These are the people I think will play for the National League during the All-Star game in Kansas City this year! I know it will be based on voting, but these are just my predictions. --Hannah 1B- Freddie Freeman Since Pujols and Fielder have moved to the American League, spotlight has been given to Freeman. This maybe his second year in the Majors, but Freeman is not only an amazing first basemen; he can also hit and get on base. 2B- Brandon Philips Phillips is by far the best second basemen in the NL! He may be in a little bit of a slump right now, but once he gets hot there is no stopping him! SS- Troy Tulowitzki Tulowitzki is arguably the best short stop in all of baseball right now. He's all you look for in a short stop; He has speed, can field likes no one's business and hit. 3B- David Wright Wright has two golden gloves under his belt, two silver slugger awards and he has been to the All-Star game five times! He is currently hitting the best for any third basemen in the NL with a .365 Batting Average, which is important when you are going agains tthe AL who has a lot of power hitters. C- Buster Posey Power was injured most of last season, but he hs come back this season ready to play! Not only is he catching the ball well, he is also hitting will with a .371 batting average so far this season. OF- Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton All three of these guys placed in the top 4 in MVP voting last season. Braun, Kemp and Upton all are power hitters and always come to games ready to play. Would you want three potentional MVPs playing on your team? I sure would | After doing the American League All-Stars earlier in the week, I've made my National League All-Star predictions. Being a primarily American League baseball fan, I don't pay attention as much to the National League, but I will try my best to make the selections. (Stats of 4/28 AM) 1B- Joey Votto I think that Joey deserves to be an all-star, he is in the top 3 for first basemen in the NL. He is coming off a huge contract extension and deserves the nod to the All-Star game. 2B- Dan Uggla Not only does he had incredible offensive numbers, he has fantastic defense. He is leading all NL Second Basemen with 13 RBIs. SS- Troy Tulowitzki It's no secret that Tulo is known for his great defense, but he is kind of the whole package! He has power, average, defense, speed, everything! It was toss up between him and Reyes, but I definitely think that Tulo gets my vote. 3B- David Freese Mr. Postseason MVP hasn't slowed down sense the season has started.. He is still putting up huge numbers. He is leading all NL 3rd basemen in HR (Tied with Hanley Ramirez,4) and leads with 19 RBIs. C- Buster Posey I'm chose Buster because he is coming back from an injury that most probably didn't think he would. He seems to be doing just fine and continues to be one of the best catchers in the National League. OF- Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Michael Cuddyer First of all Matt Kemp is putting up crazy numbers and I don't have any doubt in my mind that he is going to make it. He leads all of MLB with 10 home runs and has 23 RBIs. McCutchen is the whole package, he has 5 stolen bases, and is batting .324. Michael Cuddyer is someone that us Twins fans miss, but it looks like he is enjoying his new home in Colorado, he has 2 home runs, 11 RBIs and is batting .304. |
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I'd like to first apologize for not posting these posts the last few weeks, I've been busy with school and I was in the hospital and it's just been a mess lately! I'm alright now and back into action!
