Sure, he's hitting, but what about all the bums surrounding him?

Baltimore Orioles

Hitters: Catcher Ramon Hernandez (strained left oblique) came off the DL on Thursday and is 3-for-7 with two runs scored since. Hernandez should be fine to activate in most Fantasy leagues at this point. Track his progress through the weekend if you're considering him for Fantasy Week 5 (April 30-May 6). He didn't have much of a rehab assignment and has missed three weeks of action. It may result in a few hitless games so be prepared.

Pitchers: There was a Scooby-Doo sighting at Camden Yards Thursday night. After closer Chris Ray surrendered a blown-save, 9th inning grand slam to Boston’s Willie Mo Pena, he was quoted as saying, “Rut Ro!” Even though it was Ray’s second blown save, and the second one blown by way of grand slam as well, manager Sam Perlozzo said he remains confident in Ray as the Orioles' closer. Ray owners can breath a sigh of relief, as it does not look like he's in danger of losing his job any time soon.

Boston Red Sox

Hitters: Shortstop Julio Lugo, who came into Friday night's game in a 4-for-27 funk, went 3-for-4 with a homer, a steal, three RBI, and three runs scored. He also walked twice. Lugo provides valuable versatility as a 2B/SS option in mixed leagues and this outing may be the jump start he needed to finally get things going.

Pitchers: The easy direction here would be to talk about the “painted sock” of starting pitcher Curt Schilling. How about we switch gears and talk about what Josh Beckett is doing instead. Beckett became the majors' first five-game winner this past week and is pitching on an unconscious level – 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and an impressive K/BB ratio of 28:7. Needless to say, he remains a must-start in all Fantasy leagues and is a legit threat at 20 wins this year.

Chicago White Sox

Hitters: Its like tag team wrestling in Chicago. Jermaine Dye is in… Jim Thome is out. Dye, who missed Wednesday's game due to a sore lower back, returned Friday and hit two homers (five on the season already). The two homers should be plenty of proof that Dye is over his sore back. He doesn't have a spectacular batting average (.229), but remains a must-start in all Fantasy formats. Thome, who also has five home runs, was batting .340 with 25 walks but left Friday’s contest when he fouled off a pitch in the first inning. On Saturday, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list and is out until mid-May at the earliest. Fantasy owners need to stash him away until then, as he is a must-start option when healthy.

Pitchers: In the words of the late great Mel Allen, “How about that?” Closer Bobby Jenks has eight saves already on the season and appears in no more trouble of losing his job as he was last year at this time. He has done nothing but silence the critics in the month of April posting “Jenks” type numbers; eight saves with a 3.09 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 11/3 in 11.2 IP. Jenks won’t give you many clean innings but he will rack up the saves and so far it appears another 40 save season is on the horizon.

Jake Westbrook got the dough and went to pot thereafter...

Cleveland Indians

Hitters: Second baseman Josh Barfield was owned in approximately 86% of the leagues when the season started. His .132 batting average has caused that number to only drop to 64%. What that tells me is there are quite a bit of owners out there who are staying patient. Barfield broke his 0-for-19 slump with a “seeing eye” single Friday night. He'll need more than just a base hit every 19 at-bats to be considered a regular in any format, but he is still thought of as a young player with a high ceiling. He should be reserved in most leagues until he can get going.

Pitchers: Prior to getting his first win in his last five starts, Jake Westbrook had not been living up to his three-year, $33 million contract extension. His latest outing lowered his ERA from 9.15 to 7.96 but his current K/BB pace of 18/12 is something to be concerned about. Given Westbrook's recent struggles and his history of poor April, mixed-leaguers might consider only using him as a spot starter for the time being. His lone win came against the Orioles and that is whom he will face in his next outing. Expect Baltimore to make some adjustments, which makes Westbrook a risky start for Fantasy Week 5 (April 30-May 6).

Detroit Tigers

Hitters: Before Friday’s 0-for-3, Magglio Ordonez was 15-for-31 over the previous eight games, which included a seven-game hitting streak. During that stretch, Ordonez had three hits in four of those games, and during the seven game streak Ordonez had also gotten at least one RBI in each. He is not only on pace to match last year’s production (.302, 24,104) but he has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors as of late.

Pitchers: Maybe soft-throwing closer Todd Jones’ job is safe after all. First Fernando Rodney started struggling and now flame-throwing right-hander Joel Zumaya is giving owners fits. Many, including me, viewed Zumaya as a sleeper to overtake the closer’s role sometime this season, but he has now given up at least one earned run in four straight appearances. Over this stretch, he has blown a save and has surrendered eight hits and six walks over four innings of work – those are not great numbers for a pitcher with this much talent.

Kansas City Royals

Hitters: Talk about your love for being at home as opposed to

Teahen prefers KC BBQ to road kill

being on the road – outfielder Mark Teahen is batting .412 with both of his homers and seven of his eight RBI at Kauffman Stadium this season. To put things into perspective, in 2006 Teahen hit .317 at Kauffman Stadium, and .259 on the road. Guess what? The Royals are this week’s Yahtzee team with seven home games during Fantasy Week 5 (April 30-May 6)…need I say more?

Pitchers: Besides Gil Meche, Jorge De La Rosa is probably the only other starting pitcher from the Royals worth considering at the moment. De La Rosa, like teammate Mark Teahen prefers the comforts of home as opposed to the road. His numbers at home, 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA, are leaps and bounds better than his numbers away from Kauffman Stadium, where he is 0-2 with a 6.50 ERA. He faces the Angels at home next week and is considered a decent start in AL-only leagues. Mixed leaguers may want to consider this one as well only if you really need the start.

Los Angeles Angels

Hitters: What was once considered a tough lineup to pitch to in previous years has now turned into the Vladimir Guerrero show. Aside from Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. (who is at .300), no one else in the Angels’ lineup is hitting above .270 and its going to get to the point shortly where teams will start pitching around Vlad, which is definitely not what fantasy owners want to hear. If there is a silver lining to all of this, third baseman Chone Figgins is set to return shortly as he’s already started his rehab stint down in Triple-A Salt Lake. Perhaps the return of Figgins could jump-start this anemic offense.

Pitchers: Jered Weaver’s fastball wasn't up to speed in Monday's loss to Detroit in his shortest outing of his short career. He lasted only 1 2/3 innings and was rocked for seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks. There is no reason for alarm concerning his slow start as he missed most of spring training due to shoulder tightness; this is definitely not what owners were anticipating when they selected him high in drafts this season. Be patient, as he should turn things around, perhaps as early as Fantasy Week 5 (April 30-May 6) where he’ll face the Royals.

Minnesota Twins

Hitters: Over the last three years in the month of April, Torii Hunter averaged a .251 batting average with four home runs, 15 RBI, and three stolen bases. With that said, he is definitely off to a better start. He has driven in 17 RBI and stolen four bases but he’s hitting for a much better average; batting .317 with a game remaining in the month of April. In 2006, Hunter set a career high with 31 home runs so there’s no reason so far to think his power won’t remain. His steals should return to previous levels (around 20 making Hunter a solid player in all formats.

Pitchers: For the all league formats that count holds as a category, we have someone for you. Juan Rincon has been virtually money in the bank in bridging late inning leads to closer Joe Nathan. Rincon; 1-0, 1.86 ERA, 12 K’s and 5 Holds over 9.2IP, is currently on a six game scoreless streak of which two of those outings he earned a hold. His holds per appearance percentage is 50% (five holds in 10 appearances) which is outstanding when evaluating middle relief guys. If you need holds but can live with the fact it may hurt you in WHIP (1.60 on the season thus far), Rincon is your man.