Cheap Seats

Ian Kinsler -- Kinsler still lacks on the defensive side, and there's no nice way around it. However, he's absolutely raking from the plate, leading the majors in hits, runs and is near the top in extra-base hits. Kinsler's hitting .323 with 50 RBIs and 13 homers to go with a team-leading 25 doubles and 20 stolen bases. He's doing that all from the leadoff spot and lately it's just seemed natural that he would lead off a game with an extra-base knock. I'll take a subpar defensive second baseman who drives in 120 runs and scores 150 over Nick Punto.

Michael Young -- Young hasn't had the season he's accustomed to. His numbers have been a bit on the disappointing end (.280, 7 HR, 43 RBIs) and he's had a few defensive hiccups as well. Luckily for Young, he's been overshadowed this year by his double-play mate (Kinsler) so it's taken away the sting a bit. I still think by the time the season ends he'll be hitting right up around .300, but I doubt his string of 200-hit seasons continues this year.

Josh Hamilton -- Wow, where do you start with this guy? He's come in and set Arlington on fire. I expected good things when the Rangers got him from Cincinnati, but nothing quite like this. Despite his recent slump, he's still hitting .312 with 19 homers and a league-leading 79 RBIs, and it's not even really close for second. He's shown flashes of brilliance in the field too in both center and right and will be a superstar for Texas for the next 15 years, assuming he can stay healthy and keep off the drugs.

David Murphy -- If GM Jon Daniels is looking for something to hang his hat on, this would be a great place to start. Murphy, who came from Boston in last year's deadline deal for Eric Gagne. Murphy is a strong candidate for AL Rookie of the Year as the left fielder's hitting .272 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs.

Milton Bradley -- If not for Hamilton's absolute tear, Bradley would be the toast of the town right now and maybe even on the national scale. The oft-troubled outfielder/designated hitter has been an on-base machine this year, leading the league with a .443 OB% and has drawn 48 walks, 20 more than anyone else on a team that has long been plagued by a lack of patience at the plate. Bradley's mashing too, tied with Kinsler for the team lead in batting average with 16 homers and 49 RBIs. He's been bothered by an injury as of late but if he can keep that to a minimum he might find himself a solid permanent role on this team. If not, he may be dealt by August.

Gerald Laird -- Laird started the season awfully, but then again, most Rangers (other than Kinsler and Hamilton) did. Since, he's really picked things up at the plate although he still struggles behind it. Upper management likely cringed when he went down with a pulled hamstring recently because me thinks he would've been traded at the deadline in favor of the younger catchers the Rangers have coming up (Max Ramirez, Taylor Teagarden, Jarrod Saltalamacchia). He was hitting over .300 when he went down, something he never came close to doing in the past couple of years.

Ramon Vazquez -- The third baseman has been another pleasant surprise for this club. When Hank Blalock went down, some people freaked out because the team would lose production at third. I, on the other hand, didn't because I think Blalock has been done as a premiere player for three years, but more on that later. Anyway, Vazquez has hit .326 this year in a somewhat limited role. He's hit five home runs and driven in nearly 30 runs from the No. 9 spot in the order. Not too shabby.

Chris Davis -- I'm not sure what took the Rangers' brass so long, but they finally called the 22-year-old first baseman up on Thursday. In his ML debut against the Astros, he got a pinch-hit single. The next day, in his first start against the Phillies, he went yard. He did it again yesterday. Now, in eight major league at-bats, he has two home runs, three RBIs and is hitting .444 with a 1.125 slugging percentage. And they're gonna send this guy back down after Blalock gets healthy? Really?

Frank Catalanotto -- I've always been a fan of the Cat. He's one of those guys that's just a "pro hitter" but his time in Texas is now finished with the promotion of Davis. Sorry, Frankie.

Marlon Byrd -- Can you say "fluke"? I can. I get the feeling that's what Byrd saw last year when he hit well over .300 and was hitting in the middle of the lineup. Now, he's more of a .250 hitter but one thing I can say for Byrd is that he plays some mean center field. The guy can cover some serious ground out there. Is he in the Rangers' long-term plans? I hope not.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia -- Salty was supposed to be the gem of the Teixeira trade with Atlanta last season. So far, he's disappointed, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet. Yeah, he's barely hitting over .200 but he's really made progress behind the plate over the recent weeks with Laird out. He and Max Ramirez have earned praise from Rangers pitchers for their ability to call games and the communication between pitcher and catcher, seemingly throwing Laird under the bus for a lack thereof. I think his future is definitely as catcher and not at first base, so the fact that he's progressing there is promising.

Hank Blalock -- Cut him.

As for the pitchers...we have to start with...

Vicente Padilla -- Look, with a 10-4 record and a just-north-of-4.00 ERA in this park, you have to be happy with what the enigmatic Padilla has done. But don't get too used to it. If Padilla can have about three of four more good starts in a row, I'd make a strong argument for dealing him at the deadline because his value will never ever ever be higher. Now, if Texas is within five games of the Angels come deadline time, my sentiments might change, but I think we all know that's not too likely to happen.

Kevin Millwood -- Millwood is good. But he's not a true ace and never will be. So it's a bit unfair that people expect him to perform like an ace. With that being said, the Bulldog has looked pretty darn good (with the exception of his last start) since coming off the DL. No real complaints here.

Scott Feldman -- He's been a nice surprise in the rotation. Nothing mind-blowing, but he's done the job. His 1-3 record doesn't really do him justice as his ERA is better than Millwoods at 4.60. He's definitely not a long-term rotation guy, but he's done the job when needed.

Kason Gabbard -- See Millwood, except he's not seen as an ace by any means. He's still a young guy with great control and he gets groundballs, a key to success in Arlington. I'm willing to give him some time.

Jamey Wright -- This guy has been hit-and-miss since arriving in Texas but this year it's been mostly hit. He's done a great job coming out of the pen and at many times has been the staff's most reliable reliever.

Joaquin Benoit -- Wow, talk about a disappointment. Benoit ended last year as a guy battling for the closer's spot and now he's struggling to stay in the big leagues. Ah, the life of a major league reliever.

C.J. Wilson -- See above, except he has much more upside. Wilson has some really filthy stuff -- a mid-, sometimes high-90s fastball and a pretty nasty slider. Just one problem, he's had some control issues and when you're a closer and need to get three outs with minimal damage, that can be a huge problem. It has been for Wilson this year. He's only blown two saves but it's a rare occurence for Wilson to have an easy save. He often walks the first guy, or two and then has to battle from behind to gut out a heart-pounding save. One thing that sticks out? His 4.72 ERA -- never good for a closer.

Eddie Guardado/Frank Francisco -- I lump these two guys together because they're basically the same guy. They're both set-up men who could move into the closer's role if necessary and have moderate success. They've both got ERAs in the low 3.00s and have been the rocks of the Rangers struggling bullpen this year.

Eric Hurley -- Finally! A homegrown Rangers pitching prospect appears to have found success at the big league level. Hurley earned his first decision yesterday to even his record to 1-1 after two solid outings that resulted in no decisions in his first two starts. Hurley's a promising young arm that has pitched 22 2/3 innings now in the bigs and has given up a hit an inning with a 3.57 ERA. I like it.

My goals for the Rangers' second half? Don't send Chris Davis down. Let the kid play first base every day, yes, against lefties too, and let him fail if that's what happens. He seems like a mentally strong guy and there's no doubt he's a physical beast at 6-4, 240. Frankly, after the horrid April start, a .500 baseball team is a welcomed site around these parts.