Another NL Win in 2013? (Joey Almars)

Looking at the AL and NL All-Star Rosters for the 2013 All-Star Game, for the most part it was what I expected. Although I didn’t put Bryce Harper on my roster, I am not shocked that the fan favorite got picked. Giants Nation came out last year and made a big push to get there players in. Coming off of another World Series win I assuming that the same deal would happen this year. Although 3 Total is not as significant as 4 starters in the 2012 All Star game, the fans did there job at getting them in there. I was also very happy that Glen Perkins got a spot. He has been a bright spot on my Twins and glad to see he got recognized. The final thing that caught my eye was that not as many Cardinals made it. Quite a few did, but guys who deserved to go in my mind were Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. With their wins and strikeout counts I was bummed that they missed the cut. But then again each team has to be represented by one player so I guess I am not surprised.

Looking at both of the lineups, I have to say that this is going to be another NL win. Both Starting lineups look solid. I feel like the best were chosen from the AL and NL for pitching. Verlander was not at his best this year but it wasn’t like Detroit fans were going to forget about him. But where the big difference comes in is the Reserves. Looking at the AL, I had the mentality of who made the list? But when I saw the NL Starters, I knew exactly who would be on the bench, because there are so many NL players having a good year. You knew Buster Posey wouldn’t get snubbed, but he would probably go behind Yadi. Then you got guys like Cuddyer, McCutchen, Goldschmidt, and right down the list who could have easily gotten the nod for the starting spot. Managers generally do a good job at cycling players out so that everyone can get in on the fun night. And when we get into the second and third subbing action, the AL pitchers are still going to have their hands full.

All these players are All-Stars but if the benches played each other I would put my money on the NL.

This is one of my favorite nights of the year and I am excited to see if the game plays out the way I think it will, or if I will be surprised.

All-Star Roster Reactions

As I'm sure most of you are aware, the 2013 All-Star game rosters were released on Saturday. With the release of the All-Star game rosters inevitably comes a whole lot of discussion. Fans discuss which players were snubbed, which players undeservingly made the team, and which player from each league deserves the "Final Vote" to make the roster. For today's column, I will highlight some reactions of my own that I had when looking at the all-star game roster:


1. Voters love the home run:

The first thing that popped out to me while looking at the all-star rosters is just how much fans love the home run. Of the 18 position players elected starters by the fans, 13 of them are in the top-two of their respective position in home runs (top-six for outfielders). It is clear that fans are enticed by the home run. That is why Jose Bautista was elected a starter over Jacoby Ellsbury and why Robinson Cano was given the nod as the starting second baseman over Dustin Pedroia. Home runs are exciting to watch, and fans would rather see home run hitters start the all-star game than scrappy base stealers with sky-high on-base percentages.

2. The Baltimore Orioles are taking the MLB by storm: 

It seems like just yesterday that the Baltimore Orioles were the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. Having not made the postseason in 15 years and spending more time at the bottom of the AL East standings than Jose Canseco spent at the pharmacy, no one took the Orioles seriously. After nearly taking the AL East least season and securing a playoff berth, the Orioles are now no team to be joked with and the all-star roster reflects just that. Having one third of the starting lineup being Baltimore Orioles players and yet another Oriole coming off the bench, it is safe to say that the Orioles are the real deal.

3. The American League is loaded with depth at the 3rd base position:

The fact that Evan Longoria (.280/.366/.525 with 17 HR and 49 RBI), Adrian Beltre (.308/.350/.524 with 18 HR and 47 RBI), Josh Donaldson (.319/.388/.536 with 15 HR and 57 RBI), and Kyle Seager (.286/.348/.478 with 13 HR and 41 RBI) all missed out on making the all-star roster really points to how strong the 3rd base position is in the American League right now. Looking at those stats, the casual baseball fan would say that it is an outrage that these players were left off of the all-star roster. However, when you look at the two third basemen that made the all-star game roster over these studs, you can understand how they were left out. Miguel Cabrera is a freak of nature. He is on pace to hit .368 with 52 home runs and 168 RBI. We could potentially be looking at the best offensive season by a single player in the history of the MLB. The other AL 3rd baseman to make the all-star roster is Manny Machado. He is only 2nd in the AL in hits, 1st in the AL in WAR, and 1st in the AL in doubles as he is on pace to break Earl Webb's record for doubles in a single season. To put it simply, the American League is stacked with third basemen and it is fun to watch.

