Don't Believe The Hype: Brian Roberts And Pitchers Edition

There isn't very much to talk about on the drops front, so this time around, we're going to dive right in to the adds.

Brian Roberts, 2B (42 percent owned, +23 percent): Roberts is back! The concussion that kept him out is supposedly no more. He missed 122 games in 2011 because of it, and another 60 in 2012. He has a 600 OPS in his 193 plate appearances over the last two years, but that's not exactly telling of who he is, either, given the injuries and lack of playing time. He was fine to finish up 2010, and plays a position with little in the way of impact players or depth.

If he starts to hit, he won't be available for very long, so keep an eye on how he's doing so as not to miss out if there's something worth having here.

Scott Diamond, SP (53 percent owned, +19 percent): Diamond isn't going to get you strikeouts, but he's keeping walks to a minimum, and is looking like the successful version of what the Twins try to instill in all of their pitchers. Sadly, Diamond isn't the first with 50 innings of success that continually convinces Minnesota that strikeouts are silly and pitching to contact is always preferable, so don't get too excited.

He's intriguing for the same reason someone like Josh Tomlin is. You hope he can give you just enough in terms of reduced WHIP that it makes up for the lack of whiffs, and you hope even more that he doesn't have a game where his control betrays him and blows his ERA up. There's risk here, but reasons to add him if you're light on back-end innings contributors.

Garrett Richards, RP/SP (39 percent owned, +18 percent): I'm not quite sure I understand the rush to add Richards. The 24-year-old hasn't been particularly great in the upper minors, and has thrown all of 14 innings in 2012 in the majors. He was the #83 prospect on Baseball America's top 100 before the season began, but it's not like he was validating that with his performance at Triple-A.

He's definitely the kind of pitcher I'd rather play wait-and-see with and possibly miss out on, rather than deal with his growing pains in his first few major-league starts.

Ryan Cook, RP (28 percent owned, +17 percent): Oh boy. Cook has a 0.64 ERA and 8.7 strikeouts per nine, but there's something that worries me about the rookie. He's handing out free passes to over five batters per nine innings, and let's not even get started about what a .143 batting average on balls in play over 28 innings represents.

There's a chance Cook rediscovers the strike zone and is able to avoid imploding once balls in play stop falling into gloves at every opportunity, but I'm not sure I'm quite so desperate for saves that I'm going to take a seat on this ride willingly. I'm very particular about my pitching, okay?

Clay Buchholz, SP (89 percent owned, +16 percent): If you're in one of the 11 percent of leagues where he's still available, fix that. Buchholz has rediscovered his change-up grip, and everything else -- cutter, four-seam fastball, curveball -- are more effective for it. The change has been his top pitch, after all, and now that he's found the strike zone once more and is able to sequence like he can, he's been ridiculously great. Buchholz has a 2.61 ERA in his last six starts and 41-1/3 innings, thanks to 35 strikeouts against 11 walks, with just four homers allowed.

The April implosion of Buchholz was unfortunate, but it seems like it was a side effect of all of the missed time from 2011. He lost his change-up grip, his command was shaky, and this resulted in long at-bats and even longer homers. He looks much more like the starter who posted a 3.10 ERA over a three-year stretch prior to 2012, though -- better than that, actually -- so grab him if he's still available.

AL-only

Salvador Perez, C (21 percent owned, +4 percent): Perez might not be available in your league, but there's a chance he is since knee surgery was supposed to knock him out for a considerable amount of time. Instead, he's on a rehab assignment, and might be activated from the 60-day disabled list soon.

NL-only

Logan Forsythe, 2B/3B (4 percent owned, +2 percent): With the Padres middle infield in flux, Forsythe might end up with quite a bit of playing time as San Diego sorts out their options. Keep an eye on how often he's in the lineup before committing.