First-half grades for everyone

 Everyone always identifies the All-Star break as the halfway point of the season, but if you check the standings, you'll see that the official halfway date was Monday, the night of the Angels' 81st game.

That means it is time to give out mid-season grades. So if you'll allow me, I'll do just that, from top to bottom on the roster:

A -- Torii Hunter. Easily the club's MVP. He's been the best hitter and defender and the leader in every category, including smiles and quotes. The guy is just a joy to have on your team. And yes, he should be starting in the All-Star game.

A-minus -- Brian Fuentes and Chone Figgins. After a slow start, Fuentes has become an All-Star and an even steadier closer than Francisco Rodriguez was the last few seasons. Figgins, the clear offensive catalyst, is enjoying his best Angels season, offensively and defensively. He still has a chance to be an All-Star, too, if you vote for him on mlb.com.

B-plus -- Bobby Abreu and Jered Weaver. Abreu is the epitome of a professional hitter. A .300 average and .400 on-base percentage is a luxury the Angels haven't had for a while. Now they have a pair hitting 1-2 in the lineup. Weaver has been the most improved and consistent starter on the staff, especially at home. His nine victories helped fill the void while Lackey was out.

B -- Juan Rivera, Kendry Morales, Maicer Izturis and Joe Saunders. Rivera has developed into the power-hitting left fielder the club hasn't had in a while. Morales is on close to a 30-home run pace, although he drops off big time (.218, no homers) when hitting right-handed. Izturis has done a  terrific job wherever he plays, hitting for everything but power. Saunders was on his way to another All-Star selection when he seemed to misplace his rhythm and confidence the last few weeks, especially against right-handed hitters. Here's a hint, Joe: Bust a few guys inside.

B-minus -- Mike Napoli, Darren Oliver, Erick Aybar, Sean O'Sullivan and Matt Palmer. Napoli has good power numbers, but his defense has been shaky. Oliver has been the lone dependable presence in the bullpen, besides Fuentes. Aybar has provided an excellent glove and arm at short, but his bat remains erratic. Sullivan and Palmer have pitched surprisingly well, considering their minor league credentials.

C -- John Lackey, Justin Speier and Jason Bulger. Lackey's injury kept him out a long time and it has taken him a while to regain his form. Now that he has, he will grade much higher in the second half. At times, both Speier and Bulger looked like candidates to be the new set-up guy. Bulger might still get there. Speier has improved from a year ago, but would you trust him in the late innings of a big game in October? Uh, no.

C-minus -- Jeff Mathis and Robb Quinlan. The best defensive catcher by a long way, Mathis can't seem to keep his average much past the .220 level, which is a shame. He works and hustles like crazy. Prime example: He's easily the best bunter on the team. There are just not enough at-bats for Quinlan anymore, and that's too bad, because he's a great team guy.

D -- Vladimir Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Ervin Santana and Gary Matthews Jr. The first three need to improve for the Angels to win their division and make it past the first round in October. Guerrero's pectoral injury kept him out for a month and seemed to cost him his power. There are signs now he might have regained his stroke. Kendrick has been a season-long mystery. The guy is too good a hitter to stay in a slump, isn't he? Santana's injury kept him sidelined and he will be a big key if he can regain his old command. Matthews Jr. simply isn't good enough to play much on this team.

F -- The rest of the bullpen imposters. With Scot Shields and Dustin Moseley both out and Jose Arredondo sent down with arm problems, there has been a long parade of guys run out there, none of whom has distinguished himself much. A trade for a proven arm here would help immensely.

The team's overall grade is a B-plus. It's on a 92-win pace, which is remarkable considering all the obstacles it had to go through early, beginning with the Nick Adenhart tragedy. If Guerrero and Santana come all the way back, this club might even challenge last year's record 100 victories. Ah, but would it be better equipped for the playoffs? That remains to be seen.

-- Steve Bisheff

Photo: The Angels' Torii Hunter is the club valedictorian for the first half of the season. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times.

                                          

 

Comments

[aztronut]

Still disrespecting Rivera I see. I think your gonna owe him another apology at the end of the season.

Are you grading on performance or relative to your own personal expectations? How do you group Vlad with guys that have been totally unproductive? I realize he's not doing what he's supposed to yet but I'm sure there are a lot of players in the league that would like to have his numbers right now, even if they're a disappointment coming from him.

[E Starlin]

Way to high of a grade for Erick "Mental Mistake" Aybar. Defense, shakey depite the occasional great play. Baserunning, shakey, Hitting, shakey. Sacraficing, shakey.Mental gaffes, plenty.Grade -D.

[Eric]

I would rate Abreu an A, mostly because of his plate discipline that seems to have rubbed off on other hitters in the lineup, something we haven't seen in at least 5 years. Sure the power isn't quite there, but if he ends up with 15 homers, that should be enough. Rivera has also been a great surprise, not only with his bat, but with his glove. A's for both.

Aybar on the otherhand has been a disappointment for me. He cannot hit in the clutch, and his fielding is erratic at best. I have also never seen a guy get credit for so many hits on plays that should have been errors. He must have something on the official scorer. He is a C-.

[Tom S]

Agreed with all ranking except Aybar. Body language and wilting under pressure make him a D at best. He's right there with Santana.

[R. Munkee]

You certainly have your Napoli idea mixed up. You posted woefully incorrect numbers about his CS% in an article a week ago, and apparently haven't gone back to correct your mistake.
Napoli had one poor game, an 11-1 blowout where he understandably lost a little focus, but other than that his stats are better in most respects than Mathis, or slightly worse in a few. In other words they are very similar, defensively.
Unfortunately for Napoli, both you and apparently Scioscia give far too much credence to CERA which is a considerably flawed stat, relying more on game location, or the pitcher's mood that day, than catcher's defensive abilities.

[Caliphilosopher]

I agree with your grades for the most part. Surprising that the team is on a 92-win pace. I'm hoping that we'll really start to gel as a unit on August 1st; a solid month of hot baseball will put us in position to have home-field advantage for the playoffs.