Seth Lugo was the surprise starter tonight as Steven Matz couldn’t go due to a shoulder injury (shocking, I know). Lugo would be terrific and efficient.
Lugo’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, one walk, and three strikeouts. The line would’ve looked better had it not been for Collins’ managing. Overall, Lugo only needed 69 pitches. Not bad for a guy that Mets were hoping could provide five serviceable innings.
One area that Lugo wouldn’t help himself was on the basepaths. After failing to lay down a sac bunt, he found himself in the basepaths and hilarity would ensue on a Kelly Johnson two out single.
On the single, Tim Teufel first didn’t give a sign, and then threw up the stop sign after Lugo put his head down as Hunter Pence made a good throw home. Lugo saw this, and he headed back to third. Only issue was Jose Reyes broke for third when Lugo broke for home.
The Giants first got Reyes into a run down. As this was happening, Lugo had pretty much no choice but to break for home as there were two outs. As Brandon Crawford was seemingly the player paying attention in the fifth inning, he caught Lugo trying to sneak home. Lugo would be thrown out in the ensuing rundown.
The Giants returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth. Pence dropped a “double” between the rangeless Asdrubal Cabrera and centerfielder for the day Granderson. Eduardo Nunez then hit a line drive right at Granderson while Pence took off for home. Easy double play.
Just to make sure the fifth inning would set back baseball 50 years, James Loney booted a Joe Panik grounder. Lugo would the get the opposing pitcher, Johnny Cueto, out to put an end to the nonsense.
Still, Lugo would take the loss as the only run support he received was a Granderson second inning homer into McCovey Cove.
In the seventh, Lugo was lifted after the Giants announced Gregor Blanco as a pinch hitter. Terry Collins countered with LOOGY Jerry Blevins. Bruce Bochy, being a vastly superior manager, countered with the switch hitting Ehire Adrianza. Both he and Denard Span hit RBI singles making it a 3-1 game.
The Mets rallied in the eighth starting with a Reyes one out single. It was another terrific night at the plate for Reyes going 4-4 with a double. However, despite him getting to second as Brandon Belt threw one into his back on a Johnson pinch hit. Hr wouldn’t score as Jay Bruce hit into an inning ending double play.
Josh Smoker made his major league debut in the bottom of the inning. He’d get charged with two runs as Jeurys Familia, with some help from a Ryan Lochte neon yellow haired Cabrera made an error, couldn’t get out of the inning. Erik Goeddel relieved Familia and was greeted with a Conor Gillaspie two run homer making it 8-1.
With that, the Mets have lost three in a row and are now two games under .500.
Game Notes: Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes returned from the DL with the Mets sending down Ty Kelly and T.J. Rivera.
Approximately 117 games into the season 2.5 games is all that separates four teams for the final Wild Card spot. As we have seen repeatedly this season and again this past weekend, injuries have played and will continue to play a major role in this Wild Card race.
Over this past weekend, it was announced that Giancarlo Stanton is going to miss the rest of the season with a groin injury. It’s a devastating injury for Stanton and the Marlins as Stanton had turned his season around hitting .287/.349/.588 with 10 homers and 30 RBI since July 1st. With him gone, the Marlins have lost both the most feared hitter in their lineup, but also the only hitter in all of baseball that can truly say owns Jacob deGrom.
Stanton’s injury comes on the heels of the Marlins having to send back Colin Rea and his torn UCL to the Padres as it turns out he was damaged goods. The Marlins also do not anticipate their big free agent addition, Wei-Yin Chen, to contribute for the rest of the season as he is dealing with elbow issues of his own. Joining Stanton and Chen on the disabled list is Adam Conley, who is arguably the Marlins second best starting pitcher. In addition to losing two of their starters to injuries, the Marlins are without their closer A.J. Ramos as he was put on the disabled list with a fractured middle finger on his pitching hand. Add all of that to the Marlins needing to skip a couple of Jose Fernandez starts to manage his workload, and the Marlins are in real trouble on the pitching front.
