MLB Dirt

Major League Baseball announced the 2012 All-Star selections two days ago and as always, there are good choices and then there are bad choices. Just like last year, Jonathan and I have decided to share our own selections for the All-Star teams. Over the next week we will reveal our All-Atar position starters in each league, as well as the All-Star pitchers for each league. We will be doing posts separately but I will get things going with my National League All-Star position starters. Enjoy.

Catcher: Carlos Ruiz
Ruiz has been a bright spot on a disappointing Phillies team this year. He’s having possibly the best offensive season of his career, leading all NL catchers in WAR (.358), AVG (.358), OBP (.423), SLG (.585) and wOBA (.585). Not too mention his average is the best in all of baseball. This was an easy choice for me.

First Base: Joey Votto
Votto is quietly shining in Cincinnati this year and is possibly the first half MVP. He leads all of baseball in WAR with 4.8 and has a very impressive triple slash of .350/.471/.632 with 14 homeruns. His OBP leads all of baseball

Second Base: Aaron Hill
Hill is having a very good season in Arizona and he has had not one, but two cycles already this year. He’s the first player to accomplish this since 1931. He is hitting .301/.362/.516 with 11 homeruns and a 2.8 WAR. Also consider Dan Uggla and Brandon Phillips.

Third Base: David Wright
The fans certainly missed this one as Wright is by far the most deserving to be the NL starter at third. His 4.5 WAR ranks second in baseball and he is hitting .355/.449/.564.

Shortstop: Ian Desmond
Desmond has been an important piece to the surprise Nationals this year. He is tied for the best WAR amongst NL shorstops with 2.6. He’s hit a surprising 13 homeruns this year, has a triple slash of .276/.305/.483. He just beat out Troy Tulowitzki for me.

Outfield: Andrew McCutchen
McCutchen is really having himself a year hitting .346/.401/.493 with 15 homeruns, 14 stolen bases and a 3.6 WAR. He could be a serious MVP candidate come the end of the year, especially if Pittsburgh remains in the playoff hunt.

Outfield: Ryan Braun
After a rough offseason, Braun is playing like he has for years now. He’s hitting .313/.394/.661 and has 22 homeruns. He had a 4.0 which is tied for the best amongst all NL outfielders

Outfield: Matt Kemp
Kemp got off to a ridiculously hot start but after an injury, he cooled down a little. He still has one of the best triple slashes in all of baseball, hitting .355/.444/.719 with 12 homeruns and a 2.3 WAR.

Filed under: Digging Deep - Analysis Tagged: | Aaron Hill, All-Star Game, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Ruiz, David Wright, Ian Desmond, Joey Votto, Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun