All Star Game Lineup 2013: Breaking Down AL and NL Batting Orders

The MLB All-Star Game has a decidedly fresh feel this year as there are plenty of first-time All Stars and tons of young players in general ready to take Citi Field by storm. With that said, both the American and the National Leagues have their fair share of established players as well, so it should make for a great mix.

While it has been known since last week which players would start the game, the actual starting pitchers and batting orders weren't announced until Monday. There's no such thing as a poor batting order in All-Star terms as every player in the game is great, but there is no doubt that one lineup truly dwarfs the other this year.

Here is a complete breakdown of both the AL and the NL batting orders, including analysis of the strengths and the weaknesses of each.

American League

American League and Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland was put in a very enviable position as there was essentially nothing he could do to ruin the weapons at his disposal. With that said, Leyland was up to the task as he put together one of the best All-Star lineups in recent memory, as seen in this tweet from Amy Gutierrez of CSN Bay Area:

It's extremely difficult to say anything bad about this lineup as it has pretty much everything one looks for in a batting order. Not only is there a good mix of speed and power, but pretty much everyone in the lineup is capable of hitting for average as well, so there simply isn't an easy out.

With the best five-tool player in baseball in the form of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout leading off, Leyland set the tone well. New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is accustomed to hitting third in the order, but he has hit second at times for the Yanks this season, too and is a perennial .300 hitter, so he fits in well.

Cano is going to see some great pitches to hit as well with two American League MVP candidates stacked behind him.

Defending Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers will bat third with Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis behind him. The pair has combined for nearly 70 home runs and 200 RBI already, so they form one of the scariest duos imaginable.

Cabrera and Davis are followed by another powerful twosome in Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista and Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. They'll surely pick up the scraps after Cabrera and Davis inflict damage on the NL pitching staff.

The bottom third of the order isn't quite as strong with Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy rounding things out, but that is nothing to sneeze at.

Mauer may not possess the power he once did, but he is hitting over .300 again this year, and he is a three-time AL batting champion. It doesn't get any better than that in the No. 8 hole.

Perhaps the lone weakness in this lineup is the fact that it features a lot of plodders. Cano, Cabrera, Davis and Ortiz aren't great base runners, so there will be more pressure on Trout and Jones in that regard. If the middle-of-the-order guys are blasting home runs at Citi Field, though, that won't really matter much.

National League

The National League was going to have a tough time measuring up no matter what due to the AL's firepower, and that is certainly apparent now that the senior circuit's lineup has been released, as seen in this tweet by Jim Day of FOX Sports:

There are plenty of great hitters in the order, but it truly lacks star power in addition to speed and home run power. Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is an excellent player, but he isn't an ideal leadoff hitter. He's hitting just .266 on the year with one steal, but he has 71 RBI, so he is better suited for the middle of the order.

The next few spots offer a decent amount of variety, though, with St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran batting second, Reds first baseman Joey Votto hitting third, New York Mets third baseman David Wright cleaning up and Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez in the five hole. All four of them hit .300 on a regular basis and are usually somewhere in the 25-30 home run range, so they will definitely battle at the plate.

Gonzalez is followed by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who has developed into an incredible hitter as evidenced by his .341 average. A pair of Rockies come right after in shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and designated hitter Michael Cuddyer.

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper rounds things out. Even though Harper is an immensely talented player, he has no business being in the lineup, although that is the fans' fault rather than manager Bruce Bochy.

It's hard to say what Bochy could have done differently since he didn't have much control, but the designated hitter position was his choice. There is no denying Cuddyer's merits as he earned the right to be in the starting lineup, but Bochy should have catered to the needs of the batting order a bit more.

Since there isn't a satisfactory leadoff hitter, Bochy could have gone with San Diego Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura, Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez or even Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen. All of them could hold their own in the starting lineup, and they could have pushed Phillips to a more comfortable spot in the order.

The National League definitely has enough offense to win the game, but its success will rely largely upon its pitching staff's ability to hold the American League's power-laden lineup in check.

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