The All-Star Game may be history, but in the MLB coverage at TheSportsNotebook, the real conversation about the All-Stars should be just getting heated up. There should be more emphasis placed on whose best at their spot at season’s end, not in mid-July. What follows is TheSportsNotebook’s view of how the American League All-Stars should stack up as we head into the season’s final 2 ½ months.
There’s one more day left in the regular season, and the AL West & AL East titles are still up for grabs. I’ve been holding off doing my final American League All-Star team, hoping we’d get some clarity on the division winners, but there’s no time left, as we’ll run MVP articles tomorrow and playoff commentary starting Friday.
We know St. Louis will visit Atlanta for one wild-card, but Texas, Baltimore, Oakland and New York are all possibilities to be playing in the American League game. It’s also possible the Yankees/Orioles could have a one-game playoff in the AL East. So with all that ahead of us, let’s do another round of individual honors today in celebrating the best at each position in the American League.
TheSportsNotebook’s Road To Kansas City ends today with a review of the American League bullpen, as we continue to pick the leaders in the All-Star race as baseball gets set to convene on KC for the July 10 All-Star game. We closed the National League yesterday with its bullpen, so now let’s finish off the American League. The rules are to create a true bullpen, not a compilation of top closers, so TheSportsNotebook’s team has two setup relievers and one closer.
Boston Red Sox’ designated hitter David Ortiz is experiencing more than just a career renaissance, where an in-decline veteran player is able to arrest the pattern and be productive again for a short burst at the end of his career. Ortiz is indeed doing that, but as we approach the time for final All-Star selection, […]
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.
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.
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.
The New York Yankees may be flying high right now, even with last night’s loss to Atlanta, as they’ve won 10 of 11 and are atop the American League East. But it’s not because of anything they’re getting from Alex Rodriguez at third base. You might say that’s a good thing—because what happens then when A-Rod heats up? But is A-Rod going to heat up? A look at the numbers and the recent trajectory of the 36-year-old third baseman who’s only halfway through his lucrative 10-year deal at roughly $30 million a year—hefty even by Yankee standards—suggest reason for concern.
The Chicago White Sox are holding their lead in the American League Central, with a ½ game lead over the Cleveland Indians coming into Tuesday’s games and the big reason is their offense, which is fourth in the American League in runs scored. And while first baseman Paul Konerko is the straw that stirs the drink on the South Side, don’t overlook the big contribution made by catcher A.J. Pierzynski. The 35-year-old veteran is an experiencing an offensive outbreak like we haven’t seen in his career and he leads up TheSportsNotebook’s discussion of American League catchers.