Adrian Gonzalez
Grade: A
He’s not cheap, but he’s worth it. The offseason acquisition is threatening to top the AL in all three Triple Crown categories. We knew he’d love Fenway, but this is ridiculous.
Jacoby Ellsbury
Grade: A
Going into this year, the CF’s best full-season OBP was .355. He’s 20 points better than that this year — making him the ideal leadoff hitter. After an ugly 2010, it’s welcome.
J.D. Drew
Grade: D+
Theo Epstein has made some good moves as Red Sox GM. Signing Drew to a five-year, $70 million contract wasn’t one of them. At least this is the last year.
Kevin Youkilis
Grade: B
Even a mediocre year by Youk’s inflated standards is a great one for most 3Bs. There is, however, plenty of room for improvement for the newly minted AL All-Star.
Dustin?Pedroia
Grade: B+
It’s more of the same from Pedroia — a lock for an .800-odd OPS year in and year out. We’re loving the 16 first-half stolen bases, too.
David Ortiz
Grade: A
If not for A-Gonz, we’d be riding the “Papi for MVP”?bandwagon. A .969 OPS is his best since 2007, and he’s hitting better than .300 for the first time since that same charmed year.
Jed Lowrie
Grade: C+
Until landing on the 15-day DL on June 17, the young SS was having a decent year … but not one that lived up to last season. The .319 OBP could use a boost.
Carl Crawford
Grade: C
It’s hard to know what to make of the big-money LF. He had a horrendous April, but followed that with a very solid May. June looked OK, too, before his DL stint.
Marco Scutaro
Grade: C-
Given the choice, we’d rather start Lowrie at SS. Scutaro’s never been a power hitter, but he’s shown absolutely no pop this season.
Jason Varitek
Grade: B
We’re grading on a curve here. Nobody expected a thing from the captain, but he’s delivered a 2007-level campaign — albeit while splitting time with Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Josh Beckett
Grade: A
He’s been the rock in a painful year for the rotation, earning his All-Star nod with a 2.27 ERA, a .095 WHIP, an 8-3 record and 94 strikeouts in 111 innings. That’s Cy Young stuff.
Jon Lester
Grade: B
The LHP has done everything asked of him. His 3.31 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and .231 BAA are right in line with his career norms. If he’s healthy, expect more of the same in Half 2.
John?Lackey
Grade: F
Simply terrible. Yeah, he was fine Saturday — but Lackey has shown he can’t be trusted to string together decent starts. He’ll be lucky to stick in the rotation all season.
Jonathan Papelbon
Grade: B
Ignore the inflated ERA — Pap has
delivered again in 2011. He’s striking out a ton of batters, walking few and working his way out of jams. We’ll take it.
Daniel Bard
Grade: A
Papelbon had better stay sharp, because he’s got a studly young arm after his job. Bard might actually be better than he was last year — a 0.81 WHIP is the stuff of All-Stars.
