Figuring out how to value prospects is always a tricky proposition to deal with throughout the fantasy baseball season. Instant success for rookies in previous years such as Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Yasiel Puig have fantasy owners foaming at the mouth at the thought of owning the next big-time rookie. Granted, the three aforementioned players are all extraordinary talents and rookies like them don’t come around very often. It’s a great feeling to own a hotshot prospect who is going bonkers on your team and there is always going to be those certain few who are willing to take the risks involved with drafting rookies so they can reap the rewards.

Heck, Jose Abreu is another rookie that fits the mold as he was leading Major League Baseball in home runs before an ankle injury forced him to the disabled list. Abreu owners were certainly enjoying his monster production. Meanwhile, owners who have held on to highly touted prospects such as Oscar Taveras and Gregory Polanco are still waiting for their call to the show and are undoubtedly disappointed they haven’t been given a chance to compete yet. That leaves us with George Springer, the top prospect of the Houston Astros, as the most prominent rookie in the spotlight currently. While Springer struggled mightily out of the gate, he has rebounded in a big way lately. While the Astros as a team may be terrible, Springer is offering a sliver of hope for Astros fans looking into the future.

With that being said, lets get the week nine roundup started with the ‘Stros rook as our first topic of discussion.

Springer to Action

Springer got off to a miserable start in April, as he had four RBI and one run with no home runs in his first 13 games. Entering May, Springer was only slashing .182/.262/.218. Fast forward to nearly a month later and the uber-talented rookie has turned around his season. He went deep for a two-run homer yesterday (you can watch here) and has now homered six times in his last six games. To put that in perspective, Springer has hit more homers in the last six games than any Kansas City Royals player has hit all season (4). Since May began, Springer has raised his average nearly 90 percentage points to his current .269 mark. His season totals stand at nine homers, 27 RBI, and 21 runs. It’s even more impressive when you consider the bulk of his production has come this month.

Springer has gone 29-90 (.322) in May while recording a hit in 20 of 23 games. During his current 10-game hit streak, Springer has gone 15-37 (.405) at the plate. Six homers, 15 RBI, 15 runs, and seven walks during that time isn’t too shabby, eh? His homer yesterday was especially encouraging since it came against a southpaw in Danny Duffy. It was only his second homer against a left-handed pitcher as he is only 8-37 (.216) against them. He has also performed much better on the road (.293) compared to at home (.238). His .225 ISO is a plus and he might be able to reach 25 homers by seasons end.

It’s not all positive though. Springer hasn’t really improved his strikeout rate much in May, he’s still whiffing 30% of the time. The league average is right around 20%. Springer is also only making contact 65.7% of the time compared to the league average o around 80%. Although these low marks suggest Springer might have trouble keeping his average above the .250 mark, he should still provide plenty of category juice in the way of homers, RBI, runs, and steals. Speaking of steals, Springer has only managed one in three tries. He racked up 81 steals over three seasons in the minors and I expect his steal attempts to jump up in due time. He can still be counted on for roughly 10-15 steals.

Overall though, there may not be a hotter hitter in baseball at the moment than Springer and he has all the tools necessary to maintain success at the MLB level. Owners could certainly command a hefty package in return for him considering his current hot streak, but I would be looking to hold onto Springer under most circumstances. Impact players like him don’t come around often and owners who hung onto Springer after a slow start or ones who swooped in and added him off waivers from an impatient owner deserve a pat on the back.

Beckett Throws a No-No

After being forced to undergo thoracic outlet surgery last year, there wasn’t much optimism about Josh Beckett being fantasy relevant in 2014. This is the same injury that effectively derailed the careers of Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, and Shaun Marcum just to name a few. The 34-year-old Texan has predictably come out looking better than he has in a couple of years. He looked better than ever for his start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, as he threw a no-hitter, striking out six batters in the process. The no-hitter happened to be first for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise since Hideo Nomo accomplished the feat back in 1996. Below you can check out Beckett throwing a knee-high fastball to freeze Chase Utley on a 3-2 count to close out his special night.

His no-hitter lowered his ERA to 2.43 and his WHIP to 1.02. Additionally, Beckett has a 52:20 K/BB ratio in 55.2 innings pitched. Here are a few tidbits that outline why Beckett is having a career resurgence. His 23.3% strikeout rate is his best mark since 2008, hitters are only batting .189 against him, and his 16.4%  line drive rate is the second best of his career. On the other hand, his 3.65 xFIP and 85.4% LOB rate compared to the MLB average (72%), suggests he is getting a tad bit lucky.

