Picking My 2010 National League All Star Team

One of my favorite events of the year is the major league baseball All Star Game. Do I think that the winner of the All Star game should decide home field advantage in the World Series? No, I don’t. But I still like the event regardless.

The mid-summer classic offers fans the opportunity to see the best players in the game all on the field at the same time. It’s quite a scene.

With the All Star game a couple of weeks away, I am going to put together my All Star game roster. Today I will do the National League and tomorrow I will pick the American League All Stars.

Of course I will follow the same rules that this year’s National League manager, Charlie Manuel has to go by. A roster of 34 players and each team in the National League has to be represented.

Without further ado, here is my National League All Star Team:

Starters

C: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

1B: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

2B: Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves

SS: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

3B: David Wright, New York Mets

OF: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies

OF: Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers

P: Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

Reserves

C: Miguel Olivo, Colorado Rockies

C: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs

1B: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

1B: Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres

2B: Kelly Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks

SS: Juan Uribe, San Francisco Giants

3B: Scott Rolen, Cincinnati Reds

3B: Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals

OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

OF: Jayson Werth, Philadelphia Phillies

OF: Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals

P: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

P: Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins

P: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

P: Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

P: Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets

P: Mat Latos, San Diego Padres

P: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

P: Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves

P: Heath Bell, San Diego Padres

P: Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants

P: Matt Lindstrom, Houston Astros

P: Billy Wagner, Atlanta Braves

P: Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers

P: Arthur Rhodes, Cincinnati Reds

I had a couple of tough decisions to make with this team.

The Cubs needed a representative so I went with Soto. I could have gone with Marlon Byrd, Carlos Silva, or Carlos Marmol, but the team needed a third catcher and the catching situation in the NL is really down this year, so Soto and his .400 OBP make the team.

The Astros needed a representative and I went with Lindstrom. Lindstrom’s addition knocked Matt Capps off the team. I also wanted to put a deserving middle reliever on the team and Rhodes is having a phenomenal season in Cincinnati, so he gets the nod for me.

Some of you might be surprised to see Juan Uribe on this team, but take a look at the SS situation in the NL. It’s worse than the catching situation. With Troy Tulowitzki injured, Uribe is the next best option after starter Hanley Ramirez.

You could argue that Jose Reyes deserved the nod over Uribe, but Uribe has a higher OBP, SLG, and OPS than Reyes. Since the Diamondbacks needed a representative, I went with Kelly Johnson at second. Putting Johnson on the team knocks Rickie Weeks and Brandon Phillips off this team.

You may have also noticed that Stephen Strasburg is not on this team. While he has had an impressive first five starts in the majors, there are a lot of other players who have been putting up All Star numbers for the entire year. I can’t put Strasburg on the team if I don’t put Jaime Garcia on the team.

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