Via MLB?s official Twitter, here are the starting position players for the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field:
Nothing too shocking on the National League side of things. In a more Sabermetrically-inclined universe, Matt Carpenter could have gotten the nod over Brandon Phillips. If Troy Tulowitzki isn?t healthy enough to return, you?ll see either Jean Segura or Everth Cabrera at shortstop. ?CarGo? refers to Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, not Carlos Gomez of the Brewers. Gomez probably should have gotten the nod over Bryce Harper given the playing time disparity. (By the way, Harper?s 201 PA total is closer to that of Yasiel Puig ? 127 ? than Gomez?s 325.)
In the American League, one could make a solid numbers-based case for Jason Kipnis over both Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia. Jhonny Peralta has been markedly better than J.J. Hardy but has half the home run total. Adam Jones could have been a reserve in favor of someone like Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury.
The pitchers:
Shocking not to see Stephen Strasburg, 4-6 but with a 2.24 ERA, not make it. Adam Wainwright won?t pitch in the All-Star Game, so it seems pretty open-and-shut that Matt Harvey gets the nod to start the game in his team?s stadium. With Jason Kipnis on the roster, the ?one player from each team? rule was satisfied, making it odd that Justin Masterson earned a spot while Royals hurler Ervin Santana was left off. But other than that, there aren?t any huge omissions as far as AL pitchers go. And the reserves:
Allen Craig getting the last first base roster spot for the NL over Freddie Freeman is sure to cause some debate. In a surprisingly stacked year at the position, Ian Desmond has been the fourth-best shortstop in the NL, which may explain why he didn?t make the cut. Where is Reds center fielder Shin-Soo Choo and his .417 on-base percentage?
Josh Donaldson is the biggest AL omission that jumps out at you. The Athletics third baseman has a .903 OPS, fourth-best among all MLB third basemen and third-best in the American League behind Miguel Cabrera and Evan Longoria. Longoria, by the way, also not an All-Star.
The Final Vote candidates:
We may see Yasiel Puig in the All-Star Game, after all. The Cuban, setting the baseball world on fire, has a 1.155 OPS through his first 30 Major League games. All five of the AL candidates are pitchers, and relievers at that. Would that we could submit two Final Votes for NL players and zero for the AL in this case.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/06/the-all-star-game-rosters-have-been-unveiled/related/
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