The Marlins have been relatively healthy all season, and now it seems as if they are starting to get bit by the injury bug at the wrong time of the season.
A team that has been decimated by injuries all year has been the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals season got out on the wrong foot when they began the year without starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta as he was recovering from a surgically repaired thumb.
Joining Peralta on the disabled list this year has been his replacement Aledmys Diaz with a broken thumb of his own. The Cardinals are also without Matt Adams, who had been the starting first baseman during the stretch that the Opening Day first baseman, Brandon Moss, was on the disabled list. Centerfielder Tommy Pham has spent much time on the disabled list this year leading to the Cardinals experimenting with Kolten Wong in center. This is the same Wong who had to be sent to the minors due to his struggles at the plate and at second base. The most recent and possibly most devastating injury is Matt Holliday going down with a broken thumb.
As bad as things have been for the Cardinals position players, their pitching staff is just as decimated by injuries. Lance Lynn has not made one start for the team this season as he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has been joined on the disabled list by one time NLCS hero Michael Wacha who may not only be done for the season, but also may need to have his role as a starting pitcher be re-evaluated all together with his scapular issues. This duo joins a number of Cardinals bullpen arms on the disabled list.
Neither Jordan Walden or Mitch Harris have thrown one pitch this season as they have dealt with injuries. Kevin Siegrist was recently put on the disabled list with arm fatigue, and Tyler Lyons is done for the year as he is dealing with a stress reaction in his right knee. The reliever problems are only exacerbated by the fact that their closer Trevor Rosenthal was first ineffective to start the year and then landed on the disabled list with a flexor tendon injury. Like most of this Cardinals team, it is questionable whether he can return this season.
Unlike the Marlins and the Cardinals, the Mets are starting to get healthy. This weekend the Mets not only had Jose Reyes return from the disabled list, but the team also saw him score a Reyes Run on Sunday.
Reyes should soon be joined by some of his teammates. Today, Yoenis Cespedes is expected to start his rehab assignment. Tomorrow, Asdrubal Cabrera will begin his own rehab assignment. Their return will dramatically improve a Mets lineup that has been starting Ty Kelly and his .200 batting average in left field all too frequently. Matt Reynolds and his .211 batting average had already been sent to the minors when Reyes was activated from the disabled list.
Long story short, the Mets will soon be as close to full strength as they have been all season. They are getting healthy as two of their main competitors for the Wild Card are dealing with some disastrous injuries. With all these injuries, the Mets are a better team than the Marlins and the Cardinals meaning the Mets are out of excuses. It is time for the Mets to go on a run and take control of the Wild Card race.
The Mets acquisition of Jay Bruce was designed to solve the Mets offensive woes, and more importantly, their difficulty with hitting with runners in scoring position. However, the move coupled with Yoenis Cespedes‘ injury, it exacerbates the Mets center field problem.
As Barry Bloom reports for MLB.com, Sandy Alderson admits, “As people will comment, it’s not an absolute perfect fit for us. You start with the need for offense and go from there.” The Mets need to go from there as Cespedes can no longer play center field.
In fact, the Mets are unsure what Cespedes is capable of doing after a game where he said he can no longer go “full speed” anymore without experiencing pain. (Matt Ehalt). There is real fear amongst the Mets as Terry Collins said, “To be honest, he could go out there. Could he aggravate it? Maybe. And if he aggravates it more, we’re looking at three or four weeks. I’m not going to do that.”
Fortunately, the Mets will be able to use Cespedes at DH for the next five games with the Yankees playing two at Yankee Stadium followed by a three game set in Detroit. After an off day Monday, who knows what the Mets can get out of Cespedes, or what the Mets outfield alignment will be.
This is a Mets roster without a true centerfield option. Juan Lagares had thumb surgery will be out for at least six weeks. Imported replacement Justin Ruggiano just landed on the disabled list.Michael Conforto has only played five games there, and Collins doesn’t appear to be eager to put him there or to let him hit against left-handed pitching.
