The Big Guy’s American League All-Star starters

The unveiling of the inflated American League All-Star roster brought its annual gripes. Too many AL East players! Too many Texas Rangers! While The Big Guy is not willing to take the time to pick his own 33-man roster, (are there really 66 All-Stars in baseball?) he is willing to determine whether or not the right guy got the starting nod. Without further adieu, The Big Guy’s American League All-Star starters.

TBG’s Starting Catcher- Joe Mauer, Minnesota, Actual Starter- Mike Napoli, Texas

Napoli’s 12 home runs and 30 RBIs look legitimate. His .235 average screams Texas bias. One year after playing 82 games and belting only 3 home runs, Mauer is .001 point under his career .324 average. Mauer may bring less pop with 4 home runs this year, but his .414 on-base percentage trumps Napoli’s .335 OBP. Guess it helps when your team is 20 games over .500 and not 12 games under.

TBG’s starting first baseman- paul konerko, Chicago, actual starter- Prince Fielder, Detroit

Konerko leads AL first basemen in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Big Prince holds a 13 RBI lead over Konerko and leads all AL first basemen with 53. The paradox here is that the 28-year-old Fielder was expected to produce Konerko numbers while the 36-year-old Konerko was not even expected to produce Prince numbers. Also, Konerko’s Sox lead Fielder’s Tigers by 3 games in the AL Central. Fans will be fans. Early season expectations will be huge early season votes.

TBG’s second baseman- robinson cano, New York, Actual Starter, Cano

The Yankee deuce bagger stands in a class by himself. Cano leads AL second baseman in BA (.310), OBP (.371), SLG% (.591) and HR (20). The Big Guy’s only complaint is that Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis was left off. Texas bias struck again when Ian Kinsler claimed the backup spot. Kipnis leads AL second baseman in RBI with 47, seven more than Kinsler, and stolen bases with 20, five more than Kinsler. What’s that, Kinsler has 26 doubles compared to Kipnis’ seven? Let’s take a look at the two men’s road slugging percentage. Kinsler is slugging .343 on the road; Kipnis .522. It is a shame that a budding star’s home field, and team record, can keep him out of the All-Star Game.

TBG’s starting third baseman- miguel cabrera, detroit, Actual Starter, adrian beltre, texas

Cabrera has played in 77 of his Detroit’s 79 games while Beltre has played in 60 of Texas’s 80 games. While those 17 extra games obviously help Cabrera lead Beltre by 10 RBIs (62 to 52) and two home runs (16 to 14). However, consider that Cabrera and Beltre are nearly the same fielding ( Beltre fielding .964; Cabrera .961). Cabrera also holds the advantage in on-base percentage and slugging. The Texas bias keeps rolling.

tbg’s starting shortstop, Elvis Andrus, texas Actual starter, derek jeter, new york

What happened to Texas bias? Oh, the #1 market in American beat them out. Jeter hit .389 in April, .293 in May and .232 in June. Need more proof (beyond Bryan LaHair) that hot starts and major markets equal All-Star bids? Jeter’s .299 average is a hollow oak. Andrus has been around his current .307 all season. Also, Andrus leads shortstops with a 2.9 Wins Above Replacement compared to Jeter’s 0.9. Sure, its cool to send a 38-year-old in his 17th season, but how about a 23-year-old in his fourth? Obligatory mention of Jeter’s statistically immeasurable chutzpah here….

TBG’s outfield-Josh hamilton, texas, mike trout, los angeles, Mark Trumbo, Los angeles, actual starters- hamilton, curtis granderson, new york, jose bautista, toronto

With 25 home runs, 73 RBI and the second best on-base+slugging (OPS) in baseball, Hamilton is a no-brainer. Both Trout and Trumbo are bench players, but they are also both victims to fan’s affinity for the long ball. Granderson boasts 23 home runs; Bautista 26. Granderson is batting .246; Bautista .239. Trumbo is no power slouch with 20 bombs and his .312 and .620 SLG put Bautista and Granderson to shame. Trumbo is simply more reliable. Trout, the 20-year-old phenom who picked up one hit in April, leads the AL with a .339 batting average and sports a fat .395 OBP. Oh, and Trout leads the AL in steals with 22 and makes catches like this.

tbg’s designated hitter-David Ortiz, boston, actual starter-ortiz

Big Papi continues to do the most. His .390 OBP leads all designated hitters, as does his .607 SLG. Ortiz’s 21 home runs and 43 Ks give him the nod over Adam Dunn and his 24 home runs and 126 Ks.

The Big Guy

A Night in the American League

Every night The Big Guy breaks down the action in the American League.

Biggest Win

Orioles 5-Phillies 4: Buck Showalter’s young team continues to produce. Baltimore’s bullpen went 4 shutout innings and their hitters made the most of limited scoring opportunities by going 2-4 with runners in scoring position. Baltimore walked off in the tenth when 26-year-old catcher Matt Wieters drove in fellow 26-year-old center fielder Adam Jones.

Best Hitter

If it weren’t for that Texas Rangers center fielder, Mark Trumbo’s season would be dominating the headlines. Trumbo sports a .326 BA, 14 HR, 39 RBI, .380 OBP. The Angels third baseman went 2-3, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB against the Rockies Sunday. The 26-year-old has 16 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Best Pitcher

Ubaldo Jimenez is not the ace pitcher the Cleveland Racists hoped he has when they sold the farm for him in 2011. The enigmatic righty with electric stuff lacks consistency. As is his nature, Jimenez dazzled in the second straight following his 7 ER, 4 IP outing against the White Sox on May 27. Jimenez struck out 7 Cardinal batters over 7 IP and allowed only 1 ER. The Indians won 4-1 but Jimenez picked up the no decision. He lowered his ERA to 4.91 on the season.

Stat to know

Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis hit a game-winning 3-run homer Sunday. Tied 1-1 in the top of the 9th, Kipnis put his team ahead with his 10th home run of the season. The 25-year-old Northbrook, IL native is hitting #3 in his first full major league season and may be the best young hitter you have never heard of.

Tomorrow’s Note

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brandon Morrow takes the hill against the Washington Nationals. Morrow has 3 complete game shutouts in his last 7 starts and holds a 2.90 ERA.