A.L. TWO-START STUDS   

Felix Hernandez (@Oak, NYY) – He just turned 22. Crazy. Yovani Gallardo is a month and a half older and only 375 innings behind. The Boy King tossed a gem last time he pitched in Oakland; the patient Yankees will be a test, but a test he’s fully capable of acing.

C.C. Sabathia (NYY, KC) – Well, I guess he isn’t injured. Still, his impressive 11-K performance came against the decidedly plebian Royals offense, last in the AL in runs per game. The good news is he gets KC again, but like Hernandez, also has to face the Yankees. Nevertheless, Sabathia’s extensive track record of excellence should make you a believer.

Chien-Ming Wang (@Cle, Sea) – Wang got hammered by the Red Sox on the 16th, but that was his second game against them that week.  His extreme groundball tendencies, coupled with poor shortstop defense from Derek Jeter, make him prone to giving up singles in bunches, but he’s the third-best double starter in another weak week for the AL.

A.L. TWO-START SCRUBS

Daniel Cabrera (@ChW, @LAA) – Cabrera has been a tease for years. Just like with that girl in high school who kept accepting rides to school but oddly never wanted to sleep with you, the best thing you can do for your sanity is just ignore him. Two starts against offenses averaging five runs a game will make it that much easier to do so.

Jon Garland (Oak, Bal) – You have to love a 4/9 K/BB ratio in 30.3 innings. Actually, no you don’t.

Gil Meche (Tor, @Cle) – Meche has been awful so far this season, and he’s going to have to be a lot better than awful to win many games as long as he’s supported by the Royals’ offense.

A.L. TWO-START WILDCARD

James Shields (Bos, @Bos) – Shields is a good pitcher, but the degree of difficulty in beating the Red Sox twice in one week is profound: just ask Chien-Ming Wang, who spun a complete game two-hitter on 4/11 against Boston only to give up eight runs in four innings five days later.

N.L. TWO-START STUDS

Brett Myers (@Pit, SF) – Myers looks to get well against a Pirates team that has crawled into a hole and died, getting outscored over their last 11 games 84-37, and a Giants offense that, well, you know by now.

John Smoltz (@NYM, Cin) – Smoltz has been utterly dominant in his first four starts. This is the season he clinches his Hall of Fame bid, and the inconsistent and overrated offenses of the Mets and Reds aren’t going to stand in his way.

Brandon Webb (@SD, NYM) – Webb, backed by the powerful Diamondbacks offense, takes on Jake Peavy, backed by--well, Peavy. I’m taking Webb, but Peavy also has two starts this week (Ari, @Flo) and is a great choice as well.

N.L. TWO-START SCRUBS

John Lannan (ChC, Pit) – Yeah, that 11 K, 0 BB performance against the Mets was amazin’, but it everything in Lannan’s track record screams Matthew Modine-resurrected-as-a-dog. He’s about to have a really bad day against the Cubs.

Barry Zito (Cin, @Phi) – He’s going to keep showing up in this space for awhile. They say he hasn’t been as good since he stopped surfing; I say let him.

N.L. TWO-START WILDCARD

Edinson Volquez (@SF, @Atl) – He’s trying hard to clear the bar Josh Hamilton keeps raising and doing a pretty good job so far, but his starts have been adventures. Case in point: he gave up only one run against the Cubs on 4/17, but it was on a bases-loaded walk--to Ted Lilly. High pitch counts have kept him from reaching the seventh inning in three of his four starts despite never allowing more than one run, but he has great stuff. With a start against the hapless Giants up next, you might want to roll the dice.

QUICK HITS

Don’t buy the hype: Eric Gagne isn’t done. He now has 15 K against 5 BB in 10.7 innings. He has been fairly hittable and has given up some really bad homers (Paul Bako? Really?), but that won’t stop him from being a solid B-level closer, especially considering the amount of close games the Brewers have been playing. He could save 40+ games with a mid-threes ERA.

Another day, another injury for Nomar Garciaparra. This is probably the last you’ll see of him as a starter, at least in Los Angeles, since by the time he’s eligible to come off the DL again, Andy LaRoche will be ready to return. Maybe you can trade him to that guy in your league that still thinks it’s 2003.

Nate McLouth the slugger might be for real. He hit .267/.366/.502 in the second half last year and is now sitting at .327/.405/.571 for 2008. He never showed this much power in the minors, but he was always a good hitter. If he keeps this up all season, he’ll make partner in Giles, Bay & Nady, the storied law firm of late-blooming Pirates outfielders.

Jayson Nix was designated for assignment by the Rockies after going 5-45 with one double. He’ll most likely now join his brother Laynce in giving AAA some end-of-the-alphabet flavor. As a result of Nix’s banishment, Clint Barmes is now nominally the starting second baseman for Colorado, at least until his next venison encounter. More interestingly, however, it provides a possible avenue for top prospect Ian Stewart, he of the .289/.382/.618 line at AAA Colorado Springs, to reach the Majors. Stewart is a third baseman by trade, but is blocked by Garrett Atkins at that position, so the Rockies tried him out at second in Spring Training in an effort to get his bat into the lineup.