Congratulations Braun and Fielder!
Major League Baseball had their All-Star Selection Show today, and the Brewers have two all-stars this year: Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.
No surprise with either of them. It was cool to see that Brewers fans came through again in fan voting as Braun ended up the top vote getting among NL outfielders. It is Braun’s second year in a row as an all-star starter.
Prince is one of four NL first basemen along with Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard. This will be Prince’s second all-star appearance. He’s also very likely to take part in this year’s home-run derby.
There also comes some disappointment with the selection show. Both Yovani Gallardo and Trevor Hoffman were denied roster spots this summer. Both are certainly worthy of being all-stars this year, but that’s the way it goes.
Looking at the rosters, it’s hard to say any of the NL closers that were named are less worthy of Hoffman. That being said, I think Yovani got a raw deal. He is more deserving than both Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis. That’s a result of the one player minimum per organization, as they both are the lone representatives of their respective teams. I guess it comes down to Yovani against Marlins’ starter Josh Johnson and Dodgers’ starter Chad Billingsley. Yo and Johnson have very similar numbers, but Billingsley’s numbers are a bit less impressive. Here’s a comparison of the three:
Gallardo:Â Â Â Â 8-5Â 104.2IPÂ 114KÂ 46BBÂ 2.75ERAÂ 1.15WHIPÂ 1CG
Johnson:Â Â Â Â 7-1Â 114.1IPÂ Â 97KÂ Â 32BBÂ 2.76ERAÂ 1.13WHIPÂ 2CG
Billingsley:Â Â 9-4Â 112.1IPÂ 110KÂ 51BBÂ 3.12ERAÂ 1.26WHIPÂ 0CG
Looking at the numbers, it’s difficult to argue that Gallardo should have been named over Johnson, but how is Billingsley named over Gallardo? Comparing the numbers, it seems like a no-brainer. That’s the west coast bias I guess. Tough luck for Gallardo though. It’s only a matter of time before he is an all-star.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I think they didn’t choose Gallardo mostly because he won’t be able to pitch in the game since he’s starting on Sunday. Tough luck for Yo, but we all know he’s having an All-Star-caliber season.
July 5th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Actually Jason Marquis isn’t the only representative from the Rockies. Brad Hawpe is another rep for the Rockies. So that being said can you justify picking Marquis over Yo?
Marquis 10-5 3.87ERA 2CG 109.1IP 36BB 51SO 1.31WHIP
July 5th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
No. Not at all. I’m not sure how I didn’t catch Hawpe on the roster. Good call Melissa.
July 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Oh, and Jared, I’m not saying that’s not the case, but that is total bullsh*t if that is a factor. I guess another argument that the All-Star game shouldn’t “mean anything.”