I caved and voted for the All-Star Game, despite my feelings about letting the fans vote. I only voted for one reason too, and his name is Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Among qualifying American League catchers, Salty ranks 1st in Home Runs (13), is tied for 3rd in RBIs (34), 4th with Batting Average (.254), is tied for 5th in Runs (29). He has been a clutch performer for the Red Sox, even hitting his first, pinch-hit, walk-off home run against the Rays in May. He’s proven himself an All-Star, and it’s a shame that people are not recognizing this.
Saltalamacchia has a lot to overcome if he’s to be voted in by the fans. Mike Napoli of the Rangers leads with 2,239,047 votes, followed by Joe Mauer (Twins), Matt Wieters (Orioles), A.J. Pierzynski (White Sox), and Russell Martin (Yankees).
Let’s compare the stats of these six catchers:
Saltalamacchia: .254 BA, 29 Runs, 13 HRs, 34 RBIs, 0 SB
Napoli: .245 BA, 34 Runs, 12 HRs, 30 RBIs, 0 SB
Mauer: .323 BA, 34 Runs, 3 HRs, 34 RBIs, 3 SB
Wieters: .254 BA, 31 Runs, 10 HRs, 34 RBIs, 0 SB
Pierzynski: .284 BA, 33 Runs, 12 HRs, 41 RBIs, 0 SB
Martin: .197 BA, 21 Runs, 8 HRs, 21 RBIs, 1 SB
Obviously, Napoli’s votes are coming a lot from popularity votes; he’s the catcher for the Rangers who have made the World Series the past two seasons. He has production, but I don’t feel his performance warrants being the number one choice for catcher.
Mauer has the highest batting average, but he’s spent 32 games at catcher, 17 games at DH, and 13 games at first base. Is he really the best catcher of the bunch then? I like Mauer too and want to see him succeed after his injuries the past few seasons. I also believe he’s a better option at catcher than Napoli.
As much as I do not like Pierzynski, he seems to be the best candidate for starter out of this group. His batting average is the second highest of the bunch, and he’s producing either the best or close to the best in the other categories.
Wieters and Salty’s numbers are pretty much identical in every category- same batting average, same amount of RBIs and stolen bases. The only real difference is Wieters has two more runs, and Salty has three more home runs.
Russell Martin does not deserve to even be considered an All-Star with those numbers. That may sound a bit harsh, but it’s true. The only reason why he ranks 5th for catchers is because he’s on the Yankees. It’s not right.
So, I voted for the All-Star Game. In all categories, I tried to vote for the player I thought deserved the honor the most. Obviously, I did have to make some tough decisions, that I will justify for the American League. For the National League, I looked at the stats that the All-Star Voting website provided and chose the one I thought was having the most productive year.
American League
1B - Konerko, Paul (leads league in batting average)
2B - Pedroia, Dustin (he ranks 3rd in the category, but I couldn’t vote for either Ian Kinsler or Robinson Cano)
SS - Andrus, Elvis (seems to be the best option at shortstop based on production)
3B - N/A
C - Saltalamacchia, Jarrod (please see above reasons)
DH - Ortiz, David (really seems to be the best, legit designated hitter)
OF - Bautista, Jose (batting average is down this year, but he’s still crushing the ball when he hits it)
OF - Hamilton, Josh (do I really need to explain)
OF - Jones, Adam (young star who is producing)
Write-in - Will Middlebrooks (I had to. I was going to vote for Adrian Beltre at 3rd, but he’s pretty much running away with the votes at that position)
National League
1B - Votto, Joey
2B - Hill, Aaron
SS - Tulowitzki, Troy
3B - Wright, David
C - Ruiz, Carlos
OF - Beltran, Carlos
OF - Kemp, Matt
OF - McCutchen, Andrew
Write-in - N/A
As far as Saltalamacchia is concerned, I can only hope that Ron Washington chooses him for the game. Salty came from the Rangers to the Red Sox, so he has a connection. If Salty is not chosen, I fear that the Red Sox will only have one All-Star on the team, being David Ortiz.
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