Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
Over the last month, Ryan Howard has been fantastic. He has 35 RBIs and 11 homers in that span in addition to hitting for a very good batting average.

Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Although Hanley Ramirez has been slowed a bit due to injury, he’s been great when he’s been on the field. In the last month, his on-base percentage is nearly .460 and he has 22 runs and 21 RBIs.

Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays
Carlos Pena has basically been the Ryan Howard of the American League. As he tries to push his Rays into the 2009 postseason, he has 12 homers and 29 RBIs in the last month.

Carlos Pena - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals
Earlier in the season, Matt Holliday appeared to be headed to a relatively disappointing season with the Oakland Athletics. But since being traded to the Cardinals, he has been outstanding.

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Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
Since the Phillies traded for Cliff Lee, he has been amazing. Last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner is baffling NL hitters. In his first three starts with the Phillies, Lee is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP.

John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have desperately needed a few of their starting pitchers to step up and get batters out. Lackey has responded to the challenge. Over the last month, he has four wins, an ERA of 1.79 and a WHIP of 0.93.

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
Whenever there is a list of best starting pitchers, you can safely assume that Tim Lincecum will be mentioned. The Giants’ superstar continues to be very good. In the last month, he has 46 strikeouts in 37.2 innings to go along with a 1.91 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP.

Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays
Going into baseball’s trade deadline, Roy Halladay was the biggest name available. Although he could have easily been distracted by that hoopla, Halladay has remained focused even after all the trades fell through. Count on him to be a stud for the rest of the fantasy baseball season.

Roy Halladay continues to star for the Blue Jays (Image: Zuma Press)

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Nyjer Morgan, Washington Nationals
Earlier in the season, the Pirates traded Nyjer Morgan to the Nationals. With Washington, Morgan has been a star. In 38 games, he’s hitting .365 with 28 runs and 20 stolen bases. Get him on your fantasy team if he’s available.

Rajai Davis, Oakland Athletics
Although he was slumping earlier in the season, Rajai Davis is now swinging a very hot bat. He hit over .400 in July and is hitting better than .350 in August. He has 11 stolen bases since the All-Star break.

Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins
Although he has had an up-and-down rookie campaign, Chris Coghlan is really playing well right now. In August, he’s hitting .436 and has an on-base percentage of .500 for the month.

Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays
Early on in the 2009 fantasy baseball season, Jason Bartlett was one of the biggest surprises. After being quiet in July, he has been nails in August. For the month, he’s hitting .400 with three homers, 12 RBIs and 11 runs.

Jason Bartlett - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

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Here’s a look at the closers in fantasy baseball that are performing the best right now:

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
Rivera is regarded by most as the best closer of all-time. He’s also currently the best closer of right now. He hasn’t given up a run since June 12th. Since then, he’s picked up 16 saves.

Huston Street, Colorado Rockies
In the last month, Street has been amazing. During that time, he has one win, nine saves, 13 strikeouts, an ERA of 0.82 and a microscopic WHIP of 0.18. In his last 11.1 innings, he’s given up only two hits.

Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals
Although he was injured earlier in the season, Soria has bounced back and has pitched great as of late. In July, Soria had seven saves to go along with a 0.82 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP.

Rafael Soriano, Atlanta Braves
Soriana has long shown potential but he’s just now putting it all together. He’s become the Braves’ full-time closer and finished with nine saves in the month of July.

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The good news for the Astros and fantasy owners is that Rodriguez doesn’t believe he’ll be forced to miss a start. That said, stay tuned to make sure that doesn’t change tomorrow morning once he feels the full effect of the injury.

While Rodriguez isn’t commonly thought of as a fantasy stud, he’s actually been great as of late. In fact, he has arguably been the best fantasy starting pitcher over the cours of the last month. In that time, he has four wins, 34 strikeouts, an ERA of 0.75 and a WHIP of 0.94.

Coming into this season, the 30-year-old native of the Dominican Republic wasn’t too highly regarded. But he has obviously put it all together this season. On the season, he is 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 136.2 innings.

With Roy Oswalt banged up, the Astros cannot afford for Rodriguez to miss any starts.

Wandy Rodriguez Injury Update - Houston Astros (Image: Zuma Press)

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Here are the best hitters in fantasy baseball right now:

1) Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
To begin the season, Alex Rodriguez was on the disabled list due to hip surgery. Now? That hip surgery is a distant memory. As of late, A-Rod is even stealing bases again.

2) Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Albert Pujols has the NL MVP award in his back pocket. In the fantasy world, he’s likely the fantasy baseball MVP of the 2009 season so far.

3) Bobby Abreu, Los Angeles Angels
Coming into the 2009 fantasy season, there weren’t too many people high on Bobby Abreu. However, as of late, Abreu has been on fire. He’s even starting to hit homers once again.

4) Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
Prince Fielder has been busy lately. If he’s not smashing homers for the Brewers, he’s winning Home Run Derbies. The great thing about Fielder this season is that he’s hitting for average and getting on base in addition to his power numbers.

5) Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Is there a more talented baseball player in the world? Ramirez is hitting .347 on the season to go with 15 homers, 62 RBIs, 57 runs and 14 stolen bases.

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Mitre has most recently made news for getting suspended 50 games for testing positive in the MLB’s drug program. In the minor leagues this season, he had a 1.93 ERA in Single-A and a 2.40 ERA in Triple-A.

While his minor league numbers look good, don’t expect him to be much of a fantasy baseball savior. His best year was in 2007 and he wasn’t even that good. In 27 starts, he had a 5-8 record with a 4.65 ERA. In 149 innings, he had only 80 strikeouts.

Mitre’s main value in fantasy baseball would simply be the fact that he pitches for the Yankees and could pick up a few wins for your fantasy team while Chien-Ming Wang is out. There’s a chance that Mitre could surprise and stick in the starting rotation, but don’t count on it.

Sergio Mitre - New York Yankees (Image: Zuma Press)

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But can Pedro Martinez help lead your fantasy baseball team to a championship? Despite his great play in the past, there’s not much statistical support that he can.

The 37-year-old didn’t pitch very well for the Mets last season. In 20 starts, Martinez had a 5.62 ERA and only struck out 87 batters in 109 innings. In fact, Martinez hasn’t won double-digit games since 2006 when he won 15 games for the Mets. In the last three seasons, he’s been average at best.

All that said, he’s had a long time to rest his arm and knowing that he doesn’t have to survive an entire season, we may see an inspired stretch from Martinez. He’s someone who could elevate his game simply because he has something to prove.

In fantasy baseball, keep an eye on him. If he puts together a few solid starts, it may be time to roll the dice.

Pedro Martinez - Fantasy Baseball - Phillies (Image: Zuma Press)

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1. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
The best fantasy baseball pitcher is showing why he has that title. In the last month, he has five wins, 54 strikeouts, a 1.29 WHIP and a 0.80 WHIP.

2. Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks
While he doesn’t get as much attention, Haren is doing a good Lincecum impersonation. In has five wins, 46 strikeouts, a 1.40 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP in the last month.

3. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Hernandez has been dominant for much of this season, especially at home. The Mariners are doing better than expected largely due to Hernandez’s pitching arm.

4. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
One of the highest regarded young pitchers in the MLB, Kershaw has been on fire as of late. In the last month, he has three wins, 33 strikeouts and a 0.61 ERA

5. Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
The best closer over the last month is no doubt Joe Nathan. He has ten saves, hasn’t given up an earned run and has totaled 15 strikeouts in 11 innings.

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1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
For much of the 2009 fantasy baseball season, Albert Pujols has been on fire. In the last month, he has really, really been hitting well. In that time period, he has nine homers, 31 RBIs and 23 runs.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Hanley Ramirez has started to hit his stride. In the last month, the Marlins superstar has six homers, 15 runs, 33 RBIs and four stolen bases.

3. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
While he’s had a number of rocky moments this fantasy season, Tulowitzki has started to put it all together. In the last month, he has eight homers, 24 runs, 17 RBIs and seven stolen bases.

4. B.J. Upton, Tampa Bay Rays
Coming into the 2009 fantasy baseball season, many experts believed B.J. Upton was the biggest sleeper in the game. In the last 30 days, he has started to show that potential for the Rays. Most notable are his 13 steals during that time period.

5. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
In the last month, Pablo Sandoval has done a great job of getting on base. His on-base percentage of .440 is impressive — as are hs nine homers, 24 RBIs and 17 runs.

Albert Pujols is a fantasy baseball stud (Image: Zuma Press)

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