We are now in mid-April and we're looking at some horrible fantasy statistics. What to do?

Every year at about this time, we sit back and take a look at decisions we have made and decisions we could make regarding our fantasy teams.
Guys we know should be performing by now, aren't. Do we offer them in trade? Dump them on the waiver wire? Hold steady and wait out the storm, knowing we are running a marathon and not a sprint? I ask myself those questions every season.

Some things are different for me this year. Robbie Cano is hitting .229. Justin Upton is hitting .208 and he has a bad thumb. Curtis Granderson is striking out against lefties once again and is hitting .188 or something like that. The exact numbers in their batting averages don't matter. The fact they are struggling is the issue. Here we are in mid-April and Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee, C. C. Sabathia, Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren are winless. We expected two in the win column as a minimum by now. We are watching teams with lesser pitching lap us. What to do?

I'm standing pat. Unless a player is injured, as is the case with Jacoby Ellsbury as an example, I am staying the course. I have learned through the years that baseball players generally tend to perform consistently after they have been facing major league hitters or pitchers for a while in their careers. Rarely do they tank. Rarely do they break out after 5 years. Yes, there are exceptions. Jose Bautista and Nelson Cruz are late bloomers. But by and large, players tend to gravitate to their norm. It is simply my observation. Whenever I had a tendency to panic in the past I would regret the emotional decisions I made. When I kept my players that were doing poorly they tended to rebound to their norm.
This year is a bit different, I'll admit. But I can't let emotion dictate what I know as fact.

Hanley Ramirez looks hopelessly lost at the plate. Especially on breaking pitches. Having Jose Reyes and Emilio Bonifacio surrounding him hasn't seemed to help. I'm wondering if he isn't the guy we saw last year. But, as I said in the graphs above, I'm sticking with him. For now. But he is one I won't wait too long to move. I still like Bonifacio a great deal and I'm glad I had the conversation with Jeff Erickson about him this past spring.

David Freese is off to a great start. Now he's hurt, just like he has been in the past. I have my eye on his health, not his bat. I think he can sustain his hitting if he can stay on the field.

Carlos Santana is a much improved catcher, thanks in part to Sandy Alomar. Santana can now block balls in the dirt and his footwork is much improved. Can he hit? My jury is still out. What's up with Mike Napoli?

Miguel Cabrera's bat seems to have gone a bit cold. Or am I just expecting too much? It may be a little of both.

Yu Darivsh is a blessing and a curse to his owners. He's providing wins and strikeouts and killing WHIPs and ERA's. Go figure. It may be some time before he realizes he has to dump a couple of his 8 pitches and get back to basics. His arm is amazing, but his control just isn't there yet.

What do you make of Chris Davis? I traded him in the off-season. He hit a homer yesterday and there may be more to come. But another Mark Reynolds I don't need. Speaking of Mark Reynolds, the Baltimore announcers were wondering aloud when Baltimore would realize he can't play 3B. Or !B. They were lobbying for him to become a DH. But Baltimore is loaded with DH types. I saw Reynolds here in Phoenix. You have to watch day in and day out to understand and appreciate how bad he really is on defense.

No-I never saw Hector Santiago as the closer for the White Sox coming our way during the countless games I watched during Spring Training.
I didn't hear him mentioned. I watched him pitch. He was interesting. But then...I think Robin Ventura will do things his own way. That's refreshing.

The press in Chicago was very good to Ozzie Guillen. There were countless, and I mean countless comments he made over the years that were never reported that probably could have gotten him in boiling hot water. The press enjoyed Ozzie's off the cuff, candid comments and they really protected him with "off the record" comments. It was fair. He is in a new environment now and the trust has to be built.

Joe Nathan is really scuffling. Alexi Ogando seems like he could be the go to guy at the end of the game. He certainly could be switching roles with Nathan if Joe doesn't right the ship.

Jeanmar Gomez is a better pitcher than his Saturday start in Kansas City. Much better.

Tim Lincecum has scrapped the use of his slider to protect his elbow. At least in his first few starts this season. His velocity is down and he's very hittable early in games until he gets his rhythm. I have real concerns about him. I think the Giants do as well.

Anthony Bass is a pitcher I have always liked. He's now in the rotation in San Diego and I think he'll continue to pitch well. He's a high velocity pitcher with good enough command to win. Great park, good pitcher. Check your waiver wire-he could possibly help.

Changing leagues may be having an impact on Albert Pujols. Just a bit. I still think he'll have a monster year. Remember that he started slowly last year and came on strong. I believe in the Angels and I believe in Pujols. They are too good to lose more than they win. They'll be fine.

I've been high on the Mariners since Spring Training and I've seen little to change my mind. They scrap and scrape for every run, true. But they have some big bats on their club and they are still learning to play together. No, they aren't better than Texas or the Angels, but they have improved.

Atlanta's offense has taken a couple weeks off. They are asleep somewhere with the Indians.

I still do like the Blue Jays. Once Bautista and Lawrie start to hit consistently they will be giving other clubs fits. They can pitch and they can hit. They'll be fine. I'm not as confident about Boston-especially the outfield with the loss of Ellsbury.

Few teams have spark plugs like Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler. Both seem to take their club on their back and say, "here's how it's done." They get the big homer or get on base when they need to. They just lead by example. I think Howie Kendrick has that potential.

Robbie Cano looks like he is playing without energy at times. It's baffling me. I've never seen him give away at-bats like he has this year. But it's early. I keep telling myself that. It's early.

How do you like Lance Lynn?

Just when I feel good about my pitching, there goes Adam Wainwright. He said he had never had such a bad outing in his career. I believe him.

I may not be as patient with Brian Matusz. Nobody in America was as high on Matusz as I was when he entered the Orioles organization. He grew up here in my community in Cave Creek. I watched his high school and college development. He has a magic arm. He's also pitching way too high in the zone and he has no idea where the ball is going when it leaves his hand. I wonder if he just won't listen to his coaches. He starts again today. We'll see. I have him front and center in an American League Only league. Very few replacements available. Yikes!

Do you like Johnny Damon to Cleveland? They tried to pry Rocky Colavito out of retirement, but he declined. The Tribe likes to chase lightning in a bottle. Most of the time, their bottle is broken.

Finally. I finally have been liking what I've seen of Aroldis Chapman's mechanics. Maybe they'll leave him alone for a while and just let that spectacular arm take over. I still see very big things for Chapman. Always have. Starter? No, lets put him in the pen. No, let's start him. It gets old after a while but all clubs have those issues. I give you Feliz, Morrow and Sale as examples.

Josh Collmenter could be headed for the bullpen. Look for Wade Miley to switch roles with him. It really is too soon for Trevor Bauer or even Patrick Corbin who I like best among the lot. Miley is a pretty good, under rated pitcher.

That's it for me this time. Have a great week and don't panic. Yet. Please follow me on twitter @BerniePleskoff and on MLB.com in the Other Voices section. My weekly On The Scene column will be up on Wednesday. As always, I welcome your comments and questions.