Some Surprises Among Top Fantasy Performers

Two of my three Yahoo! fantasy baseball teams this year are awful. Worse than that, I can't figure out why they're awful at times. And when I do, it usually comes down to the fact that I took Jose Reyes in the first round. So who are the top performers in Yahoo!'s 5x5 leagues so far this season? Some of the names in the top 75 may surprise you:

• Raul Ibañez - Rank: 2. .322, 51 runs, 22 HRs, 59 RBIs, 4 SBs. Ibañez has been a true surprise for both the Phillies and fantasy teams alike. He's very, very close to #1 Albert Pujols. Yahoo! ranked Ibañez as 122 before the season started which tells you how far he's come.
• Zack Grienke - Rank: 3. 8 Ws, 97 Ks, 1.72 ERA, 0.99 WHIP. This guy has been good. Really good. I wish I would have had him on one of my teams. Ranked 147 coming into this season.
• Jonathan Broxton - Rank: 5. 6 Ws, 16 SVs, 53 Ks, 1.41 ERA, 0.69 WHIP. Broxton has been helped by his win totals and his low WHIP, but even on a non-fantasy basis, he's truly one of the more dominating pitchers out there and easily beats out K-Rod for best closer who is ranked 25th.
• Torii Hunter - Rank: 7. .319, 45 runs, 16 HRs, 51 RBIs, 11 SBs. Hunter has always been a solid fantasy player but he's in line for a great year. He's also walking a lot more. He set his personal best mark of .344 OBP last year and is currently 55 points higher. Maybe he's learning that patience at the plate is important: he may have more than 50 walks this year for the first time in his career.
• Mark Reynolds - Rank: 11. .281, 42 runs, 17 HRs, 45 RBIs, 13 SBs. Just hope your league doesn't count Ks if you're going to have Reynolds on your team. But this guy not only can rake, he can swipe some bases as well. Ranked 197 coming into the season.
• Jered Weaver - Rank: 13. 7 Ws, 74 Ks, 2.08 ERA, 1.00 WHIP. He's been huge for both the Angels and fantasy teams alike. Really a breakout year so far for him. 
• Adam Jones - Rank: 20. .324, 44 runs, 12 HRs, 41 RBIs, 5 SBs. When you get a top-20 player out of a guy who you picked up off the free agent heap or took a flyer on in a late round, you're ecstatic. And that's what teams have been getting from Jones so far. And if his SB totals increase, he could become even more valuable.
• Chris Carpenter - Rank: 22. 4 Ws, 37 Ks, 1.59 ERA, 0.73 WHIP. Imagine if this guy had been healthy all season? I took a late-round flyer on him in two leagues and it paid off immensely. He's been a big reason one of my teams has done well.
• Heath Bell - Rank: 28. 2 Ws, 18 SVs, 32 Ks, 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP. People thought Bell would be good...but I don't think many expected this good so early into his closing tenure with the Padres.
• Edwin Jackson - Rank: 30. 6 Ws, 65 Ks, 2.24 ERA, 1.03 WHIP. Not a bad trade for the Tigers. I got Jackson in one league when I had to go on autodraft and I've been reaping the benefits ever since.
• Aaron Hill - Rank: 35. .313, 36 runs, 14 HRs, 44 RBIs, 2 SBs. You'd be happy to get this production from a whole year from your SS. Never mind not even halfway through the season. One of the surprises of the season so far.
• Johnny Cueto - Rank: 36. 6 Ws, 62 Ks, 2.17 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. Went undrafted in two drafts I did. The Reds are slowly building a nice team and finding pitchers who can succeed in that ballpark is huge.
• Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett - Rank: 38 and 39. These two have been huge for Tampa Bay and fantasy owners alike. Zobrist can play three fantasy positions (2B, SS, OF) and Bartlett is just as valuable at SS. The worst thing I did all season was trade Bartlett and Verlander early in the season (hoping to sell high on what I thought was just a hot start from Bartlett) for Rafael Furcal who has been a bust so far.
• Trevor Hoffman, Ryan Franklin, and Frank Francisco - Ranks 42, 52, and 56. All have turned out really great performances this year. Hoffman as a rebound, Franklin holding his ground and Francisco despite now being on the DL twice.
• Nick Masset - Rank: 59. 4 Ws, 23 Ks, 0.74 ERA, 0.70 WHIP. Who? He's owned in 6% of leagues and has been dominant so far coming out of the Reds bullpen. No saves hurts his fantasy value to some but he's been raking it in otherwise and has been maybe the biggest surprise player so far that no one knows about
• Russell Branyan - Rank: 63. .313, 36 runs, 15 HRs, 30 RBIs, 2 SBs. His numbers are remarkably similar to Aaron Hill's...just a lot less RBIs. Imagine if Branyan had people on base in front of him this season. Imagine if Branyan had been given a starting job earlier than this season. He came in ranked 348. Wow.
• Andrew Bailey - Rank: 66. 4 Ws, 5 SVs, 47 Ks, 2.52 ERA, 1.02 WHIP. Raise your hand if you had him on your team and you knew he was a top 75 performer. I don't think there's many hands there. Ranked 319 coming into this season.
• Brandon Inge - Rank: 74. .264, 38 runs, 14 HRs, 41 RBIs, 1 SB. His average is low as usual, but Inge's inclusion on this list is because of his bounce back power numbers and his eligibility at C and 3B. Came in ranked 354.
• Other big surprises (with overall ranks in parentheses): Nelson Cruz (#23), Johnny Damon (#31), Justin Upton (#32), Shin-Soo Choo (#45), Justin Verlander (#46), Josh Johnson (#50), Adam Lind (#54), Ted Lilly (#60), Marco Scutaro (#67), and Javier Vazquez (#68).

Next: Will look at fantasy disappointments so far.