Alex Rodriguez and 4 Other American League Players Who Need to Have a Big Week

Interleague play was all fun and good, but things are going back to normal in Major League Baseball on Monday. For the next couple weeks, it's back to American League vs. American League and National League vs. National League.

Phew...

It's a pretty big week in the American League, as we're going to see some intriguing division battles take place between the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics and so on.

Over the next seven days, ground is going to be gained and lost in the AL playoff race.

Teams looking to gain ground will need their key players to step up. Teams merely looking to avoid embarrassment will need their key players to do the same. Regardless of which category they fall into, here's a look at five AL players who need to have big weeks.

Clay Buchholz, SP, Boston Red Sox

The first six starts of Clay Buchholz's season could not have gone any worse, as he allowed at least five earned runs in every single one of them and saw his ERA balloon to 9.09.

His last two starts have been better...but only to an extent.

On May 11th against the Cleveland Indians, Buchholz gave up three earned runs on eight hits and three walks over 6.1 innings. He wasn't great, but he at least did a good job of limiting the damage. The same goes for his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he allowed two earned runs in five innings.

Nobody is relaxing just yet, however. Buchholz still has improvements to make, and this week he'll try to make them against two very tough opponents.

Buchholz will get the ball for the Red Sox on Monday night in Baltimore against the Orioles. They not only have the best record in the AL East but the best record in the American League, period. They tend to hit homers in bunches—which doesn't bode well for Buchholz, seeing as how he's already given up 10 dingers this year.

On Sunday, Buchholz will wrap up the week with a start against the Rays, yet another team the Red Sox are looking up at in the East.

If Buchholz rises to the occasion, the Sox will continue their recent hot stretch. If he falls flat in one or both of these starts, the Sox will have to start asking themselves the same questions they were asking a couple of weeks ago when Buchholz's ERA was over 9.00.

Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

Albert Pujols is eight for his last 24 with two home runs. Slowly but surely, he's starting to heat up after a dismal start.

This is bad news for Eric Hosmer. Now that Pujols is heating up, Hosmer has the struggling-AL-first-baseman stage all to himself.

This hasn't been a fun season for Hosmer. His batting line of .172/.238/.311 is as ugly as it gets, and he's batting just .152 in the month of May. As strange as it sounds, he's actually getting worse as the season is moving along.

The Royals fully realize that it's been a struggle for their young slugger. They're so aware of his struggles, in fact, that they decided to give him two consecutive days off late last week in hopes that a little mental vacation would wake up his bat.

He returned to go 1-for-7 in two games against Arizona on Saturday and Sunday.

There's no time like the present for Hosmer to get hot. He and the Royals are embarking on a nine-game road trip—the first six games of which will be against the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. To avoid embarrassment, the Royals are going to need Hosmer's bat to start working.

A few games at Yankee Stadium might be just what Hosmer needs. Remember, he hit the first two home runs of his career there last May. 

Here's hoping Hosmer starts to heat up. Watching him struggle has been a real bummer.

Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Cleveland Indians

Ubaldo Jimenez had one really good start against the Texas Rangers back on May 6th, as he went seven innings and gave up no earned runs on just two hits (five walks, though).

In his other seven starts this season, Jimenez has been largely mediocre. His ERA is up over 5.00, and his WHIP is a hideous 1.70. He has 32 walks in 46 innings pitched.

His struggles aren't killing the Indians, but that's a reality that won't last forever. Truth be told, the Indians have had it a little too easy this season, and that's not going to continue.

Things could take a turn for the worse for the Tribe this week, as they have two three-game series lined up against the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, both of whom are pursuing the Indians in the AL Central. 

Jimenez will start against the Tigers on Monday night in Cleveland and will take the mound again on Sunday in Chicago. It suffices to say the Tribe needs him to make the most of these two starts.

Or else...

"Or else what?" you ask.

Actually, that's a good question. No matter what Jimenez does, the Indians are kind of stuck with him. All they can do is hope that Jimenez stops torturing them every time he takes the mound.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees

The Yankees are paying Alex Rodriguez $30 million this year. For that, they're getting a player who's hitting .270/.368/.399 with five home runs and 15 RBI.

It's clear just from watching that A-Rod is a shell of his former self. That point was driven home when he lifted a ball towards the left field seats on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds and flipped his bat away, only to see the ball land safely in Chris Heisey's glove.

A couple of years ago, that ball is in the upper deck—windy conditions be damned.

A-Rod's lack of power is a little too easy to notice. He's only homered once this month after homering four times in April, and that one home run came back on May 6th. In 11 games since then, he's slugging .350 with one RBI.

Yeah, things are pretty bad right now.

And with the Yankees struggling as much as they are, Yankee fans are starting to turn on A-Rod. It's not all his fault, but...well, you know. The dude is making $30 million, so some production would be nice.

The Yanks have a good chance to make up some ground in the AL East, as they'll face the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics this week—two teams that aren't exactly world-beaters. They need to make the most of these games.

And for the Yankees to make the most of these games, A-Rod is going to have to do something.

Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles

A couple of weeks ago, I had Matt Wieters at No. 1 in my AL MVP rankings.

I have to be honest: Wieters is letting me down, man.

Wieters is still having a pretty good season, but he's gone into a nasty slump that has dropped his batting line to .243/.321/.479. He went 2-for-23 over the last seven days with one extra-base hit (a double).

Thanks in large part to Adam Jones, the Orioles have kept winning ballgames anyway. And credit where credit is due, Wieters has continued to do good work with Baltimore's pitching staff.

The Orioles are going to need him to start swinging the bat again, though, preferably sooner rather than later. Jones can't carry the team forever.

The O's will open the week against a suddenly scorching Boston Red Sox team. The last time Wieters saw Red Sox pitching, he collected five hits in a three-game series at Fenway Park. Three of those hits went for extra bases.

So he should be amped to face the Red Sox, and he should be just as amped to face a Kansas City Royals staff that ranks 25th in baseball in opponents' batting average.

It's time for Wieters' bat to come alive.

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