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2011
My National League All-Stars
An article by XtreemIcon
I think it’s pretty absurd that All-Star ballots are released three or four weeks into the season. Even if the voting ended as recently as a month ago, Alexi Ogando would be the starting pitcher for the American League, and Mets fans know firsthand the struggles he’s been through since then.
I don’t start paying attention to All-Star candidacy till around mid-June, and I don’t vote till the night the polls close. So here, despite that fact that no one asked, are my All-Star selections. The players listed in bold are my choice to start and the players following are the reserves for that position.
C – Brian McCann, Miguel Montero, Chris Iannetta
McCann is an easy choice, as is Montero for a reserve role. Iannetta probably won’t make it because of his .219 batting average, but he’s in the top four amongst catchers with 200 plate appearances in HR, RBI, runs scores, OBP, SLG%, and wOBA. McCann and Montero are the only other catchers to appear in the top four in each of those categories.
1B – Prince Fielder, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols
It’s my guess all three will make the team and Pujols will start due to his popularity, if he’s healthy.* First base is the deepest position, unless you count outfield as one position, which I don’t. And for those who are concerned about the Nationals in the future because of their pitching and Bryce Harper better not overlook Michael Morse.
2B – Rickie Weeks, Brandon Phillips, Danny Espinosa
Fairly easy choice with the first two, but Espinosa has been a revelation for the Nationals. And for those of you concerned about the Nationals in the future because of their………..yadda yadda yadda.
3B – Ty Wigginton, Ryan Roberts, Chase Headley
This was a real tough choice and I couldn’t pick a starter. I’m almost inclined to vote for David Wright based solely on his popularity with the fans or for Chipper Jones for the nostalgic vote. Be that as it may, Wiggy leads all 3B in home runs and SLG% and has positional versatility that’s become very important recently. Roberts is tied for second in home runs and leads in stolen bases, so I gave him the nod for the power/speed combo, and also the hometown vote for a position so thin, the hometown vote becomes important. He’s also fourth in wOBA and OBP and third in SLG%. Headley is hitting .299/.394/.403 and is second in stolen bases among third baseman. And Blazing Saddles is one of my favorite movies, so I giggle every time his name comes up because I think of Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr. Honestly, none of these guys are real All-Stars and it wouldn’t even be a discussion if Wright and Ryan Zimmerman were healthy. I wouldn’t argue if Aramis Ramirez made the team.
SS – Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro
Not much debate here. Reyes is having a first half that comes along once in a blue moon, Tulo is having a terrible season for him and it’s still really good, and Castro is one of the game’s most promising young stars. Towards the end of the season, all we’ll be hearing is how Jose Reyes will be the best free agent on the market, and this will be a good way for the rest of the country to see what all the Mets fans already know.
OF – Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, Lance Berkman (left to right), Matt Holiday, Justin Upton, Carlos Beltran (left to right), Hunter Pence
There are some other guys you can make a case for, including Seth Smith, Shane Victorino and Andrew McCutchen, but there’s that stupid rule that every team has to be represented Sorry, Cutch.
P – Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw, Kevin Correia, Anibal Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Craig Kimbrel, Joel Hanrahan, John Axford
The Phillies pitching is living up to their hype, Kershaw is a stud, and Correia and Sanchez are having a real solid years and someone needs to represent the Marlins and Pirates. Cutch could have represented the Pirates in the OF to make room for Lincecum here, but the Astros are so dreadful, no other player even comes close to Pence’s candidacy, so I had to go with Pence there and Correia here. Sorry, Lince. I hate that rule.
*Author’s Note – If Pujols is indeed not healthy, then I would replace him with Gaby Sanchez, which would allow Lincecum to replace Anibal Sanchez. Don’t overlook Sanchez, though. He’s actually been just a little bit better than Lince. But a large part of the All-Star game is star power, and that would tip the scales in Lincecum’s favor dramatically.
American League will go up tomorrow.
About the Author: Jesse Elgarten
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3B: Why doesn’t Aramis make your top 3?
C: 3rd would be Yadier in my view
OF: I’d put McCutch over Pence myself
SP: As much as we know Roy is the best SP in the league. Hamels in my view deserves the start.
I also put Lohse on the team over Correia. I’d also put Hanson over Sanchez.
Closers, I put Heath Bell over Axford. Wouldn’t be surprised if a kid like Tyler Clippard makes it.
When I say Hanson over Sanchez etc. I’m assuming your scenario’s happen. So Pujols out, I don’t put Lincecum in, I’d put Hanson.
McCutch gets screwed because Houston doesn’t have any other all stars. But if there was a way he should go in over Pence
Agreed,I originally had Cutch. Then went through everyone and realized that the Astros were left out. Had to be Pence.
Aramis can make my top 3. I just don’t care because they’re all about as average as can be.
Yadier doesn’t measure up to Iannetta’s all-around game this year.
As far as T-Clip, it could happen, but middle relievers are often shut out.
Axford’s been a little bit better than Bell this season, but Bell’s certainly good enough to make the team.
thoughts on Hanson over Lincecum and Anibal?
Also Hamels is having a better overall season than Roy, no? I mean both are great… but Cole has been slightly better just way way more under the radar
Hanson has missed some time which is what I think could keep him off.
