If you haven’t read I gave you my take on the American league all star rosters. For the most part I thought the fans got it right. So why not do the National league, I’ll give you guys my take on how the fans did in the National league voting.
National League
Catcher: Yadier Molina
I know Yadier is a great defensive catcher, but Brian McCann who has missed a lot of games due to his eye problems is having another great year. Batting .304 with eight homers and 33 RBI, McCann is outhitting Yadier in all categories. Fortunately McCann got in as a reserve, but he deserved the start.
First base: Albert Pujols
No problem here, who else. As good as the first basemen in the NL are, Pujols has looked unnatural hitting the cover off the ball in almost every at bat. The stats are incredible, making Pujols a threat for the Triple Crown. Pujols is batting .336 with 31 homers and 82 RBI. Enough said—I can’t see anyone not voting for Pujols.
As for the people who say Ryan Howard shouldn’t have been to the game, well Charlie Manuel is simply returning the favor to his player who helped him get his ring. Plus it’s in St.Louis, Howard’s hometown.
Second base: Chase Utley
Again the fans did a great job; Chase Utley is hands down the best second baseman in the National league. Utley has become the premier second baseman making his fourth start at second base. Utley has had nothing short of an all star year batting .301 with 18 homers and 55 RBI, not to mention his .426 on base percentage. The closest completion for Utley would be Orlando Hudson who isn’t even close to Utley.
Third base: David Wright
The pick of Wright was OK, it was the popular decision, but I think there was a third baseman that was more deserving than Wright. Pablo Sandoval should’ve been the starter, not only did Sandoval not get the start, he get the snub. He wasn’t even selected as a reserve.
Not putting Sandoval in is a crime. His stats more than hold up when compared to Wright, and if it weren’t for the dumb rule saying that every team must have a representative, getting Ryan Zimmerman a trip to St.Louis over the more deserving Pablo Sandoval. Who is outhitting Wright .333 to .326 compared to Zimmerman’s .293. You be the judge, Sandoval simply got robbed.
Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez
The fans made the right decision with picking Hanley Ramirez over Jimmy Rollins. A Jimmy Rollins pick would’ve been like the Josh Hamilton pick in the American League. Hanley’s been having a great year batting .346 with 16 homers and 60 RBI. Hanley is more than deserving of the start.
Outfielders: Carlos Beltran, Ryan Braun, Raul Ibanez
I think the fans did OK, but at what point do you stop voting for 2 outfielders who haven’t played in over two weeks, why wouldn't those poeple vote for Joey Votto who has been out for a while, but was on a tear batting .364 until he got hurt. Brad Hawpe deserved the start regardless of who was injured. It’s uncertain whether Ibanez will play due to his groin injury, and Beltran is unlikely to participate in this year’s even due to his injury. This means I have to guess who should start instead of Beltran and Ibanez assuming both don’t play due to their injuries.
I would assume that Brad Hawpe would be first in line to start if somebody was injured; Hawpe is batting .327 with 13 homers and 56 RBI, and has established himself as the most underrated player in baseball. Justin Upton would be the next in line to start if both outfielders were injured. The young star is batting .300 with 14 homers and 45 RBI; however it’s really strange how the fans still kept voting for Ibanez and Beltran ignoring guys like Brad Hawpe’s great years.
Pitchers, who should start? Who got snubbed?
Obviously I’m not going to go over all the pitchers, but the starter should be either Lincecum or Dan Haren or even Matt Cain. You can’t go wrong with either, but how did Jason Marquis and Ted Lilly get in over young studs like Yovani Gallardo and Johnny Cueto. Here are the stats for the four.
Marquis: 10-5, 3.87 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
Lilly: 8-6, 3.32 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
Gallardo: 8-5, 2.75 ERA, 1.15 WHIP
Cueto: 8-4, 2.69 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
As good as Marquis and Lilly are pitching, it’s obvious Marquis got in based on his 10 wins. Ted Lilly’s ERA is much higher than Cueto or Gallardo’s.
Stats don’t lie and they say that Gallardo and Cueto should’ve got in. I’m sure both young arms will eventually get in, but I thought that Gallardo or Cueto, at least one was a lock for the game, they really got the snub.
- Login to post comments