Mastersball

Aoki A-OK

Norichika Aoki, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

• Last 18: .352 BA, 14 R, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 7 SB in 84 PA

We've touched on the merits of Aoki here and here. Many seem to have listened. Did you?

Chris Nelson, 2B/3B, Colorado Rockies

• Last 18: .348 BA, 12 R, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 1 SB in 72 PA

Some tinkering - a simple soft-toss session that focused on protecting the outside corner and bringing his feet closer together in the box - allowed Nelson to start clicking. The crack of his lumber is much louder nowadays.

He's typically much better at home, at least with his clip, and will have eight more games there. That precedes a three-game trip to Chavez Ravine next weekend and a trio of contests at Chase Field - nice schedule. Deep mixed leaguers might find him on their cheat sheets for next spring at this rate.

Lance Lynn, SP, St. Louis Cardinals

• Last 2: 2 W, 0.73 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 12 K in 12 1/3 IP

For a spell, his position was "RP," which prompted many to drop him. A rough August caused him to get the boot, but his walk issues are back under control, and, as Nick pointed out, the righty has regained confidence in his fastball. Don't let someone else grab him.

Nate McLouth, OF, Baltimore Orioles

• Last 13: .357 BA, 12 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB in 69 PA

A mystery change to his approach helped McLouth rediscover the across-the-board talent that once had him as a viable fantasy resource. By the looks of things, his hacks have a smoother path to the strike zone.

His base thievery gives you more reason to hope he'll continue his raking. He's hitting atop a sometimes-awesome lineup that's making a postseason charge.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs

• Last 20: .333 BA, 15 R, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 1 SB in 89 PA

In a year where Rizzo continues to figure out left-handed pitching and the rigors of an up-and-down full-season performance, he's finishing strong and hitting the ball with more punch (25.0 liner rate, compared to 13.4 in his sample last year).

Sure, the competition is thinned out a bit thanks to roster expansion. He still struggles versus southpaws, and his swing tends to get long once in a while, which increases his slump risk. But he's using Chicago's garbage time wisely and has the goods to be a mixed-league CI next year.

Logan Forsythe, 2B/3B, San Diego Padres

• Last 16: .359 BA, 15 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB in 69 PA

Forsythe still relevant

KFFL's Forsythe information has been just as voluminous as Aoki's. He's had a few 0-for-4s and 1-for-4s of late, so he probably won't carry a team on his back anymore. He remains a useful MI piece, though.

Justin Maxwell, OF, Houston Astros

• Last 13: .273 BA, 8 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB in 51 PA

Maxwell is the latest beneficiary of Houston's rebuilding effort. He's been a toolsy tease heading into this season, and he's landed in a perfect home park to accentuate his right-handed pop.

He strikes out way too much to be relied on for a helpful BA over a full season, but little runs like this displayed under minimal pressure help those in need now. There's power-speed allure, chiefly in single-universe leagues, for next year's drafts, depending on whether he wins a starting gig.

Kevin Correia, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

• Last 3: 2 W, 1.89 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 9 K in 19 IP

He has an outing Saturday against the Houston Astros, which is the likely predicator for his widespread waiver love. Those solid numbers above came against the Astros, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Correia squares off at the New York Mets next week and most likely the Atlanta Braves to wrap up his season.

This year has been typical low-K, great-control Correia with more grounders and a heavy side of luck on his opponents' in-play clip (.268). Play the good matchups (preferably not the Bravos), thank him for his service and forget about him for mixed leagues next year.

Travis Wood, SP, Chicago Cubs

• Last 6: 2 W, 2.77 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 32 K in 39 IP

Another streamer special that's been decent lately. He faces the Cardinals at home Saturday - not a fantastic matchup, definitely not as good as the favorable schedule he's had of late.

Be careful. He visits either Colorado or Arizona next. You may want to wait until Chicago hosts Houston in the final series to deploy him next. The homer problem that plagues him doesn't bode well for those spots.

Even with the .243 BAABIP he's logged, the cutter he's embraced this year has given him more mixed-league credence, and he's netting the first strike in more at-bats this year than in the past. Fly-ball pitchers often give up lower in-play clips anyway. It's been a true growth campaign that might make 2013 look a lot like 2010.

Chris Carpenter, SP, St. Louis Cardinals

• 9/21: 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB 2 K in 5 IP

That 77-pitch Friday return against the Chicago Cubs reminded people he existed. It was likely enough for St. Louis to roll with him in their rotation. He lines up to visit the Houston Astros and host the Cincinnati Reds. Of course, when Carp is active, the schedule doesn't matter. Play him.

by Nick Minnix, KFFL.com

Who are the hottest pickups in fantasy baseball leagues? Can you trust them on your fantasy baseball teams?

Catch some pop

Logan Forsythe, 2B/3B, San Diego Padres

• Last 14: .396 BA, 11 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB in 57 PA

Tim covered the Friars' 25-year-old infielder in the Friday edition of Diamond Market and espoused on the right-handed hitter's developing power.

San Diego, one of the league's hottest teams (even on offense - seriously), probably won't be able to come up with an excuse to keep Forsythe's lumber out of the lineup as this campaign draws to a close.

Kyle Kendrick, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

• Last 6: 5 W, 1.49 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 33 K in 42 1/3 IP

This right-hander was an entrant a couple of weeks ago, and perhaps part of the reason for his rapid resurfacing is his outing against the Houston Astros, scheduled for Saturday. Mostly, however, it's because Kendrick, 28, has been pitching out of his gourd.

