Taken as a whole, the 12 Nats pitchers are simply the best team of pitchers in baseball thus far. That said, they have no “super-stars” who would be automatic picks for the All-Star game. Three starters (Fister, Roark and J-Zimm) have ERAs below 3.00; that puts them in the top 10 or so starters in the National League. Closer Soriano is a possibility too, as are late-inning setup guys like Storen and Clippard. Setup guys rarely make the AS game, but Clippard himself did in 2011!
So it will be interesting who does or doesn’t make the mid-season classic:)
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My picks for the 34 spots on each team follow (starters listed first).
AL Team
C- Norris (OAK)/ S. Perez (KC)/ K. Suzuki (MIN)
1B- Mi Cabrera (DET)/ Abreu (CHW)/ Encarnacion (TOR)
2B- Altuve (HOU)/ Kinsler (DET)/ Cano (SEA)
3B- Beltre (TEX)/ Donaldson (OAK)/ Chisenhall (CLE)
SS- Ax Ramirez (CHW)/ Aybar (LAA)/ Jeter (NYY)
OF- starters = Trout (LAA)/ Bautista (TOR)/ Brantley (CLE); reserves = N. Cruz (BAL)/ Me Cabrera (TOR)/ Rios (TEX)
DH- V. Martinez (DET)
SP- Tanaka (NYY)/ F. Hernandez (SEA)/ Buehrle (TOR)/ Darvish (TEX)/ Kazmir (OAK)/ Keuchel (HOU)/ G. Richards (LAA)
MR- Betances (NYY)/ McGee (TB)
CR- Uehara (BOS)/ G. Holland (KC)/ Rodney (SEA)
NL Team
C- LuCroy (MIL)/ Mesoraco (CIN)/ Posey (SF)
1B- Goldschmidt (ARI)/ Adams (STL) LaRoche (WAS)/ Rizzo (CHC)
2B- Utley (PHI)/ D. Gordon (LAD)/ Dn Murphy (NYM)
3B- Frazier (CIN)/ Rendon (WAS)/ M. Carpenter (STL)
SS- Tulowitzski (COL)/ Castro (CHC)
OF- starters = Stanton (MIA) McCutchen (PIT)/ C. Gomez (MIL); reserves = Pence (SF)/ Braun (MIL)/ Backmon (COL)
DH- Puig (LAD)
SP- Wainwright (StL)/ Kershaw (LAD)/ Baumgarner (SF)/ Greinke (LAD)/ Teheran (ATL)/ Cueto (CIN)/ Lohse (MIL)
MR- Watson (PIT)/ Machi (SF)
CR- Street (SD)/ Kimbrel (ATL)/ Chapman (CIN)
Unrelated: On Tuesday, 7/1, it was announced that I made the NVSS (day softball) All-Star Team for the 4th consecutive year.