Now in its 85th year the Midsummer Classic is appearing at the Minnesota Twins new ballpark Target Field. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 34 players for each league.
AVG – Batting Average
ERA – Earned Run Average
HR – Home Runs
RBI – Runs Batted In
SV – Saves
BAA – Batting Average Against
WHIP – Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched
K – Strikeouts
Stats are accurate as of July 9th
* – asterisk indicates starter
National League
Pitchers
Craig Kimbrel – Atlanta Braves
27 SV, 2.04 ERA, .143 BAA
Julio Teheran – Atlanta Braves
8-6, 2.57 ERA, 110 K
Johnny Cueto – Cincinnati Reds
9-6, 2.03 ERA, 134 K
Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
19 SV, 2.28 ERA, 0.83 WHIP
Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers*
10-2, 1.85 ERA, 0.87 WHIP
Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers
11-5, 2.73 ERA, 127 K
Francisco Rodriguez – Milwaukee Brewers
27 SV, 2.28 ERA, 0.88 WHIP
Huston Street – San Diego Padres
23 SV, 1.13 ERA, 0.78 WHIP
Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
9-7, 3.36 ERA, 123 K
Pat Neshek – St. Louis Cardinals
3-0, 0.73 ERA, .128 BAA
Adam Wainwright – St. Louis Cardinals
11-4, 1.79 ERA, 0.92 WHIP
Rafael Soriano – Washington Nationals
21 SV, 1.00 ERA, 0.83 WHIP
Jordan Zimmermann – Washington Nationals
6-4, 2.79 ERA, 96 K
Notable Omissions: Tim Hudson – Giants, Tyson Ross – Padres, Tony Watson – Pirates, Jonathan Papelbon – Phillies, Zach Duke – Brewers, Henderson Alvarez – Marlins, Josh Beckett – Dodgers, Alfredo Simon – Reds
Catchers
Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
.287 AVG 7 HR 30 RBI
Jonathan Lucroy – Milwaukee Brewers*
.323 AVG 9 HR 44 RBI
Devin Mesoraco – Cincinnati Reds
.305 AVG 15 HR 43 RBI
Notable Omissions: Evan Gattis – Braves (injury), Buster Posey – Giants
Infielders
1B Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks*
.312 AVG 16 HR 61 RBI
1B Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves
.297 AVG 13 HR 49 RBI
SS Starlin Castro – Chicago Cubs
.280 AVG 11 HR 52 RBI
3B Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds*
.289 AVG 17 HR 48 RBI
SS Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies*
.350 AVG 20 HR 49 RBI
1B Justin Morneau – Colorado Rockies
.313 AVG 13 HR 59 RBI
2B Dee Gordon – Los Angeles Dodgers
.298 AVG 2 HR 25 RBI
3B Casey McGehee – Miami Marlins
.320 AVG 1 HR 53 RBI
3B Aramis Ramirez – Milwaukee Brewers
.282 AVG 11 HR 41 RBI
2B Daniel Murphy – New York Mets
.297 AVG 7 HR 37 RBI
2B Chase Utley – Philadelphia Phillies*
.294 AVG 8 HR 46 RBI
3B/2B Anthony Rendon – Washington Nationals
.284 AVG 13 HR 52 RBI
Notable Omissions: 1B Adam LaRoche – Nationals, 1B Anthony Rizzo – Cubs, 3B Matt Carpenter – Cardinals, SS Ian Desmond – Nationals
Outfielders
Hunter Pence – San Francisco Giants
.304 AVG 12 HR 33 RBI
Josh Harrison – Pittsburgh Pirates
.295 AVG 5 HR 25 RBI
Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates*
.316 AVG 14 HR 56 RBI
Carlos Gomez – Milwaukee Brewers*
.299 AVG 14 HR 46 RBI
Giancarlo Stanton – Miami Marlins* (as DH)
.299 AVG 21 HR 63 RBI
Yasiel Puig – Los Angeles Dodgers*
.307 AVG 12 HR 50 RBI
Notable Omissions: Charlie Blackmon – Rockies, Justin Upton – Braves
American League
Pitchers
Koji Uehara – Boston Red Sox
18 SV, 1.65 ERA, 0.76 WHIP
Jon Lester – Boston Red Sox
9-7, 2.65 ERA, 134 K
Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
8-1, 2.08 ERA, .190 BAA
Max Scherzer – Detroit Tigers
11-3, 3.35 ERA, 146 K
Greg Holland – Kansas City Royals
24 SV, 1.87 ERA, 1.97 BAA
Garrett Richards – Los Angeles Angels
10-2, 2.71 ERA, .196 BAA
Glenn Perkins – Minnesota Twins
21 SV, 3.13 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
Masahiro Tanaka – New York Yankees
12-4, 2.51 ERA, 135 K
Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
4-0, 1.52 ERA, .128 BAA
Scott Kazmir – Oakland Athletics
11-3, 2.38 ERA, 0.98 WHIP
Sean Doolittle – Oakland Athletics
13 SV, 2.98 ERA, 0.69 WHIP
Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners*
10-2, 2.11 ERA, 145 K
David Price – Tampa Bay Rays
8-7, 3.42 ERA, 159 K
Yu Darvish – Texas Rangers
8-5, 2.97 ERA, 142 K
Notable Omissions: Corey Kluber – Indians, Mark Buehrle – Blue Jays, Fernando Rodney – Mariners
Catchers
Derek Norris – Oakland Athletics
.302 AVG 8 HR 37 RBI
Kurt Suzuki – Minnesota Twins
.303 AVG 2 HR 34 RBI
Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals*
.284 AVG 11 HR 35 RBI
Notable Omissions: None
Infielders
SS Alexei Ramirez – Chicago White Sox
.283 AVG 8 HR 41 RBI
1B Jose Abreu – Chicago White Sox*
.287 AVG 28 HR 71 RBI
1B/DH Victor Martinez – Detroit Tigers
.328 AVG 21 HR 55 RBI
1B Miguel Cabrera – Detroit Tigers
.312 AVG 14 HR 70 RBI
2B Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
.339 AVG 2 HR 27 RBI
SS Erick Aybar – Los Angeles Angels
.283 AVG 6 HR 45 RBI
SS Derek Jeter – New York Yankees*
.270 AVG 2 HR 24 RBI
1B Brandon Moss – Oakland Athletics
.272 AVG 19 HR 63 RBI
3B Josh Donaldson – Oakland Athletics*
.241 AVG 20 HR 65 RBI
2B Robinson Cano – Seattle Mariners*
.323 AVG 6 HR 52 RBI
3B Adrian Beltre – Texas Rangers
.336 AVG 12 HR 49 RBI
1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion – Toronto Blue Jays*
.277 AVG 26 HR 70 RBI
Notable Omissions: 3B Kyle Seager – Mariners, 2B Brian Dozier – Twins, 1B Albert Pujols – Angels, 2B Ian Kinsler – Tigers, 1B/DH David Ortiz – Red Sox
Outfielders
Jose Bautista – Toronto Blue Jays*
.292 AVG 17 HR 52 RBI
Yoenis Cespedes – Oakland Athletics
.253 AVG 14 HR 56 RBI
Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels*
.303 AVG 20 HR 64 RBI
Michael Brantley – Cleveland Indians
.325 AVG 14 HR 60 RBI
Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles*
.305 AVG 16 HR 53 RBI
Nelson Cruz – Baltimore Orioles
.292 AVG 28 HR 73 RBI
Notable Omissions: Melky Cabrera – Blue Jays
