Baseball Bloggers Alliance: All-Star Ballot

To do my part, following the jump are my selections for the National League All-Stars.  I thought about doing the American League as well, but I'm really not qualified for that.  (And for the guy that just said I'm not qualified for much of anything, I appreciate your opinion.)

Do you really expect a Cardinal blog to say anything else?  Joey Votto and Adrian Gonzalez would be fine selections, but we are talking about the best player in baseball.  His down half-season is coinciding with their career-like first halves and it is still an edge to AP.

Second base: Brandon Phillips

I was expecting to go with Chase Utley here, and that's still obviously not a bad choice.  I like that Phillips has been pretty well rounded, with a plus-.300 average, eight homers, and ten steals, plus playing on a first-place Reds team.

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki

Granted, it's not the Hall of Fame voting and you probably shouldn't take character into the equation, but with Tulowitzki having statistics that are at least in the neighborhood of Hanley Ramirez's, that tantrum Ramirez threw knocks him down in my book.

Third base: Scott Rolen

I'd love to give some recognition to David Freese, because I think he's had a great first half of the season.  Rolen and Ryan Zimmerman are leaps ahead of the rest of the league, though, so far in 2010 and, as much as I love Zimmerman, Rolen's resurgence really needs to be noted.

Catcher: Yadier Molina

There are a lot of catchers that have similar statistics, though Yadi amazingly leads them all in stolen bases.  (Six?  Can that really be right?)  When you factor in Molina's defense as well, though, it puts him ahead of the pack.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Andre Ethier, Colby Rasmus

It really pains me to vote for Braun, being the Brewer that Cardinal fans so love to hate.  However, a .300 average and 10 home runs is obviously worthy of playing in Anaheim.  No educated fan will not select Ethier on their ballot, because if .343 with 11 HR and 40 RBI isn't All-Star level, what is?  As for Rasmus, his overall game is coming along.  He's closing in on .300, has 12 HR and has stolen eight bases while playing quality defense.  What's not to love?

Starting pitcher: Ubaldo Jimenez

The staff should include Adam Wainwright, Tim Lincecum, and most likely Stephen Strasburg, but no one can top what Jimenez has done so far this season.  An ERA under 1.25?  12 wins already?  That's dominant stuff right there and he should start the game, a game that could easily see the snapping of that AL win streak.

So there you have it.  Agree or disagree in the comments.