With these injuries, Terry Collins admits, “We’re asking now for three guys to play a position they’re not comfortable playing.”
Curtis Granderson has more center field experience than anyone on the roster, but he hadn’t played there regularly since 2012. For what it’s worth, Collins doesn’t appear eager to play Granderson in center either as he believes it “is going to tax him a lot.”
Given Collins reluctance to play Granderson and Conforto in center, and his other options being injured, he had gone so far as inquiring about newly acquired Met Jay Bruce‘s willingness to play center.
With respect to the center field dilemma, Bruce stated, “[Collins] asked me if I played any center and I told him that I had. But it sounds like the plan is for me to play a lot of right field. I told him I’d be more than willing and happy to play anywhere he needed me. I don’t think there’s a clear cut center fielder on the team. I’m ready for wherever he puts me. I’m ready for anything.”
Despite the inquisition, Collins still intends to keep Bruce in right saying, “I’m going to play him in right field for now. I’m scheduled to talk to Grandy in a little while about moving him in the outfield situation. [Bruce] told me he hasnt played center field since 2008, so that’s quite a while.”
Just like Bruce, Granderson has taken a team-first position on the issue. When the issue first arose, and Granderson got a start out there, he said, “Wherever they put me at – Catch, short, pitch, outfield – I’ll play all of them.” (Jared Diamond, Wall Street Journal).
The best bet for now might just be Alejandro De Aza who has been the Mets best hitter since July 1st. With yesterday’s perform de, he is hitting .342/.500/.553 with two doubles, two homers, and four RBI in that stretch. Each and every game he hits, it becomes harder and harder for the Mets to sit him. It should also be noted that before Cespedes was re-signed, he was brought in by the Mets to platoon with Lagares in center.
Overall, like it did when he joined the Mets a year ago, everything revolves around Cespedes with Collins saying, “A lot of this is about [Cespedes’] availability. We’re still trying to figure out what path to take as we get down the road a little bit. Health is going to be a big thing for them all.”
Editor’s Note: this was first published on Mets Merized Online
It was a muggy and rainy day that might’ve lead to the game being called on any other night.
But they weren’t going to call this game as it was the night the Mets were retiring Mike Piazza‘s number 31. With the 31 inside a home plate mowed into centerfield, the Mets were ready, and nothing was going to stop the night.
The ceremony was just about perfect with a video featuring Piazza standing at the spot home plate once stood at Shea Stadium
We had to visit it after the game.
Then Piazza would come through the Mets dugout that seemed to have most of the players there, and the crowd erupted.
Every little touch was perfect from the aforementioned 31 in centerfield to his 31 prominently featured on the Home Run Apple.
The video introducing him was spot on making sure to put an emphasis on his post 9/11 home run
The only thing missing from the tribute was Mets fans giving him a curtain call after he homered off former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
Speaking of former teammates, there was some surprise that there weren’t more of his old Mets teammates there. Frankly, I was shocked there was no John Franco, but you don’t know the scheduling issues that would prevent people from coming. For example, you know White Sox manager Robin Ventura would never be able to make it.
You still didn’t notice it too much with who was there. There was old fan favorite Cliff Floyd. The best Mets second baseman of all time Edgardo Alfonzo. The last player there was the first Mets pitcher Piazza ever caught, Al Leiter. Since leaving the Mets, Leiter was never treated properly by Mets fans for how great a Met he was, but on this day, he would be with a loud standing ovation. Then we finally saw the number unveiled:
Piazza then had to speak. Many times, he seemed speechless at the outpouring of affection he received. Other times, Mets fans would not even let him speak during his speech:
Piazza honored everyone including the fans. He took in the moment as Mets fans did as well. His induction to Cooperstown was a coronation, but this was a celebration with 42,207 of his closest friends. There would be no roomfor booing as Piazza would remind the fans when he brought up the Wilpons. That’s the power of Piazza – he can get the fans to stop booing the Wilpons.
He gave a poignant speech letting the fans know that for as long as his 31 hangs in Citi Field, he will be with all of us. As he parted, he tried to inspire everyone saying that whenever the team needs inspiration, they need only look up to left field and remember that old Mikey is with them.
After he threw out the first pitch from home plate to Leiter, it was game time
Yes, there were some jokes about Piazza not doing it to Alfonzo at second. The real joke was what followed. The team either didn’t listen or was too undermanned to draw from these inspirational words.
The game itself. It was never going to match the beauty of that ceremony, but it didn’t need to be that ugly. The team never heeded his parting advice.
Given how the Mets have been playing, and the lineup that was put out there, the loss was no surprise. The Mets starter AAA cast-off Justin Ruggiano in center, a reall defensively challenged Kelly Johnson at first, a 43 year old Bartolo Colon on three days rest, and of course Neil Walker. Not even facing the worst starter in baseball Jorge De La Rosa could revive this offense.
It was just a brutal game that saw Terry Collins get tossed in the fourth, and frankly, most Mets fans didn’t stay for much longer than that it a 7-2 loss.
Overall, the only thing worse than the loss was knowing that Tom Seaver was physically unable to attend the ceremony. It was still a great night, and years from now, I will always remember seeing this for the first time.
Game Notes: Jose Reyes was put on the DL before the game.
When the Mets signed Jose Reyes to predominantly play third base in David Wright‘s prolonged absence, many believed this would mean Wilmer Flores would find himself back on the bench. Today, Flores would have something to say about that.
In the second inning, Flores hit a bomb to left centerfield off Justin Nicolino to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Flores hit another one to left center to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.
There was some excitement when he came up with the bases loaded in the fifth, and he worked a 3-1 count. Unfortunately, he hit a hot shot right at Don Kelly, who started the 5-5-3 double play. However, this double play wouldn’t mar what was a 2-4 day with the two solo homers.
Between Flores’ two homers and Curtis Granderson‘s two RBI single in the fourth, Jacob deGrom had all the run support he needed in his last start before the All Star Break.
For most of the afternoon, deGrom spent his time in and out of trouble. He was twice aided by timely double plays that prevented a run from scoring. Overall, it was a very good start that saw deGrom throw 117 pitches over seven innings allowing six hits, two earned, and two walks with seven strikeouts. The two runs were courtesy of Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton killed the Mets like he did this entire three game series. He tied a major league record by having homers in his last four at bats, which included his first two at bats today. In total, eight of his last ten hits at Citi Field have been homers. He’s got three of the four longest homers at Citi Field. By the way, Yoenis Cespedes has the other:
Via @ESPNStatsInfo: pic.twitter.com/P6yTUuwqEY
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) July 6, 2016
Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia made sure of that Stanton wouldn’t cause any more damage. Reed struck out the last batter in the eighth to ensure Stanton couldn’t tie the game with another homer. Familia struck him out leading off the ninth en route to his 30th consecutive save to start the season.
The Mets 4-2 win moved them to 2.5 games up on the Marlins in the East and the Wild Card. The Mets will now look to make similar headway against the Nationals this weekend.
Game Notes: Reyes started at shortstop because Asdrubal Cabrera was up late last night due to a family illness. Reyes was 2-4 with two doubles and a run. Flores was shifted from first to third, and James Loney got the start. The Marlins challenged a call in the fifth, but the double play ruling on the field was upheld.
Here’s a list of all the Mets who got hits off the Pirates rookie phenom Jameson Taillon through the first seven innings:
Don’t worry. Yoenis Cespedes put an end to the tomfoolery by immediately grounding into the 5-4-3 double play. Taillon would pitch a career high eight innings allowing two hits, no earned, and one walk with five strikeouts. Before tonight, Taillon never pitched more than seven innings at any level. He went past that point making the Mets look foolish in the process.