This weeks Player of the Week has showed massive amounts of power. He is one of the new Twins and he has so far been a great addition! As of Saturday he batted .444 with 4 home runs and leads the Twins with 7 RBIs. He has also reached bases every game this season, thus far. He has proven that hitting in Target Field isn't going to be a problem for him, he has hit 3 of his home runs at Target Field this season. He has been Morneau's protection in the lineup so far this season. This weeks Player of the Week is Twins left fielder, Josh Willingham. He has beena great addition this far for the Twins, considering the Twins didn't hit a lot of home runs last year, having Willingham could really help with the Power. Player of the Week- Josh Willingham Jeremy Hellickson- After pitching 8 2/3 innings against the Yankees, arguably the strongest team in the AL, Jeremy didn't give up a single run against them. He lowered his WHIP by .31 and has worked on his pitch control during the offseason. If he stays healthy, I expect him to not only be an All-Star, but a contender for the Cy Young Award. Wilson Ramos- He may not hit with a lot of power, but Ramos has amazing talent in the catching category. He does get onbase for the Nationals, having a .267 batting average last season. He may only have a .217 batting average so far, but it's early in the season. If he plays like he did last year, I see him possibly being the Nationals starting catcher in 2013. Matt Moore- There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Moore will be a breakout star this season. Even though he gave up two runs in his first game this season, he was pitching against the Detriot Tigers who have amazing bats, such as Cabrera and Fielder. I say he's doing a pretty good job considering he is only 22 years old with a 2.70 ERA, and to add to it, this will be his first full season in the majors. If he stays healthy I can see him as a contender for the AL Rookie of the Year. Mat Gamel- The Brewers needed someone to cover first base since Fielder left, and Mat Gamel is fitting the role perfectly. He may not be a slugger liike Fielder was, but in all the games he has played this season, he has a batting avera of .276 and an on base percentage of .300, which is pretty good for Milwaukee, or any team trying to fill a place of a big-name star who was an amazing hitter. If Gamel keeps playing the way he's playing right now, he will continue to help Milwuakee get on base. Twins vs. OriolesWell, not exactly how the Twins wanted to start the season off, but it is what it is. I did see some good things today though, Carroll was really solid at shortstop, he made some great defensive plays. Chris Parmalee looked great at firstbase too, as a long time Twins fan, it is going to take some time getting used to not having Justin Morneau at first, but I think that Parmalee has a great future over at first. Josh Willingham ended his Twins debut with a 2-Run Homerun, which is good to see! I'm looking forward to this season still and I think that the Twins are still going to have success! Twins final stats: Rays vs. YankeesTHIS GAME WAS FUN! I didn't get to watch the game, but it was fabulous to keep track off! Loved how it started early on with them intentionally walking S-Rod to get to Carlos Pena and then he hits a grand slam! WELCOME HOME CARLOS PENA! What a cool moment, I saw a highlight of it and the Trop almost blew up! It went crazy! Yankees scored a couple of runs and the 9th inning magic was back! Desmond singled and then Zobrist tripled him home to tie the game and Mo blew the save. Then they Intentionally walked Longoria and Scott to get to S-Rod, who had a fantastic at-bat but ended up striking out. It was Carlos' turn again.. Could he do it again with the bases loaded? He didn't get a grand slam, but he got a single to win it for the Rays! I'm so glad that Carlos got to have a happy homecoming for the Rays, he is going to have a great season!
Rays Final Stats: Hello everybody! It's only a few days away from Opening Day and I have the excited went of letting everybody know that starting today and going hopefully throughtout the season, I am going to have a guest contributor to my blog once in awhile. Her name is Hannah (@hpacluv97) and she is a big baseball fan! I'm not sure how often or how many times she is going to blog for me, but I'm looking forward to combining our thoughts and hopefully covering some more teams for you guys this year! Here is Hannah's first blog: Tampa Bay Rays: Lineup: Adding people this offseason who can get on base and hit the ball,such as Jeff Keppinger and Luke Scott,and bringing back Carlos Pena will help the Rays gain more runs during games.As for the lineup as a whole,no one on the team had a batting average of over .280 last season.