The hot start list

Originally posted by Mark Leff on Apr 4th, 2008 at 6:54 PM.

Nobody is surprised to see David Wright, Chipper Jones or Lance Berkman at the top of the fantasy list. But what unexpected players have gotten off to hot starts? Here are just a handful of those who have so far shocked fantasy owners who drafted them expecting not much:

Xavier Nady: 6/14 (.429), 4 runs, 2 home runs, 7 RBI, 0 SB Scott Hairston: 6/15 (.400), 4 runs, 2 home runs, 3 RBI, 0 SB Ryan Church (Ahem): 5/13 (.382), 4 runs, 1 home run, 4 RBI, 0 SB Mark Grudzielanek: 6/12 (.500), 4 runs, 0 home runs, 1 RBI, 1 SB

And then there was Johnny Cueto, who retired the first 15 batters he faced in his major league debut, giving up only one run and one hit over seven innings. Cueto is the real deal. Keep your eye on him.

As for Nady, Hairston, Church and Grudzielanek…don’t think a hot start is a sign of anything.

As for the slow start list:

Matt Holliday: 1/10 (.100), 0 runs, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB Ryan Howard: 3/10 (.300), 1 run, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB Mark Teixeira: 2/19 (.105), 1 run, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 0 SB Magglio Ordonez: 3/12 (.250), 0 runs, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB Robinson Cano: 1/11 (.091), 0 runs, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Justin Morneau and Russell Martin are still waiting on their first hit.