Cleveland’s Travis Hafner hasn’t been the same since he bashed 42 home runs in 129 games in 2006.  The next year, he had 24 bombs and 100 RBI in 152 games, which is solid, but not the same.

Since then, 24 bombs from him would be a Tribe fan’s dream.

Now, Hafner is FINALLY showing signs of life.

Pronk has a hit in each of his last five games.  What really caught my eye is that he has consecutive games with home runs AND he was intentionally walked twice on Tuesday night.  Pitchers are actually respecting him again!!!

Hafner isn’t pick-up worthy yet, but he’s getting close to it.  If he continues this for about 4 more games (consistent hitting), pick him up if you’re in a league that has at least 10 teams.

It’s also good to see Toronto’s Ricky Romero rounding back into his pre-injury form.  If you had any doubt at all, even at his young age of 24, pick him up.  He shouldn’t be available in the first place, but if somebody dropped him, take full advantage of it.

Speaking of injury comebacks, one half of my man-crush duo – Tampa’s Jason Bartlett – didn’t miss a beat in his first game back.   Bartlett went 2-for-4, has an 11-game hitting streak, and now has hits in 17 of his last 18 games.  Or you can also say, 21 of his last 23 games.  The guy’s a stud.

Another stud, that other half of my man-crush duo – Minnesota’s Joe Mauer – is seriously off the hook.  4-4, .429 average… Mauer’s the hottest fantasy hitter in baseball right now.  No question.  Even over Pujols.  Over Longoria.  Over Jason Bay.  Over Mark Teixeira.  Mauer’s flat-out SICK.  ILL.  I WISH I HAD HIM ON MY TEAM.

I’ll settle for Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Inge though.  Life’s not bad with those two, but Mauer is, quite simply, THE MAN.