May All-Stars

This week I will give my AL and NL All-Star teams. These are as if the All-Star game was today, and who I think it should be (which is completely hypothetical, since with the fan vote there will be about 8 Yankees starting, and possibly one player from a team outside the Bronx).

American League:

Starters:

Catcher: Alex Avila, DET (.290 AVG, 6 HR, 24 RBI) – Alex leads all American League catchers on the ballot in batting average, and has very solid power numbers to go along with that.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.328 AVG, 9 HR, 41 RBI) – Adrian leads all of baseball with 41 RBIs, has a very respectable 9 home runs to go along with that, and has a batting average over .300.

Second Base: Howie Kendrick, LAA (.322 AVG, 7 HR, 18 RBI) – Howie is having a fantastic season. He is one of the leaders among AL second basemen in average, homers, and RBIs.

Third Base: Kevin Youkilis, BOS (.280 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI) – Most years, Kevin’s numbers would not be starting caliber, but this year, they are, as AL third basemen are doing horrible.

Shortstop: Jhonny Peralta, DET (.289 AVG, 6 HR, 23 RBI) – Jhonny is having a great year, and has a batting average near .300 and very solid power numbers.

Outfield: Jose Bautista, TOR (.364 AVG, 18 HR, 31 RBI) – Jose leads all of baseball with a .364 batting average and 18 home runs, and also has 31 RBIs, which is very good.

Outfield: Matt Joyce, TB (.358 AVG, 7 HR, 23 RBI) – Matt is second in baseball with a .358 batting average, and his power numbers are pretty good.

Outfield: Curtis Granderson, NYY (.263 AVG, 15 HR, 33 RBI) – While Curtis’ batting average isn’t to the level of Jose Bautista or Matt Joyce, his power numbers definitely are worthy of starting.

Designated Hitter: Michael Young, TEX (.341 AVG, 2 HR, 31 RBI) – Michael has a fantastic batting average at .341, and while he only has two home runs, his RBI numbers are still very high.

Starting Pitcher: Trevor Cahill, OAK (6-1, 1.79 ERA, 52 K) – Trevor is tied for the American League lead with 6 wins, and is second in the AL in ERA, behind Josh Beckett.

Reserves:
C: Russell Martin, NYY (.271 AVG, 8 HR, 24 RBI)
1B: Adam Lind, TOR (.313 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
Paul Konerko, CWS (.306 AVG, 10 HR, 35 RBI)
Miguel Cabrera, DET (.314 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI)
2B: Robinson Cano, NYY (.275 AVG, 9 HR, 27 RBI)
Ben Zobrist, TB (.260 AVG, 8 HR, 28 RBI)
3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.254 AVG, 10 HR, 37 RBI)
Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.267 AVG, 9 HR, 25 RBI)
SS: Erick Aybar, LAA (.314 AVG, 2 HR, 14 RBI)
Asdrubel Cabrera, CLE (.282 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (.296 AVG, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 15 SB)
Adam Jones, BAL (.296 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI)
Jeff Francoeur, KC (.282 AVG, 8 HR, 27 RBI)
DH: Travis Hafner, CLE (.345 AVG, 5 HR, 22 RBI)
Jason Kubel, MIN (.319 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI)
SP: Josh Beckett, BOS (3-1, 1.73 ERA, 52 K)
Dan Haren, LAA (4-2, 1.84 ERA, 66 K)
Alexi Ogando, TEX (4-0, 2.13 ERA, 37 K)
Zach Britton, BAL (5-2, 2.14 ERA, 33 K)
Michael Pineda, SEA (6-2, 2.16 ERA, 61 K)
James Shields, TB (4-2, 2.26 ERA, 60 K)
Josh Tomlin, CLE (6-1, 2.41 ERA, 30 K)
RP: Mariano Rivera, NYY (13 SV, 1.80 ERA, 16 K)
Chris Perez, CLE (12 SV, 2.84 ERA, 12 K)
Jose Valverde, DET (10 SV, 2.84 ERA, 20 K)
Kyle Farnsworth, TB (9 SV, 1.76 ERA, 9 K)
Neftali Feliz, TEX (8 SV, 1.26 ERA, 8 K)

Players per Team (starters in parentheses):
Tampa Bay Rays – 4 (1)
New York Yankees – 5 (1)
Boston Red Sox – 4 (2)
Toronto Blue Jays – 2 (1)
Baltimore Orioles – 2
Cleveland Indians – 4
Detroit Tigers – 4 (2)
Kansas City Royals – 1
Chicago White Sox – 1
Minnesota Twins – 1
Texas Rangers – 4 (1)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 3 (1)
Oakland Athletics – 1 (1)
Seattle Mariners – 1

National League:

Starters:

Catcher: Ramon Hernandez, CIN (.337 AVG, 6 HR, 15 RBI) – Ramon leads all National League catchers in both batting average and home runs. That is definitely worthy of being a starter.

