The following countdown details seven hitters — some stars, some unsung —
who are excellent candidates for sizable fantasy numbers during Week 7 (May 13-19):
1. 3B Evan Lonogria, Rays
**In the last seven days, Longoria has notched three homers, 11 RBI, eight runs, 13 hits, a .464 batting average and 1.496 OPS.
** Longoria leads the Rays in homers (nine), RBI (26), runs (28), hits (47), batting average (.333) and OPS (1.012). Only James Loney has more doubles than Longo (10).
**For the week, Longoria draws three starts against the Red Sox (home) and Orioles (road). In 153 career games against Boston and Baltimore, Longoria has cumulative tallies of 36 homers and a .353 on-base percentage.
2. 2B Robinson Cano, Yankees
**On April 8, one week into the new season, Cano was mired in a .130 batting slump, with zero homers and zero RBI. For the following two days against the Indians, he accounted for three homers, seven hits and seven RBI. End of slump!
**Cano has a potential eight-game week against the Indians (Monday doubleheader — makeup), Mariners (three) and Blue Jays (three) — with only the Cleveland outings away from Yankee Stadium.
**Since May 9, Cano has two homers and three multiple-hit games.
**Here's some extra motivation for pulling off a Cano trade, ASAP: From a splits standpoint, the Yankees star has career batting averages above .300 for June, July, August and September … and an on-base percentage of .355 or higher for all four months.
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
**Goldschmidt has posted all-world numbers in the last seven days — four homers, nine RBI, five runs, a .348 batting average and 1.293 OPS.
**The Diamondbacks slugger (nine HR, 30 RBI, 23 runs, four steals, .304 batting) is on pace for 30 homers, 100 RBI and double-digit steals, while hitting for high average.
**Goldschmidt has six attractive outings for the week, beginning with the Braves in Arizona (Justin Upton’s homecoming) and then a roadie against the sad-sack Marlins.
4. OF Norichika Aoki, Brewers
**From May 2-10, Aoki notched one homer, two RBI, five runs and six multiple-hit outings.
**Slow start aside, it's important to reiterate that Aoki stole 30 bases as a rookie last year. That makes him a perfect buy-low candidate this season.
**Aoki has career marks of .296 batting and a .377 on-base percentage against the Astros — this weekend's opponent. Before that, Milwaukee has a four-game set with Pittsburgh.
5. OF Jay Bruce, Reds
**I'm not the biggest Bruce admirer in fantasy circles … but I'm also smart enough to ride that bandwagon during hot streaks.
**In the last 13 games, the Reds slugger has tallied at least one hit 11 times. Within that span, he accounted for two homers, 10 RBI and eight runs.
**The remarkably consistent Bruce has averaged 33 homers, 98 RBI, 87 runs, 145 hits, 8.5 steals and .255 batting for 2011-12.
**Last year, Bruce cracked the .500 slugging rate for the first time in his five-year career.
**For the week, the Reds draw six road dates with the struggling Marlins and Phillies — with only a daunting date against Cliff Lee (Saturday).
6. SS Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians
**Cabrera has shown mini-flashes of an uprising, batting .296 with two homers in the last seven days (along with a .345 OBP).
**Thanks to a make-up doubleheader against New York (Monday), Cabrera gets a seven-game week against the Yankees (home), Phillies (away) and Mariners (home) — although that last matchup offers a Sunday staredown with Seattle ace Felix Hernandez (5-2, 1.53 ERA, 56/8 K-BB ratio).
**From a splits perspective, Cabrera has identical OBPs of .340 when either home or away.
**Along those lines, he has a lifetime average of .288 against the Mariners, with four homers to boot.
7. SS Jhonny Peralta, Tigers
**Peralta has been a consistent force in the Detroit lineup since April 29, notching one homer, five RBI, nine runs, one steal and a .326 batting average.
**From May 2-10, spanning six games, Peralta had five multiple-hit outings.
**The Tigers have six attractive games in Week 7 — a home series with the Astros (MLB-worst ERA of 5.79), followed by a road trip to Texas … where the ball carries extremely well on warm May nights.
**With the high-scoring Tigers, Peralta (three homers, 17 RBI, 18 runs, .315 batting) is a viable candidate for 15 homers, 65 RBI, 70 runs and a .300 average by season's end.
Jay Clemons can be reached, day or night, on Twitter at @FOX_JayClemons.
