Monday, July 2, 2012

Breaking down the MLB All-Stars of 2012

The 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game takes place July 10 in Kansas City, and the rosters were announced yesterday. Some surprises, some predictable.

American League:


Starting Lineup:


Catcher-Mike Napoli, Texas.
First Base-Prince Fielder, Detroit.
Second Base-Robinson Cano, Yankees.
Shortstop-Derek Jeter, Yankees.
Third Base-Adrian Beltre, Texas.
Designated Hitter-David Ortiz, Boston.
Outfield: Jose Bautista, Toronto; Curtis Granderson, Yankees; Josh Hamilton, Texas.


Reserves:


Minnesota: Joe Mauer.
Baltimore: Matt Wieters, Adam Jones.
Texas: Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler.
Cleveland: Asdrubal Cabrera.
Detroit: Miguel Cabrera.
Chicago: Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn.
Kansas City: Billy Butler.
Los Angeles: Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo.


Pitchers:


Baltimore: Jim Johnson.
Oakland: Ryan Cook.
Texas: Matt Harrison, Joe Nathan.
Cleveland: Chris Perez.
Seattle: Felix Hernandez.
Chicago: Chris Sale.
Los Angeles: Jered Weaver, C. J. Wilson.
Tampa Bay: David Price, Fernando Rodney.
Detroit: Justin Verlander.



The Yankees' CC Sabathia was chosen by AL/Texas manager Ron Washington despite the fact that Sabathia is on the DL and wouldn't be ready to return until after July 10. Try figuring out the logic of that wasted pick.


National League:


Starters:


Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco.
First Base: Joey Votto, Cincinatti.
Second Base: Dan Uggla, Atlanta.
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal, St. Louis.
Third Base: Pablo Sandoval: San Francisco.
Outfield: Carlos Beltran, St. Louis; Melky Cabrera, San Francisco; Matt Kemp, Los Angeles.
Designated Hitter: To be determined.


Reserves:


St. Louis: Yadier Molina.
Philadelphia: Carlos Ruiz.
Houston: Jose Altuve.
Chicago: Starlin Castro, Bryan LaHair.
Washington: Ian Desmond.
Mets: David Wright.

Milwaukee: Ryan Braun.
Cincinnati: Jay Bruce.
Colorado: Carlos Gonzalez.

Pittsburgh: Andrew McCutcheon.
Miami: Giancarlo Stanton.


Pitchers:


Mets: R. A. Dickey.
San Francisco: Matt Cain.
Washington: Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg.
Cincinnati: Aroldis Chapman.
Philadelphia: Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon.
Pittsburgh: Joel Hanrahan.
Atlanta: Craig Kimbrel.
Los Angeles: Clayton Kershaw.
St. Louis: Lance Lynn.
Arizona: Wade Miley.
San Diego: Huston Street.

Proving that the fans weren't paying much attention, the Dodgers' Matt Kemp, who happens to be the captain of the NL Home Run Derby team, gets in despite missing a large chunk of time due to hamstring issues. While I can't argue with the pitching choices, Pittsburgh's James McDonald, a former Dodger, deserved to go, but NL manager Tony LaRussa, coming out of retirement for this one game, felt the Pirates' closer, Joel Hanrahan, was more deserving. I would say there's no guarantee that Hanrahan gets in the game, but this is LaRussa we're dealing with, the guy who uses more manpower per game than any other manager in history.



We'll see how it all plays out in 8 days.

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