Cole Hamels brushed off a rough spring and threw a gem in his first regular season start of 2007 (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K) against the Braves. He gets two starts this week (@ NYM and vs. HOU).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Pitchers: RHP Jason Schmidt pitched well in his Dodgers debut on April 4 (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and should be fine to use for his two starts this week (vs. COL and vs. SD). RHP Brett Tomko could be a sneaky play vs. COL on Tuesday as he was much better at Dodger Stadium (5-2, 2.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 35K/15BB in 53.1 IP last season) than he was on the road (6.86 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 59 IP).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Hitters: The outfield platoon of Geoff Jenkins and Kevin Mench is going swimmingly for the Brewers through the first five games. Jenkins is batting .385 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in 13 AB while Mench is pressing along at a .273 clip with 1 HR and 4 RBI in 11 AB. 1B Prince Fielder is off to a slow start .238-1-1 in 21 AB, but he could heat up this week. Fielder batted .036 higher on the road (.288) with 17 of his 28 HR and 46 of his 81 RBI on the road last season.

Pitchers: RHP Jeff Suppan gets two starts this week (@ FLA and @ STL). He could be worth a roll of the dice as he pitched very well against Florida last season (1-0, 1.76 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 9K/7BB and .200 BAA in 15.1 IP). The matchup against his former team, the Cardinals, later in the week figures to be a bit tougher, but given the early struggles of the Cardinals offense, Suppan might be worth the risk. RHP Dave Bush was hit with an ugly stat line in his Friday start, but it wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed. The Cubs touched up Bush for six hits and six runs in the first inning, but he settled down and did not allow another run over the next five innings while striking out seven over six innings. He is scheduled to pitch at Florida on Wednesday.

NEW YORK METS

Delgado and the Mets play six at home this week.  The New York first baseman was just .226 with 18 HR and 55 RBI in 261 AB at Shea Stadium in 2006

Hitters: The Mets are absolutely on fire offensively with every regular batting .300 or better through Saturday’s game except 1B Carlos Delgado and 2B Jose Valentin. Delgado did manage to go 2-for-4 with an RBI on Saturday, but the fact that the Mets will play six home games this week does not bode especially well for him as he batted just .226 with 18 HR and 55 RBI in 261 AB at Shea Stadium in 2006 (.304-20-59 in 263 AB away).

Pitchers: RHP John Maine looked sharp in his 2007 debut against the Cardinals (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K) and he should be a good bet in each of his two starts this week (vs. PHI and vs. WSH). Maine posted a 3-0 record with 1.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 10K/5BB in 18.1 IP a year ago.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Hitters: OF Pat Burrell and C Carlos Ruiz are the top two Phillies in terms of batting average through five games (.389 and .375 respectively). That probably gives you an idea of why they have lost four of their first five games. SS Jimmy Rollins is off to a strong start as well (.350-3-6 with 1 SB) but it has not been enough.

Pitchers: LHP Cole Hamels brushed off a rough spring and threw a gem in his first regular season start of 2007 (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K) against the Braves. He gets two starts this week (@ NYM and vs. HOU).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Hitters: Who would have guessed that OF Xavier Nady would have outproduced OF Jason Bay through the first five games? Nady is batting .278-2-4 in 18 AB while Bay is batting a paltry .190-1-2 in 21 AB. Perhaps offseason knee surgery has something to do with Bay’s early season struggles. It’s worth noting that he hit just .286-0-9 with .682 OPS in 19 preseason games.

Pitchers: CL Salomon Torres had Pirates fans and many fantasy owners worried with his terrible spring, but he kicked it up a notch once the games started counting. He has three saves in the team’s first five games while compiling a 3.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP and 3K/0BB in 3 IP.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Hitters: Aside from OF/1B Chris Duncan, the Cardinals offense has been dreadful through the first five games. They have a .192 team batting average and have scored just seven runs so far. 1B Albert Pujols has just one hit in his first 17 at-bats. It would be a good idea to throw a couple offers toward the owner of Pujols in your league just to see if you can acquire the slugger.

Pitchers: RHP Adam Wainwright was quite impressive against the Astros in his first major league start (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K) and he has a favorable matchup at Pittsburgh this week.

SAN DIEGO PADRES
Hitters: SS Khalil Greene has hit safely in four of his first five games (.350-2-4 in 21 AB). 2B Marcus Giles has reached base safely in his first five games. Both guys are hitting the ball really well right now, but the Padres are still averaging just 4.5 runs per game through their first four games.

Pitchers: RHP Chris Young did not pitch very well on April 4 at San Francisco, but he will have a chance at redemption this week as he faces the Giants at Petco Park on Monday. Young is also scheduled to start on the road against the Dodgers on April 15.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

As a team the Giants hit but one home run in the first week of 2007; that by Barry Bonds (pictured above)

Hitters: The Giants have managed to score just ten runs through their first five games of the 2007 season. 2B Ray Durham (.353-0-2 with 3 BB) has done his part, but the rest of the team has done next to nothing. As a team, the Giants have hit just one homer (Barry Bonds).

Pitchers: The Giants pitching staff got an unexpected boost from LHP Noah Lowry and RHP Matt Morris in week one. Those two combined to allow just three runs (two earned) over 13 innings. They are both scheduled to face the Padres at Petco this week so their good fortune could continue.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Hitters: 1B Dmitri Young and OF Ryan Church have combined to drive in 8 of the 17 runs scored by the Nationals thus far. Young is batting .304-1-4 in 23 AB while Church is batting .286-2-4 in 21 AB. The duo also possesses all three homers hit by the Nationals this season.

Pitchers: LHP Matt Chico was brutal in his start on April 4 against Florida (4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and things do not figure to get any easier for him this week as he is scheduled to pitch on the road against the Braves and at Shea Stadium against the Mets. Any NL-only leaguers with Chico on their roster would be wise to plant him on the bench this week