June 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 should be on the team.

AL Starters:

Catcher: Alex Avila, DET (.305 AVG, 9 HR, 41 RBI) – Alex is having a great year for the Tigers, and leads American League catchers in both batting average and RBIs.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.348 AVG, 15 HR, 64 RBI) – Adrian was an easy choice here, as his batting average is outstanding and he has great power numbers to go along with it.

Second Base: Robinson Cano, NYY (.292 AVG, 14 HR, 46 RBI) – Cano has by far the most home runs and most RBIs among American League second basemen, and has one of the better batting averages, too.

Shortstop: Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE (.296 AVG, 12 HR, 43 RBI) – There are many good shortstops in the American League this year, but Asdrubal barely beat out Jhonny Peralta for the starting spot, with slightly better power numbers.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.289 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI) – This year, the American League third basemen as a whole are performing horrendously, and A-ROD is the starter with numbers that aren’t starter worthy.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, BOS (.320 AVG, 17 HR, 46 RBI) – Big Papi has 9 home runs more than anybody else at DH, and also has more RBIs than anybody else.

Outfield: Curtis Granderson, NYY (.283 AVG, 21 HR, 54 RBI) – Granderson has a solid batting average, but a crazy amount of home runs, which are what got him to be a starter.

Outfield: Jose Bautista, TOR (.336 AVG, 21 HR, 46 RBI) – Bautista has had a fantastic year, and has good, if not great, numbers in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.

Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (.312 AVG, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 24 SB) – Jacoby has a very solid batting average, decent power numbers, but a very high stolen base total, and that is what puts him ahead of the other outfielders in the AL.

Starting Pitcher: Josh Beckett, BOS (6-2, 1.86 ERA, 79 K) – Beckett’s 6 wins and 72 strikeouts aren’t all that impressive, but is 1.86 ERA leads the American League by a pretty wide margin and is outstanding.

AL Reserves:

C: AJ Pierzynski, CWS (.282 AVG, 2 HR 22 RBI)

1B: Adam Lind, TOR (.331 AVG, 15 HR, 44 RBI)
Paul Konerko, CWS (.327 AVG, 19 HR, 56 RBI)
Miguel Cabrera, DET (.328 AVG, 14 HR, 48 RBI)

2B: Howie Kendrick, LAA (.301 AVG, 7 HR, 23 RBI)

SS: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.280 AVG, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 21 SB)
Jhonny Peralta, DET (.303 AVG, 11 HR, 40 RBI)
JJ Hardy, BAL (.293 AVG, 8 HR, 24 RBI)

3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.260 AVG, 12 HR, 51 RBI)
Kevin Youkilis, BOS (.261 AVG, 11 HR, 50 RBI)

DH: Jason Kubel, MIN (.310 AVG, 5 HR, 30 RBI)
Victor Martinez, DET (.329 AVG, 6 HR, 39 RBI)

OF: Alex Gordon, KC (.281 AVG, 8 HR, 41 RBI)
Adam Jones, BAL (.295 AVG, 10 HR, 38 RBI)
Matt Joyce, TB (.312 AVG, 10 HR, 36 RBI)

SP: Jered Weaver, LAA (8-4, 2.06 ERA, 96 K)
James Shields, TB (7-4, 2.40 ERA, 108 K)
Justin Verlander, DET (9-3, 2.54 ERA, 110 K)
Michael Pineda, SEA (7-4, 2.64 ERA, 85 K)
Alexi Ogando, TEX (7-2, 2.66 ERA, 64 K)
Gio Gonzalez, OAK (6-5, 2.69 ERA, 82 K)
Phillip Humber, CWS (7-3, 2.90 ERA, 55 K)
CJ Wilson, TEX (7-3, 3.03 ERA, 93 K)

RP: Brandon League, SEA (20 SV, 3.90 ERA, 20 K)
Chris Perez, CLE (17 SV, 2.39 ERA, 18 K)
Mariano Rivera, NYY (17 SV, 1.98 ERA, 20 K)
Kyle Farnsworth, TB (15 SV, 1.69 ERA, 18 K)
Neftali Feliz, TEX (14 SV, 2.13 ERA, 17 K)

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

NL Starters:

Catcher: Brian McCann, ATL (.297 AVG, 11 HR, 39 RBI) – Brian has the best power numbers among NL catchers, and a batting average near .300 to go along with it.

