5 Possible All-Stars For The Giants

by Carmelballin on Jun 30, 2009 5:16 PM PDT Comment 54 comments

I never would have thought at the beginning of the year that we may have 5 Giants in the All-Star Game. But let's take a look at these guys who should/could make the team:

Tim Lincecum- He is definitely a lock. With 3 complete games in his last 4 starts, leading the MLB in strikeouts, and second in the NL in ERA, not to mention a 8-2 record, many would think that he's Charlie Manuel's favorite to start the game.

Matt Cain- Cain should be another lock. He leads the NL in wins with 9, and has a stellar 2.57 ERA, and has definitely opened eyes around the league. Statistically, he may the third best pitcher in the NL (very close to Dan Haren for second, if not second).

Brian Wilson- As much as Wilson has been a headache at times, he should be an allstar this year considering that he is second in the NL in saves right behind Heath Bell of San Diego. Yes, I know what you guys are saying: "from watching the Giants every game, he blows to many saves to be an All Star". True, but from the outside baseball world, Brian Wilson is considered an elite closer.

Bengie Molina- Definitely should make the allstar team. If he doesn't, its highway robbery. Yes, his average has dipped down a little bit, but statistically he may arguably be the best catcher in the NL. Most of the good catchers play in the AL. Molina is first among NL catchers in HR's and RBI's.

Pablo Sandoval- Imagine if Pablo didn't get off to a slow start this year. With that being said, he has still put together a great first half of the season. Second in the NL in batting average (barely behind Wright), he has 11 HR's and 39 RBI's, he definitely has a good case. The only problem is, looking at the rest of the NL's third basemen such as Mark Reynolds, Ryan Zimmerman, and Casey Blake, it would be very difficult to make the team. But he definitely is considered.

Point is: Do I think all 5 of these players are going to make the allstar team? Probably not, actually most likely not. But maybe 4 of these guys and atleast 3 should make it. Who would have though right??

Poll

How many All-Stars will the Giants have in St. Louis

5

13 votes

4

44 votes

3

203 votes

2

65 votes

1

5 votes

330 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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Comments

Affeldt is doing pretty great too

But I think its gonna be Tim, Cain and Bengie. Sandoval ishaving a better year then bengie, but not many NL catchers are doing that good this year so I can see Bengie finally being taken.

by kvdp12 on Jun 30, 2009 5:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Sandoval deserves it, but I dont see him making it

Lincecum is a lock, Cain probably will

The San Francisco Giants: Where old men go to die.

by GrahamCrakalaka on Jun 30, 2009 5:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think Molina deserves an AS spot.

Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Jun 30, 2009 5:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

this

sub-.275 OBPs don’t deserve to be all stars

by TimLincecumIsGod on Jun 30, 2009 6:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

McCann and Yadier should start over him pretty easy.

Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Jun 30, 2009 6:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

even if Molina was somehow the best, they should find a way to play the all-star game without a catcher

by kingofthacove on Jun 30, 2009 6:10 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I dont think bengie is worthy but neither are many other NL catchers besides Yadier and McCann

but they usually take 3 catchers right? I think last year they had McCann, Martin, and someone else.

by kvdp12 on Jun 30, 2009 8:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Russell Martin is better than Molina.

/prepares to get killed

Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Jun 30, 2009 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Though, he is having a really bizarre year. His power has completely disappeared.

Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Jun 30, 2009 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

BETTER AT SUCKING IT

FIRE BRIAN SABEAN... UNLESS HE KEEPS DRAFTING WELL. .. AND SIGNS UNDERRATED PLAYERS LIKE AFFELDT OR PHELPS. .. OR ALRIGHT WHO'S PLAYING WITH THE ALIEN MIND-SWITCHING RAY?
-------
PARPG- Indy post-apocalyptic roleplaying game currently in early planning stages.

by zenbitz on Jul 1, 2009 12:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, but that doesn’t mean Molina is the third most deserving.

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
PABLO SANDOVAL AM STEAL DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS.

by jponry on Jun 30, 2009 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Chris Iannetta.

Adoptive parent of Noah Lowry.

:-(

by Cookyman on Jul 1, 2009 5:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

very easily

Prospective parent of new pick, Zack Wheeler. Projectable Righty stolen from the braves. Of course, I stalk my son's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/zackwheelerbaseball

"Obviously I’m not doing things like going toe-to-toe with a ninja. Find me a ninja, for one."--Brian Wilson

by haverecords on Jun 30, 2009 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

obviously

Pablo should catch in the ASG!

by zenbitz on Jul 1, 2009 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bengie Molina- Definitely should make the allstar team. If he doesn’t, its highway robbery. Yes, his average has dipped down a little bit, but statistically he may arguably be the best catcher in the NL. Most of the good catchers play in the AL. Molina is first among NL catchers in HR’s and RBI’s.

wtf

by kingofthacove on Jun 30, 2009 6:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah pretty much

GROUGTHINK ALERT

by groug on Jun 30, 2009 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

iawtwtf

Catchers w/ over 150 PA sorted by WAR

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
PABLO SANDOVAL AM STEAL DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS.

by jponry on Jun 30, 2009 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was more shocked/awed by

The only problem is, looking at the rest of the NL’s third basemen such as Mark Reynolds, Ryan Zimmerman, and Casey Blake, it would be very difficult to make the team.

1) david wright at all?
2) Reynolds and Blake are as completely average as major leaguers get, and Sandoval is pretty clearly head and shoulders above them both.

"he walked 18; new league record! Struck out 18, another new league record! He also hit the sportswriter, the PA announcer, the bull mascot twice..."

by i did my job on Jun 30, 2009 6:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

David Wright is a given due to votes……..

Reynolds has like 22 HR’s but on a crappy team
And although I hate the Dodgers, Blake has been a leader in that Dodgers clubhouse and his numbers back him up as well

by Carmelballin on Jun 30, 2009 6:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, and Sandoval has been a leader in our clubhouse and has been better than Blake and Reynolds.

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
PABLO SANDOVAL AM STEAL DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS.

by jponry on Jun 30, 2009 6:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Imagine Blake and Wilson in the same clubhouse

I expect neckbeard and mohawk hairs to be flying around before the actual game.

Mo'ped Money, Mo'ped Problems

by Scooter Ellis on Jul 1, 2009 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

P/C of 13/35

’nuf said

My adopted Giant: "Raptor Jesus" Guzman

by Goofus on Jun 30, 2009 7:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

SWOOP?

Giant Dirtbags: John Bowker, Steve Hammond. MIA List: Todd Jennings, Brian Anderson
Wronghanded Affeldt pitches right

by Giant among Angels on Jun 30, 2009 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

NO

by Lars The Wanderer on Jun 30, 2009 8:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Lincecum will be there. Cain is also likely. Pablo should, but I’m not too sure that he will be.

Judgment Day is coming
comics | art | Nattowear

by Natto on Jun 30, 2009 8:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Pablo seems like he could be one of the good players who gets bumped just to have a mediocre representative make it from another team. Although, off the top of my head, I can’t think of who those mediocre players would be this year. Maybe Jason Marquis?

Although if he’s leading the league in batting average, it would be a surprise if they passed him up.

by Fresburg on Jun 30, 2009 9:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Bengie gets in ahead of Yadier

The younger should kick his older bro in the nuts to even things out.

Aaron King is still my homeboy... iffy mechanics and all

If Dustin Pedroia played in Seattle, not many people would be talking about him.

GET THAT VORP SH!T OUTTA HERE!!!

by baetown415 on Jun 30, 2009 8:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Bengie Molina does NOT deserve to be in the All Star game.

by SFGuy on Jun 30, 2009 9:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

+109

Fred Lewis can stand under my umbrella.
31 May 2007, 21:38 EST - the last time Matteh's career W-L wasn't below .500
We are at war with Los Angeles. We have always been at war with Los Angeles.
Lowering the Quality of Internet Discourse Since 1985™

by S.F. Giangst on Jul 1, 2009 2:19 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

but what about Jeremy Affeldt?

/dodges the Chris Haft forearm shiver

by Fresburg on Jun 30, 2009 9:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I take my All-Star voting very seriously...

…for I am a spectacular dork. Demonstrating a level of integrity that is neither admirable nor useful, I’ll even vote for a Dodger, if he’s most deserving. That said, there weren’t any deserving Dodgers this year (YES!!!)… though I sullied my own reputation by picking Sandoval over Wright. I know that Wright’s superior OBP, baserunning, and defense make him the better player, but Pablo just has it in intangibles, namely “being awesome” and “being a Giant,” which are actually pretty tangible now that I think of it.

As a spectacular dork who doesn’t want to waste everybody’s time with an independent fanshot, here’s my almost-ethically-pure ballot:

C – Mauer
1B – Youkilis
2B – Kinsler
3B – Longoria
SS – Jeter
OF – Hunter
OF – Ichiro!
OF – Zobrist (write-in)

C – McCann
1B – Pujols
2B – Utley
3B – KUNG FU PANDA
SS – Ramirez
OF – Beltran
OF – Braun
OF – Upton

Has anybody else noticed, when browsing stats to do their voting, that the AL seems so much stronger and deeper, but the NL has at almost every position one guy you could confidently declare to be the best in the league? Looking at the players above, I think my NL choices kick the collective asses of my AL choices, but I think the AL bench is about a hundred times better.

Proud member of the Adopt-a-Giant program (Aaron Rowand)

by antinous on Jun 30, 2009 9:58 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Er, except catcher, obviously. NL’s got no catchers. They’re all waiting for Posey. In fact, the NL should just decide to send Posey instead of the other catching choices. Unless Harper’s available, of course.

(And, yes, Longoria is a stud.)

