IHJJR's American League All-Stars

The stats used here are pretty simple. I wanted to make sure that I incorporated offense and defense so I took the average of each player on a starting lineups batting average, on base percentage, and fielding percentage (dropped the FP for the designated hitter spot). There was only need for one tiebreaker, and it was for a reserve spot, so I used RBIs and runs scored to break it.

C: Victor Martinez (DET, .552)

1B: Miguel Cabrera (DET, .581)

2B: Howie Kendrick (LAA, .553)

3B: Wilson Betemit (KCR, .546)

SS: Jhonny Peralta (DET, .557)

OF: Jose Bautista (TOR, .606)

OF: Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS, .560)

OF: Brennan Boesch (DET, .538)

DH: David Ortiz (BOS, .360)

The biggest thing that jumps out is that there are a lot of Detroit Tigers on the list. Which makes sense since they are playing the best baseball in the AL with the exception of the Boston Red Sox. They went from near the bottom of the division to just one game out first place. Through out all the stats research it really seems that the Indians have been doing the most with ZERO star power. Also this year has been riddled with injuries for a lot of teams and it showed with how many minor leaguers were on 40 man rosters. Jose Bautista and Wilson Betemit are having pretty damn good years. And that is something I have never said and will definitely never say again.

DH: Billy Butler (KCR, .352)

New York Yankee fans will be happy to know that not one Yankee was even in a third spot in their position with the exception of Robinson Cano. For a team that has a ton of power and is in second place in the East it is a pretty astounding feat that not one position player made it.

So on to the starting pitchers we go. Pitching stats can be pretty deceiving but I think I used a pretty good formula for picking. I mean literally a formula. Innings pitched divided by games started plus wins plus strike outs divided by three. Yeah it hurt my head too at first but the list doesn't seem to be too outlandish.

Starting Pitchers

SP: Felix Hernadez (SEA, 36.67)

SP: Justin Verlander (DET, 35.77)

SP: James Shields (TBR, 35.09)

SP: Jered Weaver (LAA, 34.72)

SP: David Price (TBR, 32.34)

SP: CJ Wilson (TEX, 31.62)

And of course the best pitcher on in the American League is on the worst team. It really hurts to see such a talented athlete with no help around him. Imagine what he would do on an actual contender. Verlander and Weaver have been my favorite pitchers to watch this year and I hope Verlander gets the start in Arizona this year.

 

The relief pitching was a tad bit tougher to figure statistically so I didn't. So this is the only list thats completely my own opinion and it is where a Yankee finally earns a spot. Feel free to bash it as you see fit.

Relievers

RP: Mariano Rivera (NYY)

RP: Daniel Bard (BOS)

RP: Tony Sipp (CLE)

 

Listen Mo is the best closer in the game and even though he has blown some saves this season he still gets the nod. You get to pick one closer in baseball its going to be number 42 every time. As far as Bard he is having a great season. And the better he plays and the more Jonathan Papelbon goes bananas the more valuable he is going to become to the BoSox. Now for the last spot an argument could have been made for Joba Chamberlain. He was having a good year for the Yankees until it came out that he needed Tommy John surgery. So I decided not to pull a Yao Ming and go with healthy Tony Sipp. Sipp has eleven holds (league leader has twelve) and has only let four out of his fourteen inherited runners through.

So there you go. Feel free to rip this list a new one. And when the majority of my picks go wrong this year I get to blame it on the numbers. Or if I actually am on to something here I get to look like a genius for a day. Enjoy.