{"id":3372,"date":"2009-07-02T07:01:05","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T06:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=3372"},"modified":"2010-04-02T15:33:45","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T14:33:45","slug":"2009-all-star-selections-national-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=3372","title":{"rendered":"2009 All-Star selections: National League"},"content":{"rendered":"

After looking at the American League yesterday, today I make my picks for the Senior circuit team.<\/p>\n

Once again, don’t forget that you have until 4.59 on Friday, British time, to submit your 2009 MLB All-Star ballot(s) at MLB.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n

C – Brian McCann<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 He has missed playing time due to a worrying problem with his eyesight, but the Braves’ backstop continues to set the standard for National League catchers.\u00c2\u00a0 McCann is an above .300 hitter with some power and has a reputation as a very good defender.\u00c2\u00a0 What more could you want?\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Yadier Molina.\u00c2\u00a0 Arguably the best fielding catcher in the Majors, the youngest of the Molina clan has worked hard on his batting and is now much more than just a good glove behind the plate.<\/p>\n

1B – Albert Pujols.<\/strong> The easiest selection of them all and that has nothing to do with the All-Star game being played in his home ballpark.\u00c2\u00a0 We are blessed with some amazingly talented ballplayers at the moment, but if I had to pick one to build a team around, I would choose Pujols every time.\u00c2\u00a0 Quite simply, he’s the best player in the Majors.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Adrian Gonzalez.\u00c2\u00a0 Consistently puts together strong seasons despite playing in a pitcher-friendly home ballpark.\u00c2\u00a0 Joey Votto also deserves a mention as a promising young player who has been through some tough times recently.<\/p>\n

2B – Chase Utley.<\/strong> Another straightforward pick.\u00c2\u00a0 The Phillies’ second baseman is a .300 hitter with excellent power for his position.\u00c2\u00a0 He played a crucial part in Philadelphia’s World Series success last year and his continuing good form means that he’s the obvious choice here.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Freddy Sanchez.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing for the Pirates doesn’t appear to be a very rewarding experience.\u00c2\u00a0 Sanchez may soon find out what it’s like to play elsewhere if he keeps performing like this and Pittsburgh continue to trade away any established player of value.<\/p>\n

3B – David Wright.<\/strong> Mets fans are obsessed with Wright’s sudden drop in power, and maybe the blame can’t be totally pinned on Citi Field, but he’s still making a big contribution to the team.\u00c2\u00a0 A good defender and a leader on the Mets’ roster, he’s another player you would want to build a team around.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Pablo Sandoval.\u00c2\u00a0 Many a fantasy owner drafted Sandoval as he is also eligible as a catcher in most competitions.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s having a good year at the plate regardless of where he’s playing in the field.<\/p>\n

SS – Hanley Ramirez.<\/strong> He’s been the most productive shortstop in the Majors so far this season and no one else in the National League has mounted a strong challenge for the starting role.\u00c2\u00a0 Jose Reyes has missed a month of action due to tendinitis in his right calf, while Jimmy Rollins has been nothing short of terrible.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Miguel Tejada.\u00c2\u00a0 Some thought that he might be finished, but Miggy has been one of the very few bright spots for the Astros.<\/p>\n

OF – Ryan Braun.<\/strong> Like all Brewers fans, I was worried about my first round fantasy pick’s back problems during Spring Training.\u00c2\u00a0 Thankfully, those concerns haven’t hurt his regular season performance much. He’s only missed a couple of games and he’s played to the high standard we’ve quickly come to expect.<\/p>\n

OF – Raul Ibanez.<\/strong> I’ve purposefully missed out the honourable mention above because the main candidate would be Raul Ibanez; however, I can’t leave him out of the team so I’m going to pick two left fielders and stick one of them in right field.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s hope the pitchers can stop the AL batting lineup from hitting too many fly balls.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As I stated on MLBlogs<\/a>, Ibanez’s performances for the Phillies have forced me to eat some humble pie so I can’t begrudge him an All-Star start.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Justin Upton. I would just barely put Braun and Ibanez ahead of the younger of the Upton brothers for the 2009 All-Star team.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m already having second thoughts about it, but Upton will make plenty of All-Star teams in his career.<\/p>\n

OF – Carlos Beltran.<\/strong> As I’ve gone for two left fielders, I need a genuine centre fielder in the team (Mark decided that Upton could do the job and he may well be right).\u00c2\u00a0 Beltran’s current stint on the DL obviously could disrupt these plans, and it does look like he’s going to miss the game, however all things being equal he would deserve to start.\u00c2\u00a0 Beltran’s 2009 so far doesn’t immediately jump out at you because you expect him to be a leading player.\u00c2\u00a0 Like many of his Mets colleagues, his home run total looks a shade light, but his overall contribution has been excellent.\u00c2\u00a0 Honourable mention:<\/strong> Matt Kemp.\u00c2\u00a0 With Manny on the sidelines, the younger players have had to step up to fill the void.\u00c2\u00a0 Kemp has done just that.<\/p>\n

Additional\u00c2\u00a0honourable mention:<\/strong> Brad Hawpe. I needed to nominate another outfielder and Hawpe just came out on top.\u00c2\u00a0 His numbers are helped by the thin air in Denver, but you shouldn’t downgrade his performances too far.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s been a large reason why the Rockies have done better than expected so far this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After looking at the American League yesterday, today I make my picks for the Senior circuit team. Once again, don’t forget that you have until 4.59 on Friday, British time, to submit your 2009 MLB All-Star ballot(s) at MLB.com.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,553],"class_list":["post-3372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb-2","tag-all-star-game","tag-mlb-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3372"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7263,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions\/7263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}