Despite what many others think of the all-star game, I always look forward to watching the game. I love seeing the best batters going against the best hitters on prime-time television under the big lights. It's always a fun time. I expect this years game to be just as fun as ever.

Is Puig an All-Star?

It is rare that a single player can capture the attention of America the way that Yasiel Puig has through the first month of his MLB career. The unbelievably excellent play of Puig has brought about a heated debate as to whether or not Puig should make the all-star game roster after playing only a month of baseball. This debate got even more heated after the comments of Jonathan Papelbon when he said that the idea of Puig making the all-star game is "an absolute joke", "kind of stupid", and "an injustice to veteran players". I'm here to tell you today that Puig definitely deserves to be an all-star.

First of all, let's remember what the all-star game is all about, and that is the fans. The all-star game has long been a game for the fans and a time for fans to come together and enjoy a baseball game featuring 60 of the best players in the country. Keeping that in mind, can you come up with 30 national league players who are more exciting to watch or more captivating than Yasiel Puig? Puig has the country talking and is actually causing ESPN to open SportsCenter with baseball rather than the Dallas Cowboys. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.

Secondly, you simply cannot deny the statistics that Puig has put up in his first month of baseball. The .440 average. The .466 on-base percentage. The 8 home runs and 17 RBI. Anyway you spin it, Puig is putting up all-star caliber numbers through his first month. In fact, Yasiel Puig is the only player with at least 40 hits and four home runs in his first month in the majors since Joe DiMaggio in 1936. If you are into WAR, you can look at that statistic and see the impact that Puig has had on the Dodgers as he is leading all Dodgers position players in WAR after only playing one month! Yasiel Puig is an all-star.

If you are still doubting the impact that Puig has had, look no further than the Dodgers position in the NL West with and without "Brute 66". After the completion of their June 2 loss to the San Diego Padres the Dodgers found themselves with a 23-32 record, in last place in the NL West, and 8.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the division lead. Things were looking bleak for the Dodgers. Everyone was calling for Don Mattingly's head, and criticizing the likes of Magic Johnson for some awful baseball decisions.   It was after that game that Yasiel Puig was called up to the big leagues and he made his debut the following night against the same San Diego Padres game. The Dodgers won that game and have gone 17-11 since Puig was called up. The Dodgers have won 10 out of their last 11 games and are now only 2.5 games back of the Diamondbacks for the division lead. As I noted in my June 3rd column, Yasiel Puig was a sign of hope for the Dodgers. He gave fans something to get excited about players someone to rally around. There is no doubting that Puig has been leading the charge for the escalation of the Dodgers in the NL West. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.

Lastly, let's not forget that the all-star game decides home field advantage for the World Series. With that in mind, it is very important that both teams feature the best players in their respective leagues to have as good a chance as possible of winning the all-star game and securing home field advantage in the World Series. Puig is a spark plug and with his 5 tools Yasiel would help the National League greatly in the all-star game. The most talented players should be in the all-star game and Puig is one of the most talented players. Yasiel Puig is an all-star.

While I don't believe that it should become a regular thing for rookies with such little playing time to make the all-star game, I also don't believe that someone with the impact of Yasiel Puig will come around for quite a long time. When you're dealing with history and chasing the likes of Joe DiMaggio for historical rookie seasons, you deserve to be an all-star. I can tell you this for sure, if Yasiel Puig makes the all-star game, expect television ratings to be sky high.

YASIEL PUIG IS AN ALL-STAR. 

