It's been a different kind of season with all the roster turnover as we bade farewell to much of the franchise core which got us to 4 World Series in the previous 5 years (Wander Franco, Brandon Marsh, Keston Hiura, Matt Manning, Hunter Bishop, Triston Casas, and later Vidal Brujan). And after an extremely frustrating 11-13 start to the season, there was plenty of cause for question. But this roster on paper appeared even more talented than some of those mid-2020s teams, and the team's 45-10 run since that slow start has more than answered any questions. So now that we're at the halfway point of the season, here's the annual look at where we stand, position-by-position.
C: (C+) Keibert Ruiz is not the hitter he was as recently as last year as his ratings are in decline. His 223/275/353 still sells him short, though. Ryan Jeffers hasn't hit much either as this position has - at least in the first half of the season - declined to its pre-Keibert days.
1B: (B-). Yordan Alvarez has heated up recently but he still isn't the fearsome slugger he was with Houston. He's drawing more walks this year but 262/346/480 is still not what I'd hoped I was getting a year and a half ago.
2B: (A) Gavin Lux got off to a slow start but he's come around in a big way and is now second in the AL in WAR. No complaints here.
SS: (A-) Ricky Widmar has been everything I hoped for, hitting 292/345/428 with an MLB-best 27 steals and good defense. Definite contender for Rookie of the Year.
3B: (C+) Bobby Witt Jr., although finally showing some signs of life at the plate over the last week or two, has been a big disappointment at 222/299/377. Looking for some big-time positive regression in the 2nd half.
LF: (A-). Judson Fabian hasn't hit with the power he's shown before, but he's been an on-base machine this year at 322/407/488. I know he can do better than the 8 HR he hit in the first half so I'm looking for a big 2nd half.
CF: (A) This has been a 2-headed monster this year. Julio Cedillo was brilliant before his season-ending injury, proving he was the real deal. So then came Jasson Dominguez, who's merely hit 316/350/745 with 11 HR in 25 games.
RF: (B+): Jhon Diaz has been solid, even if he's cooled off a bit lately and he's been filling in at CF with Dominguez's injury.
DH: (A) Nate Clark can rake, and that is all. .297-20-65 and 295/364/554 will do fine.
Bench: (A). Issac DeLeon, Joe Barker and Connor Kirkley, rookies all, have produced when called upon and it's hardly apparent when the regulars get a rest.
Starters: (A-). Alec Sachais, Blake Money and Christian Little are just ridiculous and make this the best rotation in baseball. And it's saying something when the reigning Cy Young winner is our 4th best starter this year. McClanahan has been solid as well. The minus is for Jack Leiter's OK but not great season so far (too many HRs) and Mack Anglin's struggles with injuries and effectiveness (but looking back in form lately).
Bullpen (B): The ERAs look terrible (outside of Espino), but the K/IP and BB/K numbers look great and the team's 1-run record is excellent. So overall the bullpen has been pretty good, but subject to some big-time meltdowns from time-to-time. Newcomer Jeremy Bowers has impressed in his first two outings.
Here are the team stats:
An offensive juggernaut as usual, the pitching is solid despite the high bullpen ERA, but despite upgrading the D at SS, 3B and CF, we still have issues turning batted balls into outs. I'm scratching my head - maybe I don't do a good enough job shifting - but again it's not exactly costing us games.
Here's a look at the midseason MLB standings and leaders:
Surprised at how good the Tigers and Phillies are this year, the Rangers are starting to come on after slumbering most of the season (more on why in a minute) and the overall play of the AL East has been disappointing (and therefore good for the Rays).
Also want to take a look at how some of our recently departed Rays are doing, and there are some surprises.
Wander Franco: I'm sure he'll be fine eventually, but he has to be regarded as a bust in Texas off this year's first half after they gave him a $39M/year contract. His numbers: 261/301/438 with 9 HR, and he's been good for 0.1 WAR. Not a typo. Oof.
Keston Hiura: Hiura fractured his thumb in spring training and missed the first 2 months of the season, but has hit like usual since coming back: 289/340/522.
Brandon Marsh: He's had a bit of a down year at 250/308/424 with 10 HR and 1.3 WAR so far, but he's still playing on a team that wins twice as much as it loses.
Matt Manning: He's pitched pretty well for Arizona. While his 4-4, 4.23 numbers don't look that impressive, he has a 35/103 BB/K ratio in 93 innings and is good for 2.4 WAR already this season.
Hunter Bishop and Triston Casas: The duo we dealt to KC for Witt has been a mixed bag. Bishop has bounced back from his disappointing final year with us to some extent, hitting 266/309/536 with 19 HR and 1.5 WAR. Casas has regressed to the low-average version we had from 2024-2026, hitting 225/320/449 with 10 HR and 0.7 WAR although he's heated up a bit lately with 3 HR this week.
Vidal Brujan: Brujan was finally activated by the Yankees a couple of weeks ago, and he's been dynamite since coming back, hitting for some unusual power (maybe it's the stadium): In 8 games he's 371/450/771 with 3 doubles, a triple and 3 homers in only 35 AB. Not looking forward to facing him.