FanHouse Madison Bumgarner

Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

By now we all know of the greatness of San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum. He's the best pitcher in baseball this season, with a 2.34 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 233 strikeouts in 200 1/3 innings. But there's another hard-throwing young kid in the Giants organization that, like Lincecum, has a shot to be one of the league's best very quickly. He's a guy you want to burn that No. 1 waiver priority on, in case he sticks in the rotation for the rest of the season. He is Madison Bumgarner.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Depending on who you ask, Madison Bumgarner's much-anticipated big league debut was a success or a failure.

Bumgarner, who got the emergency start on Tuesday night against the Padres because of Tim Lincecum's back spasms, was good enough to hold down the Padres into the sixth inning. He was good enough to leave with a one-run lead, and to a standing ovation, in a game that Giants would eventually lose 4-3.

However, to anyone who was expecting to see the eye-popping stuff of a premium prospect, the 20-year-old left something to be desired.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum will miss a start for the first time in his career on Tuesday night because of back spasms, clearing the way for top prospect Madison Bumgarner to make his big-league debut in the heat of a pennant race.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Lincecum had not had any back problems before, but he had tightened up over the past couple days. The Giants decided to take the safe route with their ace, scratching him from his scheduled start against the Padres.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Prospects' careers don't always progress the way we hoped they would. While players like Rick Porcello and Clayton Kershaw became fantasy-relevant before their 22nd birthdays, Nolan Reimold had to wait until he was 25 to get a legitimate shot. Travis Hafner wasn't a true force until he was 27, etc.. In any case, like the curious one of scorching outfielder Garrett Jones, it's important to keep that perspective in mind.

So what exactly do we know about "The Robber Baron"? (Other than the fact that he's drilled nine homers in his first 17 games with Pittsburgh)

These Kids Are Alright is FanHouse's look at minor league prospects who could have a fantasy impact in the near future.

We've discussed Madison Bumgarner before, but the assumption has always been that he was a future prospect, slated to make the majors sometime during the 2010 season. I mean, he's only 19 years old for God's sake. Yet, as the Giants look to be a legitimate playoff threat, this kid is just tearing up the minors. He started the season in Class A, where he made hitters look stupid for five games (1.48 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 23 K, 4 BB in 24 1/3 innings). So he was promoted to Double-A and the numbers are almost as staggering.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

By the looks of his season stats, you wouldn't know that Jordan Zimmermann has actually been one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors over the past month. We're talking a 1.90 ERA and a .198 batting average against. On that same note, Minnesota's Scott Baker is holding opposing hitters to a .205 average over his last five starts. The turnaround of these pitchers teach fantasy owners an important lesson about staying patient and swooping in when the time is right.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Catcher Buster Posey, who signed for a record $6.2 million bonus less than a year ago, is about to be promoted from the Giants' Single-A affiliate.

"I don't know if it's going to be Double-A or Triple-A, but that discussion is ongoing," San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean told FanHouse on Monday.

Posey, the No. 4 pick in last year's draft, is one of the top hitting prospects in baseball. He is hitting .328/.425/.545 with 11 homers in 66 games at San Jose. Posey was in big league camp for most of the spring. The fact that the Giants are considering moving him as high as Triple-A less than a year into his pro career indicates that he's on the fast track.

Giants catcher Bengie Molina is signed only through the end of this season, so Posey's development will no doubt play a role in the Giants' decision-making on Molina.

As we've now witnessed a touch over a month of minor league baseball, it's worth it in many fantasy leagues to look ahead at who may be making a visit to the majors sometime this season. Remember, Ryan Braun, for example, wasn't yet in the major leagues at this point in his rookie season. This isn't to say that all of these guys -- or any -- will have that sort of an impact in the majors this year.

We're just giving a quick, non-comprehensive list of players who are playing relatively well in the minors this year and/or who have a chance to make a fantasy impact at some point. We'll start with the big names, but it won't be limited to just them. Dynasty league players should be paying the most attention.

Every season, right around this time, there is a large flock of prospects all trying to prove to themselves and the front office that they belong in big league baseball. The key to fantasy baseball success when speaking of these prospects is to know whether or not they are going to make the team out of Spring Training. If not, you need to weigh the time line of each player and figure out if he should be a selection in your fantasy draft or if you'll be spending FAAB money or using waiver priority status on him.

Choose wisely when considering the acquisition of prospects. Most of these guys have bright, rocket-ship upside. But, not all will become effective fantasy assets.

Tommy Hanson, Braves - Unless a string of injuries occur to the Braves rotation this spring, Hanson will start the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He'll, most likely, be the first starter called up as he was a strikeout machine in the Arizona Fall League and is still showing off his arm this spring. He's good enough to make a front-of-the-rotation impact almost instantly.

Lost in the radical makeover under way in the Bronx this winter is the similarly stark turnover taking place in San Francisco. No, the Giants haven't spent 10 times the Opening Day payroll of the Tampa Bay Rays on a handful of players, but they have added shortstop Edgar Renteria, pitcher Randy Johnson and relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry.

With Johnson, reigning Cy Young Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, they've got the starting rotation to win the NL West, but probably not the offensive firepower just yet.

In fact, the signing of Johnson might serve another purpose besides bolstering an already strong rotation, it might allow GM Brian Sabean to deal some of his pitching depth -- namely Jonathan Sanchez -- to give San Francisco's lineup more punch.

Having resisted offers of corner infielders for Jonathan Sanchez, general manager Brian Sabean hinted that he might at least listen to trade proposals involving the left-hander, now that Johnson's aboard. "We're going to have to be open-minded," Sabean said, although he repeated that he wouldn't obtain a player who's eligible for free agency after 2009.

There's hardly a more valuable commodity in baseball than cost-controlled starting pitching, but the Giants have that in spades, especially if you factor in high-upside prospects Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson.