NL Central

After tossing a shutout last night, I’m sure Kyle Lohse is a popular waiver claim. What’s not to like about a guy with a 3-1 record, a 2.01 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP? You should know he’s been a fast starter for most of his career.

He got bombed last April (0-1, 6.55 ERA), but look at his recent April performances:

2009:  3-0, 1.97 ERA
2008:  3-0, 2.36 ERA
2007:  1-1, 2.88 ERA

Although baseball's opening day is special in every city, Cincinnati's has long been considered the creme-de-la-creme. Professional baseball's first team is the only team to open each year at home and its fans celebrate the entire day like no other.

Success in baseball generally comes from solid pitching. This is especially the case for the Pirates this season.

When the Pirates hold opponents to four runs or fewer they are 7-2. When they give up five runs or more they are 1-9.The Pirates team ERA is 4.24, which is good for 19th in Major League Baseball.

They aren’t striking many batters out (118) and are walking too many (73).

Overall, the upcoming MLB free agency class for the 2011 offseason is fairly weak.  Unlike 2010 when baseball fans anxiously watched to see where pitcher Cliff Lee and All-Star outfielder Carl Crawford would end up, 2011 will figure to be a quiet offseason.

More and more, teams are handing out big money to lock up their players long-term. That's really nothing new. When you have a big-time talent, you want to keep that guy in uniform as long as you can.

But what's interesting is the lengths teams have gone to recently to sign players to contract extensions that may or may not be necessary.

Could new closer Mitchell Boggs be a saving grace for the Cardinals? 

I reserve the right to answer my own question in my own time. Maybe I will answer somewhere in this article.

He doesn’t throw Hail Mary passes, wear religious articles of clothing or pretend to be as righteous as the pope, but he could be a savior for the Redbirds when they get in tight ninth innings.

This year, like every other, will provide us with season-ruining busts and the championship making prospects. To help you out, the following are the top five players you should, and still can target to ensure success in your fantasy league. Note: the following rankings and stats are based off of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Leagues. For a more complete ranking of fantasy players go to Jackman Sports' Rankings found here.

Question:  What lately has been lacing Lance Berkman’s milk bone bat?  Answer:  Leather baseballs bouncing off the wood and flying out of MLB venues.

The fantasy baseball season is starting to filter out the big fish from the small ponds, the rooks from the bishops and the Cardinals hitters from the haters.

Over the last decade, there have been many Major League Baseball teams that inspired the feeling for a split second that you could have made a career off that .300 average you carried in the Frankfort Dixie Youth League. 

The St. Louis Cardinals opened up as cold as the weather on opening day and Albert Pujols was the coldest of all. Pujols' slump is officially over though and the Cardinals have been riding his bat, and everyone else's on the team too.