2008 NL All-Star Predictions: Some Familiar, Some New, and Some Unknown Faces

The 2008 MLB season has been the stuff of baseball lore.

We had the meteoric rise and subsequent collapse of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the emergence of the surging take-no-prisoners Tampa Bay Rays.

We've woke up in late June to find the Yankees in last place and the Rays in first place.

We've witnessed the late arrival of a bonafide superstar (Josh Hamilton), and the early arrival of another one (Evan Longoria), as well as a plethora of overhyped rookie pitchers (Max Scherzer, Johnny Cueto, Clayton Kershaw, Jeff Niemann).

We've seen relatively unknown players morph into stars (McLouth, Quentin, Ludwick, Volquez), the rise of the two bagger (Utley, Kinsler, Uggla, Phillips, Upton, Roberts, Pedroia) and the fall of the shortstop (cricket chirp).

We've watched Lance Berkman and Chase Utley positively tear the cover off the ball and enjoyed Chipper's pursuit of history as he attempts to become the first player to hit .400 since Ted Williams almost seventy years ago.

Despite the NL's dominance at the skill position (offensively speaking at least) the AL still seems to have its way with the National League. Berkman, Utley, Chipper, Han-Ram, and McCann are all the best offensive players at their respective positions right now, but the AL dominates. Can this year's NL team return respect to the Purists League? If they field this team, they most certainly can...

At the turn, here are my picks for the NL 2008 All-Stars. I stuck to the premise that every team should have a representative and the bench must be able to field a player at each position.

Starters

C – Russell Martin, LAD: Toss up between McCann and Martin here. Martin gets the nod for his defense, plus the Dodgers need a representative.

1B – Lance Berkman, HOU: Banner year for Berkman. Top five in the league in R, H, HR, RBI, AVG, OBP.

2B – Chase Utley, PHI: Leads league in HR and top five in R, H, and RBI.

3B – Chipper Jones, ATL: Chipper is batting .391 as of July 3, and has a chance to become first .400 hitter in almost 70 years.

SS – Hanley Ramirez, FLO: With speed and power, Han-Ram does everything well.

LF – Ryan Braun, MIL: Last year’s ROY proving he was no fluke. On pace for 90 R, 40 HR, 120 RBI, and 20 SB.

CF – Nate McLouth, PIT: From out of nowhere, he is on pace for 120 R, 30 HR, 100 RBI, and 20 SB.

RF – Matt Holliday, COL: Despite injuries early on, Holliday is hitting .330 and leading his team in RBI.

DH – Adrian Gonzalez, SAD: Third in the league in both HR and RBI.

Bench

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