There’s what the Major League Baseball All-Star teams will probably look like, and then there’s what they should look like.
We’ve already covered the former. Now it’s time for the latter.authentic nfl jerseys cheap
Our goal is to determine which players the American League and National League would bring to Nationals Park on July 17 if the statistics were in charge. And by “the statistics,” we mean the average of players’ wins above replacement at Baseball Reference and FanGraphs plus other metrics to help break ties.
Here are the ground rules for players:
Position players must have made at least 150 plate appearances (see AL and NL qualifiers)
Starting pitchers must have made at least 10 starts (AL and NL) nfl jerseys for cheap
Relief pitchers must have made at least 20 appearances (AL and NL)
Players must be healthy or expected to be healthy by the All-Star break
There need not be a representative for every MLB team
And here’s how the rosters are comprised:
32 players per side
20 position players: a starting nine (including a handpicked DH for the NL) with a backup for each position (except designated hitter) and three wild cards
12 pitchers: eight starters and four relievers
Let’s take it away.
If the stats had their druthers, the AL starting lineup would look like this:
C: Yan Gomes, CLE (1.3 WAR)
1B: Matt Olson, OAK (2.0 WAR)
2B: Jose Altuve, HOU (3.8 WAR)
3B: Jose Ramirez, CLE (5.2 WAR)
SS: Francisco Lindor, CLE (4.5 WAR)
LF: Aaron Judge, NYY (3.7 WAR)
CF: Mike Trout, LAA (6.4 WAR)
RF: Mookie Betts, BOS (4.4 WAR)
DH: J.D. Martinez, BOS (3.1 WAR)
This starting nine mostly resembles the one that the fans want to see, save for a few exceptions.cheap nfl jerseys
One is at shortstop, where Manny Machado is notably absent. He has star power and big offensive numbers (.929 OPS and 19 home runs), but he’s been slumping, and his value is hurt by his well-below-average defense.
Another notable absence is Jose Abreu at first base. Like Machado, he’s also been slumping and doesn’t have much to offer in the field.
The only other disparity is at catcher, where fans have been pulling for Wilson Ramos. To their credit, Ramos’ .780 OPS is the best among qualified AL catchers. The catch is that Ramos is being held back by FanGraphs’ low valuations of his baserunning and defense.nfl jersey cheap
In place of Machado, it’s hard to argue against Francisco Lindor, who’s having yet another spectacular season both at the plate and in the field. For their parts, Matt Olson is rocking a solid .842 OPS since May 1, and Yan Gomes’ offense (.777 OPS) is all the way out of the pit it fell into in 2016.
Otherwise, nobody should need convincing that Jose Altuve, Jose Ramirez, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez deserve their spots.