25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Tony Campana is playing pretty well so far this year for the Cubbies. Campana has played in 13 games so far in August and he is 7 for 17 (.412 avg, 1.059 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 3 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 65 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 29 for 103 (.282 avg, .655 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer, 5 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Campana is a hacker though as he has only walked 5 times so far this year. Still, the rookie outfielder has injected some speed into the station to station offense of the Cubs when he’s on the field.

33-year old righty swinging 3B Aramis Ramirez was a popular guy at the trade deadline but he didn’t want to leave the Cubs, so all of the talks went nowhere. Ramirez has played in 106 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 116 for 407 (.285 avg, .828 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 20 homers and 68 RBIs. He has now played in 1,081 games in his first 9 years with the Cubs and he is 1,189 for 4,074 (.292 avg, .884 OPS) with 623 runs scored, 233 homers, 781 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ramirez is currently #5 in Cubs’ history in OPS with a .884 mark and he’s also #6 in team history in homers with 233. The Cubs probably wish they could have dealt Ramirez, but on the other hand it’s nice to have him still on the team because he’s a good run producer.

34-year old righty swinging outfielder Reed Johnson is in line for either more P.T. due to the trade of Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians, or he could be dealt by Sunday’s trade deadline. Johnson has played in 63 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 45 for 137 (.328 avg, .924 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 4 homers, 23 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Those are amazing numbers when you consider that he has only walked 3 times while whiffing 36 times. Johnson can play all three outfield spots which will make him valuable on the trade market. It will be interesting to see if Johnson gets a bump up in P.T. or if he’s dealt to another team this week.

21-year old righty swinging shortstop Starlin Castro will be the only Chicago Cubs player at the All-Star Game next week. Castro has played in 84 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 110 for 358 (.307 avg, .764 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 2 homers, 38 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Castro has now played in 209 games in his first two years with the Cubs and he is 249 for 821 (.303 avg, .759 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 5 homers, 79 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Castro looks like a building block for the future for the Chicago Cubs.

33-year old lefty swinging 1B Carlos Pena is finally starting to pay off the Cubs for their patience with him while he was slumping earlier in the year. In Carlos Pena’s last 10 games, Pena is 9 for 36 (.250 avg) with 8 runs scored, 5 homers and 9 RBIs. Pena has now played in 73 games this year for the Cubs and he is 51 for 230 (.222 avg, .780 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 14 homers and 39 RBIs. The Cubs hope he keeps ripping the ball because they are likely going to be sellers at the trade deadline and Pena could be a very nice chip to move in the trade market.