Who's Hot Who's Not

WHO'S Hot

Angels
Summer cruisin'. Baseball's best team (69--42) had an 11 1/2 game lead in the AL West through Sunday—and had slugger Mark Teixeira in the clubhouse, fresh from Atlanta. They pitch (3.90 ERA), they score (six or more runs eight times in 11 games) and they whup teams on the road (38--21). Could Torii Hunter (above) be Series bound?

Ryan Grant
Heady times in Green Bay. A crucial offensive star came back after missing the first days of practice—oh, and Brett Favre was around too. Running back Grant, who busted out with 956 yards last season, came into the fold a happy camper: He'd signed a four-year deal that could be worth up to $30 million.

Francisco Liriano
The Twins' pennant hopes got a whole lot healthier. Liriano, the 2006 phenom coming off arm surgery, sizzled in the minors, then went six shutout innings on Sunday to beat Cleveland. "Been a long time," said the lefty, who hadn't won in the bigs for two years.

Rafael Nadal
That epic victory in the Wimbledon final is paying off—along with a run of 32 straight wins. Nadal just unseated Roger Federer for tennis's No. 1 ranking. Kick back and relax 'til the U.S. Open? Uh, no. "I'm out to try to win a medal [in Beijing]," the Spaniard said.

WHO'S Not

Braves
Aching and out of it. Chipper Jones is on the DL, starter Tim Hudson's gone for the year (just like John Smoltz), and Mark Teixeira's been dealt to the Angels. Relying on guys like outfielder Jeff Francoeur (above), who was batting .231, Notlanta went 5--10 and fell 10 games back in the NL East. Said Chipper, "This is a tough pill to swallow."

Javon Walker
He's back, but is he into it? The receiver, signed by the Raiders after an injury-plagued and TD-less 2007 in Denver, weighed retirement (and returning his $11 million bonus) last week before being coaxed back by owner Al Davis. Coach Lane Kiffin was not amused: "I'm worried about where he's at mentally."

Ian Snell
Rumors that he'd be dealt to a contender never came true, so the allegedly promising righty remains in Pittsburgh, where his dreadful season (4--8, 6.14 ERA) got even more painful: He left Sunday's game after four innings with back pain.

Rafael Nadal
Uneasy strokes the arm that wears the crown. Or something like that. A day after learning he'd move up to No. 1, Nadal got mashed in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati. Said a surprised Djokovic, "The way he was playing, we all thought he's not going to lose."