Mat Latos (Getty Images)

This year, for the third time in as many seasons, Mat Latos is off to a lousy start. He was hammered by the Cardinals last Wednesday, emerging with an April ERA of 8.22. Last April, he delivered an ERA of 4.98. The April before, 6.20.

Just so there's no misunderstanding here, I'm not about to claim that the 24-year-old Latos is doomed to repeat his opening month struggles forever. That seems unlikely. I'm simply highlighting the fact that we've been down this same path before, with this pitcher. And in the end, his numbers have been solid. Latos has a career 1.18 WHIP, a 3.54 ERA, and a K/9 of 8.6. Those ratios will work for fantasy purposes.

Latos wasn't some miracle of Petco Park during his time with San Diego, either. Check the home/road splits. Opposing batters have hit .229/.287/.348 against him in Petco, and they've hit .228/.291/.358 in all road games. Latos has been a quality pitcher in all environments, a fact that gave us hope for 2012 as he moved to Cincinnati.

But here we are. Latos is scuffling and fantasy owners are asking the usual questions: Bench him? Trade him? Buy him? Dump him, before Dusty breaks the kid? Latos has ranked among the most-dropped pitchers in Yahoo! leagues every day since the massacre at St. Louis, so it's clear that many of you have seen enough.

Romo's beard was not feared at Citi Field on Friday (US Presswire)

As much as fantasy owners appreciate an orderly bullpen with clearly-defined roles, Bruce Bochy was content to play the matchups in Friday's series opener in New York. Looks like we're not done picking through the Giants relief staff, trying to figure out who's doing what in the post-Brian Wilson world. A tree grows in Brooklyn, a committee shows in Queens.

Santiago Casilla was summoned for the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field, with a one-run lead to protect. Seems like ordinary handshake duty, but Bochy only let Casilla pitch to one batter - after Jason Bay's leadoff single, Javier Lopez came into the game to face what turned into three consecutive lefty batters. The Mets scratched across a run, forcing extra innings.

San Francisco had another one-run advantage an inning later, and Sergio Romo (who finished up the ninth) was asked to protect it. But when the Mets opened with a couple of singles, Bochy went to the bullpen again, calling for journeyman Clay Hensley. It's a logical move when you consider batted-ball tendencies - Hensley's ground-ball rate is over 51 percent for his career, while Romo sits at 34 percent. Hensley wound up getting the coveted handshake, inducing a groundout, strikeout and a deep-but-catchable fly to center.

How do fantasy owners shuffle this going forward? I'm still inclined to give Casilla the biggest save potential; the lefty glut in the ninth was an unusual thing, and let's also keep in mind Lopez wasn't able to lock the game down anyway. Romo would be my second pick, and with his high-strikeout rate and excellent ratio potential, he's the type of reliever that can still help you even when he's not closing. Hensley becomes an interesting option for very deep mixers and NL-only formats; recall how useful he was for the Marlins bullpen back in 2010. He's capable of missing bats and getting ground balls, and he might luck into 6-8 wins because he'll be used in a lot of tie games. Lopez has no chance to get more than an odd save here and there; he probably won't be exposed to that many right-handed batters, and Jeremy Affeldt might be a better lefty specialist anyway.

While you rehash and recalibrate the Giants save-chase, let's load up the bullets and see what else went down on the sandlots Friday evening.

Anthony Rizzo, still raking (US Presswire)

The Chicago Cubs, as you might have heard, are struggling in a few areas. The club is now 3-10, losers of five straight, recently swept by the Marlins. Chicago ranks 26th in team ERA (4.90), 24th in runs scored (46), and dead-last in home runs (5).

No one expected this bunch to contend for a playoff berth in 2012, but a fan can always hope that his or her team won't be intolerably bad. And yet here we are. The Cubs are weapons-grade bad. Almost unwatchable.

As often happens when a team reaches such a low point, calls have begun for minor league reinforcements. First base prospect Anthony Rizzo, 22, is off to another torrid start at Triple-A, hitting .393/.433/.786 with seven homers through 14 games, so his name has become increasingly popular in Chicago. You'll note that Rizzo's current home run total actually exceeds the combined efforts of all Cubs hitters. He hit a pair of bombs on Thursday, his third multi-homer game this season.

Of course it's no surprise to see that Rizzo is dominating the PCL, because he hit .331/.404/.652 in 93 games at Tucson last season, driving in 101 runs and belting 26 homers. He's really had little trouble with minor league pitching. It's the big league arms that give him fits. Rizzo was a wreck last season when called up by the Padres, collecting only 18 hits in 128 at-bats, striking out 46 times. The kid has a long swing, and he was easily handled by MLB pitchers. Lefties have been an unsolvable riddle, too. In Rizzo's 19 at-bats against left-handers so far this year, he has just four hits (three singles), no walks and six Ks.

So despite the gaudy numbers, there are still issues for Rizzo to work through in the minors. Please be patient, whether you're a Cubs fan or a fantasy owner. It doesn't sound as if Chicago's front office has any interest in rushing the organization's top young talent.

