FanHouse ColeHamels

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.

In a matchup of elite lefties, both Clayton Kershaw and Cole Hamels appeared to run into brick walls in Game 1. Kershaw, as dominant as he looked early on, was exposed by a good lineup as an immensely talented, but ultimately inexperienced pitcher. Hamels, on the other hand, took a little different path to his problems in the middle innings.

Out of the gate, Hamels looked amped up. It showed very early with his velocity topping out at 96 mph and sitting around 93-94. However, the location was not there and he was quickly burned by a second inning home run off the bat of James Loney.

The life of a starting pitcher can be boring at times. They only pitch every fifth day, after all. For Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies, though, Thursday afternoon was anything but boring. Not only did Hamels start Game 2 of his team's NLDS matchup against the Colorado Rockies, but he also had to depart the ballpark early to be by his wife's side as she was in labor with their first child.

Hamels had a relatively poor outing for his team, as he worked five innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits. Give credit to the Rockies, who are too solid offensively to be shut down two straight days, but if Hamels was a bit distracted it would be difficult to blame him.

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.

While the Phillies have been able to upgrade their pitching with the additions of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, this is a club that needs to rely on its potent offense. If they're allowed to jump on the opposition early and get into hitters' counts, they can make it a long night for anyone.

Obviously, stopping the likes of Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Chase Utley, and Jayson Werth among others is easier said than done. But, one of the keys is going to be good left-handed pitching against them. Perhaps most crucial is going to be putting pitchers up against them that can keep the ball on the ground.

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From the Windup is Matt Snyder's weekly look at some aspect of America's pastime.

Zack Greinke has been the best pitcher in the majors this season.

That statement wouldn't be disputed by anyone other than people who look only at won-loss record and nothing more. I'm not suggesting you throw that stat out the window, but you can take Greinke's 15-8 record, combine it with everything else, and still come to the conclusion that the best pitcher in 2009 plays for the Kansas City Royals.

With that in mind, I wanted to create a starting rotation from the past decade of pitchers who were similarly plagued by a less-than-stellar record, while also sporting filthy numbers elsewhere. It's the Zack Greinke Tribute Team.

Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Before we get our heaping of box score browsing, let's look at a related subject: The fantasy baseball stretch run. With the annual ushering in of September baseball, we see roster changes galore. Not only are there call-ups with the legal expansion of rosters, but players with seemingly minor injuries are shut down on teams who have fallen out of the race. You also have younger players being given an audition for 2010, or being shut down so the team doesn't overwork them in their first season of increased workload. If you are in the thick of things in your fantasy baseball race, now is not the time to use a laissez-faire approach.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

The only downside of the NBA playoffs is that I feel like I miss some baseball that I would normally get to see. But with the Lakers (sigh) crowned champs now, both Kobe Bryant and I -- he was at the stadium, I was pantsless in my apartment, natch -- got the chance to watch the Angels and Dodgers go to civil war on Sunday Night Baseball.

And what I was treated to was a very impressive showing from my current favorite mancrush, Clayton Kershaw. You might know him as the "next Sandy Koufax" if you're a real devote, but more than likely, you know him as the "inconsistent southpaw who has yet to really flourish in the Dodgers rotation."

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

There's an awful, awful fantasy baseball stigma that's attached to players who struggle in April and May. See: Papi, Big. Although his is much worse because he's a bulky DH declining swiftly; additionally, he's not a pitcher with the potential to be labeled "inconsistent" or "a slow starter."

Like, say, you know, CC Sabathia. Or Cole Hamels. Or Dontrelle Willis. Okay, scratch that last one -- he's just kind of insane kooky. But the point is this: Tuesday night was a suddenly wonderful bit of relief, because we got to see some big pitching names come through with nice outings.

There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. Chad Billingsley and Dan Haren lead the list of "Must Start" pitchers, while I'm not sure which option would be riskier between Dontrelle Willis and Tim Redding this week.

There are 47 two-start pitchers in all and you'll need to lock your lineup by 1:07 PM ET on Monday as that's first pitch between the White Sox and Blue Jays.

Must Start
Dan Haren , Diamondbacks - Monday at FLA (R. Nolasco) and Saturday at OAK (J. Outman)
Derek Lowe , Braves - Monday vs COL (J. Marquis) and Saturday vs TOR (S. Richmond)
Jair Jurrjens , Braves - Tuesday vs COL (J. Hammel) and Sunday vs TOR (B. Tallet)

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

Let me put this simply: you want no part of being No. 1 in the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings. It just brings discord, losing and possibly suspensions to your baseball team. Such was the case with the white-hot Dodgers and Manny Ramirez, who now have to deal with a 50 game-ban of their star slugger. Who's doomed this week? Let's just say that no one would be too shocked if they weren't there again next Wednesday.

There are a plethora of two-start pitchers hurling in week five (Monday, May 4th - Sunday May 10th) of the fantasy baseball season. There are 58 total this week and you late sleepers are luck that all of the Monday games are night games. You won't need to set you lineups until 7:05 PM ET.

[Update: 7:48 AM ET] : Two games were rained out yesterday. The Mets and Phillies did not play and the Angels and Yankees were rained out as well. Here is the fallout from those two postponed games as it relates to two-start pitchers.