A disappointing first half of the baseball season came to an end (a few weeks back).  Hopes of a pennant chase have thus far been thwarted by an anemic offense that is threatening to break some long held records, and not the good kind.

Supposed free agent saviour Adam Dunn has been one of the main culprits of the disappointment on the south side.  As bad as he has been overall, he’s been worse in the games I’ve attended, sporting a .103 batting average and striking out 43 times in only 78 ABs.  For comparisons sake, the next highest strikeout total I’ve seen over an entire season for someone with less than 100 AB belongs to the 2009 version of Jim Thome, and that was “only” 28 strikouts in 95 ABs.  Other offensive culprits include Gordon Beckham, who has struggled out of the gate for the second straight year, and Alex Rios, who appears to give little effort night in and night out.

On the pitching side, Matt Thornton’s early implosion as closer seems to have been forgotten as the bullpen has mostly stabalized with Thornton reclaiming his setup role and Sergio Santos closing things out at the end of the game.  Starting pitching has been consistent, although Jake Peavy’s health remains a concern.