Status updates: Dwight Howard will undergo surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back. His season is over and his ability to participate in the Olympics is very much in doubt. He's expected to need three-to-four months to recover .. Derrick Rose was still limping as of Thursday and looks doubtful for Saturday .. Kobe Bryant (shin) will play on Friday .. Rick Adelman says there is a good chance that both Kevin Love and Luke Ridnour will play in the T-Wolves' final two games (Sun GSW, Thu DEN). Adelman says he'll be particularly cautious with Love if he is cleared to play .. Amar'e Stoudemire will play and start on Friday. Landry Fields will be moved to the bench .. Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo are definitely out Friday, and Doc Rivers said he'll likely rest Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, as well .. Cavs on Friday: Kyrie Irving will start and see a few more minutes, Alonzo Gee is 50-50 to play, and a decision on Anderson Varejao's season is expected soon .. Nicolas Batum (quad)

Will humiliated Bucs fans rebuild around Trent Richardson? (US Presswire)

Chomping at the bit. That's what many hibernating fantasy footballers are thinking with the NFL draft just a week away.

On this week's adrenaline-pumped program, Andy Behrens and Brad Evans previewed the annual April exercise determining what top picks could turn a massive profit for your team (Hint: It won't be Andrew Luck), what sleepers to watch out for and played a special edition of draft day over/unders.

Meanwhile in hour numero dos, the Y! tag-team tossed it around the diamond. Injury impacts of Justin Upton, Chris Young and Lance Berkman were explored. Is Matt Carpenter must-add material? Next, listener favorite game Panic or Patience? made a smashing return. Should you bail on Paul Goldschmidt? Finally, in Believe or Make Believe we dissected Chase Headley's shocking start.

Too busy fighting off the Federal Reserve in Ron Paul Revolution? No worries. Listen to the replay below:

LISTEN TO HOUR 1 (NFL) HERE

LISTEN TO HOUR 2 (MLB) HERE

The Famous Chicken gives back (US Presswire)

Hopefully you enjoyed San Diego's three-day stop in Colorado, where Chase Headley is a golden god and the runs flow freely. We're now back to Petco Park for a while, where offense is frowned upon and most games come down to penalty kicks. Keep your phone charged and have your clipboard ready; we want to take full advantage of the upcoming schedule.

The Friars were in tiptoe mode as they opened a homestand Thursday night, managing just four hits in a 2-0 loss to Philadelphia. Vance Worley had his good stuff from the opening pitch (7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 K), but good stuff isn't a requirement when you're up against an underwhelming offense in a gigantic park. The punchless Padres are slashing at .213/.308/.333 for the season, with just 48 runs in 14 games. If you take the Coors Field trip off the spreadsheet, the Padres are averaging 2.5 runs per match. And they've also struck out a league-high 121 times.

The next 15 San Diego games will be played in big yards: 12 home dates, and a three-game trip to San Francisco. And there will be plenty of big-name pitchers who get to take advantage of the matchup. Cole Hamels and Doc Halladay are ready to go the next two nights, the Giants will have their Big 3 (yes, that includes Timmy) in line for the AT&T series, and Jordan Zimmermann also makes a visit to Southern California. No strategy required on those names, it's plug-and-play.

But what about the fringe pitchers, the streamable one-night-only types? There are some of those coming, too.

Chase Headley doing work at Coors Field (US Presswire)

As of this writing, San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley is the No. 9 overall fantasy asset in the year-to-date Yahoo! ranks, thanks largely to the three-day binge he just enjoyed at Coors Field. Entering the Colorado series, Headley was hitting .212 with an OPS of .855. Exiting the series, he's at .283 and 1.066.

Headley hit a pair of opposite-field homers on Wednesday, driving in three runs. He finished the series 5-for-13, scoring five runs, driving in four. All of his hits went for extra bases. If you've started him over the past three days, congrats. Well played. Headley remains only 48 percent owned and 32 percent started, so it's not as if everyone was on board. That's changing quickly, however, as Headley has been the most-added player in Yahoo! leagues on Thursday, with over 11,000 pick-ups so far.

I've probably fielded more questions about Headley than any other player over the past 24 hours, most of them asked by people who are hoping this is his breakout year — and in many ways, he fits the profile. Headley is 27 years old, he's shown multi-category potential in prior seasons (double-digit power and speed), and he has a history of success in the minors (2007 Texas League player of the year). He's also batting third for San Diego, so you can't argue with the lineup position.

But my current stance on Headley isn't so different from prior years, even though he's already matched his 2011 home run total (four). Petco Park has been a constant drag on his fantasy value, to a ridiculous extent. Just check the home/road splits...

Status updates: Kobe Bryant expects to play on Friday, but his status will be officially determined after morning shootaround .. Celtics on Friday: neither Ray Allen nor Rajon Rondo traveled with the team to Atlanta and both are out .. Kyrie Irving had no problems playing 20 minutes on Wednesday. Byron Scott said he may see more minutes Friday, but also that he might not play in all five of the Cavs' remaining games .. Eric Gordon is likely to play on Thursday .. Nicolas Batum (quad) lasted just 15 minutes on Wednesday (1-6 FG) and it's possible that he won't play in the Blazers' final three games .. Amar'e Stoudemire's status for Friday's game will be determined after morning shootaround .. Luke Ridnour could return from his ankle injury on Sunday .. Kevin Martin was active but did not play for the second consecutive game on Monday. If he plays Thursday, it will likely only be on a situational basis .. Wilson Chandler is officially out for the season and facing up to five months of