Utley/Pedroia backup plans

Two of fantasy's best second basemen went down with serious injuries in the past week: Chase Utley (thumb - 8 weeks) and Dustin Pedroia (foot - 6 weeks), major blows to a lot of fantasy squads.

While 2B-eligible breakout performers such as Ty Wigginton and Casey McGehee have long been claimed in most leagues, there are still some other under-the-radar choices that may be able to help:

Rockies 2B/SS Clint Barmes batted .313 in June to raise his season average to a more respectable .250 range after a brutal start to 2010. Don't forget this is a guy who had 23 homers and 12 steals last year.

Pirates rookie Neil Walker is just getting over a concussion, but before that he was hitting .295 with three homers, 12 RBIs and 2 steals in 28 games with Pittsburgh. And before that, he was hitting .321 with 6 homers, 26 RBIs and 10 steals in 43 games at Triple-A. Walker, the Pirates' first-round pick in 2004, will at least get regular playing time with disappointing Aki Iwamura out of the picture and has a chance to prove he's a big leaguer.

One of your leaguemates might have given up on White Sox 2B Gordon Beckham as he was mired in a hideous sophomore slump. But Becks was one of 2009's hottest rookie hitters and has finally begun to show some life (.333, four RBIs, five runs in his past six games) as the calendar flips to July. He's feeling more confident, and when you consider he played just 59 career games in the minors, you realize there's still hope for him to turn it around.

Royals 2B/SS Mike Aviles will never replicate the power of an Utley or Pedroia, but he can definitely help boost your average in their stead. He's batting .322 for the Royals this year.