Brewfn65’s Mid-season report card
Well we’ve made it to the all-star break and our Brewers are right in the thick of things, they sit at 1/2 game out of the wild card and 5 games out of the divison lead, not bad.
The team grade is a B+
Now, on to the player grades
Position Players:
Jason Kendall A- : He’s had an excellent season defensivley, teams are starting to learn quickly that you can not run on Jason Kendall anymore, plus he calls a great game, pitchers like Manny Parra would not be as successful if it were not for Jason Kendall, His hitting has been alright, definently an improvement over last season for him, he’s had some clutch hits
Prince Fielder B: Compared to last season, this season has been a bit of a disapointment for Prince offensivly, however, 17 dingers at the break isn’t bad and he’s done a good job getting on base with one of the highest OBA’s on the team
Rickie Weeks D: Rickie has underachieved to this point, a lead off hitter should be hitting close to .300 not hovering around the mendoza line, ned defends keeping rickie in the lead off role because rickie scores a lot of runs, but imagaine how many more runs a competant lead off hitter would have scored by now
J.J. Hardy B+ : J.J. has been on a tear lately before the all-star break, his batting average is in the .290 range and he has 13 homers, a great job deffensivly as well, he is among the league leaders in fielding percentage.
Bill Hall C- : Billy has shown that he still has some good power, 14 homers I believe, but he has been terribly inconsistant. During one of his slumps this season he lost his starting spot and is now in a platoon situation at 3B. He’s starting to pick it up latly though.
Ryan Braun A: All-star Starter, 23 homers, and a solid average, braun has definently shown he deserves the big contract he signed.
Mike Cameron D+ : Cameron has been disappointing this season, his batting average has been around the .220 range for most of the season with many strikeouts, but the biggest dissapointment is that Cameron’s defense in Center has not been very good, he’s missplayed some balls in center and isn’t as fast as he used to be.
Corey Hart A : Corey is probably the best all-around baseball player on the Brewers, he hits for average, he gets on base, he hits homers, he drives in runs, he steals bases, and plays solid defense, lets lock this guy down to a nice long contract
Gabe Kapler A: What a great surprise, Kapler hasn’t gotten a lot of starts because of Cameron in Center but when he’s been given opportunities he’s came through with clutch hits.
Tony Gwyn Jr. incomplete: Tough luck for such a promising young outfielder, he had a great shot at the starting spot in center early but he goes on the 15 day DL and has not been on the 25-man roster since early in the season, hopefully we see him in September
Hernan Irrabarren incomplete: He’s been up in the majors for two stints this season but has only got a handful of at-bats and only, I believe, 1 start, hopefully we see him in September
Gabe Gross C-: Gabe became the starter in place of Cameron during cameron’s suspension, Gross got off to a slow start but was starting to pick it up when he was traded to the Rays for a minor league prospect right before Cameron’s return.
Craig Counsell B-: Counsell has been a solid utility infielder, he filled in nicely when Weeks went on the DL and has come through in many key pinch hit situations this season for the Brewers
Joe Dillon C : A utility infielder who has shown he can play just about anywhere, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, who also has had some clutch hits off the bench, his average is not very good at this point though and he’s in a bit of a slump
Russel Branyan B- : Branyan tore up AAA early this season and with Hall struggling at the plate the brewers called him up to plattoon with Hall, Branyan hit a lot of homers early and had a great average but has gone into a slump as of late.
Mike Rivera B+ : Rivera hasn’t gotten much playing time with Kendall at starting most of the games at catcher but when he’s been given a shot he’s shown he can hit the ball, good power and a great average at this point, however he is nowhere near as effective on defense as kendall.
Pitchers:
Ben Sheets A: What an excellent start to the season for sheets, an ERA in the 2’s, 10-3 record, and 3 CG’s with 1 shutout, he’s been an innings eater and to this point has stayed healthy, excellent job!
CC Sabathia incomplete: He’s only made 2 starts as a brewer, but was very good in both and hey he can hit too, let’s hope he’s worth LaPorta.
Dave Bush C+: He got off to a slow start this year and spent time in AAA and in the bulpen, his last few starts have been great though, he’s been locating his breaking ball better and nearly threw a no-hitter.
Manny Parra A-: At first he was having trouble eating innings but he’s been dominating for the last couple months and has a great ERA with an 8-2 record.
Seth McClung B-: He’s been one of the team’s biggest surprises so far, he barely made the team out of spring training but when put in the starting role he’s shown that he’s a solid starter.
Carlos Villanueva B-: Carlos struggled early this season in the starters role but since being moved to the bullpen he’s been very effective.
David Riske C+: Riske was an average middle reliever early in the season but in May he hurt his elbow and missed a month on the DL and has never really gotten into a groove since then.
Eric Gagne D : Gagne has not been what was expected of him, he was supposed to solidify the bullpen by making the ninth inning easier, however he is 10-15 in save opportunities with an ERA above 7.3 and he spent a month on the DL, hopefully he can rebound in the second half and show that he wasn’t a complete bust.
Brian Shouse B+ : one of the few reliable relievers in the brewer’s pen this year, he’s got a great ERA and is tough on lefty’s
Mitch Stetter B+ : started the year in AAA then was good for a few weeks in the majors before losing control and ending up back in the minors, he’s back now and he looks pretty dominant.
Guillermo Mota D- : He started the year as a reliable set-up man but has just completely lost it of late, hopefully he can regain his form from earlier this season and still help this team.
Salomon Torres A : Another great surpise, since Gagne went on the DL Torres has stepped in and done an excellent job in the closers role 15-18 in save opportunities, he’s also been durable, and pitched a lot of innings.
Jeff Suppan B- : Had a great start to the season and had a solid ERA through the first two and a half months this season but has not been effective as of late and is now on the DL.
Yovanni Gallardo incomplete : Started the year on the DL and then tore his ACL and is now out for most of the season, his three starts this year were solid though.
Mark DiFelice C: Was a decent long reliever in his short stint in the majors
Tim Dillard incomplete: Was a decent middle reliever, hopefully we see him again in September.
Zach Jackson incomplete: Made a couple of appearences early and was part of the CC Sabathia trade.
Julian Tavarez F : Had one good outing for the Brewers, the rest was not very good, he couldn’t find the strike zone at times and got knocked around a lot.
Derrick Turnbow F: Had one good outing where he picked up a save, the rest was aweful, he just could not throw strikes and we’ve probably seen the last of him, unless he can hit 
*If I missed anyone let me know
Tags: Brewers