Yes, the Mets are a compromised lineup without David Wright and Lucas Duda. Yes, it does hurt the offense when Neil Walker and Michael Conforto out of the lineup. However, that’s an excuse.
The Mets put out a lineup with Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera, who were two high priced players free agents signed more for their offense than anything. Until this year James Loney and Alejandro De Aza were major league quality players. By the way, remember when De Aza was supposed to be the answer in centerfield? Also, the Mets had Kelly Johnson in the lineup, who the Mets thought so highly of they parted with Akeel Morris to get him (after thinking Eric Campbell was a better bench option).
The other two batters were Wilmer Flores and Kevin Plawecki. Flores was the Mets starting shortstop last year because the Mets thought he was better than players like Jung Ho Kang (more on that in a minute). Now he’s a bench piece. Plawecki was the former first round pick, who, putting it nicely, isn’t any good. He showed us how bad he was again today.
Aside from the 0-3, he was dreadful in the field. In the sixth, he dropped what should have been a foul out off the bat of Andrew McCutchen extending the at bat. Later in the inning, he bounced a an offline throw when Josh Harrison tried to steal second. The ball went into center, and Harrison went to third. Because Jacob deGrom was so good neither error hurt the Mets.
However, deGrom wasn’t perfect when the Mets needed him to be. He made a mistake that Kang turned into a two run homerun in the sixth. The final line for deGrom was six innings allowing six hits, two earned, and one walk with nine strikeouts. For any other team, this would’ve been good enough for the win. Not for this putrid Mets offense.
Jim Henderson allowed a two run home run to Starling Marte. The homer made the score 4-0, and it put the game out of reach. You know, if it wasn’t out of reach at 2-0.
Look, teams will look bad against good pitching. Mets fans have seen their pitching do this to opponents. There is no shame is being shut down by a phenom like Taillon. The problem is, lately, every pitcher looks like Taillon against the Mets.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America. It’s up to you to decide whether or not it was created by Betsy Ross at George Washington‘s behest. There’s no harm in perpetuating the fantasy. As baseball fans at least pretend that baseball was invented by Union General Abner Doubleday in the quaint little village of Cooperstown, New York. It’s why the Baseball Hall of Fame is located there.
As Americans and Mets fans, we all carry the fantasy that this October we will once again see the American Flag stretched across the outfield in Citi Field. We will all be getting residential flagpole installation services to fit our front yards with as many flagpoles as we can physically fit on the grass, and raising the star-spangled banner high into the sky for all to look upon in pride. Flag Day is a proud moment in our history, and I for one can’t wait for it.
In actuality, it’s not really a fantasy. The Mets faced the same issues last year with the injuries and the poor offense. On this date last year, the Mets were 34-30. This year, they are 34-28. Lost in the David Wright and Lucas Duda injuries as well as the struggles from Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto is the fact that this Mets team is simply better than the one the Mets fielded last year. Even in the worst of times, the Mets now have Yoenis Cespedes in the middloe of the lineup instead of John Mayberry and Eric Campbell.
So yes, on this Flag Day, we can still dream of the days in which the American flag once again adorns the Citi Field outfield. We can hope for Wright and Granderson to hit homeruns while Noah Syndergaard intimidates batters from 60′ 6″ away. We can also await the Mets raising a World Series flag in centerfield.
In a couple of days, Josh Edgin is about to learn that one of the oldest axioms in sports is false. Time and again, we’ve seen it. You can lose your job due to injury.
In 2014, Edgin made that leap from prospect to a bona fide Major Leaguer. In his 47 appearances, he had a 1.32 ERA, 0.915 WHIP, and a 9.2 K/9. That was good for an ERA+ of 266. He limited lefties to a batting line of .185/.217/.323. These are very good numbers for a lefty out of the pen. As such, he was expected to be a big part of the bullpen in 2015.
