Ah. The smell is in the air. Hot dogs, peanuts, and ice-cold beer are once being offered up at ballparks across the country as the 2009 Major League Baseball season is suddenly underway.

It seems like only yesterday when Tampa Bay stunned the baseball world, only to be swept away in the World Series by the Philadelphia Phillies. The question now looms - can the Rays earn a spot back in the playoffs, and can the Phillies repeat? Only time will tell.

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There's no doubt that the key to successful baseball handicapping is keeping a pulse on the starting pitchers. And because they are human, pitchers develop a tendency to perform at optimum best, or minimum worst, capacities at various stages of the season. Recognizing their 'good month' and 'bad month' tendencies goes a long way in becoming a winning handicapper.

Herein, I present a list of the BEST and WORST pitcher performance records during the month of April over the past three years. Note that the Win-Loss figures are team-start records, or the team's record in games started by the denoted pitcher. To qualify, pitchers must have started a minimum of 10 games within the month.

Keep this valuable list handy throughout the opening month of April, as well as future updates at the beginning of each month right here on this web site during the 2009 baseball season, as you'll soon beefing up on a diet of lip-smacking baseball delicacies and winning plays. Hey beer man, pour me a cold one, would ya?.....

APRIL GOOD MONTH PITCHERS:

Josh Beckett 10-4 Boston
Eric Bedard 11-3 Seattle
Aaron Harang 13-6 Cincinnati
Rich Harden 8-2 Cubs
Mark Hendrickson 7-3 Baltimore
Cliff Lee 9-1 Cleveland
Braden Looper 8-3 St. Louis
John Maine 8-2 NY Mets
Daisuke Matsuzaka 9-2 Boston
Scott Olsen 11-4 Washington
Wandy Rodriguez 9-4 Houston
Adam Wainwright 7-3 St. Louis
Brandon Webb 15-3 Arizona

APRIL BAD MONTH PITCHERS:

Matt Cain 4-12 San Francisco
Edwin Jackson 3-7 Detroit
Oliver Perez 5-11 NY Mets
Andy Pettitte 5-12 NY Yankees
Barry Zito 3-12 San Francisco