All-Star Break

Well, I think it's safe to say that the major theme for the first half of the season was disappointment and injuries! I'm sure I'll miss some, but Soto, Marmol, Lee, Johnson, Ramirez, Zambrano, Harden, Bradley, and Dempster all missed significant time. Add to that that almost everyone got off to a bad start, and I think you have to agree that A. It's amazing we're only 3 and a 1/2 games out after all of these bad breaks and playing this bad and B. It's seriously unlikely we can continue to play this poorly! I don't like the fact that Soto and Dempster will not be healthy for the July 16th return, but there really is a lot of room for optimism. There are some pleasant surprises. Randy Wells would be a good place to start. Couple that with Lilly being an all-star, and I still think it's hard to beat our rotation. What do we do while Dempster is out? I say deal for a closer and move Marshall to the rotation, but Hart looked goods in his start, and we all know I'd love to see Samardzija get his shot at starting. Fox is a nice surprise. We just need him getting AB's. I say rotate him whenever we can. Give Ramirez a few days off. Use him as the back-up C until Soto is back. Obviously our #1 pinch hitter. We're going to have to figure out how to play him soon or deal him. I still like Hoffpauir too even though his average has really dipped. The blame can obviously be thrown at Bradley, Soriano, and Soto mostly. Now that D-Lee has found his stroke and Ramirez is back, you just have to believe that those 3 guys have to atleast get closer to what they should be doing at some point. If they do, I still say this lineup is deadly:

CF-Fukudome(Johnson vs. lefties)

SS-Theriot

1B-Lee(Hoffpauir with a few starts)

3B-Ramirez(Fox with a few starts)

RF-Bradley vs. lefties(I'd like to see Hoffpauir vs. most righties)

LF-Soriano(Hoffpauir with a few starts vs. some righties)

C-Soto(when he's back)

2B-platoon Baker/Fontenot

Fox and Hoffpauir would be our first 2 pinch-hitters. I still say with Fox, Hoffpauir, Fuld, a couple catching prospects, and some of our young arms that we have a lot of trade bait for an upgrade at 2B, CF, and the bullpen. Speaking of the bullpen, it obviously concerns me, but I like Guzman and Ascanio. Throw in Marmol if he ever gets right and Gregg. Marshall and I say Hart and Stevens.