Grading the first half

As the Yanks head into the All-Star break, we here at Yanks Go Yard thought we would grade each player’s performance. Take a look after the jump at our ratings and let us know how you would dole out grades.

Ricky Keeler’s grades:

Starting Lineup:

• SS Derek Jeter — C+
• CF Curtis Granderson — A
• 1B Mark Teixeira — A-
• 3B Alex Rodriguez — B
• 2B Robinson Cano — B+
• RF Nick Swisher — C
• DH Jorge Posada — C
• LF Brett Gardner — B
• C Russell Martin — B

Bench:

• C Francisco Cervelli — D+
• OF Andruw Jones — C-
• OF Chris Dickerson — B-
• INF Eduardo Nunez — B+

Rotation:

• CC Sabathia — A+
• AJ Burnett — C
• Phil Hughes — Only a handful of starts, incomplete!
• Bartolo Colon — A
• Freddy Garcia — B+
• Ivan Nova — B+

Bullpen:

• Mariano Rivera — A
• David Robinson — A
• Luis Ayala — B-
• Boone Logan — C+
• Hector Noesi — B
• Cory Wade — B
• Joba Chamberlain — B+
• Rafael Soriano — F

Andy C’s grades:

Starting Lineup:

• SS Jeet, C- — He’s having a terrible year and this grade would probably be lower, but Saturday was so incredible I had to raise it a little.
• CF Grandy, A+ — He’s leading the team in OPS+ and tied for the team lead in homers (25) with Tex. Plus, he’s killing it in center.
• 1B Tex, A- — His average is a little low but his homers are there and he leads the team in RBI. His OPS is a stellar .871 and his OPS+ is 133. Not too shabby.
• 3B A-Rod, B- — He’d probably be hitting .300 if he wasn’t playing on a bum knee for the past couple of weeks, but he is still having a decent season. His surgery went well and he’s expected to miss about 4-6 weeks.
• 2B Cano, B+ — He leads the team in hits (100), doubles (21) and average (.296) and is starting at second in the ASG, and partaking in the HR Derby. My two gripes are that he has only 17 walks to 46 strikeouts — but that’s just Cano being Cano — and his defense has declined this year.
• RF Swish Dog, C+ — If the break was a month ago he would’ve gotten an F, but over that span he’s raised his average from .216 to .249. He’s hitting .322/.421/.575 with five homers, 22 RBI, seven doubles and 16 walks in 25 games (87 at-bats). He also leads the team in OBP (.367) and is getting better from both sides of the plate. Let’s hope his quad gets better before the second half starts.
• DH Posada, D+ — You can make the Swish argument for him too; he was hitting .169/.285/.338 through May and had that episode during the Red Sox series. However, Georgie rebounded to hit .382/.419/.588 with three homers, 11 RBI and 26 hits in 22 games in June to raise his average to .240. He kind of tailed off in July, but it’s better than where he was in May.
• LF Gardy, C — Gardy has been one of the streakiest hitters on the team, but he’s getting better at stealing bases and his defense is great in left.
• C Russell Martin, C- — In April we were ready to anoint him as the second coming of Mike Piazza, but his numbers have declined each month. Whatever, he’s still an upgrade over Cervelli.

Bench:

• C Frankie Cervelli, D-/F — Frankie, I love you but please go away.
• OF Andruw Jones, D+/C- — He’s decent against lefties but just can’t hit righties.
• OF Chris Dickerson, C+ — He only has 20 at-bats this season, and I liked him better when I thought he was Eric Dickerson’s nephew.
• INF Eduardo Nunez, B- — Man can he rake. He was fun to watch at the plate when Jeter was on the DL, but his defense is a liability. I hope he steps up when A-Rod’s out.
• INF Ramiro Pena, D- — He hasn’t had a hit since June 15, but that only covers 11 games (18 at-bats). He has no power and is also a liability on D.
• INF Eric Chavez, NJ — This guy was a solid bench player and filled in very nicely — and he kind of resembles a young Mattingly — but he’s always getting hurt. So he gets an NJ (Nick Johnson).

Rotation:

• CC Sabathia, A+ — What more can you ask for from an ace? He’s having arguably his finest season…I just hope the Yanks re-sign him when he opts out after this season.
• AJ, D+ — He’s 8-7 with a 4.15 ERA in 119 1/3 innings for a 99 ERA+ this season. Over his time in pinstripes he’s 31-31 with a 4.51 ERA for a 97 ERA+, pretty much the definition of mediocrity. $82.5 million doesn’t go as far as it used to.
• Philthy, F- — He made three starts before a “dead arm” forced him to the DL in mid-April. He was decent in his return, but that’s just not going to cut it.
• Cy Colon, A — If I told you in spring training that Bart was going to be arguably the team’s second best starter and fans would be upset if he went on the DL, what would you have said? Colon has been a savior for the rotation and exceeded every expectation this season. What a steal of a signing.
• Fabulous Freddy, A- — I prefer Cy Colon, but Fab Fred has been just as good. Another steal of a signing.
• SuperNova, C+ — He often bended but didn’t break, I’m still not sold on him. The only game of his that I was at this season wasn’t pretty, so that’s how I’m probably going to remember him. You were never sure what you were going to get from him; he’s kind of like the Dominican AJ. He got dipped when the team had to make room for Hughes and then got hurt during a great outing at Triple-A. Despite his shortcomings he’s still fun to root for and I hope he makes it back to the Bronx soon.

‘Pen:

• Mo, A — 34 innings, 29 hits, 29 strikeouts, seven runs, five walks, 222 ERA+, 1.000 WHIP, 1.85 ERA, 41 years of age. Greatest. Of. All. Time.
• D-Rob, A — 56 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings. His 25 hits and 23 walks are kind of high, but they haven’t seemed to hurt him yet — he boasts a 1.27 ERA and a 323 ERA+. IMO he should’ve been a first-ballot All Star.
• Luis Ayala, B — He’s put up legit numbers for a reliever; he’s no D-Rob or Mo, but he’s been legit.
• Boone Logan, C- — Not counting that game in Cleveland, Boone has put together seven straight good outings. He’s also had his fair share of clunkers though. Boone Logan and butt licker both have the same initials AND the same number of letters…coincidence?
• Hector Noesi, B+ — He gives up a lot of hits (26) but has only let nine runs score in 25 1/3 innings.
• Cory Wade, B+ — Besides that game in Cleveland, Wade hasn’t given up any runs this season. Granted he’s only pitched 8 2/3 innings outside of that game, but still.
• Joba, B+ — Joba was putting up great numbers and throwing with a lot of velocity before he had to get Tommy John surgery. You have to wonder why Girardi let him go 1 2/3 innings that game in Anaheim when he knew his arm was hurting.
• So, D- — After Opening Day he never recorded a 1-2-3 inning and then got hurt and hasn’t pitched since May 13. His contract is an albatross and things are not looking good for him in the Bronx.
• Meat Tray, F — Two games, 2 1/3 innings, two hits, four runs, four walks, one strikeout, a 15.43 ERA, a 31 ERA+. He’s the anti-Mo. Why did the Yanks get him back?

The team is 53-35 and sits one game behind the blue-collar, working-class, small-market, nitty, gritty, scrappy Red Sox. I’ll take it for a team with so many questions heading into the season.