The players to watch and what to watch for this weekend:

J.J. HARDY, Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates (8/29-8/31)

At the moment, J.J. Hardy is one of the hottest players in the game.  He’s on a 12-game hitting streak which includes three consecutive and five of the last six multi-hit games.  During the streak, Hardy is hitting .404 with a 1.148 OPS, three homers and 12 RBI.  The team has won eight of the last 12 and 16 of the last 21.  The Pirates have been a favorite target of Hardy’s power — 10 of his 60 career homers have come against the Bucs.  In nine games against the Pirates in 2008, Hardy is hitting .472 with four home runs, 10 RBI and a staggering 1.409 OPS.  Trailing the Cubs by 6 1/2 games, Hardy and the Brew Crew need to capitalize on their much easier schedule to put themselves in position to catch Chicago for the National League Central.  They also get six games against the Cubs in September.  Once September begins, if history is an indicator, Hardy should provide more pop — he is a career .303 hitter in September and October.

TORII HUNTER, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Texas Rangers (8/28-8/31)

The American League West clash started on Thursday with the Angels and Rangers in a four-game set.  Torii Hunter went 3-for-3 and added a double, a steal and two runs scored in their 7-5 win over the Rangers.  With a 16 game lead over the Rangers in the West, a miracle needs to occur for the Angels to blow the division.  However, it is important to see how the Angels play down the stretch as they head into the postseason.  One player key to their success is Hunter who hit just .196 with no home runs and two RBI over the last 14 games and the Angels are just 5-9 in those games.  This year, the Angels are 29 games over .500 and 61-23 when Hunter gets a hit.  Also, the seven-time Gold Glove winner is error-free tracking down fly balls in center field for the Angels. 

VERNON WELLS, Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees (8/29-8/31)

One visiting player who will miss Yankee Stadium is Toronto’s Vernon Wells.  Wells has a lifetime .306 average at “The House That Ruth Built” along with six home runs, 26 RBI and 33 runs scored in 58 games.  Wells has been hot since he returned from his second stint on the DL this year with a .318 average, five home runs and 18 RBI in 16 games.  The Jays are 9-7 in those games and are within striking distance of third place in the American League East as the Yankees continue to leak oil down the stretch.  Wells is the top offensive contributor this year even with his two trips to the sidelines and with him back in the lineup, he gives the Blue Jays a better shot to take the lead in the season series with the Bronx Bombers.  The two teams have split the first 12 games of the season and with six games remaining, the Jays need to take four of the six to win the season series over the Yankees for the first time since 2000.

MARK KOTSAY, Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox (8/29-8/31)

With J.D. Drew on the mend, the Red Sox went out and nabbed outfielder Mark Kotsay from Atlanta to help provide depth in the outfield and was inserted into the lineup on Thursday’s series finale with the Yankees.  The Sox lost 3-2 and Kotsay went 1-for-4.  Kotsay experienced a career renaissance in Atlanta this year after his lackluster performance in Oakland in 2007.  In 88 games with the Braves, Kotsay hit .289 with six homers, 37 RBI and 39 runs scored.  Like the previously mentioned Torii Hunter, Kotsay is error-free in 84 games in center field in 2008.  There is not a definite date for Drew’s return and with the growing concern over Josh Beckett’s elbow injury that has him on the sidelines, the Red Sox need all the help they can get.  To add to their challenges, they face a red-hot White Sox squad who are 11-4 in their last 15 games.

ROY HOBBS, New York Knights (Saturday, 8/30)

If you are going to have the worst record in baseball, you better deliver on the promotions to get your fans to the game.  At 49-85, the Washington Nationals are struggling through their first season at Nationals Park.  Attendance is up from last season but nowhere near capacity.  This weekend, the club will pass last year’s attendance and will do it on “70s Night/Saturday Night Movie” promotion night.  The game featuring 10-game losers Jo-Jo Reyes and Jason Bergmann.  The fans who show up will be treated to 70’s music, trivia, giveaways and players with some retro looks on the big scoreboard.  The reward for making it through a game featuring the bottom of the National League East will be a showing of “The Natural” on the 4,500 square foot high high-definition scoreboard and my guess is no one in the game will “knock the cover off the ball” like Roy Hobbs for the Knights.  I’m sure Teddy loses the President’s Race, too!

Rich Harden, Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Friday, 8/29)

Everyone talks about the trade that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee but Rich Harden’s performance since joining the Cubs via a trade with Oakland is also worthy of notice.  Harden is 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA in eight starts and the team is 6-2 when he takes the hill.  One knock on Harden is the fact that he rarely goes past the sixth inning but in 49 innings of work since landing in Chicago, he has struck out 70 including five double-digit strikeout games.  Harden faces the Phillies for the second time this season.  He faced them in Interleague Play as a member of the Athletics and enjoyed his longest outing of the season — eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball.  Opposite Harden is former teammate Joe Blanton who was also traded from Oakland to the National League.  Blanton is 1-0 in seven starts but with a more ordinary 4.03 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 38 innings.  Both Blanton and Harden were teammates for the past five seasons and now face off against each other in a crucial game for both teams in their quest for a postseason berth.

UBALDO JIMENEZ, Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres (Saturday, 8/30)

The Rockies are coming!  The Rockies are coming!  OK, it’s more accurate to say the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers refuse to run away with the National League West.  The Rockies are just six games out in the West thanks to a solid post-All-Star break performance.  Since May 1, they are the best team in the West and with the way the D-backs and Dodgers are playing, the Rockies are again a dark horse to spoil the party for someone in the West.  One reason for their “surge” (it’s hard to call it a surge when the team is nine games below .500) is the performance of Ubaldo Jimenez.  Jimenez started off the season 2-8 but is 7-3 with a 2.94 ERA in 11 games since July 2.  The 24-year-old righty draws San Diego’s Jake Peavy on Saturday and a win guarantees they pick up ground on either the Diamondbacks or Dodgers since those two teams are scheduled to beat up on each other this weekend.

BRANDON WEBB, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Sunday, 8/31)

Attempt to win #20, take two for Brandon Webb.  His first attempt went poorly as Webb was clubbed in San Diego for his fifth loss of the season.  It is also Webb’s third start against the Dodgers in 2008.  He is 1-0 and went eight innings and gave up one run on six hits in both outings.  Sunday’s match-up with the Dodgers will see Webb pitch to Manny Ramirez for the first time in his career.  Webb faces Derek Lowe for the third time this year.  Webb outpitched Lowe on July 20 but the D-backs bullpen failed to hold the lead and Webb outdueled Lowe again on July 31 in a game won by the D-backs, 2-1.  Oddly enough, Webb has lost two in a row twice this year and is looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the third time. 

LaTROY HAWKINS, Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals (8/29-8/31)

Knock Ed Wade’s trade deadline deals all you want but so far the move to bring in LaTroy Hawkins has been beneficial.  In 12 appearances, Hawkins is 2-0 with five holds.  He also hasn’t given up a run.  In nine innings, Hawkins has allowed just three hits and struck out 15.  Since the deadline, the Astros are 17-9 but are two games further out because the Cubs are on fire.  The Astros are an even longer shot than the Rockies but battled back to two games above .500 and are closing in on the Cardinals for third place.  In their first meeting since after the trade deadline, the Astros have a great opportunity to play spoiler to their division rivals.  Unfortunately for Houston, St. Louis has owned the season series, winning eight of 12 meetings.