Proud member of the Adopt-a-Giant program (Aaron Rowand)

by antinous on Jun 30, 2009 10:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cain and Lincecum

and in a fair world Pablo would be picked by the N.L. There are too many good pitchers with better stats than Wilson. Bengie’s 45 RBI should be a factor, but I think he needs the rest, and although it would be an honor, he needs a few days off. Third base to me in the N.L. is a toss up. But Wright will have the votes. There are a lot of good 3rd basemen in the N.L.

by bradleybear on Jun 30, 2009 10:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Rankings (highest chances to lowest):

1. Lincecum
2. Cain
3. Panda
4. Molina
5. Wilson

by lincecumania on Jun 30, 2009 11:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I would swap Wilson and Molina but I don't think either will make it

I think Lincicum is a mortal lock, Cain is pretty close and you have to like Sandoval’s chances given that he’s got the 4th best batting average in the NL and I don’t think Charlie Manuel is going to be looking at too many advanced stats.

by jksnake99 on Jun 30, 2009 11:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

list of who should make it

Panda
TIMMY
mathew caineth (its a joke calm down people)
B-Weez

Oakland Raiders Fan
Golden State Warriors Fan
San Francisco Giants Fan
San Jose Sharks Fan
MMA Fan
USC Trojan Fan

by i love sports101 on Jun 30, 2009 11:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If it was up to me

Timmy and Cain wouldn’t pitch in the ASG.

Not the biggest fan of starting pitchers doing their thing in exhibition games (see, for example, Peavy, Jake in 2006, and Matsuzaka, Daisuke in 2009, following their participation in the WBC, and various pitchers I’m too lazy to look up who weren’t the same after pitching on short rest in the ASG).

FWIW, the Prospectus has Panda at 30.4 VORP – fifteeth in the majors (among position players), eighth in NL , and second among NL third basemen (behind Wright’s 33.9, but far ahead of Zimmerman (23.8), Reynolds (22.1), Chipper (20.7), Blake (19.6), and the rest).

Assuming he can keep up the hitting, Pablo’s VORP projects out to 162 game as 65.7. That would be the highest SFG position player VORP in five years, and the highest non-Bonds SFG position player VORP since Pornstache’s 75.5 in 2002.

by SnowLeopard on Jun 30, 2009 11:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

WBC!=ASG (for those who don’t code, != means does not equal)

The WBC is a weeks-long tournament played across a couple continents. The ASG is ONE GAME where pitchers throw MAXIMUM two innings. I suppose you could make a case for the Home Run Derby being bad for hitters, but then again you could make a case for batting practice and warmup throws also being bad. Pitching in the playoffs is also a lot more demanding and tiring than the ASG (you have a full season of hopefully 200+ innings already, and you frequently go to a four man rotation, and sometimes starters come out of the pen to help in close situations), and I think that Cain and Lincecum better be able to pitch in the playoffs or we’re screwed.

by quincy0191 on Jul 1, 2009 1:09 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I do code

and I do agree with your equation, and the general point you’re making.

And yeah, after a spring training and a half season, pitchers should ideally be able to pitch an inning or two with no adverse effects, especially if they just treated the ASG like a between-starts bullpen session. But I think pitchers usually don’t treat it like a between-starts bullpen session : on the national stage, their competitive juices start flowing, and they give it their absolute all. And, if they are pitching on short rest, throwing at 100% can be trouble. And if we send two SPs to the ASG, one of them will prolly be throwing on short rest.

An old blog entry from Henry Schulman (from http://sanfranciscochronicle.info/cgi-bin/blogs/giants/detail?blogid=22&entry_id=6816 ) highlights both the psychological and physical danger of sending your SPs to the ASG :

Eating lunch and reading the paper, as I always do, I noticed the following under the History header in what they call the Agate part of the Green (the bit with all the box scores and stats—you learn a lot in the newspaper business):

1983—On the 50th anniversary of the All-Star game, Fred Lynn’s grand slam off Atlee Hammaker, the first in All-Star competition, capped a record seven-run third inning . . .
Remember when?

Yes, boys and girls, it was 23 years ago today that Atlee Hammaker, a promising young Giants lefty, set a record, still unbroken, for most runs given up in one inning in the All-Star game, and started a run of Awful, Terrible, Embarrassing Even Appearances By Giants Pitchers In The All-Star Game. He was never the same pitcher afterwards, and his name is a throwaway joke, like William Van Launchingpad (i.e., just mention it in a room full of Giants fans, and you’ll get guffaws and groans in equal measure).

After him came many others—the back-to-back homers given up by Big Daddy Rick Reuschel to lead off the 1989 contest being the most notable. Jason Schmidt … didn’t get to play in 2004, but in 2003 he did, and might have aggravated an injury that led to offseason elbow surgery.

by SnowLeopard on Jul 1, 2009 1:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Broad-based OF voting

This year shows why broad-based outfield voting — in the all-star game, in Gold Glove voting, etc. — doesn’t work. Of the top four outfield vote-getters in the NL, three are left fielders: Ryan Braun, Alfonso Soriano, and Manny Ramirez. The only CF in the mix is Carlos Beltran, in third place. Note: Raul Ibanez, also a left fielder, had moved past Beltran into third place before he was injured.

by StickRat on Jul 1, 2009 12:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs