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 National League All-Stars should stack up as we head into the season’s final 2 ½ months.
There’s only five days left in the regular season and time to put together a season-ending All-Star team for each league. With the National League playoff picture looking close to settled (St. Louis won again last night, Los Angeles is still three back and Milwaukee is all but eliminated from the one race still really hot), we’ll start in the senior circuit.
TheSportsNotebook’s format starts, obviously enough, with a player at each everyday position. We will then round the team out with five starting pitchers, two setup relievers and one closer. The MVP selection that then derives from this ballot will appear sometime next week before the playoffs start on Friday. On we go with TheSportsNotebook’s 2012 National League All-Stars
Perhaps no outfielder has been much of revelation this season—at least offensively—as San Francisco left fielder Melky Cabrera. Acquired from Kansas City in the offseason, Cabrera has been good for solid defense—usually as a centerfielders—and showing stretches of being able to hit for average with some consistency. He’s given a desperate Giants’ offense much more, posting an on-base percentage/slugging percentage stat line of .393/.520, hitting seven home runs and driving the ball in the gaps with consistency.
The career of Houston Astros’ shortstop Jed Lowrie looked to be on the downward trend when the 28-year-old was traded from Boston to Houston over the offseason. After a decent debut with the Red Sox back in 2008 that saw him post a .339 on-base percentage, play good defense, drive in the run that won the Division Series over the Los Angeles Angels and otherwise liberate us Sox fans from ever seeing Julio Lugo on the field again, Lowrie looked to have a bright future. Then health problems, including mononucleosis, got in the way and he only had 68 at-bats a year later. In 2010 he was productive when he played—a .381/.526 stat line—but health still only allowed him 171 at-bats. With 309 ABs a year ago, his numbers tailed off sharply. The Red Sox dealt him for reliever Mark Melancon, who was shipped to the minors soon after this season started. Lowrie, meanwhile, has taken off.
The San Diego Padres don’t have much in the way of offense. The lineup is anemic under the best of circumstances and having to hit in the vast dimensions of Petco Park is in fact the worst of circumstances. But it hasn’t stopped their 28-year-old third baseman Chase Headley from continuing the breakout year he enjoyed in 2011 and building on it in 2012.
The Houston Astros are going through the growing pains of rebuilding, but better days are ahead for this young team, thanks to the emergence of several quality young players. Foremost among them is second baseman Jose Altuve, the 22-year-old second baseman who leads up our discussion of National League All-Star candidates at his position.
The Chicago Cubs haven’t had much to cheer about this season, but one of the bright spots has been the play of first baseman Bryan LaHair. He was—and for that matter still is—seen as a placeholder until the team is ready to call up Anthony Rizzo from Triple A, and the 29-year-old LaHair had never done anything spectacular or even noteworthy in his time in the big leagues. But as we go into Wednesday’s games he’s having a great year with the bat, vaulted himself onto the front tier of National League first baseman in the All-Star race, and is opening up some interesting discussions over what the future might hold.
The SportsNotebook’s choices for the National League All-Star team.