR and his 1st SB of the season in a 3-2 win over the Tigers. Drew Smyly pitched well for the Tigers limiting the Rangers...

A.J. Pollock - Third Base - Diamondbacks The D-backs purchased the contract of A.J. Pollock from AAA in response to Chris Young's injury. The 24 year old missed all of 2010 regular season with elbow surgery but returned for...

Phil Humber (SP - CHA): In a day when a number of elite aces were scheduled to throw, Phil Humber stole the show. Humber registered the 21st perfect game in major league history on Saturday against the Mariners. Humber...

Jason Hammel (SP-BAL)- Hammel earned his second win of the season and lowered his ERA to 2.37 on Thursday against the White Sox. He allowed two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out a career high...

NL Quick Pitch: The Astros offense broke out against Tom Gorzelanny and the rest of the Nats bullpen racking up 11 runs. Seven Astros had multiple hits in the effort as everyone got involved. The run support was enough...

Joe Nathan- TEX- FYI- Nathan got into last night's game because he hadn't pitched in a couple of days. He entered the 9th inning with a 4 run lead so it wasn't a save situation. However, a walk, error and...

We start off this Thursday's Quick Pitch with injury news from around the National League. Chris Young was placed on the disabled list with a slight ligament tear in his shoulder. Its the first time he has been on the...

Hitters 31 Nick Castellanos DET 3B B+ Off to a great start with a .410/.442/.564 line in 39 at-bats. 35 Mike Olt TEX 3B B+ .209 through 11 games and still not making near enough contact - 65% CT%. 38...

Freddie Freeman (1B-ATL)- Freeman returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday night after getting the day off on Monday and went 2-for-4 with a double, a strikeout and two RBI. Freeman managed to raise his slash line to .195/.233/.244,...

Chase Headley - Headley banged three doubles yesterday in Colorado to extend his hitting streak to eight games, and he also has 7 XBH for the year already. I think that some of the small improvements that he's been making...

Fernando Rodney - Fernando Rodney recorded two outs on Monday against the Red Sox en route to his fourth save of the season. The former Tiger has now tossed 4 1/3 innings and allowed just one base runner on a...

NL Quick Pitch: Saves on Sunday from Sean Marshall and Joel Hanrahan (first of the year for both), and Arizona's Bryan Shaw (his second - more on him in a minute). ... With the news that Brian Wilson is done...

AL Quick Pitch: Brandon League is a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities to begin 2012. If he can normalize his road/away splits from last year (SLG% of .254 at Safeco, .407 everywhere else), he'll be considered near the top of...

Kelly Johnson - Johnson bashed his third homer of the young season yesterday in the 6-4 loss to Baltimore. I think Johnson is in store for a big year north of the border, as he's coming off of a second...

Freddy Galvis - Second Base - Phillies 21-year-old Freddy Galvis started off the season 0- for -10 before collecting a 2-run double to snap the streak. He entered the weekend 5- for -14 including his first career HR on...

It's happened to all of us. We're sitting down watching our stud fantasy pitcher, and before we get out of the first inning it's apparent that it's going to be a long day....a real long day. Your pitcher is getting...

Jacoby Ellsbury - Our Fantistics software pinned Jacoby Ellsbury as one of the top overall players in 2012 so it's understandable if his fantasy owners said a few extra prayers last evening after the Boston outfielder injured his shoulder sliding...

Ryan Ludwick- CIN- Stats- Ludwick has a Batting EYE of 1.00, which would indicate a marked increase in selectivity. However, it looks like that might be a statisrtical bubble when his plate discipline numbers are examined. His Swing% has actually...

AL Quick Pitch: Derek Holland has now pitched two straight quality starts to begin the season. With improvements to WHIP and his GB% over the last couple of years, there are good things ahead (except for an unlucky schedule...

Nick Markakis- BAL- Idea- Markakis has gone 4 games without a hit after opening the season with 2 multihit games. His average now stands at .238. This could be a good time to buy low if you need some help...

NL First Pitch: There were a bunch of "aces" scheduled to throw on Wednesday, but a few of them turned out to be jokers as Tim Lincecum and Josh Johnson both had outings that could arguably go down as...

Hitters 31 Mason Williams NYY OF B+ Two doubles in debut. .863 OPS and 28 SB in just 68 games a year ago. 32 Jonathan Singleton HOU 1B B+ 4-for-16 to start AA career. Hopefully a big part of...

Kyle Drabek SP (TOR) - I am a little bit more optimistic about Drabek than my co-analyst Joe Hettler. Drabek was a disaster last year, but his status as a former top prospect and reports in Spring Training of...

David Freese - Freese is one of my favorite kinds of guys to draft mid-round: a guy that hasn't yet had success at the big league level yet has never failed to have success elsewhere (career minor league line of...

Yu Darvish - It's safe to say Yu Darvish had a less than desirable first inning in the majors. Facing the Mariners, Darvish walked the leadoff batter, Chone Figgins, struck out Dustin Ackley, allowed three straight singles, threw a wild...

Andrew Cashner (RP-SD) - Cashner is a former first-round draft pick, so it's not a surprise that when he's healthy, he's good. Watching him Saturday, Cashner was in the 98-100 mph range with his fastball. He mixed in an 88...

Max Scherzer SP (DET) - Scherzer 's attempt to rebound from a disappointing 2011 season got off to a rocky start. Scherzer did not make it out of the 3rd inning against the Red Sox. He gave up 7...

Kurt Suzuki/Derek Norris - Suzuki is another player that, like J.P. Arencibia in Toronto, can't really afford an off-year with a top prospect breathing down his neck. Derek Norris has opened 2012 with five hits in his first three games,...

Drew Smyly - Tigers - SP The Tigers will start the season with Drew Smyly as their 5th starter, even if he will start the season in the minors to get a start in while the 5th slot comes around....

Mike Moustakas 3B (KC) - Moustakas went 0-3 in his 2012 debut. Moustakas came up last season as one of the Royals best prospects and could be a star in the future. However, I have doubts that he will...

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up...

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up...

NL First Pitch: Mets fans probably didn't notice that the fences were moved in at all on Thursday as the Mets won a pitcher's duel 1-0 behind a strong effort from Johan Santana and the Mets bullpen. Santana's velocity...

As a reminder, each week from here until the end of the minor league season, we'll provide prospect notes on more than 60 players as well as updates to our Top 50 hitters, Top 50 pitchers, Top 5 prospects in...

Yu Darvish- TEX- Hot- Sure, it was only a AA lineup he was facing, but Darvish was dominant. He allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks in his 4 IP of work, striking out 5. Only two hitters he faced...

NL Quick Pitch: Happy Opening Day! We get started reviewing some tidbits from last night's game. Josh Johnson struggled a bit by scattering 10 hits, but still got the QS despite earning the loss. The ongoing question with JJ will...

Your last Preseason Prep for 2012. Good luck to all and enjoy Opening Day tomorrow. Oakland A's Projecting Yoenis: Cespedes displayed some impressive power in the Japan series against the Mariners. In the first game, he took a strong curveball...

Brent Lillibridge - This is definitely for deep leagues only, but Brent Lillibridge is exactly the type of player that can give a roster the necessary flexibility to withstand the attrition of a long year. Depending on your roster rules,...

Preseason Fantistics Analysis - Monday, April 2, 2012 Detroit Tigers The Tigers have chosen Drew Smyly as their 5th starter and will start the season in the rotation. Don't be confused when you see a Triple-A start against Toledo on...