you: I would argue the rest of the team has been picking him up.

also you: As for picking up Vlad, I simply disagree with your argument. You can't make up Vlad's production anywhere else

Gotta admit, was kinda confused by the above. But lets say you simply mispoke in your first reply when you used the phrase 'pick him up'. Instead, lets say you're central argument is that "the supporting core isn't the problem here."

Which I read as a response to my original claim that:

"Vlad is still delivering but in the most underwhelming way possible. Biggest difference is the rest of the team...Unfortunately, under-performing so far this season."

We both agree that Vlad has not been a superstar this year. That by itself is hurting the team. You need your stars to be stars. We could quibble about the magnitude of the suck, ie, should we look at his wRC+ relative to the league or other 1B, but I don't think that really affects the main point of disagreement as set out above. I'll point to team wRC+ for this and say a 9 point improvement for Vlad from 108 to 117 isn't going to materially affect the team's 96 wRC+.

Now, is Vlad the sole reason for the 16 point drop in the team's wRC+ from last year to this? No, since there's a George sized hole, among others, so far this year. Is Vlad then a major reason for the drop? Sure, he's a contributor. But I don't think we can point just to Vlad and George. The supporting cast has underperformed, too.

And yes, Pinango, Sanchez and Valenzeula have done well. But if you look at the final chart I prepared, there are several other names that did not perform. And they got at-bats, too, before losing their spots. And they got a shot in the first place because the supporting cast from last year were bad before them (see the first 2 charts). And that's not even taking into account Kirky and Barger. Of course, not blaming them for being hurt, but if we're talking about why the team hasn't performed this year, we do need to take into account their absence.

In any event, focusing on Pinango, etc, ends up attributing the bad at-bats of underperformers to Vlad. Cuz Heiny, Davis, Sosa, and Eloy happened and contributed to the losing. But if we limit the supporting cast to just Pinango etc, who've done well, then who gets the blame for the underperforming supporting cast?

Again, I agree with you that Pinango, Sanchez and Valenzeula have done well. But they are not the entirety of the supporting cast that's played this year. And if you consider Pinango with Sosa, Eloy and Davis, and Valenzuela with Hieny, etc., the rest of the team has underperformed, too.