Tagged As: baseball, MLB, Sports, All Star Game, Albert Pujos, Phillies, Rays, zach greinke

Tuesday night the American League won the All Star game for the twelfth time in a row, defeating the National League 4-3. The best players from both leagues squared off in a rather short contest (2 hours and 30 minutes) instead of a marathon like last season (which went 15 innings).

Now that this annual contest is over and the American League again has home field advantage in the World Series the real season begins, with teams looking for a pennant and players looking for individual honors. There will be two MVPs, two Cy Young winners, and two Gold Glove first basemen. There will be two of everything because MLB, unlike the NFL and NBA do not announce an all MLB team.

I find this kind of odd. Is this because at any one time the gulf between the leagues can make one of the leagues (currently the National League) look like a fourth level of the minor league system? Is it because the stats are not comparable because of the designated hitter? Is it because the leagues in baseball are so much more separate than in any other sport (interleague play only lasts 18 games a year at most)?

Well, I am ending the ridiculousness right here. I have come up with the First Half All-MLB team with a starter at every position, a starting rotation, and a closer.

Catcher

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

.373 BA, 15 HR, 49 RBI, 49 R, .447 OBP, .622 SLG

Joe Mauer missed the first month of the season and still has the most homeruns for his position. He also has the highest batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. He is an offensive force that could very well end up with the AL MVP if the Twins are able to put together a second half surge and win the AL Central.

He is not bad on defense either. He has thrown out 30.0 percent of runners since returning and has a fielding percentage of .994. None of his defensive numbers qualify when comparing to the other starting catchers in the league because he only has 48 games behind the plate. If they did qualify he would be among the top tier of catchers.

First Base

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

.332 BA, 32 HR, 87 RBI, 73 R, .456 OBP, .723 SLG

Even American League pundits cannot deny that these numbers are incredible. If you adjusted somehow to account for the difference in overall quality of pitchers in the

National League (that is to say, to account for how much worse they are than their American League counterparts) I think his numbers would still hold up. Those numbers, across the board, are the best among first basemen. It is incredible, really.

I do not normally count defense when it comes to first base, so I will discount his six errors, sub par fielding percentage. However one could argue that his errors come from a greater range. Either way, he is too great a force to ignore at first base.

Second Base

Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

.313 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 62 R, .430 OBP, 573 SLG

Chase Utley almost became the third Philadelphia Phillies player in a row to win the NL MVP last season, and though he is not going to win it this year (Albert Pujols is), he is putting together another terrific season. He is second in batting for his position and I think he would bee able to maintain an average over .300 after hitting exactly .300 against the AL East in interleague play. He has power and has a good eye at the plate.

He is also an average fielder, ranking 10th among MLB starting second basemen in fielding percentage (.986) and tying for seventh for range factor (5.03). He gives a team solid defense and above average power at the plate as well as a great eye at the plate. He beats out Ben Zorbist, Robinson Cano, and last year’s AL MVP Dustin Pedroia in my opinion.

Third Base

Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants

.333 BA, 15 HR, 55 RBI, 41 R, .385 OBP, .578 SLG

This pick surprised me. Sure he plays in one of the worst divisions in baseball and he hits against lesser pitchers in the National League, but he is batting nine points better than the next best hitting third baseman and 13 points better than the best hitting third baseman from the AL. Basically, baseball is game of minuscule differences in stats, so nine points and 13 points loom large in comparison.

Sandoval also has some power and can get batters in, hitting .382 with runners on and .313 with runners in scoring position. These numbers compare very well with the regular starters. He is a so-so fielder with average fielding stats, but his power and his numbers, considering that he has absolutely no protection in the Giants lineup, are quite impressive.

Shortstop

Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

.349 BA, 14 HR, 61 RBI, 53 R, 13 SB, .411 OBP, .567 SLG

Remember when shortstop was the new power position? Then again that conspicuously aligned with the steroid era, thanks A-Rod. Well, now shortstops are hitting like they are historically meant to and the best hitting shortstop this season has been Hanley Ramirez, a player that is single-handedly standing between Pujols and the NL Triple Crown.

Ramirez is leading the National League in hitting and has 20 points on the next batter, as well as 28 points on the closest AL shortstop. He has some power, better than every shortstop but one (Troy Tulowitzki), and is killing the rest of the shortstops in on base percentage and slugging percentage.

His defense is a little questionable, with good discipline in his range, which seems to be a little more limited than some of the other stars at this position. If it was not for his incredible batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage Derek Jeter would be here. Alas, decent fielding and amazing offense trump great defense and simply very good offensive numbers.

Left Field

Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

.309 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBI, 58 R, 44 SB, .367 OBP, .439 SLG

Carl Crawford is coming off an All Star game MVP and rightfully has earned a place on the All-MLB team to this point. He is a very good hitter landing in the top ten for batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage for his position. He is also the best runner on the base paths.

I was tempted to put Raul Ibanez, but his complete lack of range in even left field was the deciding factor. Crawford can cover the field and torment pitchers with just a step or two off first base. He is the leadoff hitter from hell for pitchers that can get on base and steal second and third before the number two hitter is finished.

Center Field

Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

.336 BA, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 40 R, .11 SB, 425 OBP, 527 SLG

This position was perhaps the hardest to decide yet. There are a few power hitters and a bevy of speedsters. I imagined a team with Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury giving catchers night terrors the night before, but Beltran, despite the injury, has simply been far too effective at getting on base.

Beltran is hitting .336, 16 points better then the next best centerfielder and 31 points better than the best hitting AL centerfielder. He gets on base an incredible 42.5 percent of the time, and has a .527 slugging percentage. The numbers are simply to overwhelming to ignore in the name of blazing speed.

He is definitely not on the same level of fielding as those speed guys in the outfield, but the can get the job done. Considering the number of runs he can help produce, I will take a slightly sub par centerfielder.

Right Field

Brad Hawpe, Colorado Rockies

.320 BA, 14 HR, 59 RBI, 50 R, .396 OBP, .577 SLG

Many people would question the decision to not choose Ichiro Suzuki here, but if you look past his incredible .362 batting average you’ll see that he adds painfully little. His on base percentage is actually only fourth despite have the best batting average in the league and his hits are mostly singles which make them the equivalent to walks. If you argue that singles can advance a runner two bases I have to say you are correct. However, his batting average with runners on is only good for 13th among everyday right fielders and his average with runners in scoring position is only good for 19th.

Brad Hawpe was a difficult choice, but I am confident that even if you account a slight jump in average because of playing in the National League and Coors Field, his numbers are still pretty impressive.

Hawpe has the second best batting average, third best on base percentage, the best slugging percentage, the most RBI, the sixth most runs scored, and ht eighth most home runs for his position. He is not a stud in right field, but he covers enough ground and is consistent enough to be a decent right fielder.

Starting Pitcher

Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals

10-5, 2.12 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 9.12 K/9, 7.07 Innings/Start, 5 CG, 2 SHO

On a team with a half decent offense he would conceivably be 13-2 since he had two games where he allowed more than three runs. Unfortunately, he plays for the Royals and they rank near last in every significant offensive category.

Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks may have a better ERA and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants may have more strikeouts, but both those players play against hitters that are not on par overall with the American League. When picking position players the difference could be glossed over a little bit, but with pitching the difference is not something that can be ignored.

Greinke has a more than solid strikeouts per nine innings rate, has a great WHIP, and has the stamina and control to average seven innings a start. He is the front runner for the AL Cy Young and is the obvious choice for the starting pitcher on an All-MLB team.

Closer

Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

23 Saves, 2 Blown Saves, 34.1 IP, 43 SO, 1.90 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 11.27 K/9, 6.14 K/BB

I threw a lot of stats out there, but the point is that Nathan is a solid closer that rarely allows a run, much less a hit, and has enough control to average a high strike out rate while keeping his walks way down. Basically, he has control and power, the two things you want out of a closer.

Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees may only have one blown save, but he also has an ERA of 2.43. Brian Fuentes of the Los Angeles Angels may have 26 saves, but he has had more chances, blown three of them, and has an ERA of 3.23. In the end, Nathan’s numbers are just too convincing.

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