Where Can I Find: Home Runs

If you're in a standard 5x5 Rotisserie league, you need to do all you can to not fall too far behind in any one category. A common belief is that you should shoot for no worse than fourth place in any category to keep yourself in the running to win your league.

With that in mind, here are some players that are available in a large percentage of ESPN and/or Yahoo! leagues who could help you make up some ground in the Home Runs category. Be very aware, though, of the reasons why these players are sitting out there on waivers.

• OF Matt Joyce, TB has three home runs and is slugging .739 in May and now leads the AL in batting with a .356 average. ESPN owners are catching on as he's now owned in 72.1% of leagues but how is he still just 30% owned on Yahoo!? Make no assumptions. Check your waivers now to see if he's somehow available.
• C Jorge Posada, NYY is tied for the major league-lead in home runs (6) for catcher-eligible players. His .147 batting average (15/102) has everything to do with the fact that he's only owned in 42.5% of ESPN leagues and 63% of Yahoo! leagues (and dropping). At this point, he should only be owned in two-catcher leagues with 12 or more teams, as he's currently the 25th-ranked catcher on ESPN's Player Rater. But if you are desperate for home runs, he may be worth rostering and only playing on days when he has a history of success against opposing pitchers until he heats up. That's assuming he ever does.
• C Rod Barajas, LAD is also tied for the major league-lead in home runs (6) for catchers and gets the majority of starts for the Dodgers. His .236 batting average is going to do more damage than good to a competitive team, but he deserves to be owned in more than 1.9% of ESPN leagues and 9% of Yahoo! leagues. He's averaged 20 HR/162 games over his career. Spot starting verses a left-handed starter would be ideal. He's hitting .357 vs LHP compared to .192 vs RHP this season.
• OF Jonny Gomes, CIN has six home runs, 17 RBI, 18 runs scored and five stolen bases. Surely those numbers deserve to be owned in more than 31.9% of ESPN leagues and 34% of Yahoo! leagues, right? Wrong. His .192 batting average, 32.7 K% and a loss of playing time are why he's being dropped in huge chunks of leagues right now. He hit five of his six homers during a seven game span, so he may be worth picking up the next time he hits a home run and home he goes on a binge.
• OF Josh Willingham, OAK leads the A's in home runs (6) and RBI (22) but also in strikeouts (37). His .229 batting average is nothing to write home about, either. As long as the entire Oakland offense continues to struggle, his ownership numbers will remain low (10.5% ESPN; 16% Y!). On a positive note, he's still projecting to hit 20+ HR with 90+ RBI.
• 1B/OF Luke Scott, BAL is known to be a streaky home run hitter, so the time to grab him is when he's going through a dry spell. All six of his home runs this season came within a 16-game period (14 games played). His .263 average won't kill your team and he should be benched against LHP (2/23; .087 BA). Owned in 51.9% of ESPN leagues and just 39% of Yahoo! leagues, Scott could be the most widely available 30-HR potential player out there.
• 1B Mark Trumbo, LAA has a nice .270/14/6/17/2 line but was losing playing time to an overly crowded Angels' infield. Vernon Wells' injury has opened up some more opportunities to get Trumbo's bat into the lineup and he should continue to produce. At his current pace, he's projected to hit 26 HR for the season. His 16.5% ESPN and 16% Yahoo! ownership rates make him a widely available target, especially in leagues using a CI, IF or multiple DH/UTL roster positions.
• SS Alex Gonzalez, ATL is the 14th-ranked shortstop on ESPN's Player Rater, so I'm thinking his ownership numbers should be a bit higher than 41.8% on ESPN and 37% on Yahoo!, especially with a decent .252/20/5/16/0 from a thin shortstop position that's on pace to produce 22 HR, 70 RBI and 88 Runs.

Six weeks into the season may be time to start evaluating when to give up on some players. Swallow leaguers probably have the most flexibility to cut an under-performing player because they have the deepest waivers. Deep mixed or AL/NL Only leaguers have to be looking for incremental changes on a weekly basis to make up points. There's no time to sit back and continue to wait if you've fallen to the middle or the back of the pack. 

Where Can I Find: Stolen Bases

I know it's just a couple weeks into the season but now is the time to evaluate your roster to see if you may have overlooked a category or two (or more) during your draft and making some roster adjustments to keep you from failing falling too far behind in the standings.

Below is a list of players available in a large percentage of ESPN and/or Yahoo! leagues that could help you stay competitive in the Stolen Bases category early in the season:

• OF Sam Fuld, TB leads the American League in stolen bases with six in just nine games played. He wasn't fantasy-relevant until Manny Ramirez retired and looks to get the majority of playing time in left field while batting leadoff. His overall line of .313/5/1/4/6 could easily help you out in three categories. He's still only 18% owned in ESPN leagues and 26% in Yahoo! leagues. And for some good laughs, check out the #LegendofSamFuld hashtag on Twitter.
• 3B/SS/OF Willie Bloomquist, ARI benefited from Stephen Drew starting the season with an injury and has made the most of his opportunities. He's started nine of the D'Backs eleven games and has a hit in all nine while racking up six stolen bases and accumulating quite the fantasy baseball line of .349/9/1/5/6. He's only OF eligibility in ESPN leagues but could turn into a super-utility type much like what we saw from Omar Infante in 2010. Now may be the time to commit to picking him up as his ownership numbers continue to rise (54.1% E; 72% Y!).
• 2B Orlando Hudson, SD is settling in quite nicely near the top of the order with his new team and showing there's still life left in his legs. Hudson has never stolen more than 10 bases in a season, so the four he has now could be an anomaly but if you are lacking at 2B or MI in a deeper league he may be worth the look. He's putting up overall numbers (.324/5/0/2/4) that make him ownable while he's widely available (3.7% E; 7% Y!).
• OF Coco Crisp, OAK has averaged 31 stolen bases per 162 games in his career but his problem has been staying healthy. He already has four steals this season but is now dealing with a lower back injury. If you have the roster space to spot start him when he's healthy, you could pick up some cheap steals without much risk. His ownership numbers are currently dropping (56.9% E; 41% Y!), so you probably have some time to make a decision here.
• OF Johnny Damon, TB somehow has managed three steals already and currently riding a five-game hitting streak. He'll run a lot more with the Rays than he did with the Tigers, so double-digit steals should be a reality for him again this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him reach 15/15 in 2011. His ownership numbers are very low (25.5% E; 10% Y!) and so is his batting average but he's providing value in 4-out-of-5 standard scoring categories (.220/4/2/7/3).
• C Russell Martin, NYY looks healthy and playing with passion again for the Yankees. Why his ownership numbers aren't higher is beyond me (68.2% E; 72% Y!)? A catcher with the potential to go 20/20 should be owned in 100% of all formats (minus the NL-only lovers). Martin is currently the highest-ranked catcher on both ESPN and Yahoo! with his .300/5/3/8/2 line.
• OF David Murphy, TEX will be in the mix for the majority of starts with Josh Hamilton hitting the DL yesterday. Murphy stole 14 bases in 138 games in 2010 and couple provide a nice mix of power and speed over the next couple of months. He's come out of the gate hot (.313/4/1/3/2) and should see a major spike in his ownership numbers (5.1% E; 34% Y!).

I hope you find this list as useful as I have while doing the research. People always talk about how fantasy baseball leagues aren't won by the players they draft in the early rounds but by how well they did with late-round picks and how active they are in the early part of the season with waiver wire pickups. Don't be someone that sits around too long waiting for that "sleeper" to start producing or wasting a roster spot on a potential keeper for next season. I play to win now and will deal with managing potential keepers when September rolls around.