2011 BASEBALL ALL-STARS SO FAR [Vanity]

[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

[randomhero97]

Eh, I wouldn’t expect him to be a starter.

[txroadkill]

I think you mean Alexi Ogando, but I agree. Maybe too soon. Feliz I think will get his rhythm back, I think he is still sore, but a 100mph ball still scares the crap out of batters.

[Hebrews 11:6]

ESPN stats show Martinez hasn’t caught a single inning this year, DHing exclusively.

[dfwgator]

I did mean Feliz, he had a few blown saves. I think Ogando will be ok, he just had the one bad inning, it happens to the best, heck even Cliff Lee isn’t exactly setting the world on fire in Philly this year.

[cripplecreek]

I'd definitely send Verlander. Scherzer just freaks batters out looking at them. LOL

[randomhero97]

You can thank Atlanta’s GM lapse of judgement for Andrus, Harrison, and Feliz.

[cripplecreek]

True enough. Avila has done most of the catching for Detroit this year. Martinez is the only thing keeping Cabrera down to 10 intentional walks so far.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

ESPN stats show Martinez hasn’t caught a single inning this year, DHing exclusively.

FWIW...he caught a couple games during the Pirates series during interleague (no DH) about 10 days ago...

[strider44]

Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox is hitting .329 and leads the league in RBIs at 45 and he doesn’t make you team? Uh huh.

[Softballmom]

One minor correction. Jose Reyes is a NYM not a NYY.

[TJC]

As a big Cardinal fan poophole sucks this year. All he is thinking about is how the Cubs are going to pay him $300,000,000 (30,000,000 fpr 10 years)next year

[AGreatPer]

P KRVIN CORREIA 7-4, for the Pirates.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Thanks for catching that.

[cripplecreek]

Tigers are wearing out Twins pitching staff today.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Gonzalez is off to a fine start but is only the second or third most-productive AL first baseman (RBI being primarily a function of opportunities rather than "clutchiness"):

OPS RC27

Cabrera .983 8.72

Texeira .907 6.85

Gonzalez .911 6.67

[txroadkill]

Elvis is blowing me away this year. I got a chance to talk to him a couple of weeks ago while he was warming up and he is just a funny guy. I cant wait to see how many bases he steals this year. I think he has a good shot at breaking a record for most steals without getting caught. plus he has 2 home runs to boot.

Matt is doing great but he seems to always have one bad inning.

The guy to watch is Moreland, I think in two years, maybe even next year, he will be right up there with Kinsler and Cruis. He bats like he wrote a text book on it. While he was in the minors they told him he should pitch because he can't hit. He showed them.

[dancusa]

Red Sox stole 4 bases in the 1st inning yesterday when Victor Martinez was catching.

[randomhero97]

I know hindsight is 20/20 but that was just a bad trade all around.

Apparently, Andrus was expendable because Yunel Escobar was the future SS of the Braves. Well, he had attitude issues back then and really I think he should of been traded while his value was high. They could of got a stop gap SS if they didn't feel Andrus was ready.

There was no way to resign Texeira and Escobar is now a Blue Jay. The worse part of it is the Braves have absolutely no speed and rank at the bottom of the MLB in SB and attempts.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I don’t get to see much of the AL, being a Dodger fan (which is plenty challenging this year!), but apparently as a catcher ol’ Victor makes a good DH.

[dfwgator]

The offense has been disappointing so far, and I think that has a lot to do with Clint Hurdle leaving.

In fact, I think the Rangers would be better off had they fired Washington, and hired Hurdle to be their manager last year, but of course, that wasn’t going to happen after last year’s run.