First half roundup - Russell

Russell has been the biggest dissappointment by far this year. His defense will always be pretty good, but he wont ever throw many batters out because it seems that Charlie Hough (though has worked wonders in James Macdonald) hasn't taught any of our pitchers to hold runners on, or a decent change up. But thats a different story.

At the plate J. Martin has shown no power, but a huge walk rate. Are pitchers pitching around him? It seems that Russell is trying to force the issue too much. He's trying to force the ball to left or to right. He gets a little clogged in his swing and maybe tenses up. I don't know, but whatever it is, he needs to figure it out, because the bullpenn is short a bit and someone other than Manny is going to have to start producing. The good news is that Russ appears to be playing better. He really needs to get out there and not have an agenda. Just react to the pitch and hit it solid. Sounds easy huh? hah.