2006 State of the Sox

Weeks in a Box: August 6 -12, July 30-August 5

This week is a 2-for-1 special.  Now that I'm not traveling anywhere for a weekend, I can catch up for the week I missed as well. 

The selections for this week are under the microscope, while the picks for the week of July 30-August 5 are in parentheses.

Player of the Week: Tadahito Iguchi.  He fought his way out of a big slump in a big way, racking up three straight multi-hit games and raising his average nine points.  He also made some nice plays with the glove.  (Joe Crede)

Player of the Weak:  A.J. Pierzynski.  Had a little bit of a rough week, starting with him stranding five runners in Toronto, and it never quite got off the ground.  Had a rough week with baserunners as well.  (Tadahito Iguchi)

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  Nine innings, three hits, zero runs.  'Nuff said.  (Javier Vazquez)

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jon Garland.  After spending the better part of two months avoiding the long ball, he surrenders three to the Yankees after the defense worked hard to keep him out of trouble. (Freddy Garcia)

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  Jenks threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in a huge win against the Yankees, and nailed down two other saves. (Brandon McCarthy)

Gas Can of the Week:  Neal Cotts.  So far this month, he has allowed seven baserunners in 2 2/3 innings.  The only good thing he did – getting Jorge Posada to ground into an inning-ending double play – came after hitting Jason Giambi with the bases loaded. (Bobby Jenks)

Super Sub of the Week:  Alex Cintron.  Filled in admirably when Juan Uribe’s back stiffened, playing good defense and adding a couple key RBI singles against the Yankees.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Pablo Ozuna.  0-for-4 with two strikeouts and 0-for-1 pushed his slump to 2-for-29 and 0-for-3, respectively.

Gold Glove:  Joe Crede  Man, he looks good.  And against Alex Rodriguez and Brandon Inge, he’s looked even better.  (Crede)

Hands of Stone:  Scott Podsednik.  He had a rough game against the Yankees, especially with throwing the ball.  We know he has a weak arm, but the hesitation is rather new.  (Podsednik, though to his credit, everybody else is throwing the glove around pretty well)