1.  Cuckoo for Coco Crisp?  Oh yeah, he's been the target of my ire since his arrival in Boston.  We knew he wasn't going to replace Johnny Damon offensively, and he has been great in Center Field, but the bat has just been weak.  Very weak.  Julio Lugo weak.  But now, he's got his season average up to .284 (it's been in the high .240s most of the year), and has become a weapon in the Boston lineup.  This isn't courtesy of a hot week either; it's been a hot month.  He's hit .406 (26/69) 1 HR, 11 RBI, 15 Runs Scored, 5 SBs, 13 Ks, and an OPS of .974.  That's .974 for Coco Crisp mind you.  Normally I'd chalk this up to a quick hot streak, but if it's over an entire month, you have to stand up and take notice.  He IS up against the Rays at the start of this week; so production might dip a bit there, but then it's tomato can city the rest of the year.  

2. Ha Ha! - Nelson Cruz is another one of the Rangers call-ups who has given Rangers fans a lot of hope for the coming years; and hopefully they don't trade them all for Juan Gonzalez or something.  Sorry Rangers fans.  However, to jump from the Minors to one of the best players in baseball is tough, but the fact is, Cruz has done exactly that.  I wonder if the Rangers might want to consider drafting a pitcher at some point?  Here's what he's done over the last month, and check out last week's numbers too: .326 (15/46) 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 Runs Scored, 3 SB, 9 Ks, and an OPS of 1.013.

3.  Ken who?  There's no question that Jay Bruce had a tough time getting acclimated to the Majors; and had a heck of a time making contact with the ball.  So much so, that he spent his first week or so post-Griffey hovering below the Mendoza line.  However, of late (in the past week or so) he's managed to start making better contact.  As a result, of course, the average is up, and Reds fans are seeing what the Reds Front Office saw when they ditched Griffey.  Here's the week that's opening the eyes of Reds fans: .350 (7/20) 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 Runs Scored, 1 SB, 3 Ks, and an OPS of 1.250. 

4.  Yes way, Jose.  The closer story of the 2008 MLB Season has been Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, and that's about it.  No one's talking about Joakim Soria in Kansas City, and more than none, but less than a lot are talking about another closer on a bad baseball team.  He's got 40 saves, and has completely locked down the closer situation after a couple years of flux and uncertainty.  Jose Valverde has helped ease Astros fears that starting performances would be wasted in the late innings.  He hasn't.  He's been terrific pretty much all season long; and 40 saves is never anything to sneeze at.  If the Astros could ever get an offense, they would once again be a force in the NL.  Valverde's season: 65.0 IP, 5 W, 3 L, 40 SV, 77 Ks, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP

5.  C.C. and Roy watch.  Sabathia just had one start last week, and got absolutely hosed on the win as he got no run support.  Of course, it wasn't HIS fault there wasn't enough run support, he went 2-for-3 with an RBI.  Here was his line: 7.0 IP, 9 Ks, a 1.29 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.  You can almost cut-and-paste Halladay's performance against the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays with C.C. Sabathia's.  Of course, Halladay's offense showed up and managed to score more than a run; so that helped, and he got a win.  Here's the line: 7.0 IP, 1 W, 0 L, 7 Ks, a 1.29 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.