Reactions To All-Star Selections

Milwaukee fans made Ryan Braun an All-Star starter for the NL, Ben Sheets is on the roster, and Corey Hart has a chance to fill the last spot on the team. Meanwhile, somehow the cubs have 7 players on the NL roster - including an outfielder who hasn't played since June 11, another outfielder who has put up solid but not spectacular numbers, and a pitcher who stole a spot from Cole Hamels.

-Alfonso Soriano should not be a starter. No way. Soriano has only appeared in 51 games this year. Corey Hart, Pat Burrell, Carlos Lee, and Aaron Rowand (who are all candidates for the final spot) are all more deserving than Soriano.

-I feel that Hart and Lee are also more deserving than Kosuke Fokudome, who is also a starter for the NL. Fokudome is hitting .285 with 7 HR and 35 RBI. Wow. Let's look at some NL outfielders who have more HRs and RBIs than Fokudome:

Corey Hart, Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, Carlos Lee, Rick Ankiel, Jason Bay, Cody Ross, Chris Young, Matt Holliday, Xavier Nady, Brad Hawpe, Carlos Beltran, Ken Griffey Jr., Ryan Church, Hunter Pence, Andre Ethier, John Bowker, Aaron Rowand, Jeremy Hermida, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Kemp (that's 21 players). Jim Edmonds has appeared in 19 fewer games than Fokudome and has almost the same numbers.

-Not sure how Jason Varitek is an All-Star. Varitek is one of my favorite players, but check out his numbers - .219 avg, 7 HR, 27 RBI.

-I also would love to see Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez removed from the starting lineup. Jeter is hitting .282 with 4 HR and 36 RBI, while Michael Young in Texas has better numbers. Meanwhile, Rodriguez will probably attempt to brainwash the AL roster with the help of Madonna.

-J.J. Hardy is one more great week away from deserving to be an All-Star. His numbers are almost as good as Miguel Tejada's (plus, Hardy never lied about his age).

-Ryan Dempster, another hated cubbie, stole a spot on the NL team. Check out the numbers from Philadelphia's Cole Hamels and St. Louis' Kyle Lohse:

Hamels - 9-5, 3.22 ERA, 110 K, 33 BB, 128.2 IP

Lohse - 10-2, 3.61 ERA, 56 K, 28 BB, 112.1 IP

Dempster - 9-3, 3.24 ERA, 93 K, 43 BB, 111.0 IP

Now go vote for Corey Hart!

MLB All-Star Picks - American League

At the beginning of the week I posted my picks for the NL All-Star team, and today I present my picks for the AL. It should be noted that among my picks, there is not a single Red Sox or Yankee player.

Catcher

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

Mauer does not produce as many power numbers as other big league catchers, but he is a great hitter with a very good eye, and he gets on base a lot. Check out his OBP:

.326 Avg, 36 RBI, 3 HR, 89 Hits, 51 Runs, .413 OBP

First Baseman

Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Along with Mauer, Morneau provides one of the best 1-2 punches in the game.

.310 Avg, 63 RBI, 12 HR, 102 Hits

Second Baseman

Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

Kinsler is putting up astounding power numbers for a second baseman. It doesn't hurt playing in such a hitter-friendly ballpark.

.323 Avg, 50 RBI, 27 Doubles, 13 HR, 114 Hits, 74 Runs, .533 SLG

Shortstop

Michael Young, Texas Rangers

This hasn't been such a good year for AL shortstops. Remember a few years ago when it seemed like all of the best shortstops were in the AL - Rodriguez, Jeter, Garciaparra, Young, Crosby, etc.

.288 Avg, 45 RBI, 100 Hits, 23 Doubles, 58 Runs

Third Baseman

Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

Longoria didn't even start the season on the Rays' 25-man roster, but his impact since being called up has been undeniable.

.275 Avg, 50 RBI, 15 HR, 74 Hits, 21 Doubles

Designated Hitter

Milton Bradley, Texas Rangers

Bradley is one of four Rangers on my list. If Texas ever got some quality starting pitching that could thrive in that ballpark, they would be an even more dangerous team.

.320 Avg, 17 HR, 51 RBI, 79 Hits, 21 Doubles, .611 SLG

Outfield

Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

.308 Avg, 82 RBI, 19 HR, 53 Runs, 103 Hits

Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox

.276 Avg, 61 RBI, 19 HR, 54 Runs

Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

.305 Avg, 108 Hits, 60 Runs, 33 SB

Pitchers

Joe Saunders, LA Angels

12-4, 3.04 ERA, 58 SO, 31 BB

Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays

9-6, 2.90 ERA, 106 SO, 19 BB

Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians

11-1, 2.26 ERA, 93 SO, 17 BB

Justin Duchscherer, Oakland A's

9-5, 1.96 ERA, 59 SO, 21 BB

Francisco Rodriguez, LA Angels

34/36 Saves, 37.1 IP, 35 SO, 1.93 ERA

MLB All-Star Picks - National League

The MLB All-Star game is still a while away (July 15), but fan voting ends on July 2 (this Wednesday). Today and tomorrow I will present my picks for who should be in the starting lineup in New York. Here are my picks for the NL:

Catcher

Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

McCann is about 500,000 votes behind Geovany Soto for the top spot, but if you compare their numbers it should be clear (except to delusional cubs fans) that McCann currently deserves the honor:

McCann - .295 Avg, .536 SLG, 45 RBI, 14 HR, 23 Doubles, 38 Strikeouts

Soto - .280 Avg, .511 SLG, 47 RBI, 13 HR, 20 Doubles, 69 Strikeouts

First Baseman

Lance Berkman, Houston Astros

This is one of the easier decisions for all-star voters.

.364 Avg, 21 HR, 107 Hits, 67 RBI, 27 Doubles

Second Baseman

Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

This is a tougher choice, because Utley's numbers are very similar to those of Dan Uggla.

Utley - .298 Avg, 65 RBI, 23 HR, 59 Runs

Uggla - .289 Avg, 58 RBI, 23 HR, 57 Runs

Shortstop

Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

The latest update on the voting shows Ramirez taking over the lead from Miguel Tejada, and rightfully so.

Ramirez - .294 Avg, 18 HR, 69 Runs, 20 SB

Honorable Mention to Christian Guzman (.313 Avg, 110 Hits, 24 Doubles)

Third Baseman

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves

Another no-brainer - if someone is flirting with .400, they will be an all-star. Hopefully Jones will be healthy enough to play in the game.

.394 Avg, 100 Hits, 46 RBI, 16 HR

Outfield

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Carlos Lee, Houston Astros
Corey Hart, Milwaukee Brewers

I'll take those three in the outfield any day over the three that are currently holding the top spots in the voting - Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Ken Griffey.

Braun - .287 Avg, 20 HR, 58 RBI, 94 Hits
Lee - .279 Avg, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 22 Doubles
Hart - .292 Avg, 14 HR, 51 RBI, 21 Doubles, 10 SB

Soriano - .283 Avg, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 11 Doubles
Fukudome - .298 Avg, 6 HR, 33 RBI, 16 Doubles
Griffey - .234 Avg, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 14 Doubles

Pitchers

The fans of course don't vote for the pitchers, but here are four starters and one reliever I would pick.

Brandon Webb - 12-4, 3.21 ERA, 94 SO, 29 BB

Edinson Volquez - 10-3, 2.08 ERA, 110 SO, 48 BB

Tim Lincecum - 9-1, 2.38 ERA, 114 SO, 43 BB

Ben Sheets - 9-2, 2.83 ERA, 91 SO, 23 BB

Brad Lidge - 19/19 Saves, 0.84 ERA, 42 SO in 32 IP

Random Brewers Notes

-JSOnline's Anthony Witrado does a good job of summarizing the Brewers' recent success.

-This Yahoo Sports report includes comments by Ned Yost and Doug Melvin on the Bill Hall situation.

-Milwaukee finally picked up a game on Chicago, and the Brewers are now 6 games behind the cubs. Greg Maddux pitched 7 innings of 3-hit ball to snap Chicago's win streak at 9.

-Is it too early to start thinking about the Wild Card? Jim Powell brought it up during yesterday's game broadcast. Right now, among non-division leaders, only St. Louis (35-25) and Florida (32-26) have better records than Milwaukee.

-Chicago's Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are currently 1st and 2nd in the All-Star balloting, while Ryan Braun is 10th for NL outfielders. Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. is 3rd. Check out their numbers:

Soriano: .284 Avg, 14 HR, 39 RBI, 31 Runs, 6 SB

Fukudome: .301 Avg, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 38 Runs, 5 SB

Griffey Jr.: .255 Avg, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 27 Runs, 0 SB

Braun: .299 Avg, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 33 Runs, 2 SB

Let's get the vote out Brewers fans!

-Milwaukee's 6-game winning streak has benefited from a lot of offensive production, but check out the lines for the starting pitchers for the past 6 games:

May 30 - Manny Parra: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

May 31 - Ben Sheets: 8.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

June 1 - Dave Bush: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

June 2 - Jeff Suppan: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

June 3 - Seth McClung: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

June 4 - Manny Parra: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Total: 6 Starts, 41.2 IP, 32 H, 8 ER, 9 BB, 34 K, 1.73 ERA

-A preview of today's MLB draft. Let's hope the Brewers get some strong pitching arms.

-Last year at this time, Milwaukee had a comparable record at 33-27.