HR Record and Chris Davis (Joey Almars)

Chris Davis has had an outstanding year so far, as June comes to a close and entering July, he has not seemed to lose a step in his pace. As of 7/2/2013 he sits at 31 HR, with 80 RBIs, and a .332 AVG. What ESPN loves to do in this situation (and me as well) is calculate the HR pace to see if the player has the chance of beating the single season HR record. In recent years this record has been in many ways tarnished, with the McGwire (vs) Sosa steroid fueled HR race in 1998 (McGwire won with 70) and Barry Bonds one-upping them in 2001 (73 HR). Witnessing these events as they occurred represent some of my most favorite times watching sports, but in the years following they have seemed to lose their significance when PEDs surfaced as the root cause. But what Chris Davis has done so far, brings back the excitement that I felt in 1998 and 2001. But this talk comes up more often than it should, because in 162 games any streak, pace, or even slump for that matter breaks and records get either closer or farther from reach.

To look at some players who have come close to hitting this record I want to focus on players from my generation because they provide a closer comparison in my mind. I am skipping over Barry Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and A-Rod because of the PEDs and focusing on where Ryan Howard, Luis Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Jose Bautista were at by this point of the season.

Ryan Howard made a run in 2006 and hit 28 HR by this point and despite picking up his pace in the second half he ended up with a total of 58 HR. In 2001, Luis Gonzalez started off on a strong pace with 34 HRs on July 3^rd, but as the season went on he ended up 4 shy of Roger Maris with 57 HR. One of my personal favorites, Ken Griffey Jr., had 35 HR by July 2^nd but cooled down a little bit and ended with 56. Jose Bautista was a player who only had 21 HR by July 3^rd and went on a tear and ended the season with 54.

All these players had incredible seasons and the problem all these players see is as the end of the season closes the pressure to stay on pace gets higher. With this increased pressure there is also the pennant race that gives teams a greater incentive to pitch around these sluggers in hope that they win the game. Mantle in 1961 got hurt which was the common story for the tragic hero and was unable to finish his race with 52 being his ending total. So many things can happen to throw off the pace but I am hoping that Chris Davis will be able to carry his amazing start into the second half.

One thing that was so significant about Babe Ruth’s mark of 60 HRs was that he didn’t only establish the new single season record but he had more HRs than any team in the American League. Maris beat the record with many people wanting it to remain Babe Ruth’s record. This is a record with historic meaning and if Maris’ ‘61 record can be broken cleanly, it will bring back meaning to a record that has been seen in a negative light as of late. So is it too early to talk about Chris Davis and the record? Probably. But I will still be watching his pace and cheering for him as he inches closer.

Who is Mrs. Brown?! (Joey Almars)

I am a huge fan of fantasy sports. My favorite thing about them is that it makes every game more interesting and engaging and gives games meaning that you would otherwise not care anything about. My favorite sport is baseball and naturally I enjoy fantasy baseball more than football. The only problem is that I have notoriously been the doormat of the league. I have had teams filled with players who have gone to the DL and sure fire players that bust when they switch teams (yes I am looking at you Adam Dunn).

But as it would happen, this year my luck has finally changed (knock on wood). For the first two months I started out really strong and was at the top of the division with the help of guys like, Fielder, Phillips, Wright, Trout, and a very respectable pitching core. But as the month of June comes to a close, I have lost momentum and I lost a large cushion from being in first and am now currently 2^nd in the division to none other than a person I know as Mrs. Brown.

Mrs. Brown (as the story goes) was the former secretary at my High School. By the time I was attending she was long gone but people remembered her love of baseball. When we got closer to fantasy draft day several years later, we needed another person to join the league, and Mrs. Brown got the nod.