(Joyce had highest BA at .277,while Lobaton had the lowest at .176) If the Rays were to start hitting well enough to match other areas where they have high expertise (such as pitching) they may not only win more games,but possibly end up in the World Series. Bullpen: Going into the 2012 season,it looks like the Rays have been working very hard to have a strong bullpen.Adding Fernando Rodney and moving Wade Davis down to the bullpen will only make the bullpen stronger.As of right now,it looks like Kyle Farnsworth will be the main closer through the season.He saved 25 games last year and was injured part of the season.If he stays healthy,he will continue to be the main closer it looks like. Defense: There is no doubt that the Rays have a very strong defense system because they have amazing speed and accuracy.That being said, BJ Upton on the DL and Sam Fuld being out 4-5 months for surgery leaves the outfield in question.Right now,Jennings has the most speed in the outfield out of Joyce,Zobrist,and himself.When balls come their way,they're going to need to run and catch the ball.Having Jennings in center where he could run either way until BJ comes back is the Rays best option.Also,having veteran,Jose Molina,behind plate will help the Rays defensively as well. Starting Rotation:The Rays starting rotation is arguably the best in the AL and all of baseball.When you have a guy with a 4.09 ERA (Jeff Niemann) in the 5th starting postion,its a sign that you have a very strong rotation.James Shields had 11 complete games last season,Jeremy Hellickson was named AL rookie of the year,and Matt Moore didnt let a single run happen during the ALDS game 1 against the Rangers,and that was his 2nd game ever in the majors.David Price was in somewhat of a slump last year;if he has his mojo back there's no doubt in my mind he will be a candidate for the Cy Young. Final Verdict: If the Rays outfield suffers because of BJ and Fuld's injury, possibly trading Niemann or Davis for an outfielder will be the best option for the Rays.That being said,I'm positive the Rays will end up in the postseason. Atlanta Braves: Lineup: The Braves have strong bats in McCann and Freeman. This being Chipper's last season, one he comes back from surgery, if he does, I expect him to leave with a big band! As for Heyward, if he gets out of the slump he was in last season, and plays like he did in the 2010 season, he can help the Braces out a lot. For Uggla, if he's not in a slump, he will contribute a lot to the lineup, like last year when he went on a 30 day hitting streak! Bullpen: The Braves have a very strong bullpen with young arms, such as Venters and Craig Kimbrel, who had 47 saves in his first season in the majors. He also won NL Rookie of the Year. Christhain Martinez recently getting a DUI and possibly missing a few games, may hurt the bullpen. Defense: McCann is very good behind the plate and Freeman may possibly be an All-Star this year and play during the All-Star game because Pujols and Fielder moving to the AL. The Braves outfields are error prone and they need to go ahead and find a new 3rd basemen for when Chipper's on the DL and next year when Chipper retires. Rotation: Their rotation is pretty strong with Hanson, Hudson and Jurjens. The majority of their pitchers have decent speeds, but nothing really powerful. Although, they can get the job done in the NL East. Final Verdict:On paper, the Braves look like an obvious postseason candidate. They have problems playing under pressuse, look at last season when they had a 9 game lead on the Cardinals and blew it all in September and especially on September 28, 2011 against the Phillies, they lost in extra innings. Milwaukee Brewers: Lineup:Having slugger Ryan Braun on your team will help any team's lineup. Hart, Morgan, Gamel, Weeks and Braun all had batting averages over .255. Izturis and Ramirez have lower batting averages. Not having Prince Fielder in the lineup anymore may hurt the Brewers. Bullpen: The Brwers have two very strong cloers in John Axford, who has saves 71 games in his career and KRod (Francisco Rodriguez) who has saves 291 games in his career. Any team would want both of these closers on their team, because they can pitch out of most situations given to them. Defense: Not having Prince Fielder on first base will be the Brewers biggest challenge this year because not only did they lost a great defensie player, they also lost a leader in the clubhose. There outfield is pretty strong with both Hart and Braun having 2+ All-star selctions. Having Aramiz Ramirez on 3rd base was a good move for the Brewers because is very good at 3rd base and also has 2+ All-Star nominations. Basically, their defense can get the job done, but it's nothing special. Rotation: None of the Brewers starting pitchers (Gallardo, Greinke, Wolf, Marcum and Naverson) had ERA under 3.50.Being in the NL Central, the Brewers are very lucky that there was only one other strong team in their division, The Cardinals. The starting rotation isn't the Brewers strong point. Final Verdict: Even though they have strong bats and bullpen, if you don't have a strong starting rotation it can reck a team. It's possible that the Brewers make the postseason again, but by the looks of it, it's not very likely. |