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The first semester of the 2016 regular season has come to an end, and report cards are heading home to each of baseball’s 30 teams. Some managers and front office executives will try to get into work early to intercept the mail, while others will simply lean back and wait for a pat on the back from ownership.

While it’s far too early to make declarative statements about the ultimate fate of most teams after only a month of action, it’s enough of a sample size for us to look at areas that are strengths for each club and, conversely, areas that are in need of improvement.

A team’s record certainly plays a part in our evaluation, but we’ll look specifically at four areas: hitting, defense, starting pitching and relief pitching. Spoiler alert: We’re notoriously tough graders.

Before we get into things, here’s a brief explanation of a few advanced statistics that you’ll see either directly or indirectly referenced on the pages that follow. Click on the link for a more detailed explanation, courtesy of FanGraphs:

• Defensive Runs Saved (DRS): Tells us how many runs, better or worse, a player has been compared to the average player at his position.

• Ultimate Zone Rating/150 (UZR/150): Calculated differently than DRS but similar in that it tells us how many runs, better or worse, a player has been compared to the average player at his position over 150 games.

• Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+): Aims to present a more accurate representation of offensive value than batting average and OPS.

Traditionalists need not worry, however, as there will be plenty of references to batting average, errors and all the old-school statistics that have been a part of the game for more than a century.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at which teams made the grade and which clubs need to stay after class for a bit of extra help.

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The Colorado Rockies are quickly becoming baseball’s version of Pop, a TV channel that plays reruns of old teen dramas such as The OC, Dawson’s Creek and Beverly Hills, 90210.

The situation percolating with outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is another version of the Troy Tulowitzki saga from a season ago. We’ve seen this episode before. The latter isn’t too far from our minds. In fact, during spring training, the former Colorado shortstop continued to vent on last season’s midseason trade to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tulowitzki dished on his former team in a February interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today that rivaled Kelly Ripa’s recent hissy fit. Essentially, he feels the Rockies lied to him. Though he’s offered his opinion more gently, Gonzalez seems tired of the losing and the lack of talent around him.

“I’ve been in this business a long time, and it’s never about what the player wants,” Gonzalez told Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “I mean, I want Mike Trout and Bryce Harper on my team, but you don’t get what you want.”

But while the Gonzalez situation has the potential to mirror Tulowitzki’s off-field drama, the two already mirror one another on the field.

When the Rockies traded Tulowitzki, he was hitting .300/.348/.471. At 30 years old, he was still young enough to have an impact, even in the context of a three- to four-year rebuild.

Similarly, Gonzalez, 30, is hitting .321/.368/.556 with four home runs and 12 RBI through 21 games this season. But, as they did with Tulowitzki, the Rockies have to weigh the value of trading him.

Gonzalez will make $17 million this season and $20 million in 2017, after which he will become a free agent, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Unloading that salary would give the Rockies money to play with in free agency this offseason.

He also has a checkered injury history, as he’s struggled with knee issues. In 2014, Gonzalez was shut down for the season in August so he could have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. Though last season he played in a career-high 153 games, injuries stymied Gonzalez through significant parts of the previous four seasons.

Despite reason to question his long-term health, Gonzalez’s short-term value and recent play could be attractive to a contending team in need of a bat.

The left-handed hitter has played at least 200 games in each of the outfield positions. So most teams in need of offense could find a place for the 2015 Silver Slugger Award winner. For those thinking teams might devalue his performance this season playing in hitter-friendly Coors Field, Gonzalez is hitting .288/.327/.500 in 12 games at home and .343/.395/.571 through nine away games.

A haul of notable prospects could come in a potential bidding war.

On the MLB trade market, for a team looking to get younger, a star player often is less than the sum of his parts. The Tulowitzki trade, which included pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, netted the Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes and right-handed pitcher Jeff Hoffman, ranked as the No. 49 prospect in baseball by MLB.com. The deal also sent lesser-known pitching prospects Jesus Tinoco and Miguel Castro to the Rockies.

Of course, that all makes shopping Gonzalez seem like a slam dunk.

But, as in the case with Tulowitzki, his age allows for the possibility that Gonzalez could contribute when this team’s load of talented minor league prospects hits the majors. According to Baseball America, Colorado has the No. 6 farm system in baseball.

