Grading the Cubs: It’s been a long first half

Back in the old-school days, a teacher might penalize the whole class for the bad actions of a few miscreants.

With the Cubs, let’s take somewhat of an opposite tack.

Instead of punishing a couple of achievers, let’s recognize them while not forgetting the failures of the whole.

The Cubs deserve a big fat “F” for the first half of the season, from top to bottom of the organization.

They went into Pittsburgh this past weekend as underdogs to the Pirates. If not for the ineptitude of the Houston Astros, the Cubs might be looking at last place.

When a team has a record of 37-55 at the all-star break, nobody should be handing out any “A’s,” and we won’t do so here.

Let’s see what our curve looks like.

High achievers:Give the keystone combo of second baseman Darwin Barney and shortstop Starlin Castro a solid #147;B.#148;Castro is the lone Cubs all-star, and he has emerged as the most exciting young player the team has brought up in years. If he develops some power, there#146;s no limit to what he can do offensively.His defense is a work in progress, to be sure, but he has demonstrated increased confidence, and competence, in the field of late.Barney is the quintessential baseball player. He loves the game, gets dirty and chews a lot of bubble gum. He also has more than held his own after emerging in the spring. Barney has been among the rookie hits leaders all year. He fields his position well, and even more important he knows what to do and when to do it on the field.Barney and Castro both will need to take more walks as time goes on to improve the on-base percentages.But there#146;s a lot to like here.Grading on the curve:We can give pitchers Matt Garza and Carlos Zambrano a C-plus. Both have pitched better than their records have indicated, and both have spent time on the disabled list.If there#146;s any chance of the Cubs avoiding a complete flunk-out in 2011, it may well be determined on how Garza and Zambrano pitch in the second half.Reliever Sean Marshall is in this category, too. Despite occasional slips, which all relievers have, Marshall has emerged as one of the top left-handed setup men in the game. He#146;s always at risk at being overused.Marlon Byrd gets an #147;incomplete#148; because of the potentially devastating facial fractures he suffered in May. Byrd got back as quickly as he could, but not even his strong presence and enthusiastic playing style will be enough to save the Cubs.Give relievers Jeff Samardzija and James Russell a #147;C#148; each. Russell didn#146;t work out as a starter, and he probably shouldn#146;t have been tried there. Samardzija continues to be a work in progress, but he indeed has made progress.Needing better:You can pretty much lump everybody else into this category. There have been flashes, to be sure, but the Cubs could have used Carlos Pena#146;s home run power to start the season. His Gold Glove caliber defense is fun to watch, and it#146;ll be interesting to see if the Cubs try to keep him or if they try to deal him to a contender.Aramis Ramirez vaulted to the top of the offensive leaderboard among third baseman, but that also was too little, too late, by Ramirez#146;s own admission.Alfonso Soriano has gone for long stretches without producing. He hasn#146;t homered since June 19.Manager Mike Quade isn#146;t exempt, either. Far from it.We#146;ll see if there is any fallout from his Saturday dugout spat with Ryan Dempster. Quade at times leaves starting pitchers in for too long. At other times, he has the quick hook.He has argued with umpires at odd times over odd things and too often puts much too happy a face on things after bad losses.General manager Jim Hendry has managed to keep his job in this, the fourth season of #147;we#146;re going to get good and we#146;re going to stay good.#148;The Cubs have gotten only worse.Hendry repeatedly has said he won#146;t conduct a #147;fire sale#148; and trade players just to make trades. One must be very careful to use the word #147;fire#148; or #147;fired#148; around the Cubs these days.If things don#146;t start trending upward soon, you may be hearing one variation or another before the calendar year is up. Failing grades will do that.