As you may have read last week, there are people out there who really want to vote Lastings Milledge in to the All Star game. Regardless of the reason – embarrassing the Nats, thinking it would hamper the NL in the game, just because it’s funny, I’m not gonna judge. If people want to do it, go right ahead. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work anyway. But I’m more concerned with getting in the guys who deserve to go. It’s a great personal accomplishment to get voted to the All Star game. Not only is it something that players are proud of, it helps them negotiate their salaries later on, and when they retire and are considered for the Hall of Fame, “number of All Star appearances” is always part of the application. So here are a few players who, in my opinion, genuinely deserve a vote, or at least consideration for it. I’m not going with alot of prose here, just the facts, and stats (up to yesterday: 5/20) compared to the competition – other players in the NL vying for the same spot.
Ryan Zimmerman – 0 All Star Appearances
.358/.416/.624, 10 HR
59 Hits – 1st in the NL
34 Runs – Tied for 1st in the NL
.358 AVG – 5th in the NL
.624 SLG – 3rd in the NL
1.040 OPS – 4th in the NL
Rankings Among NL Third Basemen:
R – 1st (34)
H – 1st (59)
2B – 1st (14)
HR – 1st (10)
RBI – 1st (31)
AVG – 2nd (.358)
OBP – 3rd (.416)
SLG – 1st (.624)
OPS – 1st (1.040)
Adam Dunn – 1 All Star Appearance
.287/.430/.596, 12 HR
35 BBs – 1st in the NL
32 RBI – tied for 5th in the NL
.430 OBP – 11th in the NL
1.026 OPS – 6th in the NL
Rankings Among NL Outfielders:
HR – tied for 2nd (12)
BB – 1st (35)
RBI – tied for 2nd (32)
OBP – 4th (.430)
SLG – 3rd (.596)
OPS – 3rd (1.026)
Jesus Flores – 0 All Star Appearances
.311/.382/.522, 4 HR
Rankings Among NL Catchers:
(Among the 11 Catchers with 100 or more PAs)
AVG – 1st (.311)
OBP – 2nd (.382)
SLG – 2nd (.522)
OPS – 1st (.905)
Obviously, when Flores gets back next week, he’ll have to continue hitting. But he hasn’t missed so much time that he should be out of the running.
Nick Johnson – 0 All Star Appearances
.333/.432/.468, 4 HR
47 Hits – tied for 8th in the NL (with Guzman and Felipe Lopez)
.432 OBP – 9th in the NL
Rankings Among NL Outfielders:
R – 3rd (26)
H – 1st (37)
BB – 4TH (22)
OBP – 2nd (.432)
OPS – 6th (.900)
I threw in Nick for good measure. He isn’t tops in the league at his position, and Pujols deserves this more than anyone in the league. But he might be a viable reserve pick if he keeps it up. He’s also shown more power recently, so some of those numbers could go up more.