According to MLB.com, outfielder David Dahl (ranked No. 43 by the site) and third baseman Ryan McMahon (No. 45) are due to make their MLB debuts next season. Pitcher Jon Gray (No. 30) has already been promoted to the majors this season.

All of this suggests the Rockies will contend soon. Gonzalez would only bolster those hopes. The question Colorado brass is also considering: Can the team contend this season?

While the depth in the Colorado system suggests the Rockies could replace Gonzalez if they were to trade him, it could also be an argument for keeping him.

Though the Rockies have struggled lately, it appears the team could contend for a playoff spot. As of Thursday, Colorado is 9-12 and 2.5 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies will need to stay within five games of a postseason spot in the coming months for Gonzalez to have any value to the organization this season.

Of course, the organization will wait until it gets closer to the trade deadline to better handicap its fate.

But, if by mid-June Colorado is in the playoff race, it could make waiving the white flag difficult.

Internally, the Rockies could argue that they could build a contender around Gonzalez this season by becoming buyers in July. They have the depth in their system to be a player in the trade market. If the Rockies are ahead in the NL West by then, the decision would be easier. They would add to the roster. If things go the other way, trading Gonzalez would become more likely.

Though the situation looks similar to that of Tulowitzki, Rockies fans and management alike will be hoping the plot takes an entirely different arc and ends with Gonzalez leading the team to the playoffs.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth and follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

All stats are up to date through games on April 27.

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Los Angeles Angels closer Huston Street has not appeared in a game since April 23, and he’s headed to the disabled list with an oblique injury.

Continue for updates.

Angels Fill Street’s Roster Slot

Friday, April 29

The Angels PR team announced Cam Bedrosian has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Street’s spot on the roster.

Street Remains Among Baseball’s Most Consistent Closers 

Fletcher said Joe Smith would assume the closing responsibilities if Street does eventually go on the disabled list, and the team would probably call up Al Alburquerque or Cam Bedrosian from the minor leagues to fill the vacated roster spot.

Street has been impressive in nine appearances this season with a 1.17 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and five saves in five save opportunities. While it is a small sample size, the ERA is more in line with what fans saw of Street the past few seasons than his 3.18 mark for the Angels in 2015:

Street played for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Angels throughout his career and is a two-time All-Star and the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year. His 320 career saves are 18th in baseball history, per Baseball-Reference.com, which is a testament to his longevity and ability to come through with the game on the line for his team in the final inning.

The 32-year-old provides a reliable, veteran presence in the backend of the Angels bullpen and is one reason the team is only a game out of first place in the American League West through the early portion of the season.

The silver lining for Los Angeles is the fact Smith looked comfortable closing Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. He pitched a scoreless inning and allowed a single hit as he preserved the victory and moved the Angels back to .500 at 11-11.

Smith was used more in a setup role for Los Angeles last season and notched 32 holds, but he proved he was capable of finishing games in 2014 when he tallied 15 saves behind a sparkling 1.81 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. If he posts numbers like that while Street recovers, the Angels will likely still be well within striking distance in the division when the closer returns.

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Even before the 2016 Major League Baseball season began, the American League looked like it was going to be a wide-open battle that any team could win in the end.

Even still, it’s surprising to see the Chicago White Sox pacing the AL in the beginning. They’ve been really good. So good, in fact, that you can’t help but stroke your chin and wonder if they’ve been too good.

But the chin-stroking can wait until after we’ve given the White Sox their due credit. They went into Wednesday’s contest against the Toronto Blue Jays riding a five-game win streak, and they pushed it to six with a 4-0 victory. Jose Quintana struck out 10 in six scoreless innings, and Dioner Navarro provided the big hit with a two-run triple in the seventh inning.

The White Sox are now 16-6, making them the winningest team in MLB and the best team in the AL by a comfortable margin.

If the AL was a town, the White Sox would be the new sheriff. They were a wildly mediocre team last year, after all, going 76-86 and finishing in fourth in the AL Central. And where it’s taken them only 22 games to get to 16 wins this year, it took them 33 games to do that last year.