Now I am slightly surprised that she wanted to join the league and wasn’t sure if she knew what she was doing. On draft night I was convinced that she in fact had no clue what she was doing. She focused on pretty much all Cardinals players (because that’s her favorite team I guess) with her first round pick being Yadier Molina!! And hey, he has had a great year, but in any draft you don’t pull a guy up in the first round that people are going to leave there till at least the fourth. The other two plus sides to the draft were Verlander, Wainwright, and Harper. With only those 4 bright spots in her draft, I was not to worried about the so called Mrs. Brown.

To clarify some league rules, we have 3 bench spots with only one DL spot so as far as picking up players goes for the so called “trial period” to see if the player pans out, there wasn’t too much of that, and everyone had a set lineup for the most part. Not Mrs. Brown. Looking at her moves since April, she picked up Matt Carpenter (April 10), Paul Goldschmidt (April 27), Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller (May 6), and Patrick Corbin (May 15). Now looking at this list, we are missing one of the biggest surprises this season in Chris Davis who has 30 HR, 79 RBI and a .333 AVG. (Those are totals that the Twins would love to have for a player after 162 games and we aren’t even to the All-Star break). Mrs. Brown did not pick up Chris Davis in free agency… She drafted him!!

Let me just say that I was always picturing Mrs. Brown as a nice grandma like receptionist, but now I am seeing her as a mythical creature that has fantasy baseball as her career and being a receptionist is a side job. One thing that did benefit her was not having a lot of big names in the lineup, which allowed her to drop any player with a cold streak and not worry about the big names that you shouldn’t drop (even when they are slumping). Whether, she actually is a receptionist, a woman, a mythical fantasy god, or if she in fact does have a lovely daughter, this person has been completely dominating Matt Taylor’s league!

All-Star Ballot Reaction Roundtable

Today marks the launch of our first "roundtable" post. In a roundtable, the same question will be posed to both Matthew Taylor, and Joey Almars, and we will both answer them privately without consulting with each other. It's a fun way to get two different opinions and start some debates. Enjoy!

1) What is your main criteria when evaluating which hitters should be all-stars?

Matthew Taylor: I am a big sucker for the RBI. There is a reason that the RBI hitters make the big bucks and that's because they are the ones who get the clutch hits and drive in the runs that win games. It's all fine and dandy if a player can hit .330, but if he isn't bringing in any runs and lighting up the scoreboard, how much is he really helping? I understand that lead-off hitters aren't expected to hit many RBI, but for players who hit in the middle of the order, I think that RBI are much more important than batting average or even walks.  I want my star player to put the team on his shoulders and bring everyone in rather than taking a walk and diverting the RBI opportunity to the player batting behind him.

Joey Almars: For hitters the main stat that I focus on is, OPS. For me it starts out with making the most out of every at bat and that does the best in my mind at translating that as a statistic. It touches on batting average but more so on slugging and it is also a stat that includes walks which can often times be under valued. From there I look at batting average because OPS can be misleading if a player hits a bunch of home runs but has a bad average. Then from there I look at the quantity stats like Runs, HRs and RBIs.

2) What is your main criteria when evaluating which pitchers should be all-stars?

Matthew Taylor: For me it all begins with ERA when evaluating pitchers. If my pitcher is allowing a lot of runs, he's not an all-star. It's as simple as that. From there I go to innings pitched. I want my all-star pitcher to be a workhorse and put in a lot of innings. That takes the load off of the bullpen and puts it squarely on the shoulders of my ace. Just the way I like it. Lastly I look at strikeouts. Pitchers who can get a player out in any situation are invaluable and are extremely important.

Joey Almars: For pitchers I look at quality starts. I would say wins but in the case of James Shields this year, even if you have a good start it doesn't translate into a Win if your team's hitting doesn't do their part. That stat says for me, "the pitcher did his part." He pitched a strong amount of innings and kept his team in the game which on a consistent basis is all you can ask for from a pitcher. After establishing that threshold, I look at ERA, since we covered quality starts we know the pitcher has pitched his share of innings and now we look at how well he shut down the other team. I don't focus on WHIP too much because I tend to look at the scoreboard. If the runners don't cross the plate then you are fine. I look at Innings Pitched and Strikeouts next, these stats are extras in my book but are important when it comes to considered who is the all-star work horse and can blow pitches but hitters.

