Prince Fielder: C-He hasn't gotten his power stroke going, and is only batting .255. Honestly though, I think Prince is likely a .250-.265 hitter, and despite the fact that he hasn't hit out as many home runs as we'd expect, he's still driven in 23 runs. Prince usually starts slow, but even this is slow for him. I will say this though, he's not seeing as much to hit and especially as of late we're starting to see him draw a lot of intentional walks. Still, they need a bigger offensive output from him.
Rickie Weeks: D+His batting average is nothing short of alarming. I wish Ned Yost would stop feeding me the "he's hitting the ball hard, it's just not dropping for hits" line. While he does get on base a decent amount for someone with such a low batting average, his OBP is still nothing to write home about. If it weren't for the fact that he's scored so many runs, this would be an F. I haven't even mentioned how he's suddenly turning the throw to first into anything but routine (especially when Gagne is on the mound), and he's starting to bungle double plays as well. Overall, he's been a large disappointment.
James Jerry Hardy: CHe's a typical 7 hitter. Won't sock a lot of homers and usually puts good contact on the ball. We've gotten about what we could expect out of Hardy, although I thought the batting average would be closer to .275. He continues to be a slick fielder and still rarely strikes out (one of the few on this team). I don't think he's played all that awful this year, we're just making the mistake of comparing his first few months to first few months of last season, which were off the charts. We can't expect him to replicate that, but he should be closer to those numbers than the ones he's putting up now. If that makes any sense...
Bill Hall: D+Hall really looks lost at the plate. When he's not hitting out home runs he's usually striking out. He does have 9 dingers, but a majority of those came early when he started on a tear. I really would like to give him higher marks because he's been tremendous in the field this season, but I offensively he's been terrible. He's currently batting a Weeksesque .195. I think we all thought Hall was going to be closer to his offensive numbers he put up in 06, instead we're getting an even worse version of his 07 season. I think it's time we see him platoon with Russell Branyan.
Jason Kendall: AI'm giving Kendall an A because he's done everything they've asked him to do, and more. He's getting on base a ton and hitting for a higher average than any of us thought. It's entirely feasible to think he could finish the season batting .300. More than that, he's been tremendous behind the plate, lets not even compare him to Johnny Estrada. He's handled the pitching staff great, shown a ton of veteran poise, thrown out more runners than we thought he would and made numerous plays we know Estrada couldn't have.
Craig Counsell: C+He's a good backup to have. He knows how to get on base, is a good defender and can play numerous positions in the infield. He doesn't do anything to wow you, but when he plays you don't notice that the starter is gone (unless he's replacing Weeks, then you notice him for good reasons).
Joe Dillon: IncompleteDillon has only racked up 20 at-bats this season. We haven't really seen him too much so it's a bit tough to grade him. I'm expecting he'll get a ton of at-bats in interleague play, but in all honesty he's really just a right handed Craig Counsell, only not as good of a defender.
Mike Rivera: IncompleteMuch like Dillon we can't really hand out a grade to Rivera as he's only chalked up 19 at-bats. In those AB's though he's hitting over .300 and socked out one dinger. We know Rivera is a much better hitter than he is defender. It will be interesting to see if they decided to DH Prince in any of these interleague games and insert Rivera at first.
Mike Cameron: C-I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here because he's only chalked up 58 at-bats, but Cameron is another guy who's batting sub .200. He did look hot when he first joined the team, but has drastically cooled off since. We can't expect him to be a .300 hitter, but I thought he'd be performing better than this. I also haven't really noticed Cameron in the field like I thought I would. He's been a steady defender, but not the superb defender I expected. These next few weeks will be very telling.
Tony Gwynn Jr.: IncompleteYet another incomplete on this team. The return of Mike Cameron and an early injury really cost Tony, and us from getting a better gauge of what he can do as Gwynn has only had 28 at-bats. I don't really think we'll be afforded the opportunity to see what he can do at the major league level this season, unless of course there is an injury.
Gabe Kapler: B-Lets not forget this man was out of baseball and managing last season. After a red hot start, Kapler has started to come down to earth. He's still a very good fourth outfielder who is a plus defender and can play all three positions out there. I think they like the veteran presence that Kapler provides and the fact that he almost serves as a coach on the field. Realistically, we can probably expect him to project out to be a .260 hitter with about 10 bombs and 30 or so driven in.
Corey Hart: B+Corey is batting above .300, and is an extremely clutch hitter. We'd like to see more home runs from him and more RBI's, but you've gotta believe those will be coming soon. Hart has without question been their second best hitter this season and continues to get better in the field. Hart continues to do everything they ask him to do.
Ryan Braun: B+Braun started slow but has really come on as of late. He looked lost to begin the season, and we really had to question if the sophomore slump would strike, but he's made adjustments (like laying off the low and away two strike breaking ball) and rebounded big time. More than that, he looks a lot better in left field than he did at third (not too much of a statement though), and continues to get better.
Overall Grade: C+
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