Beckett has completely changed his pitching philosophy this season though. He’s throwing his curveball 30.8% of the time compared to 18.9% last year and his two-seam fastball usage is down to 15% after being at 20% in 2013. Beckett no longer possesses the lethal 97+ MPH fastball, but his current repertoire is apparently plenty good. He really locks in when the opposing team has runners in scoring position. In those situations, hitters are 6-43 (.140). Somehow Beckett is only owned in 58% of Y! leagues and that’s needs to change in a hurry. His current pace is unsustainable, but Beckett can be a quality SP3/SP4 type the rest of the year. Plan accordingly.

Dominance Continues for Hudson

At 38 years old, Tim Hudson continues to defy all expectations. After a gruesome ankle injury ended his season last year as well as his nine-year tenure with the Atlanta Braves, there was doubt on whether Hudson would be able to make it back to being an above-average starting pitcher. Boy has he ever shown he still can pitch with the best of them. Over his first 10 starts and 70.1 IP, Hudson owns a 5-2 record with a 1.92 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and 44:6 K/BB ratio. His 1.92 ERA is fifth best in baseball, trailing only Adam Wainwright, Jeff Samardzija, Julio Teheran, and Johnny Cueto. His tremendous 2.2% walk rate leads baseball as well.

Huddy has recorded quality starts in eight of his last nine trips to the mound. His BAA is .217. A K-BB% of 14% is also a career-high. Hudson is still a master at inducing a ton of wormburners (60.7% groundball rate). Surprisingly, Hudson is pitching better on the road (1.67 ERA/1.02 WHIP) compared to the spacious confines of AT&T Park (2.13 ERA/0.76 WHIP).

Although Hudson’s favorite pitch is his sinker and he throws it more often than any other pitch compared to righties and lefties, he still alters his approach depending on the handedness of the batter. According to BrooksBaseball, Hudson throws his split-fingered fastball 21% of the time against lefties and his cutter only 16%. But against right-handers, Hudson increases his cutter usage to 31% while dropping his split-fingered fastball rate to 8%. By looking at the table below, you can see Hudson has much more success when he keeps the ball down in the zone rather than elevating the ball. This makes sense considering the fact that Hudson is known for coaxing a copious amount of grounders.

Hudson is the 24th ranked player in Y! leagues and he has proven to be an absolute steal for fantasy owners who selected him at the end of drafts or picked him up off waivers. Obviously, the grizzled veteran won’t keep up his current pace but he should provide reliable value all year long. His career-low ERA (2.70) came all the way back in 2003, but he has a chance to best that mark this year. Hudson pitches for a great team in a great pitchers park, don’t underestimate either of those factors when deciding whether to sell high or hold him.

Cruz Control

Nelson Cruz was at it again last night, mashing two more homers to add to his MLB-leading total of 19 home runs. The Baltimore Orioles slugger has been zoned in at the plate lately, recording a hit in 14 of his last 15 games. During that time, Cruz is 22-56 (.392) at the dish with nine homers, 18 RBI, and 15 runs. For the season, Cruz is hitting .306 with 19 longballs, 48 RBI, and 38 runs. His 48 RBI trail only Giancarlo Stanton and his run total ranks eighth best in MLB. He is certainly earning every penny of the $8 million the Baltimore Orioles spent to acquire him for this year. If not for the Biogenesis connection, he would have earned a much bigger payday. It looks like he’ll be landing the big contract he is seeking if he keeps this up.

After hitting southpaws at a respectable .279 clip in 2013, Cruz has completely dominated lefties so far this year. In those situations, Cruz is 13-33 (.394) with four homers and nine runs batted in. In a surprising twist, Cruz is hitting .342 with 12 homers on the road compared to .256 at home. Just imagine if Cruz is able to get hot at Camden Yards, a hitters haven for power hitters. He has also been an absolute beast with RISP as evidenced by his 16-51 (.314) line. 4-8 with the bases loaded too.

Prior to tonight’s outburst, Cruz’s .632 SLG% was second best in MLB and his .332 ISO was third. His 9.8% walk rate would represent a career-high as well. Basically, Cruz can do no wrong right now. When looking at his advanced statistics, there really aren’t a lot of outliers that would indicate his hot start is a fluke. We’ve long known Cruz has never lacked talent, it’s durability that has been the issue. If he can stay healthy though, Cruz is looking at a monster year. 40+ homers is within reach and he should clear 100 RBI with ease. Sell high if his durability concerns you (only played over 128 games once), but he is going to pay major dividends for current fantasy owners if he can stay on the field.

Oh No Yordano

With the abundance of elbow injuries and Tommy John surgeries that have already taken place in MLB this year, fantasy owners of Yordano Ventura were sent into full-blown panic mode on Monday after it was reported that he left his start with elbow soreness. If getting lit up by the Astros didn’t make it obvious enough that he wasn’t at full strength, throwing a 91 MPH fastball to his final batter indicated something was wrong. This is the same vaunted flamethrower who was routinely hurling baseballs north of 100 MPH earlier in the year.

An MRI though revealed no structural damage but Ventura was eventually diagnosed with valgus stress overload. If you had no idea what that meant at first, don’t worry, neither did I. Basically, the injury can lead to cartilage damage, arthritis, and bone chips in the future if pushed too hard. Although this isn’t especially promising, Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the team expects Ventura to only miss a start. This may be wishful thinking, but it looks like everyone will just have to wait and see how Ventura responds when he takes the bump again. This certainly isn’t promising news for his future value though.

Ventura still owns quality numbers for the season. His 3.45 ERA and 1.26 WHIP are decent and he has a 59:19 K/BB ratio in 57.1 IP. Due to the Royals punchless offense, he hasn’t earned a win since April 25. It’s going to be hard to sell Ventura to other owners due concerns over the integrity of his elbow being compromised unless he shows no ill effects in his first trip to the mound. The Royals want Ventura to learn how to build up his velocity during games, a la Justin Verlander, but that might be a big adjustment for him. This unfortunate news lowers his fantasy ceiling for the time being, but the best course of action would be for owners to ride it out and see what happens.

Monday Tidbits: Clay Buchholz issued eight walks over three innings during his start on Monday versus the Braves. He now has a 7.02 ERA and 1.98 WHIP, yet he’s somehow still owned in 41% of Y! leagues. It’s time to cut him loose. Jeff Samardzija earned his first win of the season on Monday after striking out 10 Giants and allowing three earned runs over seven innings. He has a 1.68 ERA. Hyun-jin Ryu had a chance at a perfect game versus the Cincinnati Reds after his first seven innings but his bid came to an end in the eighth inning. Nonetheless, he’s been great in his first two starts back from the DL. Brandon Moss continued his torrid start to the season by cranking his 12th home run of the year. David Ortiz hit a three-run homer to snap out of a 1-24 funk. Nathan Eovaldi rattled off 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball to earn the win. His ERA now sits at 3.36 and it comes with a useful 57:14 K/BB ratio. Francisco Rodriguez blew another save. Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run blast, his fifth homer in the previous eight games. After the conclusion of Wednesday’s game, he has recorded an RBI in eight straight games.

Tuesday Tidbits: Edwin Encarnacion hit his 14th homer of May on Tuesday, tying Jose Bautista for the Toronto Blue Jays team record. His 16 bombs rank as second best in MLB. Ben Revere finally deposited a ball into the stands in his 1,466th MLB at-bat. In his 75th professional start, Lance Lynn threw his first complete-game shutout against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. The notorious fast started is sporting a 3.13 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in the early going. Carlos Santana was placed on the 7-day DL with a concussion.Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Jason Grilli will be inserted back into the closers role at some point. Andrew Cashner (elbow) threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and reported no soreness. He should be back sometime in June. Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday with neck stiffness. Darvish said he expects to make his start on Saturday though. Collin McHugh fired seven shutout innings in his last start against the Royals to improve his season numbers to a 2.80 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 50:12 K/BB ratio in 45 IP. He’s available in 79% of Y! leagues, make the add folks.

Wednesday Tidbits: Josh Hamilton (thumb) has had his return delayed by a bone bruise, but he took a step in the right direction yesterday by taking 100 swings in the batting cage. Mark Trumbo hit in the cage yesterday for the first time since being placed on the disabled list with a stress fracture in his left foot. Carl Crawford was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday after suffering a severe left ankle sprain. Matt Cain (hamstring) is expected to make his return to the rotation on Saturday for his start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mark Teixeira has missed the last three games due to soreness in his surgically-repaired wrist. It’s not considered a serious ailment at this point, but stay tuned for updates in the near future. Although Alex Rios‘ streak of seven consecutive multi-hit games came to an end yesterday night, he still has an 11-game hitting streak going. He owns a .329/.359/.493 slash line. One day after his first 1-2-3 save since being inserted into the closers role, Ronald Belisario blew another save last night. He might not be long for the job. Wilson Ramos hit his first homer of the season on Wednesday. Jose Reyes has a hit in 18 of his last 19 games and is on an 11-game hitting streak. His slow start is quickly becoming a distant memory. Scott Kazmir threw a complete game while allowing only one earned run in his start against the Detroit Tigers last night. He has a 1.70 ERA in five starts at home now. Great to see how far he has come the last couple seasons. Joe Nathan helped Kazmir earn the win as he blew the save by allowing a walk-off homer to Josh Donaldson. Has blown four saves over the season. Tim Lincecum no-hit the Cubs for five innings, but was forced to leave due to his pitch count (96). Issuing four walks didn’t help his cause.

Thanks for reading and thanks to FanGraphs, Yahoo, and BrooksBaseball for providing the statistical information. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or remarks. You can follow me on Twitter @MattMoczy and I’m more than willing to answer any questions you may have.