New year, new manager, same pitching struggles for the New York Yankees. Young guns Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have both exited the rotation - Hughes with a rib cage injury and Kennedy with a demotion to Triple-A Scranton - which leaves New York searching for some answers. They’re hoping to find them in a familiar face (and huge question mark) as 28-year old lefty Kei Igawa will likely be called up from Scranton this week.

Igawa is expected to start in Kennedy’s place either Friday or Saturday, according to the New York Daily News Yankees Blog. Darrell Rasner already took Hughes’ place in the rotation and proceeded to finish the Yankees’ sweep of the Seattle Mariners with six effective innings on Sunday. Read more »

Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence’s start to the 2008 was slow and painful. He labored to a .161 batting average through his first 14 games, then was on the bench for back-to-back series finales against the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies in mid-April. He returned to the lineup having lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders and proceeded to go on a tear as the Astros won six of their next eight games.

But once again, Pence fell into an 0-for-14 slump, and manager Cecil Cooper again called for an off day to rejuvenate him. The move worked, as Pence responded with three home runs in Houston’s series sweep of visiting Milwaukee over the weekend. Pence, who entered the series with one home run in 96 at-bats, homered twice in the opener, then blasted a walk-off two-run homer in the finale on Sunday. Read more »

Our waiver-wire scouring focuses on starting pitchers, as luckless fantasy owners recover from the bad news regarding preseason young guns Rich Hill, Francisco Liriano, and Yovani Gallardo, among others. Owners who jumped the gun and wasted an early-season pick on Rich Harden haven’t been rewarded either, and so far this has been the kind of year where most starters are generally preforming on a lower level than expected.

So which starter still out there has the potential to provide the boost your team needs? Read more »