First Base: Prince Fielder, MIL (.301 AVG, 20 HR, 61 RBI) – Prince definitely deserves to be the starting first basemen, with a .301 average and an incredible amount of home runs and RBIs.

Second Base: Rickie Weeks, MIL (.288 AVG, 14 HR, 32 RBI) – Second base does not have a whole lot of good players in the NL this year, but Rickie has had a very good season and doesn’t have much competition.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, NYM (.341 AVG, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 26 SB) – This was one of the easiest selections, as Reyes has an incredible batting average and has stolen 26 bases.

Third Base: Placido Polanco, PHI (.295 AVG, 4 HR, 38 RBI) – Not only in the AL, but in the NL, not a whole lot of third basemen are playing well, and Polanco got to be the starting third basemen by process of elimination.

Designated Hitter: Lance Berkman, STL (.308 AVG, 17 HR, 51 RBI) – Lance did not have good enough numbers to be a starting outfielder, but was starter worthy and ended up being the NL starting DH.

Outfield: Matt Kemp, LAD (.328 AVG, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 17 SB) – Kemp has had an incredible year for the Dodgers, and every single one of his numbers is impressive.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL (.310 AVG, 15 HR, 51 RBI, 16 SB) – Braun, like Kemp, has had a great year, although not quite as good, as he has shown power, speed, and the ability to hit for a high average.

Outfield: Michael Morse, WAS (.309 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI) – Morse has come out of nowhere and went from not being on my May All-Star team to starting in my June All-Star team.

Starting Pitcher: Jair Jurrjens, ATL (9-3, 2.11 ERA, 53 K) – Jurrjens, like Beckett in the AL, doesn’t have a whole lot of strikeouts, but Jair has a high number in the win column, and leads the NL in ERA.

NL Reserves:

C: Yadier Molina, STL (.297 AVG, 4 HR, 28 RBI)
Miguel Montero, ARI (.279 AVG, 8 HR, 37 RBI)

1B: Joey Votto, CIN (.327 AVG, 9 HR, 43 RBI)
Gaby Sanchez, FLA (.309 AVG, 12 HR, 44 RBI)
Todd Helton, COL (.308 AVG, 9 HR, 30 RBI)

2B: Brandon Phillips, CIN (.276 AVG, 5 HR, 36 RBI)
Neil Walker, PIT (.260 AVG, 8 HR, 46 RBI)

SS: Starlin Castro, CHC (.315 AVG, 1 HR, 32 RBI)
Troy Tulowitzki, COL (.276 AVG, 13 HR, 46 RBI)

3B: Chase Headley, SD (.286 AVG, 2 HR, 26 RBI)
Aramis Ramirez, CHC (.285 AVG, 5 HR, 32 RBI)

OF: Jay Bruce, CIN (.285 AVG, 17 HR, 48 RBI)
Justin Upton, ARI (.302 AVG, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 13 SB)
Hunter Pence, HOU (.321 AVG, 9 HR, 51 RBI)
Matt Holliday, STL (.347 AVG, 8 HR, 35 RBI)

SP: Tommy Hanson, ATL (8-4, 2.48 ERA, 89 K)
Cole Hamels, PHI (9-3, 2.51 ERA, 103 K)
Roy Halladay, PHI (9-3, 2.56 ERA, 114 K)
Jhoulys Chacin, COL (8-4, 2.81 ERA, 81 K)
Shawn Marcum, MIL (7-2, 2.85 ERA, 84 K)
Kyle Lohse, STL (7-3, 2.88 ERA, 56 K)
Ian Kennedy, ARI (7-2, 2.98 ERA, 85 K)

RP: Brian Wilson, SF (20 SV, 2.53 ERA, 33 K)
John Axford, MIL (19 SV, 2.78 ERA, 44 K)
Joel Hanrahan, PIT (19 SV, 1.39 ERA, 29 K)
Heath Bell, SD (18 SV, 2.79 ERA, 23 K)
Drew Storen, WAS (17 SV, 2.41 ERA, 29 K)

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

Come back next week for my June Awards.

May Awards

This week I will post my May Awards.

