So far this season has been pretty disappointing, as all of us will agree. We blame the team in general. But at the same time, it feels better if we can pick a couple of players out and vent about them a little. At the same time, it feels like some players are the only ones carrying the team, or performing beyond what we ever expected, and it’s going to waste.

What I’m doing here is making a short list of players I feel are noteworthy. I’m not gonna list the whole team here, but some people need to be mentioned.

So here are a list of Players I’m pleased to root for, Brown-baggers, Pleasant Surprises, and Head-shaking disappointments.

Go ahead and contribute as well to this, and use the format I’m using just for the sake of easier reading.

1. Players we’re pleased to root for

This is pretty self-explanatory. 

My first player on this list is Aaron Cook. I think that George and Drew have said everything there is to say about how good Cookie’s been, being the slump buster, the stopper, the Ace, the everything. So far this season, he’s been essentially living up to all his potential (3 K/9, mid-2’s BB/9, and a ~0.7 HR/9) and being a Professional Baseball Player while the rest of the staff has been scrubs.

Second, Matt Holliday. He’s putting up a .940 OPS with an OBP nearly 80 points higher than his average. Granted, a lot of that is pitchers pitching around him, but hey, he’s taking pitches.

Third, Garrett Atkins. He’s not walking as much, but he’s showing that he is a Major-League hitter, and he’s ALSO playing better 3B than I’ve ever seen him play.

Honorable Mention: Spills. One word: CLUTCH.

2. Brown-Baggers

This section is the players whose jerseys we’ll still wear, but we have to shoulder some taunting from those people wearing Pujols and Jeter shirts, and we’re not so adamant about their dominance anymore

First, Yorvit Torrealba. I don’t care how well he calls a game, .228/.276/.359 is simply pathetic from someone we’re calling our starting catcher. I might not even wear his jersey/shirt as anything other than pajamas.

Second, and he’s only third because I’m mentioning him later as well, is Jeff Francis. The guy has become a shooting gallery. I understand pressure from being named the Ace and blah blah blah, but we might as well just start Jose Capellan if this is what we’re getting out of Francis.

Third, Troy Tulowitzki. I am eating some serious crow from my ranting and raving over the kid last season. I’m NOT saying he won’t come back ready to roll, but Good Lord. I’d have listed him as a head-shaking disappointment, but account for a sophomore slump, and we’ll just have to see what he does. Right now I’m sporting the brown bag pretty solidly.

Also needs to be mentioned: Willy Taveras. He’s made some great defensive plays, but dude, .234/.307/.290? Come on, man, we could call up Cory Sullivan to put up that stat line.

3. Pleasant Surprises

This section is what it sounds like; guys we expected to be outstandingly average or to stink out loud, who make us excited to see their name in the lineup.

Topping my list by far is Clint Barmes. I don’t think anyone HONESTLY expected him to be doing anything beyond being the new Jamey Carroll this season. But his .901 OPS in 30 games and fantastic defensive play have certainly shut my mouth.

Second on my list is Matt Herges. The guy is just solid. I expected him to be this season’s Tom Martin, having resurrected his career with Colorado and getting paid to keep resurrecting it over the next season, and then sucking and eventually getting DFA’d/Released. It’s early yet, but his 0.94 WHIP combined with that 8.06 K/9 sure does give me hope for some sort of pitching turnaround.

Third, and not far from being 2a is Taylor Buchholz. His career as a starting pitcher being more or less over, we’re seeing a 0.87 WHIP, a mid-6’s K/9, and he has not given up a homer yet in 20 2/3 innings pitched. We’re still seeing some evidence that he has some work to do still, as his 3.05 BB/9 is higher than his career numbers, but Taylor is working himself out to be a pretty solid RP.

Fourth, and I think most of us can get behind this, is Scott Podsednik. We’ve seen him drop off a bit thus far in May, but he still brings a lot of energy off of the bench. His .310/.459/.414 line in April suggests more playing time will be coming for himself and Spilborghs in the upcoming days. Do I smell a trade?

Honorable Mention: Jonathan Herrera, Omar Quintanilla, Bench in general. A lot of good play from our subs, combined with very good defense and some good ABs in general.

4. Head-shaking disappointments

This is the antithesis of Pleasant Surprises, people who have really not lived up to the faith we put in them or even just our hopes and dreams.

Manny Corpas tops my list. He was given an $8M contract as the Closer of The Future™ and has nearly been demoted to AAA by now. He’s been walking everybody, striking nobody out, and giving up a lot of extra-base hits. Call it a late sophomore slump (see: Atkins, Garrett, 2007), but he’s almost become a liability.

Second on the list and his second mention, Jeff Francis. I expected a dropoff from his 17-win season, but he’s STILL searching for victory #1? I know wins are fake, and he’s getting no support, but we’re used to that from our homegrown pitching (see: Jennings, Jason, 2006). His K’s have dropped, BBs have gone up, and hits have skyrocketed. His BABIP is about .323, so he’s stinking on his own here.

Third, Luis Vizcaino. After being our biggest FA acquisition, I didn’t think I’d ever be so happy to see a player land on the DL.

Immediate Fourth, Micah Bowie. See above.

There’s a lot of ups, and a lot of downs, all in key places. I hope we can turn it around.