When your favorite team stinks, it leads to a heated discussion over who should be the “best of the worst” and be the representative for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
The rule requiring that one player from every team must be in the event has lead to healthy debate and getting somebody like Ron Coomer to rub elbows with people who deserve to be there.
With the Minnesota Twins stuck at the bottom of the American League Central with a 24-35 record, the debate has opened as to whom should represent the team in Kansas City on July 10.
In my mind, there are three players that have the credentials to be put on the All-Star roster.
The first player, and most likely the front-runner, is Josh Willingham. “The Willinghammer” is currently second among American League outfielders in OPS (.969) behind Josh Hamilton. His .289 average is third on the team behind Ben Revere and Joe Mauer
Willingham has also provided several clutch hits for the Twins and has become the first Twin to solve the mystery of Target Field as he’s hit eight of his 12 bombs at the Twins’ home ballpark. For a team that has had it’s fair share of weird excuses, Willingham has been a pure power hitter.
The second candidate for the Twins could be their closer, Matt Capps. Capps is not a fan favorite in Minnesota, but he’s been having a solid season outside of a couple bad outings.
Capps is 14-for-15 in save opportunities this season and has boasted an opponent average of .233. Although Capps has made several games interesting late, he’s done his job well and could be rewarded with a trip to Kansas City.
Finally, there’s the pitcher that’s lead the Twins to a better stretch of play recently in Scott Diamond. The Twins acquired Diamond prior to the 2010 season and stashed him in Triple-A for a couple of seasons.
After making seven starts for the Twins last year (1-5, 5.08 ERA), Diamond made adjustments and is arguably their best pitcher with a record of 5-1 in seven starts.
No rookie pitcher has had a better start to their career than Diamond has, as his 1.61 ERA is a franchise-low for a rookie pitcher. Diamond has also cut down on the runners he’s let on base total including walking just four batters in 44.1 innings entering Tuesday.
While the Twins haven’t set the world on fire in the first half of the season, it’s safe to say that they’ll be sending somebody more qualified than Coomer was when he made his 1999 All-Star appearance. If it’s up to you, who would you choose to represent the Twins in the All-Star game?
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