I know there was probably a collective eye roll upon the posting of this fanpost. Really, I wanted to do some research for myself so I could make informed decisions for the all-star game. As much as I hate that the starters are supposed to be voted on by fans, I don't want to be one of those fans that just votes for his/her favorites or the most popular.

You may wonder why I have only listed these simple stats for each player. The reason for this is that I think they are mostly indicative of the level at which the players have played thus far. Most of the advanced stats don't really tell a different story than these.

The players aren't listed in any type of order and I may have left off a few players who you think are deserving, but I'm certainly still open for debate on which players are truly deserving.

Here we go!

C:

Doumit: OBP: .363 / OPS: .813 / XBH: 15 / RBI: 19 / R: 14

Barajas: OBP: .293 / OPS: .832 / XBH: 18 / RBI: 28 / R: 21

McCann: OBP: .383 / OPS: .811 / XBH: 12 / RBI: 18 / R: 18

Ruiz: OBP: .426 / OPS: .820 / XBH: 7 / RBI: 11 / R: 13

Hernandez: OBP: .412 / OPS: .861 / XBH: 9 / RBI: 12 / R: 10

I think the catching position is probably one of the hardest to really gauge. The reason I chose OBP instead of AVG for the catchers was because of the large discrepancies between the candidates. Some catchers have a high average and a comparatively low on-base and vice versa. Considering the rough start McCann had, I was pleasantly surprised by his numbers. Objectively, I would choose Doumit. Ruiz has had a solid season to this point. Ramon Hernandez’s numbers trump Doumit’s, but he has been splitting time with Hannigan. The Reds catching duo is off to a hot start and are trying to overtake the McCann/Ross duo for tops in the NL.

1B:

Votto: AVG: .312 / OPS: .961 / XBH: 20 / RBI: 33 / R: 29

Pujols: AVG: .299 / OPS: .925 / XBH: 22 / RBI: 34 / R: 27

Howard: AVG: .291 / OPS: .804 / XBH: 16 / RBI: 33 / R: 29

Huff: AVG: .291 / OPS: .826 / XBH: 16 / RBI: 22 / R: 25

Fielder: AVG: .268 / OPS: .826 / XBH: 14 / RBI: 19 / R: 31

Votto has gotten off to a great start while Pujols has had an unusually poor month of May. I honestly don’t think you could go wrong by choosing either Votto or Pujols, but thus far the nod should go to Votto. Howard, Huff and Fielder are having good seasons, too, but they don’t really compare with the top two first sackers.

2B:

Utley: AVG: .276 / OPS: .919 / XBH: 21 / RBI: 24 / R: 35

Prado: AVG: .324 / OPS: .824 / XBH: 19 / RBI: 26 / R: 36

Uggla: AVG: .267 / OPS: .876 / XBH: 21 / RBI: 31 / R: 34

Johnson: AVG: .253 / OPS: .910 / XBH: 27 / RBI: 25 / R: 32

Fontenot: AVG: .337 / OPS: .886 / XBH: 12 / RBI: 15 / R: 11

Remember when the NL East used to be known for all their great shortstops? The tide seems to have turned to the right side of the infield and the new beasts of the east are the second basemen. Despite my bias, I can see that Utley is having another great season. I was surprised by how closely his numbers compare with Prado's, Uggla's and Johnson's. The NL Team would do well to have both Utley and Prado make the team. Unfortunately for Uggla, I still have nightmares (ok, that’s an exaggeration…) of his last all-star errorfest appearance, so I’ll probably never vote for him. Johnson, however, is having a great year; he has really been racking up the extra-base hits.

3B:

Zimmerman: AVG: .295 / OPS: .910 / XBH: 20 / RBI: 25 / R: 25

Wright: AVG: .244 / OPS: .811 / XBH: 21 / RBI: 33 / R: 21

McGehee: AVG: .308 / OPS: .896 / XBH: 22 / RBI: 41 / R: 25

Rolen: AVG: .277 / OPS: .900 / XBH: 22 / RBI: 32 / R: 28

Polanco: AVG: .306 / OPS: .790 / XBH: 16 / RBI: 21 / R: 26

I was surprised by the overall lack of production out of 3B this season. McGehee, Rolen and Zimmerman seem to be standing head and toes above the rest of the pack. Zimmerman and Rolen are both great defensively as well as offensively. What separates the two are their teams; the Reds are having a great season while the Nationals are hovering around .500. Both seem to be equally important to their teams, but since Rolen’s team has had more success it would make sense to vote for the more successful player.

