MLB is set to announce its All-Star teams this Sunday, but before they do, I’d like to offer my own take on it. I’m ignoring the fan vote, which always offers up two or three awful picks, since it’s a popularity contest more than anything (Ryan Howard, who has yet to play this year, is currently 5th among 1Bs.) This is a snapshot of who the best players in the league have been thus far this season and this season only—no Chipper Jones or Derek Jeter coasting in on popularity and seniority. I’ll present the NL team today and the AL will be up tomorrow. Anyway, enough stalling, let’s get to the starting lineup:
Playing CF and leading off, Michael Bourn. Bourn’s everything you want in a leadoff hitter: speed, ability to get on base, and has even added power this year, hitting 7 HR so far, already a career high. Add elite defense in a premium position, and it’s starting to look like the Braves absolutely fleeced the Astros when they traded for him last season.
Batting 2nd, Carlos Beltran in RF. Leading the NL in RBI and tied for the lead in HR, Beltran has been a huge constant on a Cardinals team that has struggled with injuries all year.
This man is scary-good at hitting.
3rd, Joey Votto, 1B. What really needs to be said here? Sporting a league leading .643 SLG and an insane .478 OBP, Votto is arguably the greatest hitter on the planet currently, and your 1st half MVP. And speaking of MVPs…
4th, Ryan Braun, LF. The reigning NL MVP is batting .311/.392/.596, tied for Beltran for the HR lead, and has added 13 SB. This type of season is becoming routine for Braun.
5th, David Wright, 3B. 2nd in the NL in both average and OBP, Wright is a major reason that the Mets, written off by most before the season began, are still thinking playoffs.
6th, Carlos Gonzalez, DH. CarGo has been an offensive force this year, batting .333/.389/.605 and leading the league in runs scored. His defense has been suspect though, so we’ll slot him at DH.
7th, Dan Uggla, 2B. Uggla leads all 2Bs in HR and OBP, and brings elite power to a position that normally doesn’t see it.
8th, Carlos Ruiz, C. Leading the league in average is always impressive, but doing it at catcher is extremely rare (unless you’re Joe Mauer.) Chooch is currently doing just that, with a Piazza-esque .364/.430/.591 and solid defense to boot. He’d be your MVP so far if not for Votto.
9th, Jed Lowrie, SS. If you haven’t heard of Lowrie until now, you’re probably not alone. Dumped from the Red Sox last year for Mark Melancon (who was so awful this year he managed to get sent down only two weeks in, and is currently sporting a 12.00 ERA) and now ignored in Houston, he’s broken out this year, leading all shortstops in OBP, SLG, and HR. I have to have an Astro somewhere, but Lowrie is no token pick; he’s earned it.
And now for the bench. We’ll start with the infield:
C—Yadier Molina, A.J. Ellis
1B—Paul Goldschmidt
2B—Aaron Hill
SS—Starlin Castro, Rafael Furcal
3B—Chase Headley
NL catcher was perhaps the easiest position in either league to fill out, as Ruiz, Molina, and Ellis have been head and shoulders above the rest of the league this year. 1B has been a wasteland in the NL this year, however. I guess that’ll happen when Pujols and Fielder leave, and Berkman, Morse, and Howard have all been injured. Goldschmidt was the only real candidate for a backup spot at 1B, but he’s bounced back from a poor April to be one of the best hitters in the league in May and June. 3B isn’t a whole lot stronger beyond Wright, but Chase Headley is a very solid player in every aspect of the game, and consistently brings above average offense despite having his numbers depressed by Petco. He’s also the only Padre worthy of consideration, so he makes it.
Rounding out the outfield:
Melky Cabrera
Martin Prado
Giancarlo Stanton
Andrew McCutchen
Jason Heyward
I’ll admit I expected a regression from Cabrera after his breakout last year. Instead, he’s gotten even better, batting a .351 so far. Prado has been great across the board for the Braves, and he can sub in at multiple infield positions as well, which managers always love. Stanton and Heyward are the youngest position players on the team; you’re likely to see them on All-Star teams for years to come. And McCutchen does it all on offense; I gave the start to Bourn because of his defense, but it nearly came to a coin flip.
And now for pitching. First the SPs:
He’s the best story in baseball, but just barely misses the cut as best pitcher.