Before getting to them, though, I want to mention my great baseball weekend over Memorial Day. I got to see three levels of the Rangers’ system in four days. On Friday night, we went to the RoughRiders game and on Sunday afternoon, we were at the Rangers game, where we got to see Mike Napoli’s walkoff slide. Then on Memorial Day, I went down to Round Rock to see the Express play against the Iowa Cubs. It was my first trip to Dell Diamond and it was a very fun experience. The Express have a great ballpark. I probably like the RedHawks’ old park better, because it’s in a downtown setting and has more history and character, but that’s nothing against Dell Diamond. Pros for Dell Diamond were the covered concourse that provided a lot of shade on a hot day, the Nolan Ryan grill area that is nicely covered and provides picnic tables for eating, a restaurant on the suite level, and rocking chairs (also in the shade) that you can reserve for the game on a first-come, first-served basis. I’m too old for it but they also had a great kids’ area with rock climbing, a basketball court, and bungee trampolines. One negative is that the seats are very narrow. Before the game, we walked over to the Salt Lick Barbeque, which is right next door.

My dad, granddad, and I saw Seth McClung pitch in Round Rock, and he got pounded, giving up 7 runs on 10 hits in only 4 innings. Justin Miller then came in and did a very good job, as he threw three shutout innings. Hitting wise, there wasn’t much for the Express, but they did have three players with two hits a piece (Matt Kata, Doug Deeds, and Luis Cruz). Doug Deeds also had two RBIs in the game. Iowa beat the Express 8-6 in the game.

Rangers Awards:

MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.329 AVG, 3 HR, 37 RBI) – Michael is second on the team in RBIs and leads the team in batting average. He is having a fantastic year.
Runner-up: Mitch Moreland, TEX (.310 AVG, 7 HR, 18 RBI)

Cy Young: Alexi Ogando, TEX (6-0, 2.20 ERA, 53 K) – Alexi is my runner-up for my AL Cy Young, so he is definitely my Rangers Cy Young. He is undefeated and has an ERA of 2.20.
Runner-up: CJ Wilson, TEX (5-3, 3.32 ERA, 75 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Gentry, TEX (.225 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 5 SB) – Craig was my Rangers Rookie of the Month by using the process of elimination. The Rangers hardly have any rookies this year.
Runner-up: Yoshinori Tateyama, TEX (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 5 K)

AL Awards:

MVP: Jose Bautista, TOR (.360 AVG, 20 HR, 40 RBI) – Jose leads all of baseball in average and home runs, and is one of the top RBI men in the American League.
Runner-up: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.335 AVG, 10 HR, 47 RBI)

Cy Young: Josh Beckett, BOS (4-2, 1.80 ERA, 63 K) – Josh might not have the best record, but that isn’t his fault, as he leads the American League in ERA.
Runner-up: Alexi Ogando, TEX (6-0, 2.20 ERA, 53 K)

Rookie of the Year: Michael Pineda, SEA (6-2, 2.30 ERA, 73 K) – Michael was a Cy Young candidate and you hardly ever see that from a rookie. He has a very bright future.
Runner-up: Jeremy Hellickson, TB (6-3, 2.80 ERA, 46 K)

Manager of the Year: Manny Acta, CLE (33-22, 1st place) – The Indians were expected to be in last place (that’s where I predicted them), but Manny has the Indians in first place.
Runner-up: Eric Wedge, SEA (30-27, 2nd place)

NL Awards:

MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL (.309 AVG, 13 HR, 42 RBI, .405 OBP) – Ryan has a batting average above .300 (11th in NL), 13 HR (t-2nd in NL) and 42 RBI (t-4th in NL). He may not be the leader of anything, but he has had a very good all-around year.
Runner-up: Jay Bruce, CIN (.294 AVG, 17 HR, 46 RBI)

Cy Young: Jair Jurrjens, ATL (7-1, 1.51 ERA, 38 K) – Jair Jurrjens is tied for second in the NL in wins, and has the best ERA in baseball. He is the obvious choice for the NL Cy Young.
Runner-up: Kyle Lohse, STL (7-2, 2.13 ERA, 47 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (17 SV, 2.79 ERA, 43 K) – Craig is the Braves closer and has had a very good year with 17 saves and an ERA under 3.00.
Runner-up: Freddie Freeman, ATL (.278 AVG, 5 HR, 21 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Kirk Gibson, ARI (32-26, 2nd place) – After a bad start to a season expected to be terrible, the Diamondbacks have gone on a run and are now half a game out of first place.
Runner-up: Edwin Rodriguez, FLA (31-24, 2nd place)

Come back next week for the third edition of my ballpark rankings.