FanHouse David Purcey

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.

On the day Milton Bradley began serving a team-mandated, season-ending suspension, former Cubs fan favorite Mark DeRosa suited up for the Cubs rival. He's been doing so since coming over in a trade from Cleveland. This past offseason, the Cubs moved DeRosa to the Indians as part of a concerted effort to free up payroll. The target: Bradley.

Thus, it was only fitting the chain of decisions were further cemented as awful when DeRosa hit two home runs and drove in four runs Monday night.

Forty-four pitchers are throwing twice this week (Monday, April 27th - Sunday, May 3rd). All the games are night games on Monday, so no need to rush. Get your lineups set by 7:00 PM ET for the St. Louis at Atlanta game.

Must Start
Dan Haren, Diamondbacks - Tuesday vs CHC (C. Zambrano) and Sunday at MLW (D. Bush)
Chad Billingsley, Dodgers - Tuesday at SF (B. Zito) and Sunday vs SD (J. Geer)
James Shields, Rays - Tuesday at MIN (F. Liriano) and Sunday vs BOS (B. Penny)
Gil Meche, Royals - Tuesday vs TOR (S. Richmond) and Sunday at MIN (S. Baker)
Kyle Lohse, Cardinals - Tuesday at ATL (J. Reyes) and Sunday at WAS (J. Lannan)
Ted Lilly, Cubs - Monday at ARZ (Y. Petit) and Saturday vs FLA (A. Sanchez)

The first few days of the season are a great time for fantasy owners. We can enjoy a hot start for our team -- which obviously means a championship is on the way -- or we're stuck scouring the waiver wire for guys who have already shown they are going to be a stud all season long. Then, we remember Chris Shelton. In 2006, Shelton had 9 home runs and 17 RBI with a .471 average through 13 games. Thus, he is our namesake for Stud or Shelton.

Today, we'll check out a bevy of unheralded and/or maligned starting pitchers who have shown their true studly colors in their first start. Or have they? The lightning round of judgment follows the jump (because we heart lightning rounds).

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As you set your fantasy lineups for week one remember that there are 43 starting pitchers this week who will start twice. I've broken these 43 pitchers into three categories. There are 19 "must start" pitchers, nine solid options, and 15 risky hurlers throwing twice.

For the record, since there is only one game tonight featuring the Braves and the Phillies, and it's a Sunday night game, you'll find that in most weekly leagues Derek Lowe and Brett Myers (tonight's starters) will only have one start in week one, even though they'll be starting twice in their teams first seven games.

Tim Lincecum looks to have a cake walk first week as he faces Milwaukee and San Diego. While Paul Maholm, Ian Snell, John Lannan and Scott Olsen have some of the toughest two-start schedules as they face tough teams in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Florida.

With Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum on the shelf -- not to mention A.J. Burnett's following the almighty dollar to the Bronx -- the Jays' rotation looks a bit less stout this season. After Roy Halladay, they line up with Jesse Litsch and David Purcey. You can add a fourth name to the list, because Cito Gaston has announced the next spot in the rotation will go to Ricky Romero.

The 24-year-old left-hander has never thrown a pitch in the majors, and he has only made seven starts in Triple-A.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Toronto Blue Jays.

There's no team in baseball in a worse spot than the Blue Jays. They've had to contend with the megapowers in New York and Boston for years, watching their competitive payroll and over-.500 seasons amount to nothing more than third-place finish after-third place finish. No matter how much they have spent and how much they have won, it has never been enough to catch the Red Sox or the Yankees.

From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Boston Red Sox
The shortstop battle between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo is heating up. Lowrie has six hits in sixteen at-bats with two doubles and a triple while Lugo has eight hits in fifteen at-bats with two doubles.

Lugo has made changes the Sox hope will help him recapture the power he showed before his arrival in Boston. He added muscle this offseason and, this spring, he slightly altered his batting stance.

Hitting coach Dave Magadan has been telling Francona he expects to see more power from Lugo this season.

There aren't enough positions on the field for both of these guys to play full-time and the DH spot is going to be occupied by David Ortiz. That can only mean one thing; a who's hotter at the moment platoon. No fantasy owner wants to hear that. This is one of those situations where what's best for the Major League team isn't so good for your fantasy team.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Team about to lose one of the best pitchers in baseball. Let's face it, with the economy in the tank for the rest of this calendar year, major league teams will be forced to cut costs. Roy Halladay makes a lot of money. The Blue Jays are going to be the worst team in the AL East (yes, they really will). People will stop attending games, and the Jays are going to have to deal him for about 30 cents on the dollar.

That's right, MLB Power Rankings. You do know that that means, right? It means we're only a few short weeks/months (depends on you how you want to look at it, you pessimistic jerk) from starting the 2009 baseball season. Spring is nearly here, everyone has a bounce in their step and there's not an illegal, injectable steroid in sight!

So without further ado, let's get down to business and rank every single Major League Baseball team right freaking now. Because baseball can't wait any longer to get going.