We're 79 games in (and it'll be 83 after the Oakland series) so this is a good a time as any to do the midseason report card.
First, a look at the team numbers:
Although we're still first in the league in the important numbers (OPS, WAR, wOBA), the offense is down from last season, when we went 290/341/471 with a wOBA of 3.46 and we're scoring 5.33 runs/game as opposed to 5.57 last year, so the offense is down about 5% across the board. We're a little better at drawing walks, and still tough to strike out. Hiura/Casas replacing Devers is the main positional difference so that checks out. The pitching remains excellent but also a bit off last year's 3.33 team ERA. The defense is pretty bad again, as losing Devers has resulted in a downgrade at that position and Alec Bohm's 75 D at first has been out for a while. Hence the record isn't as good, but we're also having some bad luck vis-a-vis the Pythagorean record as the bullpen has been great. This team isn't as good as the 2023-2024 models, but should still be good enough to win the AL East and do some damage in the playoffs.
By position:
C: Keibert Ruiz is having an excellent season so no issues there. The Chris Betts saga was well-advertised and it's too early to tell if Patrick Bailey is the answer as backup since he's only played one game. (A-)
1B: Alec Bohm was crushing the ball with 15 HR and 42 RBI in 49 games before he got hurt, and he's been missed as the position has been turned over to Renato Nunez (161/253/264 with 2 HR in 87 AB) and Triston Casas (167/236/333). He'll be back in 1-2 weeks and it won't be soon enough. (B+ for Bohm, D- for his replacements)
2B: Vidal Brujan got off to a miserable start but has been great lately and is back up to 276/347/381 so there's even more positive regression to come. (B-)
SS: Wander Franco (301/347/530) continues to do his thing, and he could be even better in the 2nd half (A)
3B: This originally was the domain of Casas but Keston Hiura has taken the job with a red-hot bat and I can live with his 45 defense at the position if he keeps hitting 342/412/567 or a reasonable facsimile of that. And it's not like Casas was Brooks Robinson at the position. (A for Hiura)
LF: Nick Schnell unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury in May so he's been missed. Hunter Bishop, his primary replacement, started off slow but has been red-hot of late. (C+)
CF: Brandon Marsh should be due some positive batting average regression as he's sitting at .249 but otherwise he's been his excellent all-around self, drawing walks, hitting for decent power and playing solid defense. (B)
RF: Austin Meadows. Meadows is in his walk year, and I've tried to offer him 3-4 year deals, but he's insistent on at least 6 years at $28M and he'll be 31 next season so I expect him to be gone. He'll be missed of course but he is having a down year so far, at least power-wise. The 481 part of his 301/373/481 line and only 11 HR and 33 RBI needs to improve (in fairness to him RBI-wise, Wander's 69 and Ruiz's 55 have cleared most of the baserunners ahead of him). Hoping for closer to 20 HR than 10 in this second half. (B-)
DH: Been a rotating crew here, but most of the at-bats have gone to Spencer Torkelson, who's 261/330/456. Those numbers are a bit disappointing, especially the 10 HR in 241 AB, would expect at least 15 from him by now in that # of ABs. He started off hot but has only hit 3 over the last 2 months. He's at least hit for a decent average and drawn walks which is why he stays in the lineup but like with Meadows I'm expecting some positive power regression from him.
SP: Matt Manning is having another Cy Young-caliber season, but Tyler Glasnow has been "off" lately as his ERA approaches 4. I'm thinking it's just bad luck as his Ks remain high. Mitchell White's been great after a rough few early season starts, but Shane McClanahan has been kind of mediocre the past month after a good first 2. And obviously Dustin May was a disaster but Daniel Lynch seems like he'll solidify the #5 spot. (B)
RP: The business end of the pen (Alvarado/Anderson/De La Cruz) has been very good again, and Mitch Keller, Mitchell Verburg and Aaron Ashby (before he got hurt) have been mostly excellent in middle relief. Both Ashby and Asa Lacy should be back soon, so that will help as the rookies (Frasso, Little) have been up and down. (A-)