Roto Roundup: Andrew Heaney, Corey Dickerson, Edwin Encarnacion and others

Top 100 Hitting Prospects

Brian Creagh has returned to Fake Teams after a brief hiatus and he takes a look at the Top 100 Prospects, and how they have performed relative to non-top 100 prospects over the last few seasons.

Top 100 Hitting Prospects: A Review

Prospect Buy and Hold

Marlins pitching prospect Andrew Heaney was called up last week, so who will be the next top prospect called up to the big leagues who could impact fantasy rosters this season? Could it be Oscar Taveras or Alex Meyer?

Here is Jason Hunt's list of the players who could be called up in the next few weeks, or later this season. His weekly Buy and Hold series takes a look at players you should look at grabbing off your league waiver wire before they are called up, and before your league mates grab them.

Buy and Hold: Week 12

Andrew Heaney: Nice debut outing

The Marlins called up their top pitching prospect, Andrew Heaney on Monday and he made his first major league start on Thursday vs the Mets. Heaney has pitched well in AA and AAA this season, going a combined 7-2 with a 2.47 ERA, a 1.096 WHIP and striking out more than a batter per inning. So, heading into his start on Thursday, expectations were that he would pitch well against a struggling Mets lineup.

Heaney did not disappoint, as he limited the Mets to just one run on 4 hits, a walk and 3 strikeouts in the Marlins 1-0 loss. Heaney was out-dueled by Mets young starter Zack Wheeler who pitched his first complete gale shutout of his short career. Heaney is already owned in 60% of leagues right now, so now is the time to grab him if you have an injury in your rotation, or if you own Kevin Gausman, who the Orioles sent down to AAA last night.

Can you imagine the Marlins rotation once Jose Fernandez returns from Tommy John surgery?

Jose Fernamdez

Andrew Heaney

Nathan Eovaldi

Henderson Alvarez

That's a pretty impressive young rotation.

Our own Spencer Silva wrote about Heaney on Thursday before his debut outing, as did Fake Teams reader Sacrifice4team:

Young Guns: What to expect from Andrew Heaney

Who is Andrew Heaney?

For more on Heaney and the Marlins, make sure you check out Fish Stripes, SB Nation's Marlins fan site.

Round'em Up

Because they have six starters for five rotation spots, the Orioles decided to option their best starter Kevin Gausman late last night. I couldn't believe it when I saw Britanny Ghiroli's tweet last night. Gausman has been nothing short of dominant in his three starts since his call up on June 7th, giving up just two runs on 14 hits, 5 walks and 14 strikeouts in 19 innings. Oh, and he won all three of those starts as well. I imagine he will be up once one of the starters is ineffective or gets injured, but he has to stay in AAA for at least 10 days now, so he isn't eligible to return from AAA till the end of the month.

I had questions about Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion coming into the season, as I had concerns about how he would return from his offseason wrist surgery. Well, those concerns were uncalled for as Encarnacion has returned to the hitter he was last season. Last night, he went 2-5 with a walk, 2 home runs, 3 runs scored and 6 RBI in the Blue Jays come from behind 14-9 win over the Reds. On the season, EE is hitting .266-.349-.592 with 23 home runs, 50 runs scored and 62 RBI, and is on pace to hit 50 home runs and drive in 134 runs. Who says he doesn't hit 50 bombs?

Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson was the favorite to win the starting center field job in the Rockies outfield in spring training, but manager Walt Weiss selected Charlie Blackmon instead. Blackmon has performed above expectations this season, but has cooled off some, and I wonder if he could start to lose some playing time to Dickerson if the slump continues. Last night, Dickerson had a huge night at the plate, going 4-5 with a home run, 3 runs scored, 3 RBI and a stolen base in the Rockies 13-10 loss to the Brewers. Dickerson has been very productive in his limited at bats this season, hitting .343-.401-.636 with 9 home runs, 26 runs scored, 27 RBI and 5 stolen bases in just 140 at bats.

We all are aware the Astros are in a rebuild right now, but with the call up of George Springer and Jonathan Singleton earlier this season, the future core of the Astros is getting some major league at bats under their belts. On the pitching side, we have all been surprised with the performance of Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh this season. Another bright spot in the Astros rotation, and possible "core" player in the team's rebuild is Jarred Cosart. Last night, Cosart turned in yet another quality start, out-dueling Rays ace David Price. Cosart shut out the Rays on 4 hits,  a walk and just 2 strikeouts over 8 innings in the Astros 3-1 win. Cosart is now 7-5 with a 3.78 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and an unspectacular 60-35 strikeout to walk rate in 88 innings. Cosart is not dominating, but he is productive as he has given up three runs or less in 13 of his 15 starts this season, and has gone 6 innings or more in 11 of his 15 starts.

I have been meaning to write about him earlier this season, but what has happened to Twins first baseman Joe Mauer? The former catcher is making the switch to playing first base this season, and he has apparently stopped hitting like Joe Mauer. The move to first base will impact his fantasy value next season, assuming he no longer has catcher eligibility, but the prevailing thought heading into the 2014 season was that the move would HELP Mauer at the plate more than hurt. That hasn't gone as planned as Mauer is hitting just .258-.333-.333 with just 2 home runs, 35 runs scored and 18 RBI in 66 games, and is on pace for his worst season as a pro.

If his name wasn't Joe Mauer, he would be droppable with a stat line like that.

Fantasy Sports Network is Coming Soon!!

That's right, there is a new Fantasy Sports Network that is close to going live, and will be available on your cable providers real soon.

FNTSY Sports Network is the first television network to have live studio programming, call-in shows, panels, celebrity and expert drafts, reality programming and on-site commentary from sports venues, all specifically targeted towards the estimated 40 million people who play fantasy sports annually and on a daily basis.

Make sure you check out their site Fantasy Sports Network and check out all they have to offer.

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy baseball, and football, content, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown, as they provide links to some of the best fantasy content on the internet on a daily basis.