Ubaldo Jimenez is without a doubt the best pitcher in all of Major League Baseball this season.
His 15-1 record is easily the top mark in the majors, while his 2.20 ERA is fifth best among pitchers with 10+ decisions.
His three complete games include a no-hitter versus the Atlanta Braves, which is the first ever in the Colorado Rockies’ 18-year franchise history.
“(He’s) one of the great talents, and he’s a treat to watch pitch. He’s 15-1. His record speaks for itself. I said Jimenez from the beginning, he was my pick,” National League manager Charlie Manuel said of choosing Jimenez to start over Florida’s Josh Johnson.
“I want to say it’s a huge honor just to be out there. Having the chance to share all those moments tomorrow with all the stars, just to be there, I’m honored just to be in the clubhouse,” Jimenez said of the opportunity to start the midsummer classic.
Jimenez’ selection to make the team and to start the 2010 All Star game were no-brainers, as was the case for Rockies’ star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki would have started the game if not for the broken left wrist he endured June 17. And while it’s disappointing that the young star won’t be able to play tonight, an even bigger travesty has left another young and extremely talented Colorado player off the roster.
Carlos Gonzalez, one of the three players the Rockies received in a trade for Matt Holliday following the 2008 season, is in the middle of enjoying a better season than the All Star Holliday.
Holliday is currently hitting at a .300 average, with 51 RBI and 16 HRs. Gonzalez on the other hand, has a .314 average, 60 RBI, 17 HRs with four more runs scored (56-52) and double the stolen bases Holliday has swiped (12-6). On top of all that, Gonzalez is completely comfortable on defense as he is the NL leading outfielder with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, with three assists and zero errors compared to Holliday’s .994 fielding with two errors on the season.
Carlos “CarGon” Gonzalez is a rare commodity in the MLB to be sure, as a truly legit five-tool player.
CarGon can easily smash baseballs into the Mile High night and his sweet swing allows him to hit for a solid average as well.
Once on the base paths, Gonzalez gallops gracefully with blistering speed that allows him to smartly steal bases or be used in hit-and-run situations that produce runs for the Rockies.
In the field, Gonzalez glides effortlessly towards balls hit into the expansive Coors Field outfield and his arm is surprisingly strong as well.
In fact, the argument can be made that Gonzalez is outperforming Hollidays since the 2008 trade that both were the centerpieces of. While the Rockies also gained a great closer in Huston Street and starter Greg Smith that put in some time earlier this year as a fill-in.
And while Gonzalez continues to improve while Holliday is plateauing, CarGon was left off of the All Star roster—he was straight up robbed.
Ryan Braun (.292 average, 13 HR, 54 RBI), Corey Hart (.288 AVG, 21 HR, 65 RBI) and Andre Eithier (.324, 14 HR, 54 RBI) are the three starters for the NL and Gonzalez’s numbers are comparable with Hart’s and better than the other two. CarGon’s numbers are much better than reserve OFs Michael Bourn, Marlon Byrd and quite comparable to Holliday’s and Chris Young’s production.
Still, Gonzalez didn’t make the All Star team.
It’s another instance of a stellar player from the Mile High City being overlooked in favor of others from bigger towns. Holliday lost out on the MVP when he was with the Rockies, and Tulowitzki was robbed of the Rookie of the Year as well. Despite Carmelo Anthony playing at an extremely high level the last three seasons, he was basically an afterthought for the NBA MVP.
As Denver continues to “grow up” (a funny term when reminiscing about the three professional championships and four major professional teams the city sports) in the eyes of coast-biased media outlets, more respect will come regarding our sports’ stars.
The Rockies have opened eyes as a well-run organization that grows its own stars and now competes annually for postseason play—and along with his incredible performance, Jimenez has been getting shine from all across America.
People will wake up and realize that Gonzalez is a star in the making, just as they did with Tulo, and CarGon will make his fair share of All Star games.
But that’s not much of a consolation for now, Gonzalez is meant for an All Star game, he’s flashy, exciting and plain fun to watch. The MLB could have at least let CarGon go deep a few times in the Home Run Derby—he would have done better than Nick Swisher, Holliday and some of those other chump performances.
For Gonzalez, he should use this snubbing as another motivating force and if he keeps playing at this extremely high level, we’ll all see him in the outfield in 2011.
Rich Kurtzman is a Colorado State University Alumnus and a freelance journalist. Along with being the Denver Nuggets Featured Columnist on bleacherreport.com, Kurtzman is a contributor on NFLTouchdown.com , the CSU Rams Examiner and Fort Collins Beer Bars Examiner on examiner.com and the Colorado/Utah Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com .
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