Jessep…
as for ERA/FIP/xFIP
Hanson 2.62/3.14/3.06
Lince 3.04/2.72/2.83
Anibal 2.82/2.83/2.93
K/9, BB/9
Hanson 9.77, 3.32
Lince 9.77, 3.20
Anibal 9.14, 2.48
Hanson’s also got the higher tERA of the three. I disagree with you on Hanson over those two.
Xtreem:
This is where I divide from sabermetrics. I don’t know what FIP is, nor do I care.
If it helps teams find better talent, that’s fine. But as a fan for the AS Game… I don’t need it
Hanson 15GS 89.1IP, 97K, 33BB, 29R, 62H, 9-4, 2.62 ERA
Lincecum 17GS 112.I, 122K, 40BB, 44R, 92H, 6-6 3.04 ERA
That’s what I look at. And I’m not saying Lincecum is bad. And in terms of star power, Lincecum should go. But Hanson is having a better season.
Anibal doesn’t even matter anymore after he got shelled last night for 7 runs in like 3 innings I think it was.
Jessep, I’m not into hardcore sabermetrics, either. I don’t care for WAR, I rarely use OPS (and only do for quick-glance comparisons), and if it involves a “replacement player,” you can keep it. But I do think FIP and xFIP are important and useful. If W-L record and ERA are the only areas in which you can show me that Hanson is better than Lincecum this season, we’ll continue to disagree.
You’re probably right now with Anibal from last night, but if he doesn’t go, Sanchez HAS to, so you can’t replace Pujols with Hanson, anyway.
Hanson is better with regards to Hits per inning pitched, almost identical in terms of K per inning pitched. Hanson has given up less runs and won more games. I’m not saying its hands down… but Hanson has pitched better overall than Lincecum in my view.
Fair enough. It’s certainly a valid argument. I think Lince was a little better, but I also think with this being an exhibition of star-power, it’s not really close in that regard.
And what stat do you use to measure how much you hate Jose Reyes?
I agree in terms of star power for sure.
For me, if a front office wants to look at FIP or whatever you used, that’s fine. For me, I like Hits allowed, Walks allowed, K, K per IP, H per Ip, ERA and W-L.
McCutchne over Beltran easily for me. Their averages are the same, Beltran has one more homer, and 13 more RBIs but Cutch has the steals by 12, defense, and runs scored. I could be confused with this, but if Cutch has hit leadoff at all this year than his numbers are 10x more impressive than Beltran’s. The clincehr…McCutchen’S WAR 4.1 Beltran’s 2.6
Beltran may have been a homer pick. McCutchen is All-Star worthy, but I’m not a fan of WAR. It factors in UZR, which is so erratic itself and needs at least three years worth of info to be remotely useful, so I don’t use WAR for anything more than a simple ancillary guideline,especially when trying to compare three months worth of games.
Their wOBAs are almost identical, Beltran has a higher OPS, a slightly higher average, a slightly better K/BB rate and is doing it all with a much lower BABIP. I like Beltran better. And to be fair, remember…..I did have Cutch, until that stupid rule forced Pence onto the team.
Btw anibal got rocked today and as an fyi…Tulo was just taken out of the game possibly for rest but no word yet
FWIW, my NL choices:
C – Brian McCann (Miguel Montero)
1B – Prince Fielder (Joey Votto)
2B – Rickie Weeks (Danny Espinosa)
3B – Aramis Ramirez (Wiggy)
SS – Jose Reyes (Tulowitzki)
OF – Berkman, Braun, Kemp (I take Beltran and Upton as reserves.)
Top 3 SP – Jair Jurrjens, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels (Phuck Philly)
Top 3 RP – Joel Hanrahan, Mike Adams, Jonny Venters (Screw the saves, these guys are the best)
Thanks, Joe. We agree mostly, and would probably agree even more if you had filled out your entire 32-man roster. I didn’t pick Jurjens because his FIP and xFIP are pretty high, but he’d be on my short list of replacements for guys who may pitch the prior Sunday, along with Lincecum and Hanson.
And as far as RPs go, you’re right, but we both know middle relievers are rarely ever given a shot because there’s no one statistic that compare them.
I know they have stats that show inherited runs scored and another called strand rate, and I cant stand the “holds” stat intended for middle relievers, only thing worse is the save. All relievers should be evaluated exactly as you would starting pitchers (excluding longevity measurements) with an emphasis on strand rates and performance with inherited runners. I would also prefer relievers with higher K/9 and GO/AO rates.
I didn’t realize it was 32, but I’d agree we’d be very similar.
As far as strand rate goes, Joe, Tyler Clippard and Antonio Bastardo are far and away the best middle relievers in the NL, stranding over 99% of their inherited runners and doing it with an 11.15 and 10.20 K/9, respectively. Of note, Taylor Buchholz has an 87% strand rate, seventh in the league, but has a higher K/9 than anyone in front of him aside from T-Clip and Bastardo. He’s also got an K/BB rate better than Bastardo and almost identical to T-Clip.
Know who has the absolute lowest strand rate of all qualified relievers in the NL, and a very low 1.83 K/BB rate to boot? Pedro Beato. So don’t be fooled by his 3.72 ERA.