In baseball's new holy trinity of shortstops - Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins, and the above-pictured Jose Reyes - Reyes fills the A-Rod spot.

Milwaukee Brewers

Hitters: Shortstop J.J. Hardy has exceeded expectations thus far (.286-6-16 with .899 OPS in 21 games) and is currently leading the Brewers in RBI. Not bad for a guy who had 14 home runs and 64 RBI in 500 career at-bats prior to 2007. He is also 8-for-25 with three home runs and seven RBI over the past seven days. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Pitchers: Ben Sheets (groin) reported no problems after throwing in the bullpen on Saturday and is hopeful to make his next start. If Sheets cannot go on Tuesday against the Cardinals, Carlos Villanueva would likely start in his stead. Villanueva has pitched pretty well (10.2 innings, nine hits, two earned runs, six walks, 10 strikeouts) since a disastrous ’07 debut back on April 4. Those in NL-only leagues may want to use him for a spot start should Sheets be unable to pitch.

New York Mets

Hitters: Jose Reyes has rewarded his owners with quite a week. Over the past seven days he is batting .345 with one home run, four RBI, and five stolen bases. The 23-year-old has a whopping total of 13 stolen bases in 21 games this month.

Pitchers: The Mets broke camp this spring with questions surrounding their starting rotation. RHP Orlando Hernandez has done his part to answer the challenge going 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 25:13 K/BB in 32 innings over his first five starts. The veteran hurler is unowned in most mixed leagues and is a good bet against the Marlins on Monday.

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters: The Phillies continue to wait for Ryan Howard to come around, but they have been getting plenty of production from Aaron Rowand and Chase Utley in recent days. Rowand is batting a sizzling .464-4-6 in his last 28 at-bats while Utley has managed to top that by hitting .500-3-11 in his last 28 at-bats. Rowand is worth using in mixed leagues until he cools, but don’t expect miracles as he has averaged .267-13-58 in 133 games since his breakout season of 2005.

Pitchers: Reliever Brett Myers is in the news again this week as closer Tom Gordon (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, 9:4 K/BB and three blown saves) continues to struggle. Manager Charlie Manuel was quick to point out after Gordon’s blown save Friday night that he is still the team’s closer, but he added that Myers would get an opportunity to close. It seems as though the plan is to ease Myers into the closer role and eventually have him take over for Gordon. If Myers was dropped in your mixed league, pick him up and see what happens.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Hitters: Outfielder Jason Bay was slow out of the gates, but he has been swinging the bat very well of late (.333-0-9 in his last five games). Outfielder Chris Duffy has also shown signs of life batting .320-0-3 with three stolen bases in his last 25 at-bats. Duffy is a decent stolen base specialist who could have some value in mixed leagues for those desperate for steals. Just be warned that he is not likely to contribute much at all besides stolen bases.

Pitchers: Closer watch is in full force with the Pirates as closer Salomon Torres is quickly losing his grip on the job. He has blown three save chances on the season and allowed five earned runs and seven hits over his last two innings of work while walking two and striking out none. Meanwhile, reliever Matt Capps (1-0 with a 0.73 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, and 7:2 K/BB in 12.1 innings pitched) is poised to overtake Torres so make sure he is owned in your mixed league.

This is what Carpenter looks like when his shoulder is on. Right now, it's sitting on his bookshelf.

St. Louis Cardinals

Hitters: The Cardinals offense was absolutely pathetic over the first week or two of the season, but Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen have both heated up. Pujols is batting .375 with one home run and five RBI in his last 24 at-bats while Rolen is 10-for-22 with one home run and four RBI over his last seven days. Now, if they could only get Chris Carpenter (elbow) back.

Pitchers: Speaking of Carpenter, he threw on the side Saturday and reported no problems. The Cardinals plan to develop a timetable for his return once they see how the elbow responds on Sunday. In a worst case scenario, surgery could be required to remove the bone spurs.

San Diego Padres

Hitters: The season’s opening month has not been kind to third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. In 60 at-bats, the youngster has managed just seven hits while hitting just one homer and driving in four runs. He has struck out 19 times and sports an embarrassingly low .385 OPS. Kouzmanoff should improve as he gains more experience, but mixed leaguers would be wise to cut him loose unless they have room to hide him on the bench for awhile longer.

Pitchers: How good has closer Trevor Hoffman been throughout his career? Well, consider this: Friday’s blown save was his second in as many chances. Prior to that, Hoffman had not blown back-to-back save chances since April 26 and April 29, 1997. That is a pretty amazing statistic that speaks to just how special the all-time saves leader’s career has been. Expect him to bounce back and put this rough patch in his rear-view mirror.

San Francisco Giants

Hitters: Despite going 3-for-9 over his last two games, shortstop Omar Vizquel remains mired in a funk. Through 20 games, he is batting .218-0-4 with one stolen base. NL-only leaguers have little choice but to stick with him, but it’s worth mentioning that Vizquel is now 40 years old so the possibility exists that he may not come around to his typical levels of production.

Pitchers: NL-only leaguers have to be somewhat pleased with what they have gotten from RHP Matt Morris thus far (3-0, 2.49 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 12K/12BB in 25.1 innings pitched). The WHIP and weak K/BB ratio suggest that his ERA should be a good bit higher, but his owners aren’t complaining…yet.

Washington Nationals

Hitters: Ryan Zimmerman qualifies as the hottest hitter on the Nationals squad in recent days (6-for-20 with one home run and four RBI over his last five games). Not terribly impressed? Well, we’re talking about the Nationals here. Kidding aside, look for him to continue to progress and have the type of season most expected.

Pitchers: Starting pitcher Shawn Hill (2-2, 2.76 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 20:8 K/BB in 32.2 innings pitched) has been the ace of the Nationals staff this month. The 24-year-old has four consecutive quality starts and has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his five starts. His strength lies with inducing a lot of groundballs and keeping the ball in the park (two home runs allowed in 32.2 innings pitched). It’s not likely that Hill will sustain this level of success, but he’s worth using in the short term as he is scheduled to face the Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday.