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.

Gettin' Wiggy with it

Make a short list of the early 2010 fantasy surprises and Ty Wigginton has to be in the mix.

Wiggy's 10 homers rank him second behind only Paul Konerko in the American League. He's also hitting .299 with 19 RBIs - not bad for a guy who likely went undrafted in your fantasy league.

So is he for real?

Wigginton's always had some pop - he's averaged 23 homers per 162 games in his career. Problem is, he's often been a utility/bench player and was in fact penciled in for that role with the Orioles this year before starting 2B Brian Roberts landed on the DL.

Roberts is supposed to be back in June, which might lead you to believe Wigginton's playing time is endangered. Also, Wigginton won't be able to keep up this HR pace - unless you think he'll be a 50-homer guy this year.

Still, the O's will find ways to get him at-bats, and I'm not sold that Roberts' lingering back troubles will completely go away. Wigginton may turn out to be a valuable player all year, and if you picked him up off the waiver wire and can use him as an occasional fill-in, more power to you. But if you're looking to sell high and ship him off for a steadier commodity, Wiggy's value may never be higher than it is right now.