One month down and five to go! The first month of the 2008 baseball seaon is complete and there were more than a few surprises. The Orioles and Rays are competing for the top spot in the AL East while the White Sox hold the lead in the Central. Over in the senior circuit the Marlins are in first place and the Cardinals got off to a great start. There has also been numerous players that got off to a hot start. Here is a look at the best performances around the league.

Two years ago Brandon Webb won the Cy Young Award with 16 victories, a 3.10 ERA and 178 strikeouts. He followed that up with 18 wins, a 3.01 ERA and 194 strikeouts last year, but watched Jake Peavy walk away with the CYA. This year he wants it back. Webb has won all six of his starts for the Diamonbacks and owns a 1.98 ERA while striking out 34 batters. No one has been better than Webb in the NL.

It took an outing against the Royals for last year's AL Cy Young winner to get things straight. C.C. Sabathia has gotten off to a horrible start with just one win and a 7.88 ERA. But all is not lost in Cleveland. The best pitcher in the AL so far this season is another member of the Tribe - Cliff Lee. After battling for a job in spring training, Lee has had an amazing April. He won all five of his starts while posting a major league best 0.96 ERA and striking out 32. And he has only walked two batters. Amazing!  

Another incredible story is that of Josh Hamilton. After falling out of baseball for a few years - and nearly falling out of society - Hamilton made a fantastic comeback with the Reds last year. Now with the Rangers, he is continuing his turnaround. Hamilton leads the majors with 32 RBI. He also has six home runs and posted a .330 average in the month of April.

There are 13 players that hit at least seven home runs last month. And only two of those players are in the AL. In other words, if you are looking for power it can be found in the National League. And no one provided more power in April than Chase Utley. The Phillies second baseman leads the majors with 11 home runs. He also scored 25 times, drove in 23 and posted a .360 batting average. At this pace Utley is well on his way to become the third consecutive player from Philadelphia to win the MVP Award. For now he can hold the trophy for the GSI Player of the Month. 

Max Scherzer was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 43rd round (1291st overall) in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft but did not sign and instead attended the University of Missouri. He was then drafted again in 2006 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, this time in the 1st round as the 11th overall pick. He began playing in the Diamondbacks orginization in 2007 with the Single-A Visalia Oaks. He was promoted to Double-A Mobile BayBears after three impressive starts for the Oaks. After a good start to the 2008 season in Tucson he was called up to the Diamondbacks on April 27, 2008.

The D-Backs needed a boost in the pen and the kid that throws 98-mph and has a wicked array of secondary pitches filled the bill. Scherzer had a 1.17 ERA and a 38/3 K/BB ratio in 23 innings for Tucson and forced the team's hand. Although he was a starter the team initially said it was it going to use the young hurler in the bullpen. However, that didn't last long. 

Tuesday, Scherzer made his MLB debut against the Houston Astros when he came on in relief and threw 4 1/3 perfect innings, while striking out seven. While doing so he also set the record for the number of consecutive batters retired (13) for a pitcher making his MLB debut as a reliever. The previous record was 12 set in 1962 by the Dodgers' Pete Richert.

Scherzer is currently only owned in 65% in leagues played at CBSSports.com and if he is still available in your league go get him now as he has superstar potential. He will likely be a two-start pitcher in Fantasy Week 6 (May 5-11), with a second start on Saturday at the Cubs.

The Reds' young right-hander Johnny Cueto has fallen on hard times of late. He allowed seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in only 1 2/3 innings in his latest setback Tuesday against St. Louis. After dazzling hitters with seven innings of nearly perfect baseball when he picked up a win in his major league debut, the Reds' top pitching prospect is winless.

Cueto has yielded 26 hits, six walks, and 18 runs over his last four starts pitchinig 21 1/3 innings he pitched in that span. One look at him tells you everything you need to know, the kid has lost his confidence.

He will get his next start pushed back two days and will now go against the Cubs on Tuesday May 6 after the Reds' rotation was tweaked.

The Reds may consider sending him back to Triple A Louisville if he can't snap out of big mid-May. Clearly Cueto has all the tools to be a good, if not great pitcher in this league. Like all young pitchers do, he's simply hit a bump in the road. It will be interetesting to see how the team handles it.