Thursday, July 1, 2010

Why I Should Pick the NL All Star Team

This post continues my blog on ‘Why I Should Select the MLB All Star Teams.’ This post looks at the National League.

The main point I am trying to make is that too many times the All Star reserves are players that nobody has heard of and no one wants to watch. So after the fifth inning people turn the game off. If I picked the teams I would ensure that interesting players were selected as reserves. They would also have to have good stats to be worthy of the All Star selection. But right now the NL team has Omar Infante, Martin Prado, and Michael Bourn on it. I mean try to sell that! I feel bad for the companies paying for ad spots right before the inning when those three players are coming up.

So here are my picks for the 2010 NL All Star team. Selections for batters are based on stats of (AVG HR RBI OPS) and my own opinion on how interesting the player is for viewers. Pitchers are selected by ERA, Wins, and Saves, and again my secret potential viewership formula. Stats are through July 7th.

Catcher: Brian McCann, Ivan Rodriguez

Okay let’s get rid of Yadier Molina. He is hitting .229. McCann is a good choice for the starter (267 10 34 830). Molina’s OPS is 614. If we divide that in two that’s an OBP and a SLG of 307 each. I had batter stats than those in T-Ball. My backup catcher is Pudge Rodriguez. He;s currently hitting .299 and more importantly people will watch him play. Plus can’t you just see him swinging in the dirt and connecting on a curveball and getting that game winning base hit to the opposite field right over the second baseman’s glove. I can.

First Base: Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Dunn

Pujols is definitely the starter. And before you say why are there 5 first baseman remember the NL doesn’t have a DH. So Howard can be the starting DH and Adam Dunn can play the outfield if we need him to. But how can Joey Votto not be on this team already. His stats are (313 21 59 1006). He has the third highest OPS in all of baseball, and his stats are better than Pujols. He’s not an icon like Pujols and Howard yet but he’s well known and should be on this team. Dunn deserves a spot too. His stats are (.280 20 54 939). I’ll keep him on the bench until I need a pinch hit HR. Gonzalez is a solid choice and makes my team just like the real team and can play 1B right after Pujols’s shift.

Second Base: Brandon Phillips, Dan Uggla
Chase Utley would be my starter if he were healthy but Martin Prado? Really? Where is Dan Uggla? His stats are (285 16 49 863) Plus don’t you want to see him strike out four times again and make a costly error like last year. I know Tim McCarver does. Seriously how many times would McCarver bring that up? I say 10. You could play a drinking game on it and get seriously wasted. Phillips is a good choice and would start on my team. He’s well known and has good stats (307 12 30 855) and he has 10 steals.

Third Base: David Wright, Scott Rolen, Ryan Zimmerman

Another poor choice by MLB. Omar Infante? They should have just suited up Omar Vizquel and talked about the lost art of defense and run prevention and all that crap. I think Vizquel is on AL team but they wouldn’t mind the one day rental. Seriously though how can Ryan Zimmerman not be on this team? His stats are (296 16 47 917) while Infante’s are (307 1 22 706). Another high OPS pick by the NL! Look out for that inning when Jose Reyes is sitting on third base with one out as the tying run and Yadier Molina and Omar Infante come up. And how is Omar Infante a third baseman when the Braves have Chipper Jones? Something doesn’t make sense. Prado is their second baseman, Troy Glaus plays first base and Yunel Escobar is their shortstop. What position is Infante the 10th fielder like in softball?

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, Rafeal Furcal

Ramirez is my starter but I’ll take Furcal over Reyes and here is why. Reyes’s OBP is .320. His OPS is .735. Furcal’s numbers are .377 and .874. An .874 OBP for a non power hitting shortstop. Hanley Ramirez’s OPS is .865. Troy Tulowiski’s is .877. Furcal has the second highest OPS of all shortstops in the NL with over 200 at bats. Wow I am good. I should work for ESPN research or something. Seriously why can’t Jose Reyes just take a walk. He is faster than Usain Bolt, but he wont take a walk and then steal 2 bases. The guy probably swings at Intentional Walks.

Outfield: Andre Ethier, Matt Holliday, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, Jason Werth, Corey Hart, Chris Young

This position is harder than you’d think. There are just so many crappy teams in the NL right now. The one player reps almost have to all be outfielders. So that explains Chris Young. There is no other explanation for him and I am not going to waste further time talking about him or the Diamondbacks. My starters would be Etheir, Bruan, and Holliday. Jason Heyward just isn’t there yet. His average is .251, that’s not All Star material yet. My other reserves are Werth, McCutchen, and Hart. McCutchen is the Pirates rep and is also future star that is already well known. His stats are (294 7 24 812) and he has 20 steals, so hes good to use as a pinch runner. Werth’s stats are (279 13 48 883) and he has really good hair and facial hair. There should be a camera on him all the time. I’ll keep Corey Hart but I’m not a big fan of him. He does have good stats though at (285 19 61 908) and he has made the team once before. I got rid of Michael Bourn and Marlon Byrd because they are not that popular and I am representing their teams with relief pitchers. Michael Bourn should change his name to Jason and he will make the team every year.

Starting Pitchers: Josh Johnson, Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jiminez, Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Chris Carpenter

Pretty close to the real squad. I’ve got Tim Lincecum as my 35th man below so don’t worry he is on the team. I’m biased towards players with his first name. Gallardo is on the real DL now so he is off my team. I’m sorry but if you are on the DL you should not get recognition for being an All Star. I think the real team is up to like 70 players right now.

Relief Pitchers: Heath Bell, Brian Wilson, Francisco Rodriguez, Billy Wagner, Jonathan Broxton, Carlos Marmol, Matt Lindstrom

Wow looks at MLB’s NL relievers. Arhtur Rhodes and Evan Meek. That’s just awful. So lets say Jonathon Broxton gets a head cold the day of the game, who’s your NL closer NL? Matt Capps or Brian Wilson. Game over AL wins right there. AL is going to win be a lot anyway but at least my team has better relievers. Heath Bell took over for Gallardo on the real team, and I’ll add K-Rod, Wagner, Marmol, and Lindstrom. Marmol and Lindstrom take the spots of Bourn and Byrd because I like having relievers as I explained in the AL post. These relievers all have good stats just take my word for it. Sub 3.00 ERA’s and a lot of saves so far. And they are pretty well known which is good enough for a relief pitcher. Plus they are all better than Arthur Rhodes and Evan Meek. Really MLB?

Last Spot: Tim Lincecum. Only because I pulled Chris Carpenter’s name off the stats sheet before Tim. They both have 3.16 ERA’s as of today but C is before L in the alphabet. Both deserve to be there and you just can’t have an All Star game without Tim Lincecum. Special rule even if his ERA was twelve something. He should just pitch the whole game against Cliff Lee. That would be something I would stay up for.

So not too bad on the NL. It’s tougher because there are more teams but there is no DH so that helps. Players that really don’t deserve it are Chris Young and Matt Lindstrom, and maybe Carlos Marmol. I was almost going to add Alfonso Soriano but he has been too big of a bust the past few years to get an All Star spot.

Result: AL is gonna kick the NL’s ass.

So in summary here is who we are adding and deleting

Pudge for Molina
Uggla for Prado
Zimmerman for Infante
Furcal for Reyes
McCutchen for Bourn
Werth for Byrd
Marmol for Heyward
K-Rod for Meek
Wagner for Rhodes
Lindstrom for Capps

And here are my one team reps
ChiC: Marmol
Pitt: McCutchen
Hou: Lindstrom
Col: Jiminez
SF: Wilson
Az: Young

My Prediction: AL slugfest 12-2.

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