Matt Cain (starting the game)
R.A. Dickey
Stephen Strasburg
Zack Greinke
Gio Gonzalez
James McDonald
Ryan Dempster
I really wanted to give the start to Dickey, who is the best story in the game right now, in my opinion. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who wanted to make him the starter, and you could probably make a strong case for Strasburg as well. But ultimately, I couldn’t deny Cain. His 14 K perfect game is up there with Kerry Wood’s 20 K 1 hitter and Sandy Koufax’s own 14 K perfect game as one of the greatest performances of all time. And his April 17 start against Cliff Lee is one of the best pitching duels in years. In between that, you have a league leading 0.897 WHIP, 107 Ks to only 22 BBs, and a 2.27 ERA.
And rounding out the team, the RPs:
Aroldis Chapman
Craig Kimbrel
Tyler Clippard
Kenley Jansen
Santiago Casilla
Chapman and Kimbrel are probably the two best RPs in all of baseball at the moment. Kimbrel in particular is putting up a season so far reminiscing of Eric Gagne’s epic 2003. Chapman has dialed back his record-setting velocity a bit this year, but remains one of the hardest throwers in baseball. Along with Chapman, Clippard, Jansen, and Casilla have all stepped into closer roles mid-season, and have all excelled.
So there you go. There are many players who narrowly missed the cut, and who I wanted to include but just didn’t have the room (or in at least one case in particular, Andre Ethier, was on the team but just got hurt.) But this represents the best the NL has to offer at the moment, in my opinion. Let the arguments begin.
I agree that the best players over the first three months should be starting – obviously that doesn’t happen with the fans voting (25 times ). But I also feel that the games legends should have a place on the roster as this an exhibition game and the fans (me included) want to see those guys. I don’t think the legends should necessarily take a roster spot from a deserving player but the rosters can be expanded to include someone like Chipper Jones so he can get the recognition he deserves as he wraps up a great career. And ….. Melky should be starting just to shove it in the face of the KC front office.
I disagree with that. As a Braves fan, I’m all for seeing Chipper as much as possible before he goes, but “the recognition he deserves?” Seven ASGs, an MVP, and a surefire HoF induction seems like enough. Not only is it time for the old guard to gracefully hand the torch off to the new crop of stars (as it will be time in another 8-10 years for this group to do the same), I don’t want to see legends like Jones and Jeter try to pretend that they can keep up with a bunch of 25-32 year old freak athletes. They had their moment in the sun.
I have a couple of problems with this. First of all, in almost every instance putting these legends on DOES take a roster spot from a deserving player. And the rosters have already been expanded, plus between players pulling out from injury, having pitched too recently, or just not wanting to play, there are more All-Stars than ever. There were a record 84 players designated as All-Stars in 2011, breaking the record of 82…set in 2010. The title doesn’t need to be diluted further by admitting legends who can no longer quite hang. They’ll get their recognition regardless. And finally, as Selig and MLB have been shouting since the 2002 tie, the game Matters Now. With an actual meaningful prize on the line, putting anything short of the absolute best the league has to offer at the moment is contradictory to that notion, and an attempt to have your cake and eat it too.
Sorry this is waayyyyy late, but I just got around to reading this and here are my thoughts. I am on board with almost all of your picks. I only disagree with two of your selections.
1) I would 100% start Hill over Uggla. I am about winning the game, and I know that Uggla can provide massive power, and he draws walks, but what about Hill? He is batting 70 points higher, matches his OBP and HR, and is out slugging Uggla by 100 points. He has even stolen 7 bases to Uggla’s 0. I’m also a big defense guy, and think it’s something that the National League needs to use to its advantage to beat the AL. Hill’s FPCT is .989 and Uggla’s is .978. I just feel that Hill is better or equal in enough categories to warrant being the starter over Uggla. Here is my other big change, mostly because I am such a defense guy. I would leave Uggla off the roster. I would put Brandon Phillips in as the reserve. BP is one of the premiere defenders at his position in the majors, and he is hitting .288 with some power. His OBP is lower, but if it’s late in the game and I need to get something started or provide a jolt, he is just as capable as Uggla in my opinion. Plus, we have all seen Uggla in late All-Star Game situations. Ugghhh.
2) I switch Bourn and McCutchen. Even you said it was very close. Bourn has a few more steals, but I have to have my guy in there that has an OBP over 400 (.401). His defense isn’t that much worse. He actually has a higher FPCT that Bourn, and still has a top five Range Factor. I am a huge defense guy like I said earlier, but, McCutchen’s offensive numbers are enough for me to start him.