Menu

AL All-Star ballot

AL All-Star Report: Jose Bautista Comes In Strong For Toronto

, , , , ,

After two seasons of performing at an MVP level, Toronto Blue Jays’ rightfielder Jose Bautista was off to an atrocious start in April. A combination of being overshadowed by Albert Pujols’ struggles in Los Angeles and the fact the media rarely extends its eyes to Toronto anyway kept Bautista’s problems a little more in the dark, but the man who hit 97 home runs over 2010-11 had only three at the end of April and was batting below .200. It’s a mark of just how hot Bautista has been that not only are his numbers starting to catch up to recent norms, he can still lead up TheSportsNotebook’s discussion of American League corner outfielders as we continue to trod the road to Kansas City and the July 10 All-Star Game.

AL All-Star Report: Angels’ Trout Adds To Stacked CF Spot

, , , , ,

The American League is a stacked spot in centerfield with several quality All-Star candidates frozen out by the omnipotence of Texas’ Josh Hamilton and the position got even more loaded this year by the surprise emergence of the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout. The 20-year-old who didn’t do anything noteworthy in 123 at-bats last season got another chance when incumbent Peter Bourjos struggled, and Trout just took off. He’s hitting .338 and leading the American League. He’s got surprising power, with seven home runs keying a solid .531 slugging percentage and he plays good defense. Because of Hamilton, he’s not the best player at this spot, but his sudden development makes him the most consequential in the playoff race and Trout’s a worthy candidate to at least make a trip to Kansas City for the July 10 All-Star Game.

AL All-Star Report: Cleveland’s Underrated Asdrubal Cabrera

, , , , ,

If there was a player who was at a key position and amongst his peers at the spot, he got on base more frequently than any of them, hit for better total power (as measured by slugging percentage) than any of them, and graded out higher in the defensive metrics for range than any of them, what would you think of that player? Particularly if the latter gave his team at a big edge at position that demands good and thereby enabling your team to be on first place in the latter part of June? You’d probably think you have an MVP contender on your hands. And they he won’t get discussed in that context, that’s exactly what the Cleveland Indians have with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

AL All-Star Report: 2B Jason Kipnis Carries Cleveland Offense

, , , , ,

The Cleveland Indians are hanging in the AL Central race, only 1.5 games back of Chicago coming into Monday’s games. And while a big part of that is the division they play in—at 33-32, the Tribe are only a half-game better than the Boston Red Sox or Miami Marlins, both of whom are fighting for their lives against tougher competition—another big part of it is the play of second baseman Jason Kipnis. The 25-year-old in his first major league season is having a year that would measure up against any caliber of competition and he leads up our discussion of American League second baseman on The Road To Kansas City and the July 10 All-Star game.

AL All-Star Report: Disappointments Abound At 1st Base

, , , , ,

If there’s a word to describe American League first baseman at the midway point of June it’s “Disappointment”. And if you’re a fan of a team with any of the seven underperforming first baseman—half the league—you might be choosing stronger terminology. Because while Paul Konerko for Chicago has been magnificent, Prince Fielder from Detroit has been solid and there’ve been something other nice stories, both comeback and emerging the overall theme at this spot is one of Disappointment.