How the White Sox needed to improve on last year’s thud was no a mystery. An offense that ranked last in the AL in runs and OPS needed to be fixed. The same went for a defense that finished last in the AL in efficiency, according to Baseball Prospectus. Their pitching was fine, but both a top-heavy starting rotation and bullpen needed more depth.

And for now, the good news to report is the White Sox have improved on all fronts in 2016.

The White Sox’s biggest improvement has been on the run-prevention side. Their pitching staff is rocking a 2.24 ERA that edges the Washington Nationals for the major league lead, and it’s been a joint effort between their starters (2.65 ERA) and relievers (1.32 ERA).

It hasn’t all been luck, either, as Chicago’s collective 3.04 FIP (fielding independent pitching) also rates as elite. And as White Sox pitchers have done their part, so has their defense. Going into Wednesday, these were the top two defensive teams in MLB as rated by defensive efficiency:

1. Chicago Cubs: .753
2. Chicago White Sox: .748

That’s quite the turnaround from last season, and defensive efficiency (which measures the rate at which batted balls are converted into outs) isn’t the only metric that rates the White Sox’s defense as elite. They began Wednesday tied for second in defensive runs saved and third in ultimate zone rating.

“That’s what we focused on in spring training, and it’s kind of a culture change,” right fielder Adam Eaton told Christina Kahrl of ESPN.com. “We wanted to execute on good fundamentals, good defense, good pitching, and that’s what we’ve been getting. Defense comes to play every day.”

The White Sox’s offense, meanwhile, hasn’t been great in posting just a .683 OPS. But their lineup at least has a handful of above-average hitters after containing only two (Eaton and Jose Abreu) last season, and it’s been getting hits when they’re needed most. Navarro’s big triple Wednesday contributed to a high-leverage OPS that was an impressive .820 at the start of the day.

It all adds up to a plus-29 run differential. Just like their record, that’s the best in the American League. As far as excuses to say “See, this isn’t a fluke!” go, that’s a solid one.

But as for whether it can last, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is the White Sox’s offense can be better than merely “good enough.” It’s still waiting on Abreu to start providing his usual production, and the 29-year-old slugger presumably will get around to it eventually. Likewise, Todd Frazier is a normally dangerous hitter who’s so far been just OK. If he and Abreu get going, likely regression from guys like Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie will be offset.

The tricky part, though, is that the White Sox’s run production could start moving forward just as their run prevention starts moving backward.

With Eaton moving from center field to right field and Frazier in to play third base, the White Sox’s defense is certainly better now compared to last year. But only those two and Cabrera are providing standout defense early on, and Cabrera’s track record suggests his glove is not to be trusted. Add in only moderate use of shifts, and Chicago’s defense is probably playing a bit over its head.

On the mound, Chris Sale and Quintana have proved their excellence time and again, and yours truly fairly digs Carlos Rodon. And between David Robertson, Zach Duke, Matt Albers and a healthy Nate Jones, I agree with Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated that the White Sox have enough talent in their bullpen to sustain their excellent relief pitching.

But if the club’s defense comes back to earth, so will its pitching. And nobody’s going to feel that more than Mat Latos. The veteran right-hander has been a pleasant surprise with a 0.74 ERA in four starts, but he’s still struggling with diminished velocity and has put too much pressure on his defense with a minuscule strikeout rate. They haven’t yet, but the hits will come.

Once that happens, Latos‘ numbers might come to resemble the big ones attached to John Danks‘ name. That will make the White Sox’s rotation the same thing it was last year: top-heavy.

Looking down the road, the White Sox may be out of luck if they desire to fix that with help from outside. There may not be many sellers on the summer trade market, which could jack up the prices of whatever pitchers become available. And with a farm system that Baseball America ranks at No. 23, the White Sox aren’t exactly drowning in young talent.

The obligatory “long story short” here is the White Sox are overachieving. They’re an elite team in the win column, but they look less elite when you consider all the individual pieces. Their position atop the AL isn’t fixed with super glue.

However, don’t take this to mean we’re only looking at a coin with “elite” on one side and “useless” on the other.

The White Sox aren’t where they are because they’re skating by on good luck alone. With more depth on offense, defense and on the mound, they do indeed look like a better team than they were a year ago. And in this year’s AL race, that should be good enough to keep them in contention.

Maybe they won’t stay at the top of the league, but the White Sox probably aren’t going away.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Gomez was forced to exit Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners with a hand injury after getting hit by a pitch. 

Continue for updates.

Gomez Diagnosed with Hand Contusion, Listed as Day-to-Day

Thursday, April 28

According to the Houston Chronicle‘s Jake Kaplan, Gomez’s X-rays came back negative. 

Houston acquired Gomez via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 because he is a two-time All-Star and former Gold Glove Award winner. His combination of power and speed makes him a threat at the plate, on the bases and in center field. The Astros are a better team with that versatility available on a daily basis.

Despite Gomez’s impressive track record, he struggled at the dish for the Astros in 2015, hitting .242 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 41 games, although he drilled two home runs in the postseason. Thus far in 2016, he is batting .197 with no home runs and just two RBI. 

The Astros made the playoffs last season and don’t necessarily need Gomez healthy to compete, especially with Preston Tucker available to occupy center field. However, Gomez’s track record indicates he would add more pop to the order and provide the defense of a former Gold Glove winner, which could prove to be the difference on the road to October.

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Seattle Mariners owner Howard Lincoln has retired, the organization announced on Wednesday.

Mike Salk of 710 ESPN Seattle first reported that Lincoln would be retiring.

Minority owner John Stanton will take over as Chairman and CEO, per the Mariners. 

The Mariners provided a statement from Stanton: 

The Mariners remained owned on a majority basis by Nintendo of America. Per Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, “Lincoln is the company’s voice on the team’s board of directors and had essentially become its de facto owner given the limited involvement of the Japanese company in Mariners affairs.”

Lincoln, 76, took over as the Mariners’ CEO in September 1999 and has often “been credited with the team’s expansion into Japan, a market from which they’ve signed star players including Ichiro Suzuki, Hisashi Iwakuma and Kazuhiro Sasaki,” per 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brent Stecker.

Under Lincoln, the Mariners have had seven winning seasons and reached the postseason twice. According to Baker, the organization has grown dramatically and is now worth in excess of $1 billion.

A major part of that financial growth was assured in 2013, when the team and DirecTV formed a regional sports network, Root Sports Northwest, much like the New York Yankees did with the Yes Network and the Boston Red Sox did with NESN, to name two examples. 

The Mariners are currently 11-9 and in first place in the AL West.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa has suffered a groin strain and was put on the 15-day disabled list, the team announced Wednesday. 

Continue for updates.

Rockies Face Time Without Top-End Starter

Wednesday, April 27

The Rockies recalled right-hander Eddie Butler from Triple-A as a prospective replacement for De La Rosa in the rotation. 

De La Rosa was pulled from Tuesday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after running out a grounder to lead off the third inning. 

The 35-year-old De La Rosa was 1-3 in five starts this season with a 10.18 ERA. His 23 earned runs was the most among all pitchers in the league, a dreadful start for the pitcher who was named the Rockies’ Opening Day starter. 

Speaking with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, De La Rosa disclosed that this groin issue has been nagging him since his first start of the season, but Rockies manager Walt Weiss doesn’t believe that this is a “long-term problem.”

“I think it’s been an issue, but I don’t know when,” Weiss said. “He’s had a lot of nagging injuries over the years that kind of crop up from time to time. The groin is one of them, so it’s hard to say when exactly it started.”

The lack of longevity stymied De La Rosa’s growth in the league, as he could never develop into a staff ace. In his first 14 seasons in the league, he’s only pitched more than 150 innings three times. 

What might have been more concerning for the Rockies was that De La Rosa admitted that his arm felt “lazy” after an April 19 start against the Cincinnati Reds, per Saunders. Weiss, though, said that the team doesn’t think he has any problems with his arm. 

Butler, who is available to come out of the bullpen for Wednesday night’s game, will try to provide some relief to a Rockies team that is allowing the most runs per game in the majors with 6.2. 

They’ll have to rely on Chad Bettis and Tyler Chatwood to carry the rotation toward the top and keep the Rockies in the thick of what looks to be a very competitive NL West division that features the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The Detroit Tigers announced they activated pitcher Francisco Rodriguez from the family medical emergency list and optioned outfielder Tyler Collins to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

Collins, 25, had two hits in 20 at-bats this season. He was also the source of some controversy Monday after flipping off a booing Detroit crowd after misplaying a ball in the outfield.      

“To hear boos after that play hit a trigger inside of me, and I lashed out, completely inappropriately,” Collins said, per Katie Strang of ESPN.com. “I’m absolutely embarrassed, and I’m very sorry to everyone in Detroit.”

Rodriguez, 34, recorded four saves in five opportunities before briefly leaving the team. He’d struggled through most of his first seven appearances, giving up five runs in 6.1 innings. 

“Second-guessing myself,” Rodriguez said, per George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. “Walking the tying and go-ahead run is something that you as closer cannot let happen. You cannot do it. Simple as that. So I’ve just got to make some adjustments quick and start pitching better. Simple as that.”

The Tigers have lost five of their last six games and were not in a save situation during Rodriguez’s absence. He’ll likely continue to hold down the ninth inning for the foreseeable future despite his struggles.

Rodriguez had been stellar during his stint with the Milwaukee Brewers, which spanned parts of five seasons. His difficulty avoiding bats brings to mind his last stint in the American League, when he posted a 4.50 ERA in 23 games with the Baltimore Orioles.

Collins has played 88 MLB games over the last three seasons. He set a career high in games played last season with 60, hitting four home runs and driving in 25 runs. The Tigers have all the outfield depth they need, so this move shouldn’t affect their roster outlook all that much. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter

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New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said on Tuesday he would ban shifts in baseball if he was the commissioner of MLB, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com.

“It is an illegal defense, like basketball. Guard your man, guard your spot,” he said, comparing the shift to basketball’s defensive three-second rule, per Marchand. “If I were commissioner, they would be illegal.”

Yankees starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi lost his no-hitter in the seventh inning Monday evening after the Texas Rangers‘ Nomar Mazara hit a ball through the gap at shortstop that was vacant because the Yankees were running the shift.

While Girardi conceded that he would continue employing the defensive tactic while it was legal, he added: “I just think the field was built this way for a reason, with two on one side and two on the other.”

The shift has also been employed successfully against the Yankees at a consistent rate, another reason for Girardi’s ire.

As Marchand noted, the shift “has hurt the Yankees more than any team the last three seasons. The Yankees have been shifted more than 1,000 times than any other club. Their .269 average is the worst over that span.”

Don’t expect the shift to go away anytime soon, however. While MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred considered banning the shift before taking over his post in 2014, per Marchand, he’s since noted: “When I talked about the defensive shifts, I let myself get into a situation where I speculated about a change I wasn’t serious about.”

Indeed, the shift has become a crucial defensive strategy for many teams. It is most often employed against power hitters who have a tendency to pull the ball, increasing the likelihood that what might otherwise have been a hit will instead find its way to a newly positioned infielder.

There is a trade-off, of course, as the team is left with just one infielder on the other side of the field, meaning a well-placed bunt or opposite-field hit is almost guaranteed to be a hit. That strategic balance is why the shift will likely remain a legal part of the game. 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Charlie Morton will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a hamstring injury on April 23.   

Continue for updates.

Morton Out for 6-8 Months

Wednesday, April 27

The Phillies announced that Morton’s MRI revealed a torn left hamstring that will keep him out for six to eight months. 

MLB.com provided video of Morton’s injury, which occurred after he laid down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers:

The loss of Morton is a huge blow to the Phillies, who are rebuilding and have a collection of starting pitchers trying to rebuild their value (Jeremy Hellickson) or establish themselves in the big leagues (Aaron Nola and Vincent Velasquez).

Morton was in the former category, coming off a bad 2015 in which he posted a 4.81 ERA in 23 starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He could have been a potential trade chip for the Phillies this summer as a back-end starter who is only making $8 million with a mutual option for 2017.

Even with lowered expectations in Philadelphia as the team starts to build for its future, Morton’s injury will alter plans for the Phillies this year. 

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