Tim covered the basic reasons that Kendrick has been a thoroughly improved hurler in the second half of 2012. He's thrown strikes 69 percent of the time during this hot stretch. The opposition's less frequent contact and trouble squaring up on his pitches has fueled this run.

If Kendrick loses some aggressiveness, or batters begin to discover a better plan of attack - or both - the good times will end. You can't know when that'll be, though.

Norichika Aoki, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

• Last 16: .344 BA, 14 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 SB in 74 PA

Aoki is a repeat offender in the top 10. Fantasy owners seem to label him "expendable" when he's not hitting well, but they (or others in their leagues) have come back when he picks it up again. Much of this might be a lack of familiarity, or a lack of faith considering the performance of other batters recently imported from Asia.

The left-handed hitter has come up with some big hits lately to drive in runs for the surging Brew Crew. The leadoff man isn't in position to do that frequently, but he should be making it clear that he's worth holding until this campaign ends.

A.J. Griffin, SP, Oakland Athletics

• Last 3: 3 W, 0.89 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 18 K in 20 1/3 IP

Tim has been a man on a mission, but apparently he isn't succeeding. Only you can prevent forest fires ... and make these moves.

We're three starts into Griffin's return from the disabled list, and the 23-year-old righty picked up right where he left off. His .238 BABIP and 86.5 LOB percentage seem unfair, but his 4.82 K/BB is putting him in a good position, regardless.

Lorenzo Cain, OF, Kansas City Royals

• Last 7: .394 BA, 5 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 SB in 35 PA

Lo-Cain has been sizzling for a little more than a week. Thank goodness, since he's missed virtually the entire first half and hasn't been completely dependable since returning.

But alas, roto players' timing couldn't be much worse. Cain suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring on Thursday. He could miss the rest of the season, or close to it.

Luke Gregerson, RP, San Diego Padres

• Last 9: 7 SV, 1.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 7 K in 10 IP

Not much foresight on Forsythe

Gregerson has been the reliever Bud Black has relied upon most often, and practically exclusively for the past three weeks, in the ninth inning. The Friars have been without Huston Street (strained calf) for more than a month.

Although Street has suffered a setback in his recovery, it occurred weeks ago, and at the beginning of this past week, Closer Hot Seat covered his progress. He's now very close. According to reports, he's tested the calf in PFP. He hasn't gone 100 percent, but he's close.

If Street gets through this weekend without a hitch, fantasy owners will probably run out of Gregerson love.

Josh Donaldson, 3B, Oakland Athletics

• Last 14: .300 BA, 11 R, 5 HR, 10 RBI in 57 PA

Lately - at least throughout the highlighted stretch - Donaldson has demonstrated the kind of walk and strikeout rates he exhibited in the minors. Is the stocky backstop-turned-infielder in the midst of a breakthrough?

We can answer that question, for certain, only in hindsight. In the meantime, the playoff-hungry A's will continue to depend on him at the hot corner. Donaldson is a threat to go deep in any plate appearance, and if he has C eligibility in your two-catcher league, you'll probably hang on.

Ricky Nolasco, SP, Miami Marlins

• Last 3: 3 W, 0.36 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 16 K in 25 IP

This seems about right. Nolasco is a headache for most mixed leaguers to roster, but he's a fine free-agent find when he's rolling. Two complete-game shutouts in his last three starts (the other was a seven-frame, one-run effort) will put him on roto radars quickly.

The Washington Nationals have been none too thrilled with Nolasco lately, but fantasy owners hope to be. The streaky meatbanpll tosser could fall apart in his next turn, or he could he could keep pulling some Kyle Kendricks. The 68 percent strikes put Nolasco in that class for the noted stretch. The history of burning folks puts him in the "don't get too comfortable" bin, though.

Andrew Werner, SP, San Diego Padres

• Last 4: 2 W, 2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 23 K in 24 1/3 IP

No one should've seen this left-hander coming. He was rocking a 5.79 ERA at Triple-A Tucson when the Friars called him up. The southpaw, 25, may have difficulty maintaining his attractive 8.51 K/9; it exceeds his best marks in the minors by just a bit.

But hold your horses. A Fangraphs writer documented Werner's superb start against the Los Angeles Dodgers (his third), pointing out how well he varied his pitch speeds. SD's pitching coach was gushing about the starter's command in that tilt, too.

None of Werner's offerings is special, but his slider and changeup are effective. The Padres may have found another someone they can work with, as long as he continues to paint corners and pitch unpredictably. Which isn't exactly easy.

Dewayne Wise, OF, Chicago White Sox

• September: .324 BA, 5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB in 40 PA

Wise has continued to play - seemingly regularly - since the ChiSox brought in the New York Yankees castoff for depth. He subbed in for Alejandro De Aza, who missed time with a bruised ribcage, last month.

Wise, 34, swats an occasional dinger and will net his owners some steals. He'll also, presumably, grab some pine again once Adam Dunn (strained oblique) returns to the lineup. The Big Donkey has been out for more than a week because of the ailment, though. The South Siders continue to label him "day-to-day," but even the mildest strain in the trunk takes some time.

Fantasy owners, again, may not have the future in mind when making this pickup, but if they're making changes daily, guess it can't hurt.