Here's a quick rundown of the AL Pitching Staff for the 2011 All Star Game. The AL will carry 13 pitchers with 2 apiece from the Tigers, Rays and Mariners. 6 of the 13 pitchers are first time all stars while elder statesman Mariano Rivera is on his 12th all star team.
PITCHING STAFF:
Starter - Josh Beckett - Boston Red Sox - 3rd Selection
With all of his postseason accolades from the 2003 Marlins and the 2007 Sox, it's a little surprising that this is just Beckett's third all star game. However when you look at his regular season numbers, he's only won more than 15 games 4 times over his 11 year career. Even this year, despite his ridiculous 2.12 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, he only has 7 wins in 16 starts. He's really bounced back strong after a 2010 season that saw him struggle with injuries while going 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA in 21 starts.
Setup Man - Aaron Crow - Kansas City Royals - 1st Selection
I'll be honest with you. I'd never heard of Aaron Crow before I saw his name on the all star roster. The 24 year old rookie from the University of Missouri has appeared in 35 games for the Royals this season and allowed just 30 hits over 42 1/3 innings while striking out 43 hitters. He's posted a 2.13 ERA and has 8 holds. He's Kansas City's lone representative at the 2011 All Star Game.
Starter - Gio Gonzalez - Oakland Athletics - 1st Selection
I got to see the 25 year old lefty throw against the Twins back in April and he tossed 6 innings of shutout ball. He's currently 8-5 with a 2.31 ERA. He's steady improved in each of his 4 big league season going from 1-4 with a 7.68 ERA as a rookie, to 6-7 with a 5.75 ERA, to 15-9 with a 3.23 ERA last year and now he's an all star. In 17 starts this season, Gonzalez has allowed 0 or 1 run in 7 of them.
Starter - Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners - 2nd Selection
The 25 year old Hernandez hasn't been as dominant as he was in his Cy Young season last year (13-12 2.27 ERA, 232 K's), but he's still put together a solid season going 8-7 with a 3.22 ERA and with 134 strike outs he's on pace for his 3rd straight 200+ strike out season. Ironically, Hernandez did make the all star team last year, but his overall numbers were bolstered by the 1.53 ERA he had in 15 starts after the all star break.
Closer - Brandon League - Seattle Mariners - 1st Selection
The 28 year old League is a full time closer for the first time in his 8 year major league career and he's made the most of the opportunity successfully converting 23 of 27 save attempts and allowing just 1 home run and only 7 walks in 36 2/3 innings while compiling a 3.44 ERA. Opposing hitters are batting just .241 against him and he had converted 13 straight saves before blowing one against Oakland on Tuesday.
Closer - Chris Perez - Cleveland Indians - 1st Selection
The 26 year old has found his place as a closer since being thrust into the role last season. Perez has converted 21 of 22 saves this year and has a 2.23 ERA allowing just 8 runs in 35 appearances. Perez has not blown a save since April 21st against the Royals and had a pair of saves against the Yankees this week.
Starter - David Price - Tampa Bay Rays - 2nd Selection
Price burst onto the scene during the Rays World Series run back in 2008 and he really came into his own last year winning 19 games and posting a 2.72 ERA. The 25 year old lefty hasn't been quite as good as he was last year, but he's still 8-7 with a 3.56 ERA and is on track to post a career high in strike outs as he already has 122 over 18 starts.
Closer - Mariano Rivera - New York Yankees - 12th Selection
The Yankee closer will miss the all star game due to soreness in his tricep, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the 41 year old is still as filthy as ever. In this his 17th major league season he's got a 1.91 ERA, the 8th time in the last 9 years his ERA has been below 2.00. He's also got 21 saves in 25 tries putting him at 580 in his career, 2nd all time behind Trevor Hoffman.
Starter - James Shields - Tampa Bay Rays - 1st Selection
One of two Rays starters on the team, the 29 year old Shields is having the best season of his 6 year career. He has a 2.47 ERA and 132 strike outs in 18 starts with 6 complete games and 3 shutouts. His record is just 8-6, but he only got 10 runs of support in his 6 losses. He has struck out 10 or more hitters 4 times this season with a high of 13 in a 3-hit shutout against the Marlins.
Closer - Jose Valverde - Detroit Tigers - 3rd Selection
After saving just 26 saves in his first year with the Tigers, Valverde already has 22 this year and more importantly, he's yet to blow a save this season with his last failed attempt coming on September 2nd of last year against the Twins. The 33 year old Valverde has a 2.84 ERA in 40 appearances this year.
Starter - Justin Verlander - Detroit Tigers - 4th Selection
One of the big steals in my fantasy league this year taken with the 51st pick overall, taken after Justin Upton, Dan Uggla, Shin-Soo Choo, Ryan Zimmerman and Ubaldo Jimenez among others, Verlander has been on fire lately. After starting the season 2-3 over his first 6 starts, he's gone 9-1 with his one loss a 1-0 duel with Angels Dan Haren. Verlander went 6-0 in June and allowed just 5 runs in 49 innings. Verlander has a 2.26 ERA and already has tied his career high in complete games (4) and set a career high in shutouts (2). He's also got 138 strike outs putting him on track for his 3rd straight season with 200+. Verlander is also just 6 wins shy of 100 for his career.
Starter - Jered Weaver - Los Angeles Angels - 2nd Selection
Perhaps a bigger steal than Verlander for me, Weaver slipped all the way to 62nd in our fantasy draft after Joakim Soria, Andre Ethier and Ichiro. All Weaver has done is go 11-4 and leads the American League with a 1.86 ERA. In 19 starts this year has allowed more than 3 runs in a game just twice, in back to back starts in May. If you take May out of the equation, Weaver is actually 11-0 with a 1.26 ERA. In fact, he gave up the same amount of runs in six May starts that he has allowed in all of his other starts.
Starter - C.J. Wilson - Texas Rangers - 1st Selection
The former Ranger closer is an all star in just his second season as a starter. Wilson is 8-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 109 strike outs in 125 innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .243 against him and he's really been able to cut down on his walks this year (39 in 125 innings compared to 93 in 204 innings last year).
No comments:
Post a Comment