A full month is in the books in the MLB and the month of May is upon us.
Similar to my article on hitters to watch in May, here I examine some pitchers you'll want to look at as the month of May transpires.
Some have gotten out of the gate quick while others struggle.
Zach Greinke (KC): If you follow baseball in any capacity, you knew Greinke would be on this list.
He has started the year in incredible fashion going 5-0 with 44 strikeouts and an unbelievable 0.
50 ERA across 36 innings pitched.
He has been as un-hittable as they come and had a long string of innings where no one could muster a run.
He already has 2 complete games on his resume for 2009.
The question to be asked here is how will he look in May? The clip he is on seems impossible to sustain for an entire year let alone several months.
Greinke's May might determine what his entire season will play out as: either staff ace and one of the best in the bigs or a hot start that faded.
Cole Hamels (PHI): What on earth is going on here? With a month complete, Cole Hamels has thrown just over 17 innings and his results are poor.
He has struck out 15 and has an ERA above 7 with 2 losses tacked to his name.
Nagging injuries (sprained ankle and sore everything seemingly) has made his start to the year one to forget.
Hamels has been far from the dominant pitcher fantasy owners had hoped he would be.
May could also be the pivotal month for Hamels that shows us where his season is headed: either injury riddled and widely ineffective or a return to form that can tame any lineup.
Dan Haren (ARZ): Haren has been amazing through the start of the year and hopes to keep it up in the month of May.
He has 36 strikeouts through 35 innings with an amazing ERA of 1.
54.
However, his offense has not supported him in the least and he finds his record sitting at 2-3 entering May.
Haren could easily be a main Cy Young contender however it appears he won't be this year thanks to a ineffective Arizona lineup.
Haren is notable to watch in May for it will be key to see if he will see any run support and win 15 games.
Fausto Carmona (CLE): Where has the Carmona of 2007 gone? It is clear in the early goings of 2009 he is no where to be found.
Carmona has started this season with a 1-3 record and an ugly 6.
28 ERA through over 28 innings.
Also ugly is his strikeout rate, in which he has only K'ed 18 batters so far.
Long ago seem the days where Carmona went 19-8 with a 3.
06 ERA and 137 strikeouts.
Granted he has not been a big strikeout pitcher, Carmona has shown he can be dominant through his control.
However something seems very wrong in the early goings of '09 and May might decide what Carmona's future holds: a solid spot in the rotation or the increasingly more likely move to the minors.