Power makes a fantasy offense tick, so when a team doesn’t have it, competing for a league championship becomes doubly hard. Beyond the traditional big bats in fantasy - Pujols, A-Rod, Holliday, etc. - power can be scarce along the way. The Dirty Half Dozen is here to help, with six power hitting prospects available in at least 90 percent of ESPN.com leagues.

The centerpieces of this list all have a common tale to tell, having bounced back and forth between the majors and minors. But, none of those three players - Colorado’s Ian Stewart, Kansas City’s Billy Butler and Toronto’s Adam Lind - have lost their top prospect status. And each of them will be better for their experiences in the minors.

Butler was mediocre with a roster spot all but guaranteed coming out of spring training. After a quick trip to Triple-A Omaha, he’s as hungry as ever and starting to make good on his power potential.

Stewart is getting his best chance yet to earn a starting job as the Rockies look for a trading partner that could have an interest in Garrett Atkins. Lind is already starting in Toronto, thanks in part to the firing of manager John Gibbons, and is making a quiet impact on the fantasy landscape.

Billy Butler, 1B/DH, Kansas City Royals
Butler got sent back to the minors because he just wasn’t providing an impact bat as Kansas City’s designated hitter. Now, he is back with the parent club with a new stance, so reports the Kansas City Star, and a new outlook. The early results have been encouraging, especially in the last four games when Butler has gone 6-for-17 with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs. Remember, this is a big, powerful 22-year old who may be arriving just a tad later than fantasy owners expected.

Austin Kearns, OF, Washington Nationals
The season stat line (.221 avg., 5 HRs, 27 RBIs) still looks horrendous, but Kearns is a different player now than he was in April, May and June. He’s healthy after having elbow surgery in late May, and he’s hit the ground running since returning from the disabled list on July 3. Kearns is hitting .327 with 2 homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games back, and he is traditionally a much better performer in the second half of the year than the first. Kearns is a .281 career hitter after the break, compared to .250 before.

Melvin Mora, 3B, Baltimore Orioles
At 36 years old and with a .243 season batting average, fantasy owners are convinced that Mora is due to stop hitting at any moment. We may be right, but Mora is playing his best baseball of the season right now and we’d be wise to at least take note of it. He has been one of the American League’s most productive hitters this month with a .316 average, 4 home runs and 18 RBIs, and he has seven multi-RBI games in his last 10. If corner infield help is a priority, Mora is a proven veteran who can act as a stopgap until a higher upside option comes along.

Matt Joyce, OF, Detroit Tigers
There are no guarantees that Joyce continues to get playing time, but at this point, manager Jim Leyland can’t possibly bench him. The 23-year old has gotten some heat in fantasy leagues because of his 10 home runs in just 109 at-bats, but his success runs a bit deeper than that. Joyce leads the American League in July OPS (1.207), and he has 5 homers and 11 extra-base hits in his last eight games. Future playing time is a concern, but so long as he’s hitting, Joyce will find time in left or right field or at DH.

Adam Lind, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Lind isn’t a tradtional power hitter, rather a pretty good, young hitter emerging to produce a solid stat line across the board. All of his minor league numbers, especially a .318 average, suggest he will be a very solid hitter for the rest of 2008 and beyond. After a disappointing first stint in Toronto this season, Lind returned from Triple-A Syracuse ready to hit. He has played every day in July and hit .340 with 2 homers and 14 RBIs, which are tied for eighth in the American League.

Ian Stewart, 2B/3B, Colorado Rockies
Stewart is back in Colorado at just the right time to benefit from a potential trade, one where either he or Garrett Atkins gets sent packing. He has played third base in all three games since returning from Triple-A Colorado Springs (but has 2B eligibility), going 6-for-14 at the plate with 6 RBIs over that span. Stewart hadn’t set the world on fire in two previous appearances with the Rockies, but this is a young, premium prospect who has hit at every stop during his minor league career. The time may be now, just monitor how the Rockies manage to clear playing time for him.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.