Josh Willingham (OF, Athletics) – 31% owned.  Willingham is known for his streakiness, and is in the midst of one now. Over the past two weeks, he’s been crushing the ball to the tune of 4 homers, 14 RBI and a .304 average. He’s hitting cleanup, is healthy, and raking. Considering that he’s had months like this before (May 2010, May and July 2009, April 2008, and so on), plus has averaged 20 home runs and 70 RBI the past five seasons, he should be owned in far more than a third of leagues.

Mitch Moreland (1B, Rangers) – 41%.  What else does he have to do to get noticed? Maybe owners shied away from his relatively slow start, but he’s hitting over .400 with 2 homers across the past two weeks, and .341 with 13 runs, 3 bombs, and even 2 steals over the past month.  He hits in arguably the best lineup in baseball, in arguably the best hitters’ park in baseball. AND he’s eligible at 1B and OF. The only thing he doesn’t do is drive in a lot of runs, but he’ll help you everywhere else.

Tie – John Jay (OF, Cardinals) and Cody Ross (OF, Giants) – 14% and 8%, respectively. 

Nick Blackburn (SP, Twins) – 9%.  It’s been a tale of two seasons for Blackburn. April was ugly – 1-4, 5.15 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .316 BAA and a 14:9 strikeout to walk ratio. Since May 1, however, he’s been fantastic – 4 wins against no losses, 2.64 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 2:1 K:BB ratio (26:13). At 9% ownership, he’s almost definitely available in your league, and though traditionally the very definition of mediocrity, he looks very ownable now.

Dillon Gee (SP, Mets) – 19%.  The Mets are an amazing (no pun intended) 8-0 in games started by Gee Whiz this season, with Dillon winning 6 of those himself. And he’s not shown any signs of slowing down. Across the past month, including a masterful performance on Saturday against the Braves, he’s won 4 games, maintained an ERA of 3.08, a WHIP of 1.08 and has struck out a respectable 26 across 38 innings. He’s probably in for a regression – in comparison with his career and minor league numbers, his BABIP, ERA and K/9 rate are all very low and his walk rate is high, but he’s throwing with confidence, in a good pitchers’ park and a decent enough defense behind him. He’s a good sleeper pick if nothing else, or if you own him try to sell high!

AL Only Special – David Robertson (RP, Yankees – 7%).  There is exactly one pitcher in baseball with a better K/Inning rate than Robertson’s 1.68 (the Tigers’ Al Albuquerque sports a mind-boggling 1.82). In 22 1/3 innings, Robertson’s given up a total of 3 earned runs (he’s been scored on in two of his 25 appearances, and none of his last ten) and has struck out 37 batters.  His WHIP leaves something to be desired (1.43), but with that K rate, Robertson could be this year’s Craig Kimbrel – a guy who pitches the middle innings and just blows people away.

AL Only Special II – Brendan Ryan (SS, Mariners) – 4%.  He plays every day (a foundational requirement to be highlighted in this column!), and has started to find a level of comfort in the American League. At an extremely shallow shortstop position, The Man with Two First Names has hit .354 with 11 runs and 11 RBI across the past month.  It’s a fairly empty .354, since it comes with no home runs and no steals, but considering Ryan’s competition for ownership (Alcides Escobar and his last month’s .172 average is owned in 13%, Marco Scutaro has 3 at bats since May 7 and is owned in 7%, Reid Brignac’s hitting .109 with no power or speed and is owned in 8% of leagues, and so on), he is a worthy pickup.
NL Only Special – Chris Denorfia (OF, Padres) – 2%.  With Cameron Maybin hurt, Denorfia has wrested the starting job away and ran with it – he's hit .322 with 16 runs, 2 homers, and 3 steals since May 1. Like some of the others in this column, he's had periods of own-ability before (last August immediately comes to mind), and with just enough speed and power to make himself useful, he's worth having in your lineup while he's smokin'.

P.S. Buster Posey is owned in 42% of leagues…unless you’re in a keeper league, cut him! Ian Stewart is owned in 18% of leagues and has 3 hits this year. THREE HITS!  He’s back in the minors, and seems to have completely lost whatever ability he had to hit at a major league level.  Please cut him!

And the weekly question – Submit a comment with some of  YOUR top pickups for this week, and why?

Written exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Find and follow Jesse Mendelson on Facebook.

(June 3, 2011 – Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images North America)