The AL and NL All-Star rosters were announced yesterday

Starters via @MLBONFOX, Pitchers and reserves via CBS

 

Ok, lot to digest here. For the first time in a while I’m thinking the voters (aka you clowns) did a pretty good job this year, picking the right players and not just their hometown guys (looking at you, Kansas City). Starting with the AL starters, it’s obviously great to see some Red Sox guys back in there but these 4 EARNED it. They’ve all had tremendous years and deserve every bit of this. Add those four to Wright and Kimbrel in as pitchers, and Pedey (who’s my favorite in the Final Vote, which I’ll get to) and that’s a possibility for 7 Boston guys at the Midsummer Classic. Not bad.

The rest of the AL starting lineup is pretty standard, although I am a bit surprised at Perez being able to win the entire vote. Never underestimate people in the Midwest once the harvest is done, they’ve got Internet and they kinda know how to use it. The reserves for the AL don’t really jump out at all, and besides the omission of Rick Porcello the AL staff seems pretty solid, although adding Marco Estrada while two of his teammates (Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez) have been arguably better to this point in the season is a bit of a head scratcher. But all in all, not a lot of major snubs.

On the NL side, the north side of Chicago absolutely rules the infield as Rizzo, Zobrist (who beat Daniel Murphy by EIGHTY-EIGHT votes), Russell, and Bryant take up the starting infield. That’ll be the smoothest pregame infield in All-Star Game history, huh? Teammate Dexter Fowler joins them in the outfield alongside Cespedes and Harper, and Buster Posey gets the nod behind the dish. Wil Meyers sneaks in as a reserve and locks up the title for loudest pregame announcement ovation due to being the only Padre in the game, and it’s good to see young guys like Arenado and Seager getting the recognition they’ve earned. As far as arms, no qualms from me. You’ve gotta have the Kershaws, Bumgarners, Arrietas, etc. of the world, and that middle relief set of Familia, Jansen, and Melancon will make it tough for the AL to score late in the game.

And now, for the final vote. First, the AL.

Like I said, Pedey is my favorite here not just because he deserves it the most (7th in the AL with 103 hits) but because he’s just the most popular. Won a Rookie of the Year, won an MVP, won a couple World Series, and he’s a gritty little guy people love to root for. Kinsler started slow but has turned on the jets as of late and could very well give this title a run, as could Houston’s young stud George Springer, who’s tied for 7th in the AL in homers. Saunders and Longoria are stretches in my opinion, but who knows when crazy ass baseball fans get voting.

The NL:

To me this race is a little more wide open. Marte is one of the most feared hitters in the NL but he’s missed some time with a nagging foot injury and his numbers aren’t what they could be. Trevor Story was the story of April (sorry) belting homers seemingly every game for the first few weeks of his career, but has cooled off as of late and now leads the NL with 108 strikeouts. Lamb is a newcomer in Arizona with a lot of pop but not enough of a fan base to make all that much noise here, Braun is a former juicer so it’s always hard to tell, but his .322 average speaks for itself, and Brandon Belt is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated players in baseball today, a solid defensive first basemen with a good bat who has helped the Giants win their last 2 championships. It’s anybody’s race in the NL, but due to fan base I’m gonna go with Belt.

As far as the game, it’s impossible to really predict but I’m going with the AL because that offense just seems unstoppable, and Kershaw’s back not allowing him to play could hurt the NL as far as needing to get outs early while the starting lineup is still hitting. If Papi goes yard he’ll get the MVP because we’re all soft, but if he doesn’t I think a reserve like Josh Donaldson or Francisco Lindor will make some noise and walk away with ASG MVP.

The MLB All-Star Game will be played Tuesday, July 12th at 8:00 EST in San Diego, CA.

The Red Sox are somehow hanging on for dear life in the AL East

Put simply, the Red Sox have been downright shaky since the calendar switched to June. On June 1st, the Sox had a 2 game lead over Baltimore in the division and were 11 games over .500. Since then, they’re 13-16 and now sit 2 games back of the O’s in the East. And you know what? I’m not worried at all.

This is a hell of a team we’ve assembled in Boston this year, if you think about it. 4 guys on pace to start the All Star Game right now, not to mention multiple pitchers that should be on the staff. Multiple hit streaks into the high 20s already this year, and just yesterday they manhandled the AL West leading Rangers 12-5 with 4 dingers and great pitching after a shaky 1st inning for Rick Porcello, who picked up his 10th win.

If anything, this midseason slump (that’s what it is, this team isn’t bad, it’s a slump) has just shown that even when the Sox aren’t at their best for extended periods of time they’re still the best team in this division. Baltimore’s impressive start to the season could only carry them so far, and now they’ve fallen back to Earth and most recently have lost their last 5 games to see their division lead slip to 2. The Jays are half a game behind the Sox, the Yankees are 7 back, and Tampa is 13 out of 1st. The early part of 2016 has taught us one major thing about the American League East: nobody really wants to win it.

Every time a team gets hot and looks like they’re ready to pull away and become the favorite in the East, that team gets hit with a few key injuries or some pitching woes and all of a sudden it’s a multi team race again. I’d still venture to say the AL East is a top-3 division in baseball, but the inconsistency we’re seeing from teams and players with immense amounts of talent (and salaries) is just unheard of. If you’d have told me in February that after 17 appearances David Price would be 8-5 with a 4.74 ERA I wouldn’t have been able to call bullshit quick enough. There’s no way he snags $217 million from us and then gives up almost 5 runs a game for the first 3 months of the year, right? Right?

And how about the offense? The Sox are still sitting at about a 5.6 runs per game level right now, 1st in the majors, but the pop in the lineup has been just about as consistent as the rotation. It was obviously very unrealistic to expect the video game numbers of April and May to continue for a 162-game season, but the cool off lately mixed with a slew of injuries and shaky pitching has made it difficult to regain the 1st place position that the Sox have earned thus far. Yes Baltimore has played well for the most part and Toronto has held their own through some struggles, but the Red Sox are the best team in this division and are going to have to prove that through July and onward.

The Sox take on the Rangers again tonight at Fenway. 7:10 start, Price on the hill against A.J. Griffin.

Wake Up With The Great Bambino