Gracies and Neifis

This will be a new weekly feature*, where I will look at which players are currently hot and which are not. Instead of going with the generic name of "Studs and Duds" or "Champs and Chumps", I came up with Gracies and Neifis. I don't think I need to explain which one is which.

*I give it 4 weeks before I get bored with it and give up.

Week One (4/2 - 4/8)

THE GRACIES - The cream of the crop this past week

Alex Rodriguez (NYY- 3B) - Never mind his glove. A-Rod got it done at the plate this week, going 8 for 21 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI, including a game-winning grand slam on Saturday vs. the Orioles.

Eric Byrnes (Ari - OF) - Byrnes went 11 for 31 with 2 homers, 7 RBI, and 4 stolen bases, yet most folks in Phoenix probably couldn't spot him in a police lineup.

Miguel Cabrera (Fla - 3B) - He's batting .500 with 2 home runs, 8 RBI, and a K/BB ratio of .333. Oh and he's 23 years old. What the hell were you doing when you were 23?

Jose Reyes (NYM - SS) - Jose went 7 for 21 this week, with 5 of those 7 hits being for extra bases, including 3 triples. You know who else hit 3 triples?

Vladimir Guerrero (LAA - OF) - One of the few guys that was lucky enough to play all week in weather that didn't require a skimask. Vlad ripped 3 homers for 10 RBI.

Roy Oswalt (Hou - SP) - After being baffled by the Pirates, the Astros finally broke into the win column Saturday against the Cardinals, thanks to a complete game five-hitter from Oswalt.

Johan Santana (Min - SP) - Santana got the win in his season opener despite giving up 4 runs to Baltimore. He looked better yesterday against the White Sox, allowing only one hit over 7 innings and striking out 9.

John Lackey (LAA - SP) - Lackey picked up two wins this week, striking out 11 over 12 innings. Lackey has only allowed one run thus far.


THE NEIFIS - Desperately in need of a Slumpbuster

Alex Gordon (KC - 3B) - Looks like the young phenom has some kinks to work out. In his first week in the bigs, Gordon went 1 for 19, with 8 strikeouts and 0 walks.

Ryan Shealy (KC - 1B) - It's just an overall lack of pop from the corners in KC. Shealy didn't fare much better than his counterpart, managing only 2 hits in 16 at bats.

Kevin Kouzmanoff (SD - 3B) - Apparently it's "Rip the Rookies" week. The Kouz' is batting a Neifi-esque .143 through 21 at bats.

Jermaine Dye (CHW - OF) - Dye's 2 for 17 start shouldn't be too much of surprise. Looking at the splits, it appears that Dye plays poorly in April on odd-numbered years. You won't find that on ESPN's "Did You Know?".

Adam LaRoche (Pit - 1B) - A real poster boy for plate discipline, LaRoche struck out 13 times in 27 plate appearances.

Brad Lidge & Dan Wheeler (Hou - RP) - Yikes. It's been said that if Lidge struggled that Wheeler would be considered the backup. Well what if Wheeler struggles as well? The two combined this past week for 9 hits, 5 earned runs, 4 walks and only 1 K, through 3 2/3 innings.

Jose Contreras (CHW - SP) - And the winner for most abysmal Opening Day start goes to....... (1 inning, 7 hits, 1 walk, 8 runs)

A.J. Burnett (Tor - SP) - A.J. got rocked by the Tigers last Wednesday, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks.