America has spoken and Alcides Escobar is the best shortstop in the AL: Your 2015 All-Star game/weekend/associated monkeyshines thread

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
2B: Jose Altuve, Astros
3B: Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
SS: Alcides Escobar, Royals
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Lorenzo Cain, Royals
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
DH: Nelson Cruz, Mariners

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Buster Posey, Giants
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs
2B: Dee Gordon, Marlins
3B: Todd Frazier, Reds
SS: Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals
OF: Matt Holliday, Cardinals
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins

When will they kill this stupid voting thing?

several of these players are on the DL, too

who cares? it's a stupid game, let the stupid fans vote.

the WS homefield determination is an abomination though.

Most of those are perfectly good choices.

matt holliday above joc pederson and mccutchen (and many others) was pretty bad

i'm fine on withholding this perk from Pederson no matter how good the first half of his rookie season is. hopefully McCutchen will get to start.

They've been having Pederson hit down in the lineup sometimes, which is more of an RBI position. I mean, it's great that he has a lot of walks when he's hitting first or second in the lineup, but not so much if he's hitting sixth or seventh. (He has two stolen bases, by the way.) I'm not sure that his ability to draw walks is sustainable as pitchers consider how to pitch him either. He's batting .234.

his wRC+ is 146

matt holliday above joc pederson and mccutchen (and many others) was pretty bad

― 1992 ball boy (Karl Malone), Monday, July 6, 2015 11:04 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lagares too (or is he on the mets injury roll rn)

*too, in particular

there is debate on whether he needs TJ surgery, bleeve it or not

gahdamnit! i hadn't heard about that.

kinda think both shortstop picks are kinda undeserving, but hope that at least they rectify that by picking xander bogaerts as a reserve. better than escobar in slash line, WAR and fielding percentage, worse but by fairly negligible amounts in dWAR, DRS

Most of those are perfectly good choices.

Most sure, but I see 4 pretty questionable ones

- Perez over Vogt, Martin
- Escobar over... shit, I don't know, AL SS suck... Reyes, Bogaerts, maybe even Miller
- Gordon/Cain over Bautista, Martinez, Gardner, Springer, Brantley, etc.
- Holliday over Cutch, Braun, Pollock, Pederson, etc.

who cares? it's a stupid game, let the stupid fans vote.

sure the game's stupid, but the "X-time all-star" is brought up so often that it's lame to see guys who should probably be there (and may never even get another chance) get shafted because apparently KC is 4chan or something.

(xxp)

his wRC+ is 146

I think he had a good first half. That's a stat that I think reflects his 56 walks, though. The two issues I expressed with regard to his walks are not wiped away by that stat, I don't think.

AL SS kinda underwhelming, i voted Iglesias xxp

the "X-time all-star" is brought up so often

mute mute mute. 10 minutes of Harold Reynolds this weekend reaffirmed that.

not really sure NL shortstops are particularly hot either, i voted tulo i think

as much as it doesn't matter, it matters. i'm not just talking about announcers, i am also talking about the stuff teams put in their promotional material to sell tickets. a casual fan understands "5-time all-star" more than "a 5-year triple-slash line of .335/.418/.586."

yeah so let em think what they want to, like 'cycles' are important.

not really sure NL shortstops are particularly hot either, i voted tulo i think

brandon crawford had a very good first half

NL reserve contingent is p solid, cutch to start

brandon crawford had a very good first half

Waht, 12 dingers already.

b-ref has him fourth in NL position-player WAR (behind harper, goldy and posey)

BROCK HOLT, all-star

ugh

xander is way more deserving, but a dipshit like ned yost is obviously gonna jack off to the utility player pedigree

u can still vote for xander

i'm just guessing deGrom is the only Met

Stephen Vogt
‏@SVogt1229
So honored and excited to be named an MLB all star. This is a day I could have never dreamed of. Thanks to all who have believed in me!

<3

familia made the NL final vote ballot (as did xander for the AL) which I guess you vote on through twitter xp

yadi didn't deserve it tbh

aj burnett's first all-star game!

bummed about the lack of infante

Kershaw being in the 'last vote' is insulting

Both Kluber and Kershaw have roughly the same peripherals as last year, and both might miss the ASG!

I have no clue why each team needs to have five relievers, yeah, relievers are people too and want to be All Stars but these are the picks that look dumb in five years time when nobody will remember who they are.

There are always a few players who get injured or held back by their teams because they pitched on the weekend before the ASG, so I'm sure Kershaw will find a way in somehow.

Bryant added; no A-Rod

cueto, moustakas leading final vote thing

kershaw 4th in the NL

well he's been so horrible this year

ASG is best ignored, just root for yr least fave players' injuries if you must.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJfNlffUMAEq_Fm.jpg

the logo for CougarLife resembles, if you squint, a horrified person with tears running down both cheeks

obv that nude batting-stance photo in the Body Issue helped

p sure the gay bear vote would go similarly

http://i.imgur.com/dmYsUGB.jpg

"Cubworthy"?! this may be the creepiest thing ever.

my brain wasn't parsing it at all. it refused. it was like "but he doesn't play for chicago."

brett gardner to replace alex gordon

no kershaw.. f this s

if it helps any carlos martinez is the most fun cardinal player since...i can't actually think of another one

Since Scott Rolen!

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/1/9/4/135345194/070715_stl_duck_on_field_med_fix_0lu8gnv0.gif
http://i.imgur.com/qvWy8AR.gif
http://38.media.tumblr.com/45586351e84f74a1c69bc78ee6fbbf80/tumblr_mv8dvpPQxK1rrjuxno1_400.gif

so everyone's an official 'all-star' right? the guys who were voted in but are hurt, the guys replacing them, the guys who are pitching sunday and therefore ineligible, etc. etc. makes at least 80 of them i guess

no kershaw.. f this s
--panettone for the painfully alone (mayor jingleberries)

otm

‏@AdamRubinESPN
Am told by MLB that Clayton Kershaw was Bruce Bochy's pick, not off a player voting list.

Dee Gordon sitting, dislocated thumb

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJ0AGciWIAAkMfo.jpg

why is aj burnett hanging out with the quiet kid from the krispy kreme rap videos

Keuchel starts for AL

Matt Sussman, BP:
"Hector Santiago is the first Hector ever to make an All-Star game, and perhaps the first time you realized Hector Santiago was on the Angels."

and it's Greinke for the NL

are we grooving pitches to anyone in particular this year?

pujols maybe - you'd think it's gotta be an old

maybe stinky pete will pinch hit

it took a full 19 minutes for berman to say backackackackackack I admire his restraint

Fuck Machado has a punchable face.

I like the new format.

wow that could not have gone any better for mlb.

i was skeptical but the clock plus the head to head is pretty fun.

yeah it was def more entertaining this way

~jersey stand up~

whatd i miss, besides batting practice?

i was working quiz at the pub & between rounds i was sidled up @ the bar yelling and cheering which i have never done during the old boring home run derbies, this was fun as hell

DJ LeMahieu at 2b, batting ninth

im shocked this worked out actually.. especially when they were changing the rules hours before the event because they were worried about rain

also glad my boy joc showed up.., the dodgers hr derby record before him was set at 5 by hee seop muthafuckin choi

so is Bonds going to be there as part of the Giants' living Fantastic 4 or whatever it's called? Reds crowd booing him & cheering Rose wd be a larf.

anyone have a feed that doesnt poop out after 5 mins like firstrow?

how the fresh hell is verducci in this booth

p cool for trout to do that

and no idea xp but he restrains some of reynolds's dipshittery

posey's gold plated mask is corny as fuck

deGrom = STUD

even tho his victims don't rank with Carl Hubbell's

the announcers even described him as a stud iirc

he's crazy good

watching chapman never gets old

103 mph, it's just not fair

sounds like a fast gun

oh stop it

was it on fox? they always have a fast gun

with so many people watching though (and paying money for it in many cases), a fast gun really stands out

i mean i used to be really indignant about it cause i assumed they were juicing the mph to make baseball sexier or w/e, but they've been upfront about it in broadcasts before

variable larfs

http://www.royalsreview.com/2015/7/15/8966585/every-teams-real-franchise-four