SS:

Ramirez: AVG: .297 / OPS: .857 / XBH: 17 / RBI: 26 / R: 26

Tulowitzki: AVG: .306 / OPS: .865 / XBH: 21 / RBI: 25 / R: 38

Drew: AVG: .299 / OPS: .847 / XBH: 20 / RBI: 19 / R: 28

Uribe: AVG: .286 / OPS: .830 / XBH: 14 / RBI: 29 / R: 22

Rollins: Irrelevant at this point…

Shortstop is another competitive position, though it is much more top-heavy than 2B. Tulowitzki is deserving of the start; he’s great on both sides of the ball. Ramirez and Drew are also having excellent seasons, and since when does Juan Uribe deserve all-star consideration? Rollins would be having a great year if he could stay on the field. Alas, the nod goes to Tulo.

OF:

Heyward AVG: .298 / OPS: 1.011 / XBH: 22 /RBI: 36 / R: 29

Braun AVG: .325 / OPS: .932 / XBH: 24 / RBI: 32 / R: 38

Werth AVG: .302 / OPS: .968 / XBH: 31 / RBI: 31 / R: 31

Willingham AVG: .280 / OPS: .973 / XBH: 18 / RBI: 34 / R: 29

Soriano AVG: .301 / OPS: .951 / XBH: 25 / RBI: 27 / R: 28

Victorino AVG: .257 / OPS: .769 / XBH: 19 / RBI: 33 / R: 29

This is where it really gets tough. There are many outfielders who are very deserving of an all-star selection. I left off several worthy candidates, most notably Andrew McCutchen, Andre Ethier, and Melky Cabrera. Since Melky was left off the ballot, however, the three players who are most deserving are Werth, Heyward and Braun. That might be an…interesting outfield considering they’re all corner men. If I were to pick an actual LF, CF and RF, I would probably choose Braun, McCutchen and Heyward. Why Heyward over Werth, you ask? Simple. It’s because of Heyward’s flair for the dramatic…nothing to do with my Braves bias, I swear.

Since I'm nice I will provide the cliffnotes version...

C: Doumit

1B: Votto

2B: Prado

3B: Rolen

SS: Tulowitzki

OF: Werth

OF: Heyward

OF: Braun

Some of these are bound to change (i.e. Doumit to McCann), but at this point I think these players are deserving of All-Star starts. Do you agree or disagree?

Stats provided by ESPN.

Poll

If only one Brave makes the 2010 All-Star team, who should it be?

5%

Tim Hudson

18 votes

0%

Brian McCann

3 votes

0%

Troy Glaus

1 votes

32%

Martin Prado

101 votes

0%

Chipper Jones

1 votes

0%

Yunel Escobar

1 votes

58%

Jason Heyward

183 votes

0%

Billy Wagner

3 votes

311 votes | Poll has closed

Yesterday, during the game, Joe said something that was interesting.  He was talking about how weird it was to see Roger McDowell come out for a mound chat.  This got me thinking about how good our starting pitching has been so far this year, especially our top 3 starters.  

Here are some numbers to think about:

1. Lowe: In 5 starts - 3.10 ERA, 29 IP, 38 GO
2. Jurrjens: In 4 starts - 1.42 ERA, 25.1 IP, .293 SLG 
3. Vasquez: In 4 starts - 2.63 ERA, 24 IP, 34 K, 4.86 K/BB, 12.75 K/9

All three have 2-1 records so far.  And all 3 rank among the leaders in many categories.

• In ERA:  Jurrjens is 3rd in the NL, Vasquez is 14th, and Lowe is 18th
• Vasquez is 4th in the Major Leagues in K/9 and 6th in the NL in K/BB
• Derek Lowe is 3rd in the NL in GO 
  

How are the top 3 starters from other NL East teams doing?

Mets top 3 in IP:

1. Santana: In 4 starts - 0.70 ERA, 25.2 IP, 37 K, 6.17 K/BB
2. Perez: In 4 starts - 9.31 ERA, 19.1 IP, 15 BB, 6.98 BB/9
3. Hernandez: In 3 starts - 7.31 ERA, 16 IP, 12.38 H/9

Phillies top 3 in IP (excluding Park, who was in bullpen for one game):

1. Myers: In 4 gms - 4.91 ERA, 25 IP, 1.48 WHIP, .592 SLG, 4.21 BB/9, 8 HR
2. Moyer: In 4 games - 5.09 ERA, 23 IP,1.57 WHIP, 11.74 H/9
3. Blanton: In 3 games - 7.31 ERA, 16 IP, 1.81 WHIP, 14.06 H/9

Marlins top 4 in IP:

1. Johnson: In 4 games - 2.20 ERA, 28.2 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 5.80 K/BB
2. Volstad: In 4 games - 2.70 ERA, 23.1 IP, 5.79 H/9
3. Nolasco: In 4 games - 6.86 ERA, 21 IP, 1.67 WHIP, 12.43 H/9
4. Sanchez: In 3 games - 2.50 ERA, 18 IP, 0.95 WHIP

So, while the Marlins and Braves have been getting pretty dominant starting pitching, the Mets (aside from Santana, who has been otherworldly) and Phillies haven't been doing so hot...