It’s usually difficult coming up with fair grades for the Curve’s midseason report card, but not this year

This team was expected to be very good but has blown all kinds of opportunities and even endured a 10-game losing streak
The Curve easily could be 10 games over .500, yet at the halfway point they’re a disappointing 35-36

The offense has been pretty good, but the pitching staff has the worst ERA in the Eastern League
Poor pitching was mostly to blame for the 10-game skid, the second-worst in franchise history

Two days before that streak, Manager Tim Leiper said this - ‘‘It’s a point where we should be turning the corner and getting better’’
Instead, the opposite happened as the team fell apart
Also two days before the skid, Leiper said he thought he had a ‘‘really good team’’ and one that was a ‘‘better team than what our record shows’’

The team is better than the record shows
But the record is subpar, so this team doesn’t deserve very good grades

Offense

Steven Pearce and Neil Walker have been outstanding, while Adam Boeve and Brandon Chaves enjoyed a strong first half
Andrew McCutchen’s struggles caught the Pirates off guard and hampered the Curve offense early
Last year’s team MVP, Brett Roneberg, also has struggled, and losing Vic Buttler for two months with a hamstring injury has been a big setback
Still, the offense has done a good enough job
Grade: B-

Defense

The Curve have 59 errors, good for fourth in the EL, and lead the league in double plays
Most would agree Walker has handled third base well, but he’s struggled recently to raise his error total to 16
Brandon Chaves is probably the best defensive shortstop the Curve have ever had
McCutchen has had some growing pains in center field, and Boeve still takes too many bad routes to balls in right
Grade: C+

Starting Pitching

The team’s biggest problem
Kip Bouknight (7-3) and Luis Munoz (7-4) have been good, combining to go 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA
The other three starters on the opening-day roster - Josh Shortslef (2-6), Yoslan Herrera (1-5) and Wardell Starling (2-5) - have combined to go just 5-16 with a 5.32 ERA
The rotation’s inconsistency has killed the team’s chances of putting together a nice winning streak, and Starling has been dropped to the bullpen
Grade: D+

Bullpen

Matt Peterson is one of the best closers in franchise history, but everyone else has had his share of troubles
Dave Davidson (5.08 ERA) and Romulo Sanchez (4.05), both on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, were strong early but have struggled recently
Former major leaguer Alay Soler has been a disappointment, and Justin Vaclavik has had all kinds of problems adjusting to Double-A
It hasn’t helped that the bullpen has had to eat a ton of innings because of the starters’ struggles
Grade: C-

Coaching Staff

You have to love pitching coach Ray Searage publicly calling out Shortslef a couple weeks ago
Leiper is always positive, which can be beneficial with some teams, though it would be good to see him rip this underachieving club every now and then
He constantly says things will be OK, even after bad losses, but he maybe should try the tough-love approach from time to time like Searage did
Grade: B-

Overall

This is a good team, one that could put everything together at any point and win eight or 10 in a row
But when a club this good is losing two of three at home to a lousy, last-place Connecticut team, there’s clearly something wrong
It would be a shame to see the Curve’s streak of four consecutive years in the playoffs end with this kind of talent
That’s exactly what’s going to happen, though, unless the pitching improves enough to provide some kind of consistency
Grade: C-

At the Ballpark

Fans, where were you in April and May?
Sure, the weather in April was awful most nights, but there also were plenty of beautiful evenings that provided great baseball weather at Blair County Ballpark, yet the crowds were lousy
Maybe the Curve’s honeymoon period is over for some fans
Or maybe you just don’t want to go to the ballpark until June
Whatever the case, attendance is down this season, and the Curve are nervous about it
The ‘‘Curve Idol Series’’ is a good idea, and it was good to see the McCutchen and Walker bobbleheads
However, the ‘‘dry delay’’ fiasco on May 16 was a black mark on the franchise’s reputation
Grade: B

Randy Ruiz was the Curve’s best hitter, and the Pirates gave him away for nothing when they traded him to Reading for future considerations June 1

It just didn’t make sense

The Bucs have made a habit of adding guys like Ruiz to help the Curve win, not getting rid of them for no apparent reason

Well, it turns out there was a reason

Apparently, Ruiz was not a good teammate and not the kind of team leader Pirates and Curve personnel had hoped for
No one will say so on the record, but some in the Curve camp feel the club is much better off without Ruiz
He was a bad influence in the clubhouse, they say, and did more harm than good

Now, I am compelled to divulge Ruiz was nothing but professional with me (Cory Giger) and other local media
He was always accommodating and polite, served as a good team spokesman and never ripped any of his teammates

Whatever Ruiz was doing wrong, I didn’t see it
But he rubbed some people the wrong way, so he had to go

Ruiz was expected to anchor the Curve offense, and he was hitting .290 with seven homers and a team-high 30 RBIs when he was traded

Sure enough, though, the Curve have been better without Ruiz, going 23-27 with him and 12-9 without him

The main reason the club hasn’t missed Ruiz is because his replacement at first base, Steven Pearce, has been fantastic since coming up from Single-A Lynchburg on May 1

Until just a few days ago, my choice for the Curve’s first-half MVP was third baseman Neil Walker
The prized prospect is all over the Eastern League leaderboard in a number of offensive categories and has been up to the challenge moving from catcher to third base

But Pearce has been better, and the numbers prove it
Pearce has played only 49 games to Walker’s 69, yet Pearce has more RBIs (40 to 36)
Walker has one more home run (10 to 9), but Pearce has the better average (.320 to .316)
Pearce also is exceptional defensively, proving to be the second-best first baseman in Curve history behind only Carlos Rivera

It’s no surprise the first baseman has emerged as the Curve’s biggest offensive threat this season

It is a surprise how everything transpired, though, with the bizarre trade of Ruiz and the emergence of an outstanding prospect in Pearce