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Today’s pitch count is 6.

1. Not that he’s on many fantasy baseball rosters, except for maybe the deepest of AL-only leagues, but Luke Hochevar left the game tonight with an undisclosed rib cage injury. Not to scream out only bad news about Royals baseball, you could do a lot worse than Mike Aviles for you shortstop or middle infield needs. He had two hits tonight and is hitting .320 over 262 at-bats.
2. Note to American League pitchers. You might want to rethink your strategy of walking Big Papi to get to Youk. Kevin Youkilis popped a two-run home run tonight, and drove in another run in the eigth after David Ortiz was intentionally walked. In the last week Youk is .364/.440/.955 with 8 runs scored, 3 homers, and 8 RBI.
3. A.J. Burnett was 5-0 over the last month with a 3.94 ERA going into tonight’s game. To say he continued to pitch well is an understatement. He threw eight strong innings allowing five hits and only one earned. He also struck out 13 batters while only walking one. Strong stuff!!
4. Since we’re on the subject of strong pitching performances tonight, let’s look at Rich Harden’s 10 strikeout night. He threw seven innings and only allowed two hits. He didn’t give up any runs or walk anyone. Harden is averaging 8.42 strikeouts per outing over his last seven starts, or 1.40 strikeouts per inning. It look as if pushing his start back so that Harden could pitch in cooler weather was a superb idea.
5. Tigers 4th outfielder Matt Joyce belted two home runs tonight and could start seeing more playing time. Also, don’t be surprised if he gets moved higher in the batting order (he currently hits 7th) when he plays.
6. Let’s add Kevin Slowey to the list of great pitching performances tonight. He struck out 12 and walked none in his seven innings of work. He only gave up one earned run and five hits tonight while earning his tenth win of the season.

For the most part, our pre-season middle infield studs have performed similarly to how we expected them to perform. Hanley Ramirez is on fire over the last month with 11 home runs (20 total), Jose Reyes leads all MLB middle infielders with 28 stolen bases, and Chase Utley leads all of MLB with 23 home runs. These were all solid 1st round fantasy baseball pickups.

However, it’s not just the household names that have shined at the MI position, especially over the past month. There are some veteran players and some newcomers who are causing fantasy GM’s to take note.

Orlando Cabrera | Chicago White Sox - Cabrera, over the last month, is batting .336 with 17 runs scored, 3 home runs, 18 RBI, and 3 stolen bases. He’s doubled his home run total for the season in June alone, and his 18 RBI in June are twice what he posted in May and 54% of his season total. Ride Cabrera while he’s hot, but be wary of his batting average spike as it might be aided by a 35% hit rate in the month if June. If his hit rate comes down, expect his batting average to as well. But, if his new power sticks around, Cabrera could still be valuable.

Alexi Casilla | Minnesota Twins - Casilla made it to the big leagues on his speed. He’s averaged 33.6 stolen bases over the last 5 seasons (MLB & MiLB combined) and had 49 in 2005 and 50 in 2006. However, in his 2007 stint for the Twins, his .222 batting average over 189 at-bats left a sour taste in the mouths of the Twins front office. 2008 has turned out differently. In 156 at-bats this season, Casilla is batting .327 with 25 runs scored, 4 home runs, 31 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. He is even 5th on the Twins in RBI, even though he’s only played in half of his teams’ games. If Casilla can keep the average up, and the RBI’s flowing, he’ll remain valuable to fantasy owners. If he starts getting the green light more on the base paths and his stolen base totals increase like we’ve seen in his minor league career, he pushes his way towards the upper tier of middle infielders.

Mike Aviles | Kansas City Royals - Aviles, a 7th round pick in the 2003 draft, is making the most of his call-up and rookie season for the Royals. He’s batting .303/.333/.505 with 17 runs scored, 3 home runs, 15 RBI and 2 stolen bases in 99 at-bats. Aviles was called up in May after hitting .336 with 10 home runs in 51 games at AAA Omaha. He also hit 17 home runs last season at Omaha in 133 games while hitting .296. His 33% hit rate so far in Kansas City is right in line with MiLB numbers, but there isn’t enough data to determine whether or not his hit rate will effect his batting average. Even though we might not have enough data yet, Aviles has entrenched himself as the Royals leadoff hitter, and should easily have a spot in AL-only and most mixed leagues, as well.

For everyone who reads my weekly post here at Crooked Pitch I have moved to a new domain. You can find my daily updates at RotoSavants.com. As always I will try to supply one from each of the following positions at my weekly review here on Crooked Pitch (C, CI, MI, OF, SP and RP) I will include there current availability which may have changed since my initial review.

C - Jeff Clement - I hope he gets full time at bats, because he has top 5 potential at the catcher position. I don’t think he will take to much time from Kenji, but he could get more at DH to get maybe 4-5 days a week. He is owned in 20% of CBS leagues

CI - Andy LaRoche- How long have we been waiting for this. He still isn’t getting full time at bats, but DeWitt doesn’t have his power and should be back in the minors soon enough. He is also getting starts at 1B which will be helpful with multiple eligibility. He is only owned in 18% of CBS leagues.

MI - Mike Aviles - He is slugging way to much right now, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have good pop. Being a SS and MI should get him owned in most deep leagues. For those still playing a Betancourt type SS for average you should get Aviles as his average is good and he has more pop. He is only owned in 25% of CBS leagues.

OF - Chase Headley - I’m not expecting him to start of like a Jay Bruce and his ownership will likely stay low for a week or so. He is not OF eligible yet, but he is starting there and should have eligibility soon. He will help in most leagues, but at about 300+ AB’s possible remaining this season he will likely hit about 10 homers for the remainder of the season. He is only owned in 47% of CBS leagues.

SP - Charlie Morton - Before AAA he had never pitched like this, but he had thrown 79 innings of great pitching. He then had a good start against the Angels. I would expect several hiccups in his work, but pitching in Atlanta he couls be worth a shot as they know pitching. He is owned in 26% of leagues.

RP - Mike Gonzalez - I know I recommended him last week, but since then he has been activated and hinted that he will close full time. He has already proved his health in his rehab starts so don’t worry about that. He should still strikeout enough batters to be an above average closer. He is only owned in 23% as of this morning on CBS.