First Base: Joey Votto, CIN (.331 AVG, 5 HR, 26 RBI) – Joey Votto has the best all-around numbers of all NL first basemen, even though Prince Fielder has better power numbers.

Second Base: Brandon Phillips, CIN (.323 AVG, 5 HR, 26 RBI) – Brandon is the third Red to be a starter here, and is well deserving, with good power numbers and a .323 batting average.

Third Base: Placido Polanco, PHI (.337 AVG, 2 HR, 25 RBI) – Placido has a terrific batting average, and while he doesn’t hit many homers, he still has plenty of RBIs.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, NYM (.318 AVG, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 17 SB) – Jose has stayed healthy. That is a miracle. On top of that, he is hitting .318 and has 17 stolen bases.

Outfield: Matt Kemp, LAD (.324 AVG, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB) – Matt Kemp also has a lot of stolen bases, although not as many as Reyes, but Kemp does have better hitting numbers.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL (.301 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI, 10 SB) – Once again, Ryan Braun is having an amazing year. This guy is too good.

Outfield: Matt Holliday, STL (.356 AVG, 6 HR, 30 RBI) – It looks like Matt might do something that I never thought would happen. He may very well be the only Cardinals’ 3 or 4 hitter (he hits 4, Pujols hits 3) to make the All-Star team, as he is on mine.

Designated Hitter: Lance Berkman, STL (.349 AVG, 11 HR, 35 RBI) – Lance is having a terrific start to the season. I still don’t think he will be able to keep it up, though.

Starting Pitcher: Jaime Garcia, STL (5-0, 1.64 ERA, 53 K) – Jaime is tied for the lead in baseball with a 1.64 ERA, has a good amount of strikeouts, and is tied for 5th in the NL in wins. That is a good year.

Reserves:
C: Jonathon Lucroy, MIL (.320 AVG, 4 HR, 18 RBI)
1B: Ike Davis, NYM (.302 AVG, 7 HR, 25 RBI)
Prince Fielder, MIL (.287 AVG, 10 HR, 36 RBI)
Gaby Sanchez, FLA (.311 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
Todd Helton, COL (.323 AVG, 6 HR, 20 RBI)
2B: Neil Walker, PIT (.283 AVG, 6 HR, 30 RBI)
Rickie Weeks, MIL (.292 AVG, 7 HR, 14 RBI)
3B: Pablo Sandoval, SF (.313 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI)
Chipper Jones, ATL (.262 AVG, 4 HR, 27 RBI)
SS: Stephen Drew, ARI (.271 AVG, 3 HR, 27 RBI)
Starlin Castro, CHC (.324 AVG, 1 HR, 21 RBI)
OF: Carlos Beltran, NYM (.281 AVG, 8 HR, 25 RBI)
Andre Ethier, LAD (.311 AVG, 4 HR, 21 RBI)
Hunter Pence, HOU (.293 AVG, 5 HR, 33 RBI)
Jay Bruce, CIN (.265 AVG, 10 HR, 26 RBI)
SP: Josh Johnson, FLA (3-1, 1.64 ERA, 56 K)
Jair Jurrjens, ATL (5-1, 1.80 ERA, 29 K)
Tim Lincecum, SF (4-4, 2.06 ERA, 75 K)
Kyle Lohse, STL (5-2, 2.17 ERA, 36 K)
Roy Halladay, PHI (6-3, 2.21 ERA, 80 K)
Shaun Marcum, MIL (6-1, 2.37 ERA, 62 K)
Charlie Morton, PIT (5-1, 2.62 ERA, 29 K)
RP: Leo Nunez, FLA (17 SV, 2.66 ERA, 24 K)
Francisco Rodriguez, NYM (15 SV, 0.76 ERA, 25 K)
Joel Hanrahan, PIT (13 SV, 1.66 ERA, 16 K)
Heath Bell, SD (9 SV, 1.13 ERA, 12 K)
Drew Storen, WAS (9 SV, 0.38 ERA, 19 K)

Players per Team:
Philadelphia Phillies – 2 (1)
Atlanta Braves – 2
Florida Marlins – 2
New York Mets – 4 (1)
Washington Nationals – 1
St. Louis Cardinals – 4 (3)
Cincinnati Reds – 4 (3)
Chicago Cubs – 1
Milwaukee Brewers – 5 (1)
Pittsburgh Pirates – 3
Houston Astros – 1
Colorado Rockies – 1
Los Angeles Dodgers – 2 (1)
San Francisco Giants – 2
San Diego Padres – 0
Arizona Diamondbacks – 1

Come back next week for my May Awards.