He wasn’t. He needed Tommy John surgery. While the Mets were winning the pennant, he was rehabbing. He’s currently in the minors on a rehabilitation stint. Under the rules, he has to be activated from the DL on Sunday.
When he’s activated, he will be optioned to Triple-A. There’s no room for him on the Major League roster. The Mets bullpen has been lights out. Jerry Blevins has done the job as a LOOGY. The bullpen’s other lefty, Antonio Bastardo, has been effective against righties and lefties. Aside from that, he has a two year $12 million contract. There’s no room for another lefty.
Edgin lost his job due to injury . . . just like Juan Lagares did with his elbow injury.
Coming into 2015, Lagares was coming off a Gold Glove season. Mostly due to his defense, he had a 5.5 WAR. The Mets saw a huge future for him, so they gave him a four year $23 million extension.
Lagares had an elbow injury that hindered him in 2015. There were debates as to whether he needed Tommy John surgery. It affected his throws, and it most likely affected him at the plate. His WAR dipped from 5.5 to 0.6. The Mets sought an upgrade, and they brought in Yoenis Cespedes, who went on an absolute tear at the plate.
In the offseason, the Mets wouldn’t trust a potentially healthier Lagares with centerfield again. First, they signed Alejandro De Aza to platoon with him. Then as the market knocked down Cespedes’ contract demands, they re-signed Cespedes. Lagares lost his job due last year due to an elbow injury.
Edgin is about to officially lose his as well for the same exact reason. The reason? Well, that is the Mets obligation to put the best team out on the field as possible. Before their injuries, that meant Lagares and Edgin. Now, it doesn’t.
You can lose your job due to injury.
The Mets are in the midst of a stretch of 17 straight games without a day off. On Thursday, they’re flying out to the west coast for an eleven game road trip. Madison Bumgarner was on the mound. With all these factors present, it’s difficult to take umbridge with Terry Collins’s lineup on Sunday. There were many factors to consider.
With that said, his outfield alignment was inexcusable.
The Mets had Michael Conforto in left, Yoenis Cespedes in center, and Juan Lagares in right. Collins put the 2015 American League Gold Glove leftfielder in centerfield and the 2014 National League Gold Glove centerfielder in rightfield. With the exception of maybe Conforto, everyone was out of place.
First off, it should be acknowledged Cespedes isn’t a good centerfielder. By his own admission, he prefers to play left. He averages a – 3.2 UZR in and a -4 DRS in center. Coincidentally, those were his numbers playing center for the Mets last year. Long story short, Cespedes is a below average centerfielder. He’s only out there because the Mets value his bat over Lagares’ glove.
Lagares’ glove? It’s transcendent. When he won the Gold Glove in 2014, he had an 18.6 UZR and a 26 DRS. Those numbers are all the more incredible when you consider this was his second best defensive season. However, Cespedes’ problem is his bat. He’s a career .262/.298/.365 hitter. Against righties, he’s even worse hitting .253/.285/.339. It’s hard to justify keeping that bat in the lineup everyday. It’s why the Mets not only traded for Cespedes, but it’s also a factor why the Mets re-signed him.
When Cespedes and Lagares have played in the outfield with Curtis Granderson, Cespedes has been in left while Lagares has been in center. That’s perfect. Each player is playing their best defensive position. Even better, you have three plus defenders in the outfield. This only works because Granderson is a rightfielder. Conforto is not.
Neither Conforto or Cespedes have played rightfield in a major league game. In fact, despite his appearance in the 2015 Future’s Game, Conforto has only played in left. Therefore, Lagares was left as the only outfielder with any experience in right. Coming into Sunday’s game, he has exactly 16 games and 89 innings of experience in right. Fourteen of those games were in 2013 when Collins actually believed Matt den Dekker was a better defensive centerfielder than Lagares.
It doesn’t make sense for Lagares to play anywhere other than centerfield. It makes less sense that Collins considered the idea in Spring Training and is following through on it. When Collins put Cespedes in center last year and put Lagares in right, he explained Lagares was the only one who played there previously. While that excuse might’ve worked in 2015, it should not work this year.
The Mets had an entire offseason andSpring Training to prepare for this situation. Either Conforto or Cespedes could’ve received some rightfield reps to permit Collins to have some level of comfort in placing them in rightfield. It’s what the Mets did with Wilmer Flores in teaching him first base. Now, Flores has shown the Mets they can feel comfortable putting him at firstbase. It’s what the Mets needed to do with Comforto.
No, instead the Mets decided to ignore the issue despite them being very aware that moments like this would arrive. The Mets actually believed that Lagares in right was a better idea than teaching the position to Conforto. Why the Mets foresaw this issue and decided it was in the team’s best interests to play their Gold Glovers out of position is beyond logic.
Fortunately, this decision didn’t affect outcome of the game on Sunday. Hopefully, this will be the last time we see that happen. The Mets shouldn’t weaken their team defense due to a 14 game sample size.
Earlier today, I published a proposal to change the way the fans vote for the All Star Game. To show how this may work, here is my best guess on how the fans may vote based upon if fans were voting today:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AL East
Baltimore Orioles – Manny Machado 3B
Boston Red Sox – David Ortiz DH
Toronto Blue Jays – Josh Donaldson 3B
Tampa Bay Rays – Kevin Kiermaier CF
New York Yankees – Dellin Betances RP
AL Central
Chicago White Sox – Chris Sale SP
Kansas City Royals – Alex Gordon LF
Cleveland Indians – Francisco Lindor SS
Detroit Tigers – J.D. Martinez RF
Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer 1B
AL West
Oakland Athletics – Sonny Gray SP
Texas Rangers – Adrian Beltre 3B
Seattle Mariners – Felix Hernandez SP
Los Angels Angels of Anaheim – Mike Trout CF
Houston Astros – Jose Altuve 2B
Now, as the season progresses and players improve, we could see changes here and there like Miguel Cabrera in place of J.D. Martinez. Overall, this looks to be a fair projection. Of the 15 players selected, there were three starting pitchers, one reliever, no catchers, one first baseman, one second baseman, three third baseman, one shortstop, one left fielder, two centerfielders, one rightfielder, and a DH. With nineteen spots left, there is plenty of room left to assemble a complete All Star Game roster.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
Washington Nationals – Bryce Harper RF
New York Mets – Noah Syndergaard SP
Philadelphia Phillies – Vincent Velasquez SP
Miami Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton RF
Atlanta Braves – Freddie Freeman (?) 1B
NL Central
Chicago Cubs – Anthony Rizzo 1B
St. Louis Cardinals – Yadier Molina C
Pittsburgh Pirates – Starling Marte LF
Cincinnati Reds – Zack Cozart SS
Milwaukee Brewers – Ryan Braun LF
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers – Clayton Kershaw SP
Arizona Diamondbacks – Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Colorado Rockies – Nolan Arenado 3B
San Francisco Giants – Buster Posey C
San Diego Padres – Melvin Upton, Jr. LF
In total, the National League would have three starters, no relievers, two catchers, three first basemen, no second basemen, one third baseman, one shortstop, three left fielders, no centerfielders, and two rightfielders. Again, there’s plenty of room to fill in the rest of the roster.
OVERALL
By no means should my choices here be interpreted as the final say or who I would vote for if these rules were adapted. It’s only a guess.
With that said, there are some young and exciting players here like Syndergaard and Lindor. There are bona five superstars like Harper and Trout (who also qualify as young and exciting). Also, there are players here like Freeman and Velasquez, who may not be chosen to an All Star Game, but nevertheless, they would be there because every team must be represented. Look, if you’re going to name someone to the All Star Game who wouldn’t be there but for one rule, you might as well let those fans pick the players.
At the end of the day, these are mostly deserving All Stars, and their inclusion would not hamper Ned Yost’s or Terry Collins’ ability to field a team. It’s time to let fans pick their own players.