The Week Ahead Who's Hot And Who's Not List

by Bill Bender

Here's a look at five key players from both teams who will make this interleague series worth watching.

That is, if you can pull yourself away from the Royals-Diamondbacks games:
Edinson Volquez, SP, Reds. The suddenly Cy Young candidate has passed every major test, but facing Boston is a little different than beating Cleveland's Cliff Lee in a battle of ERA leaders. Volquez is 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA at home, yet next Saturday's start still must be considered risky.
Jay Bruce, OF, Reds.The same rules apply here. He's 13-for-22 (.591) at home so far, but how will he hit a knuckle-baller like Tim Wakefield ? Or an elite pitcher like Josh Beckett? This is one of those "moments" in Bruce's young career. Expect him to pass the test.

Ken Griffey Jr., OF, Reds. It would be nice if Junior hit No. 600 already. This also could be an audition of sorts for Griffey should the Red Sox need a designated hitter in the future. Griffey still is useful in mixed leagues, but only coming off the bench

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Josh Beckett, SP, Red Sox. He probably has heard the "Volquez dominates" talk, so Beckett does have something to prove against the Reds. Beckett is 0-2 with a 14.14 ERA in two career starts against Cincinnati, his worst ERA against any big league team. Just thought you should know.

Manny Ramirez, OF, Red Sox. Three days at the Great American Ball Park. Enough said. If you need more, try the fact Ramirez has seven homers and 17 RBIs in 14 career games against the Reds. Provided he doesn't take another swing at Kevin Youkilis or tweak his hamstring, it's going to be a big weekend.

A look at this week's sleepers and stumblers:

CATCHER
Sleeper: Brad Ausmus, Astros. Becomes an NL-only option with the demotion of J.R. Towles . Ausmus will at the very least produce some runs in Houston's lineup. It's better than nothing, which is what Towles was giving you. Stumbler: Yorvit Torrealba, Rockies. Torrealba likely will lose his appeal of a three-game suspension this week, which will render him virtually useless in your NL-only league.

FIRST BASE/DH
Sleeper: Aaron Boone, Nationals. Getting more at-bats in the cleanup spot, and he's hitting .333 against lefties this season. With four lefties on the schedule, you could do much worse in NL-only leagues. By worse, I mean ... Stumbler: Adam LaRoche, Pirates. Isn't driving in enough runs and his average is flirting with the sub-.200 mark. Not even a week of Nationals and Orioles pitching will fix that.

SECOND BASE
Sleeper: Jose Lopez, Mariners. Has a better batting average than Ichiro Suzuki . Lopez had five multi-hit games last week. Per John McLaren's colorful request, Lopez has "buckled it up." Stumbler: Mark Ellis, Athletics. His inability to hit lefties (.136-1-6) will be exposed this week. Three of Oakland's six games are against southpaws.

THIRD BASE
Sleeper: Scott Rolen, Blue Jays. A .400 hitter against the Mariners with solid career power numbers against Chicago (22 HRs, 78 RBIs in 122 games). Cubs fans will be screaming, "I thought we got rid of this joker!" Stumbler: Russell Branyan, Brewers. Yes, Branyan has been awesome, but he's still a .230 career hitter. There's a reason he has played for seven different teams since 1998. You can't trust him much longer.

SHORTSTOP
Sleeper: Michael Young, Rangers. Not even a hairline fracture on his ring finger can stop him. Young's hitting streak is at 22 games and counting. Just check your lineup to make sure he's not taking extra days off. Stumbler: Jhonny Peralta, Indians. Peralta has just one more hit (50) than he does strikeouts (49). If it seems like he's a .235 hitter, it's because he is.

OUTFIELD
Sleeper: Nick Markakis, Orioles. Markakis is hitting .349 against lefties with a .556 slugging percentage, and he's a .350 lifetime hitter in interleague play. How do you think he'll do against three lefthanded Pittsburgh pitchers? Stumbler: Nick Swisher, White Sox. Owning Swisher is enough of a problem. The fact Swisher is hitting just .205 with no homers and just one RBI against lefties is a bigger issue. Chicago faces four lefties this week. Don't make it a catastrophe.

STARTING PITCHER
Sleeper: Mike Mussina, Yankees. Somebody called me a nasty name after suggesting Mussina was a mixed-league find last week. Don't be surprised if Mussina is 11-4 after favorable matchups against the Royals and Astros. Call me what you will, but that is mixed-league material. Stumbler: Greg Maddux, Padres. Maddux has been great at home (1-0, 1.73), but the road is a different story (2-4, 5.01). Maddux is at Los Angeles first against 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw. Then he's at Cleveland for the first time since losing Game 5 of the 1995 World Series against Orel Hershiser, who led the Dodgers to the World Series in 1988, the year Kershaw was born. True or false: Awesome research?

RELIEF PITCHER
Sleeper: Salomon Torres, Brewers. Since a forgivable nightmare of a series against Boston, Torres hasn't allowed a run while converting five straight save opportunities. He'll get more chances against Houston and Minnesota. Stumbler: Rafael Soriano, Braves. The Braves are a terrible road team (7-21), and save opportunities will be limited for Soriano against the Cubs and Angels.

UNFAVORABLE SCHEDULES

Dodgers: Three at Petco Park before three against the Tigers at Comerica Park is not a good mix. Kershaw will have some kind of week. He faces Maddux on Monday before taking on the Tigers on Saturday. Astros: The Astros already give up the most homers in baseball, and the Brewers and Yankees are coming to town. Prince Fielder, in particular, loves Minute Maid Park (.318-5-12 in 20 games). Royals: After finishing off a four-gamer with the Yankees on Monday, the Royals head back home for three with the Rangers. Then it's off to Arizona for the weekend.

FAVORABLE SCHEDULES

Cardinals: Despite a beat-up rotation, the Cards avoid interleague play and are home all week. They won't face Cincinnati's Aaron Harang or Edinson Volquez , and they'll miss Philly's Cole Hamels, too. Tigers: The White Sox are hitting .229 as a team against lefties, so Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers stand a chance. The Dodgers will be making the flight in from San Diego before the weekend series. It adds up. Blue Jays: Toronto is home all week, with the Mariners and Cubs coming to town. The Cubs have a 13-16 road record and .254 average on the road. Toronto has a 3.31 team ERA at home.

TWO-START PITCHERS

AL: Scott Baker, Josh Beckett, Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Jose Contreras, John Danks, Dana Eveland*, Armando Galarraga, Luke Hochevar, Edwin Jackson, Cliff Lee, Jesse Litsch, Gil Meche, Kevin Millwood, Mike Mussina, Glen Perkins, Nate Robertson*, C.C. Sabathia, Joe Saunders, Carlos Silva*, Chien-Ming Wang.

NL: Homer Bailey, Matt Cain, Tyler Clippard, Aaron Cook, Zach Duke, Tom Glavine, Mark Hendrickson, Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, John Lannan, Ted Lilly, Greg Maddux, Paul Maholm, John Maine, Seth McClung*, Pat Misch*, Brett Myers, Ricky Nolasco, Roy Oswalt, Micah Owings, Edinson Volquez.

* = Two-start status in question