​What if I had told you on Opening Day that all of the following would happen to the Cubs before the All-Star break?Four of the five starters in the Opening Day rotation would spend time on the ILCade Horton would make only two starts and then have Tommy John surgeryIn all, 13 Cubs pitchers would wind up on the ILThe staff leader in saves would have… fiveThe staff would allow a NL-worst 148 home runsThe team would lose 10 in a row as part of a 7-22 stretchWhy, you’d probably have said that team would be in last place in the NL Central and on their way to a 90-plus loss season, right?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAll of those things DID happen. And yet, the Cubs have reached the All-Star break not in last place, but 12 games over .500 at 54-42, in the top wild-card spot and just five games behind the Brewers in the division.Of course, lots of things went also right for the Cubs: Two 10-game winning streaks, Pete Crow-Armstrong’s amazing run, a hot streak by Swanson, waiver-wire relievers stepping up when injuries decimated the bullpen, and while it’s fashionable to bash Craig Counsell, I believe the Cubs manager’s steady hand and useful managing of the pen has helped the Cubs get to this point. If they do overtake the Brewers and win the division, Counsell’s likely the NL Manager of the Year.Here are my letter grades for Cubs players so far this year. Remember! These are just my personal opinions and I definitely grade on a curve.Kelly’s done everything he’s been asked to do and more. In addition to a solid bat, he’s become one of the best catchers in the league at ABS challenges, currently ranking second in percentage correct (77 percent) of all catchers who have challenged more than 10 times.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIncidentally, happy birthday to Carson, who turns 32 today. I’d love to see the Cubs keep him around another year or to. He’s one of Jed Hoyer’s best free-agent signings.Busch got off to a terrible start and after his first 14 games was batting just .118/.220/.157 (6-for-51).Since then his numbers are close to what he did last year: .260/.392/.436 in 81 games with 11 home runs. That’s the entire power output for the season, a bit low for a guy who had 34 last year (and four more in eight postseason games).Hopefully he raises his game in the second half.Nico’s offense has stalled since the end of April, as I noted in yesterday’s “Three up, three down” article.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe continues to play solid defense, which is the only reason this grade isn’t a “D.” As with Busch, here’s hoping Nico returns to form after the break.As noted in the intro to this article, Swanson was mired in an awful slump in mid-June. Then he had that monster series against the Mets in New York. Over his last 22 games: .310/.330/.702 (26-for-84) with four doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 30 RBI, six stolen bases and 20 runs scored. Here’s hoping he keeps up that producti