Will they ever get it right?
Since the All-Star game counts for home-field advantage of the World Series they should try to get it right.
Let’s take a trip around the All-Star horn shall we.
Right off the bat, why is there need for a replacement DH? So we have to find the second-best DH instead of making that spot for someone more deserving?
Cue David Ortiz:
.259 BA, .364 OBP, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 43 R
Snub Paul Konerko and Kevin Youkilis:
Konerko – .296 BA, .384 OBP, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 46 R
Youkilis – .299 BA, .416 OBP, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 65 R, 2 SB
I’m pretty sure both players can handle the hardships of the DH position, though they normally play the field.
Okay, let’s continue around the field for the American League.
Second base looks good, shortstop looks good, third base looks…Alex Rodriguez?
.276 BA, .349 OBP 12 HR, 62 RBI, 43 R, 2 SB
Once again, Konerko and Youkilis have better numbers, yet the AL has three guys at third base and just two at first. You can even argue the fact Youkilis can play third base.
Snubbery.
We go to the outfield. Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford, Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter all look good. Wait… tell me they didn’t put Jose Bautista and his .236 batting average along with Ichiro and his .328 batting average?
Of course they did.
Bautista – .236 BA, .360 OBP, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 50 R, 3 SB
Ichiro – .328 BA, .383 OBP, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 33, 22 SB
Snubbery.
Alex Rios – .303 BA, .358 OBP, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 49 R, 22 SB
Okay, I suppose I can let Bautista go based on the fact his OBP would suggest he isn’t a Carlos Pena who just swings ridiculously hard, but Ichiro?
Rios matches Ichiro in his go-to stats of stolen bases and runs, while having an extremely respectable batting average and on-base percentage, along with far more power than Ichiro.
Let’s take a look at the pitching.
Okay, I’m seeing no Jered Weaver or Felix Hernandez for some reason, but that’s because the pitching is deep and Fausto Carmona repping the Indians because Shin-Soo Choo is DLed. Trevor Cahill got in to rep the Oakland A’s.
Phil Hughes…really?
Hughes – 10-2, 3.83 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 86 K, 94 IP
Hernandez – 6-5, 3.03 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 116 K, 121.2 IP
Weaver – 8-3, 2.82 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 124 K, 108.2 IP
Snubbery.
For the love of god, people, wins and losses are not the be-all and end-all in judging a pitcher’s worth.
I don’t even need to add any input. Just look at the numbers and remember the fact the game is in Anaheim where Weaver pitches.
When looking at the relievers for the American League the only case of snubbery would probably revolve around Matt Thornton. He was selected because the White Sox needed a representative. Had Konerko or Rios been in as they should have, you wouldn’t have needed this.
Neftali Felix – 22 saves (tied for lead in the AL), 3.00 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 40 K (most among closers), 36 IP
Rafael Soriano – 21 saves, 1.47 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 28 K, 30.2 IP
Onto the National League we go…Yadier Molina? What?
.229 BA, .309 OBP, 3 HR, 31 RBI, 16 R, 6 SB
Please, Cardinal fans, stop voting. Every year we go through this.
Miguel Olivo – .307 BA, .363 OBP, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 37 R, 4 SB
Snubbery.
Another tough first base position with Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and Adrian Gonzalez all deserving. Joey Votto should clearly be there as well, having better numbers than Howard and Gonzalez, but it’s a very deep position, so there was no winning in this.
Howard – .293 BA, .349 OBP, 15 HR, 59 RBI, 52 R
Gonzalez – .291 BA, .386 OBP, 16 HR, 51 RBI, 43 R
Votto – .312 BA, .412 OBP, 19 HR, 57 RBI, 53 R
That’s a tough call. Gonzalez was the lone Padre and Howard basically won on his name rather than numbers.
At second base, Dan Uggla or Rickie Weeks should have made it, but Martin Prado and Brandon Phillips are good picks.
I think the coaching staff spelled someone’s name wrong. Omar Infante? That isn’t how you spell Joey Votto, Dan Uggla and/or Rickie Weeks.
Infante – .309 BA, .341 OBP, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 23 R, 3 SB
Uggla – .271 BA, .358 OBP, 16 HR, 49 RBI, 53 R, 2 SB
Weeks – .271 BA, .370 OBP, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 53 R, 5 SB
Snubbery.
Ryan Zimmerman (.286 BA, .376 OBP, 14 HR, 44 RBI, 49 R, 1 SB) is another person better than Infante who didn’t make it. Troy Glaus (.260 BA, .364 OBP, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 41 R) is another player better than Infante.
The list goes on and on.
Outside of Hanley Ramirez, the shortstop position is weak in the National League. Mark Reynolds and his .221 BA and 112 Ks didn’t make it at third, so that’s good. Baby steps toward getting this correct.
Ah, the outfield… where we stick undeserving players from bad teams. Marlon Byrd and Chris Young are having pretty good years and deserve to be the Cub and Diamondback representatives. Michael Bourn, however, should not be the Astros representative and Matt Holliday just shouldn’t be there.
Bourn – .260 BA, .336 OBP, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 48 R, 25 SB
Holliday – .298 BA, .374 OBP, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 45 R, 6 SB
Adam Dunn – .275 BA, .361 OBP, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 44 R
Colby Rasmus – .278 BA, .369 OBP, 16 HR, 40 RBI, 48 R, 9 SB
Josh Willingham – .281 BA, .413 OBP, 15 HR, 46 RBI, 43 R, 7 SB
Carlos Gonzalez – .295 BA, .329 OBP, 14 HR, 52 RBI, 49 R, 12 SB
Andre Ethier – .320 BA, .375 OBP, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 39 R, 1 SB
Ryan Braun – .295 BA, .351 OBP, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 50 R, 11 SB
Andrew McCutchen – .295 BA, .374 OBP, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 50 R, 20 SB
Once again, the list goes on and on for players better than Bourn or Holliday in the outfield. Snubbery.
Pitching in the National League is deep, so someone like Clayton Kershaw, Matt Latos, or Roy Oswalt were going to get left out simply because there was not enough room.
What is confusing is why pitchers like Evan Meek and Arthur Rhodes made it over any of the above starters or some closers. Apparently the new thing is to elect setup men, which is fine if their numbers are insanely good.
Rhodes apparently is the Tim Wakefield of this year’s All-Star game. Old is the new good.
Rhodes – 3-2, 1.09 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 32 K, 33 IP
Meek – 4-2, 0.96 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 42 K, 44 IP
Solid numbers, but a setup man should at least have more Ks than innings pitched to make the All-Star team over closers like:
Heath Bell – 23 saves (leads NL), 1.72 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 49 K, 36.2 IP
Francisco Rodriguez – 20 saves, 2.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 52 K, 42 IP
Billy Wagner – 17 saves, 1.35 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 52 K, 33.1 IP
Oswalt should have been your Astros representative over Rhodes, Meek or Capps, which would mean Willingham/Dunn would sub in for Bourn and McCutchen would sub in for Holliday. All teams would still have a representative and you’d have two pitching positions open for Bell, Wagner, Rodriguez or the starters mentioned above.
It’s so simple, yet, we must make it so difficult.
Maybe next year…nah, probably not.
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