Miguel Cabrera and Jose Valverde will represent the Detroit Tigers in the 2010 Midsummer Classic.
Cabrera narrowly lost out to for the starting position at first base to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins. Through Saturday night’s game against the Mariners, Cabrera had a .338 batting average, 20 HR and 68 RBIs.
Cabrera is most likely the last remaining hitter with a chance at the American League triple crown this season. He ranks in the top five in batting average, runs batted in and home runs.
Valverde, the Tigers’ dominant closer, will join Mariano Rivera of the Yankees and Joakim Soria of the Royals as the closers in the AL bullpen.
Valverde has collected 18 saves so far while posting a league-best 0.51 ERA. Valverde has been nearly perfect this season.
The Tigers’ closer has only given up two earned runs in 35 innings pitched this year. Valverde will hopefully be given an opportunity to display his talent and creative antics on the mound in Anaheim.
Despite the Tigers landing two players in this year’s game, they could have easily had two more in the forms of Justin Verlander and Brennan Boesch.
Boesch has taken MLB by storm ever since he was called up in late April when Carlos Guillen was sent to the disabled list. Through Saturday, Boesch has hit .342, 12 HR and 46 RBI. However, he has only 219 at-bats, which is roughly 100 less than most position players who have been playing the entire season.
Boesch could certainly make a strong case to have a roster spot over other AL outfielders such as Vernon Wells or Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays. Wells is currently sporting a .274 BA to go along with 19 HR and 48 RBIs. Bautista has hit 21 HR and 52 RBI, but he only has a .230 average so far.
Boesch’s ability to hit left-handed pitching just as well as right-handers could have also proved useful in the All-Star game. The left handed hitting Boesch is hitting .453 versus lefties as opposed to .307 against right handers.
Verlander is off to another strong season in 2010. Verlander picked up his 10th win of the season versus the Mariners on Saturday night. He has 103 strikeouts to go along with a 3.85 ERA.
The hard throwing Verlander is arguably one of the best starting pitchers in the AL today. It would have been hard to find an argument against him being on the team if he was selected.
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