3) Which player did Matthew/Joey include in their all-star rosters who you most think does not deserve an all-star roster spot?

Matthew Taylor: The biggest issue I had with Joey's all-star ballot is that he has Shin-Soo Choo as a starting outfielder. Choo has had a very solid season with the Reds this year and his .419 on-base percentage is something that certainly can't be ignored however, in my eyes he is not a starting outfielder for the NL all-star squad. He is batting a mediocre .269, has a measly 76 hits (T-27th in the NL), and has only a 0.61 stolen base percentage. He is having a good year, but he doesn't deserve to be a starting outfielder. In his place I would have Carlos Beltran. Beltran is batting .308 with 18 home runs and an impressive .546 slugging percentage. He is having a career year and deserves to be a starting outfielder.

Joey Almars: I really liked Taylor's list and I was on the fence about one. Nelson Cruz has had a large amount of RBIs but the .268 average is a little too low for my cut (By that some principle I should have picked him over Bautista, but I think that he'll get more votes either way). In place of Cruz I would say Nate McLouth, having an OBP of .361 and having the second most steals in the AL I think that he deserves a nod.

4) Which players were snubbed by Matthew/Joey of an all-star roster spot?

Matthew Taylor: I think Joey really snubbed Shelby Miller of an all-star roster spot. Miller is having an excellent season. He has a stellar 2.35 ERA. He is 3rd in the NL with a 9.88 K/9. He is anchoring the staff along with Adam Wainwright of a St. Louis Cardinals team that has the best record in baseball. Shelby Miller is an all-star.

Joey Almars: I really like Jay Bruce, but for me it came down to him or Shin-Soo Choo. Bruce had the RBIs and slightly better AVG and Choo had the Runs a better OPS. For me I saw that Choo being at the lead off position allowed Bruce to get those RBI chances when we was batting the fourth spot. And Bruce did his job fantastic thus far. But when picking between Reds outfielders, I had to go with Choo and his Run production.

5) Which 8 players (4 from the AL, 4 from the NL) would make for the most exciting home run derby?

Matthew Taylor: AL: Chris Davis, Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, and David Ortiz
NL: Yasiel Puig, Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzalez, and Pedro Alvarez

Joey Almars: AL: Miguel Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Chris Davis, and Prince Fielder
NL: Domonic Brown, Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Gonzalez

NL All-Star Ballots

Matthew Taylor:

Starting Lineup:
Catcher: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
First Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Second Base: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
Third Base: David Wright, New York Mets
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
Outfield: Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies
Outfield: Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals
Designated Hitter: Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers

Reserves:
Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
First Base: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
Second Base: Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
Third Base: Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh Pirates
Shortstop: Jean Segura, Milwaukee Brewers
Outfield: Allen Craig, St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield: Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield: Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds

Pitchers:
Matt Harvey, New York Mets (Starting Pitcher)
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Jeff Locke, Pittsburgh Pirates
Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks
Jordan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
Shelby Miller, St. Louis Cardinals
Travis Wood, Chicago Cubs
Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates
Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves

Joey Almars:

Starting Lineup:
Catcher: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
First Base: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
Second Base: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
Third Base: David Wright, New York Mets
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
Outfield: Shin-Soo Choo, Cincinnati Reds
Outfield: Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies
Designated Hitter: Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies

Reserves:
Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
First Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Second Base: Marco Scutaro, San Francisco Giants
Third Base: Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
Shortstop: Jean Segura, Milwaukee Brewers
Outfield: Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield: Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers
Outfield: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

Pitchers:
Matt Harvey, New York Mets (Starting Pitcher)
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks
Jordan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
Mat Latos, Cincinnati Reds
Lance Lynn, St. Louis Cardinals
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates
Edward Mujica, St. Louis Cardinals
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves