The First Pitch:

Fantasy baseball sage Paul Sporer sums up today quite well:

Aces looking more like Jokers today! #nailedit

— Paul Sporer (@sporer) April 8, 2013

Sunday was a day of Aces performing anything like Aces.

Boston 13 Toronto 0

Ace on his face: R.A. Dickey 4 2/3 IP 10 hits, 8 runs, 7 earned, 2 walks, and 5 Ks. Some might ask, how long has this been going on?

Five hitters into the game and the Blue Jays were down 5-0. What does it mean? Dickey isn’t likely to put up the numbers he did last season. Is he going to regress back to his career ERA (5.42) in the AL? Likely not. He’s not this bad a pitcher. The knuckleball is a fickle mistress and sometimes it disappears for stretches. I have faith that Dickey will rebound and his first chance is this week when he faces the Kansas City Royals. You might want to poke around Dickey’s owner to see what it would cost to acquire him.

Star by far: Will Middlebrooks put up three HRs in his four hits on the day – his first three HR game of his young career. The Red Sox offense has looked good and deep with a new star seemingly stepping up each day. And the pitching looks to be back to the level everyone expected to see. Perhaps it’s John Farrell’s tutelage or perhaps it’s just regression, but Jon Lester looks like a new man (or an old Lester). He has 11 Ks over his first 12 IP in two starts and his ERA is down to 1.50. If there is a Lester owner in your league who isn’t sold on Lester’s rebound see what you can do to acquire him too.

Cincinnati 6 Washington 3

Ace on his face: Stephen Strasburg 5 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. Season ERA at 4.38

Perhaps we shouldn’t anoint the Nationals World Series champs, eh? What does it mean? Stephen Strasburg isn’t an ace. What? You heard me. He’s not an ace. He has ace stuff and he certainly pitches like an ace for about six innings each start. But that’s it…he’s not an ace. He can’t carry his team. He’s made 47 starts in his career over parts of four seasons. His average innings per start? 5 2/3. That’s not an ace. An ace doesn’t regularly fall short of the requirement for a quality start. The Nats are going to struggle (to reach the lofty goal of World Series champs) if they can’t find a pitcher who can go more than six innings every once and a while.

Star by far: Todd Frazier picked up only one hit in five plate appearances, but drove in another run and picked up two walks. Through the first week of the season, he’s slashing 480/519/920 – that’s a 1.439 OPS. Frazier is 27. Frazier was a first round pick. Frazier was a top 100 prospect from Baseball America in both 2009 and 2010. He has all of the pedigree, a clear path to playing time and a home park that is a launching pad. I would be surprised if he doesn’t finish as a top eight third baseman in fantasy circles.

Kansas City 9 Philadelphia Phillies 8

Ace on his face: Cole Hamels 5 2/3 IP, 9 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Nice ‘stache bro! What does it mean? Hamels has a 10.97 ERA through his first two starts, but I’m not worried. Over his career, April is his worst statistical month (though not this bad). Hamels remains an ace in my book and two rough starts without news of an injury or huge drop off in stuff leads me to believe he will turn it around. Maybe he needs the Space Ace in this place.

Star by far: Billy Butler had seven RBIs on only two hits. I’m not sure the Houston Astros have scored seven runs all year.

Butler hit his first career grand slam off Hamels in the fifth and enjoyed. Butler also has perhaps the best nickname around – Country Breakfast.

Cleveland Indians 13 Tampa Bay Rays 0

Ace on his face: David Price 5 IP, 10 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts. ERA for the season is at 8.18.

What does it mean? Joe Maddon says he’s not worried. David Price says he’s not worried. What, me worry? You win some, lose some, it’s – all – the same to me. Price is still in the ace class.

Star by far: Everyone, but Nick Swisher. Everyone in Cleveland’s lineup scored a run except Swisher. Big games from Carlos Santana (5 for 5, 3 runs and 3 RBIs and a HR off of Fernando Rodney) and Mark Reynolds (3 for 4 with 3 runs and 4 RBIs on 2 HRs). Lonnie Chisenhall and Michael Bourn also picked up HRs in the blowout shutout. And Justin Masterson looked great again with seven innings of two-hit ball and eight Ks.

Some quick hits from around the rest of the league:

Closer carousel spins wildly out of control – Carlos Marmol? OUT! Kyuji Fujikawa? IN! Greg Holland? Replaced mid-save chance by Kelvin Herrera. John Axford? Another blown save – paging Jimmy Henderson. Fernando Rodney has given up three earned runs already. He gave up five all of last season.

More aces heading to Madame Tussaud’s (getting waxed) – Jered Weaver’s descent toward mediocrity continues Sunday night as he was knocked around by the Texas Rangers. Weaver’s fastball velocity continues to drop. He left Sunday’s game with an injury to his left (non-throwing) elbow after a comeback through the box. He is not an ace. He won’t ever be an ace again (if he even was in the past). If someone in your league still believes in him, see what you can get. Take this as The Sign to get this ace out of your place.

Matt Cain suffered death today by a thousand singles. He was chased in the fourth as the St. Louis Cardinals scored nine runs with only one extra base hit (a ground rule double by Matt Adams). I have no concern with Cain. Mellow on this ace, man.

I don’t have any other aces up my sleeve…

DraftKings.com Team of the Day:

I picked up a win this week at DraftKings. A $1 investment returned $30 on April 5 as I scored 22 more points than the second place team in a MLB Daily Dollar game. Today, we’re going with MLB Daily Dollar (early only) with a guaranteed $150 prize pool for a $1 entry. Here are the best values we found out there. Don’t forget to claim your deposit bonus!

We’re picking from only the early games so watch the lineups to ensure that everyone is starting. It’s getaway day for these teams so some veterans may rest. Rotoinfo.com provides excellent updates as lineups roll in.

Clay Buchholz | P | Red Sox | $7,800 – As I touched on above with Jon Lester, John Farrell’s imprint can be seen on the pitching staff. Buchholz had a terrific spring and that carried over to his first start of 2013. He has a solid track record against the Orioles and has three shutouts (the only three of his career) in his 13 career starts against them.

Edwin Jackson | P | Cubs | $8,700 – The Brewers are trotting a AAA lineup out there currently with Ryan Braun day to day, Aramis Ramirez on the DL and Jean Segura also day to day. Jackson isn’t anything special, but he doesn’t have to be against this squad.

Joe Mauer | C | Twins | $4,300– Watch the catcher spot as this is where most of the days off happen on getaway day. Mauer has been great against Royals starter Ervin Santana (who hasn’t really?). Santana gave up three HRs over six innings in his first start. Mauer’s got a chance to deposit one over the fence – he’s 12 for 26 in his career against Santana.

Chris Davis | 1B | Orioles | $4,000 – Davis has been hotter than Mars. He’s also eligible in the OF if you’d rather put someone else here instead. I don’t care if he’s hitting against Christy Mathewson; he’s in my lineup.

Dustin Pedroia | 2B | Red Sox | $4,800 – This is my hunch play for the day. Pedroia has been getting on base, but has shown off a lot of power. I think Monday is the day for him.

Todd Frazier | 3B | Reds | $3,800 – Frazier is on fire. Frazier pounds lefties to a .910 OPS over his career. He faces Jaime Garcia and his fraying shoulder.

J.J. Hardy | SS | Orioles | $3,400 – Hardy has a solid (if short – six for 13 with two HRs) track record against Buchholz. Call this a hedge just in case Clay turns back into Suck-holz.

Carlos Beltran | OF | Cardinals | $4,500 – Another matchup play as Beltran has had success against Reds’ starter Mat Latos. Beltran has three HRs in 11 ABs against Latos. Moreover, Latos is usually a bum in April.

Jon Jay | OF | Cardinals | $3,500 – See Beltran, Carlos just with less power.

Alfonso Soriano | OF | Cubs | $4,200– Soriano also has a nice matchup as he’s got three hits (all doubles) off of Estrada. Estrada comes into the game off a poor first start and a spring training that looked good on the surface, but included eight walks in just 14 1/3 innings.

Chris is a contributor at TheFantasyFix.com and also writes at District Sports Page. Be wowed by Chris on twitter @chrisgarosi