It's that time of year again as we're one game shy of the midway point. It's been another great half-season and the move into Publix Park was a roaring success as the team has gone 37-7 in its new digs. The Trop suppressed their power while PP enhances it so given how power-laden the lineup is it's worked to their advantage relative to their opponents. Here's where they stand relative to the league at midseason:
As usual, this is like the report card a kid brings home with all A's but one B- or C+ and it's the defense, which is a trade-off we've always accepted and not slowed us down. We are allowing more HRs than a team with the rest of our pitching stats would normally allow but again it's the ballpark. We've been very good in one-run games this year so we're outplaying the Pythag record by 4 games. The player stats, followed by grades:
C (B-): Gabriel Moreno got off to a hot start but has cooled down considerably, and Carlos Perez continues to underperform his ratings. We do miss Keibert a little.
1B (A): Joe Barker has raked when he wasn't out injured, and Rodolfo Rivas raked in his place.
2B (A-): Connor Kirkley has stepped it up this year, especially in the power department (new ballpark?).
SS (A-): Ricky Widmar gets the minus here because he's slumped over the last month.
3B (B+): Bobby Witt Jr isn't quite having the MVP-caliber season he had last year, and it seems like Kirkley took away his homers.
LF (A): Dayle Jenkins has been great and exceeded expectations, he's a potential batting title champ (at least when Vlad Jr slows down or retires). Jenkins has actually been shifted to RF after the trade of Jhon Diaz but he played the bulk of the season here to date.
CF (B-): Jasson Dominguez hasn't had the greatest first half and been disappointing in the power department. Expecting positive regression the rest of the way.
RF (C): This grade is mainly for the departed Jhon Diaz, who as you can see wasn't getting it done before the deal. Jenkins has the position now, and LF now is primarily Victor de Jesus who hasn't played enough to get a real grade but is getting on base as you can see from the stats above.
DH (A+): He got off to a bit of a slow start, but man Nate Clark is crushing the ball this year.
SP (A-): Jon Hayes has pitched like an ace, Alec Sachais has been great even though he's dropped off some over his last 3-4 starts, and newly acquired Marc Wagner is highly impressive. Christian Little has battled health and consistency but even at that his overall numbers are very good. This leaves Jack Leiter, the one pitcher really hurt by the new park as he's homer-prone. And Blake Money brings down the grade for his mediocre performance before being dealt.
RP (A): Aside from JDLC's rough first six weeks, the bullpen's been great. Jose Alvarado is having another Reliever of the Year-type season, Jordan Diaz and Mike Mooney have been much better in their second year as Rays, and Andy Aparicio is doing a fine job as a swingman.
Bench (A-): Dane Ayers has been outstanding whenever plugged into the lineup and Isaac DeLeon has put up the same decent numbers he's put up the last two years.
Here are the MLB standings and leaders at the approximate midway point:
