Posted on 05/30/2011 11:56:31 AM PDT by Hebrews 11:6
Two months into the season, here is my list of All-Star position players so far. My main criteria were offensive, using OPS ("On-Base Plus Slugging") and RC27 ("Runs Created per 27 outs"). In nearly every case this produced a clear stand-out, essentially making defensive comparisons unnecessary for this purpose, given the difficulty of determining them accurately anyway. Additionally, I selected based only on this year's performance; Pujols and ARod don't measure up, so far.
I found only one essential tie, AL SS.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
C CHRIS IANETTA, COL
1B JOEY VOTTO, CIN
2B RICHIE WEEKS, MIL
3B RYAN ROBERTS, AZ
SS JOSE REYES, NYY
LF RYAN BRAUN, MIL
CF MATT KEMP, LAD
RF LANCE BERKMAN, StL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
C RUSSELL MARTIN, NYY
1B MIGUEL CABRERA, DET
2B HOWIE KENDRICK, LAA
3B KEVIN YOUKILIS, BOS
SS ASDRUBAL CABRERA, CLE/JHONNY PERALTA, DET
LF ALEX GORDON, KC
CF CURTIS GRANDERSON, NY
RF JOSE BAUTISTA, TOR
DH - Michael Young - Texas
SP - Alexi Ogando
C - Brian McCann - Atlanta
Where is Pujols?
What about pitchers? I like Verlander and Scherzer.
SP - Jair Jurrjens - Atlanta
LF - Martin Prado - Atlanta
Ya got me! Being a National League fan, it never even occurred to me to research the DHs.
Ogando had a rough outing yesterday, but he’s been a savior so far. And Young has been the team MVP so far, the guy they wanted to get rid of, thank God they didn’t.
Catching should not just be an offensive category. It is about managing a pitching staff, calling a game, and picking off would-be stealers.
The best catcher in the game is Yadier Molina - STL. Hands down.
Even though Young has mostly DH’d, he can still fill in any infield position if needed.
Ianetta .866 6.88
McCann .809 5.90
McCann's a fine player, but so far this year Ianetta is out-hitting him substantially. True, it's Colorado, which should even it out some.
McCann is 3 for 3 with 2 doubles so far today so I expect those numbers to be closer by the end of the day.
I agree with you. Ianetta’s hitting better, but Molina is superior defensively. We’ll see how that gets balanced out eventually. Of course, Ianetta’s virtually unknown, so Molina and McCann will get the fans’ votes, especially now that Posey’s out.
SS- Starlin Castro, Cubs
.344 OBP
.425 SLG
.318 AVG
Had some errors this year but as the youngest player in MLB he’s gonna grow into the game...
Pujols is very, very ordinary offensively this year. You can vote him on his past work, but I’m focusing just on ‘11.
OPS RC27
Reyes .876 7.51
Castro .769 5.02
I watched a great game yesterday sitting about 15 rows behind the owner's box. The guy with the blue hat with his back to the camera is President Bush, the guy in the Black shirt is Nolan and they are talking to Ron Washington on the field and Jim Knox from Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the first game i didn't bring my camera to, I was so mad that all I had was my cell phone.
That was a great fight back from the Rangers to win that game. I’m getting a little concerned about Feliz.....I think it shows he definitely was not ready to be a starter.
Victor Martinez is a very passable catcher, + he can hit.
As to Prado (you're obviously an ATL fan!):
OPS RC27
Braun 1.004 9.77
Prado .757 4.04
It's not remotely close offensively. In fact, the real question is between Braun and Matt Holiday, which Braun wins, too.
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