Daily Roundup: 4/6

Editors Note: I decided that recapping every game was tedious and unnecessary. You can get that info from the AP. Here's my new daily segment, Daily Roundup. I hope you like it better.

Cincinnati and Texas Continue Their Winning Streaks

The Reds and the Rangers have both stayed undefeated for 2011. These are two teams that seemed very similar to me coming into the year. They both were young teams who made the big leap into the postseason in 2010, with Texas reaching the World Series. Both teams were coming into the year with the same young nuclei from the year before. Because of this, both teams are being watched carefully to see if they can build upon their success of last year. Both teams have responded positively. Texas's lineup has shown that they will not miss Vlad Guerrero, hitting 10 home runs in the first 3 games off Boston, and having Nelson Cruz hit 4 of his own in the first 4 games. The Reds have also done it with offense, averaging just over 8 runs per game. I expect both of these teams to keep it up, and ultimately see both of them in the playoffs. The most interesting thing to watch will be to see if Cruz can keep this up and make a major jump in power numbers this year.

Tim Lincecum Strikes Out 13 Batters

2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum came out against San Diego and pitched masterfully. He went 7 innings giving up one run on an incredible 13 Ks. This is the Lincecum I expect to see all year. I think the world of Lincecum, and often compare him to a possible Pedro-like pitcher. They have similar builds and similar pitching styles. They both strike out many batters and give up very little runs. Being only 20 years old, this may not hold as much as if others said it, but Pedro Martinez is the greatest pitcher I have ever seen. If Lincecum can come close to that level, the Giants will be scary. They could have a potential rotation of Lincecum, Matt Cain, who is one of baseball's best #2 starter, Jonathan Sanchez, who by all accounts has the best stuff in the rotation, and Madison Bumgarner, one of the Giants top prospects for the last couple of years. If this staff pitches to its potential, it will rank up there with the one in Philadelphia.

Winless Team Club Stands at 3

The Rays and the Astros both lost tonight, joining the Red Sox on the quest for win #1. Out of the three winless teams, which team has the most to worry about, though? When one ponders who out of the three has the most to worry about, one must consider what worry really means. The Astros will be the worst team out of this club. That was expected headed into the season, and its playing out early on in the year. Therefore, what do they have to worry about. There were never any expectations to begin with. Between the Red Sox and the Rays, Tampa has to worry more than Boston. The Red Sox may not be the 100 win team that everybody expected them to be, but the expectations were just too high with this pitching staff. Obviously a 5 game losing streak is surprising, but I fully expect the Red Sox to be in the thick of the playoff chase in late August. The Rays, however, had a lot to prove in that lineup. We knew they would be able to pitch, but hitting was a different question. Their offense has not impressed, and they just lost their best hitter, Evan Longoria, to the DL. If the offense doesn't improve, this team is going nowhere.