The Deserving All-Stars: NL Edition
The All-Star Game is about a month away, and the latest batch of voting results for the National League were released yesterday. If there are no changes, the NL will roll out the following team to begin the midsummer classic:
Catcher: Brian McCann
First Base: Albert Pujols
Second Base: Brandon Phillips
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki
Third Base: Placido Polanco
Left Field: Matt Holliday
Center Field: Ryan Braun
Right Field: Lance Berkman
That’s not a bad line-up, certainly. There are no egregious errors there (except for the hilarious defensive alignment of the outfield, but that’s the ballot’s fault), and you could make a good case for everyone listed above to deserve their spot on the roster. But my personal ballot would look a little bit different, and while I’m extolling the virtues of the starters, we might as well look at all the players who I think should be on the team this year.
The deserving starter (as determined by me) is listed first, followed by my reserves at each position, and yes, I’m following the actual MLB rules, so every team gets a representative:
Catcher: Brian McCann, Miguel Montero, Yadier Molina
Pretty easy picks for the most part – Molina beats out Iannetta based on career track record and defensive value.
First Base: Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Gaby Sanchez
Again, pretty easy calls. Sanchez gets the nod as the Marlins team rep. Fielder gets the start at DH because that’s his best position anyway.
Second Base: Rickie Weeks, Brandon Phillips, Danny Espinosa
The first two are no-brainers, and Espinosa is having a nice year and the Nationals need a rep.
Shortstop: Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, Stephen Drew
Another position without too many tough calls.
Third Base: Placido Polanco, Ryan Roberts, Chase Headley
Yeah, not a banner year for third baseman in the NL. Roberts and Headley have flown under the radar, but both are having quality seasons and the Padres needed a rep.
Outfield: Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Hunter Pence
The first five should be on everyone’s ballot. For the last spot, Pence beat out Michael Bourn for the spot as somewhat deserving Astros rep.
Starting Pitcher: Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Clayton Kershaw, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Tim Lincecum, Jaime Garcia, Cliff Lee
Easily the hardest place to pick, you could make a case for 15-20 guys here. Ryan Vogelsong just hasn’t thrown enough innings for me, and believe it or not, Shaun Marcum lost his spot because the Giants (of all teams) needed a rep, so Tim Lincecum took his spot on the squad. The Lee pick was tough because his ERA is higher than many others (and, I’m assuming, probably too high to actually get him on the squad), but it’s primarily BABIP driven, he’s second in the league innings, first in strikeout rate, and he’s an established front line starter.
Relief Pitcher: Jonny Venters, Joel Hanrahan, Fernando Salas, Sean Marshall
Another place where you could make a case for a lot of guys, I went with the guys I’d actually want holding down a close lead against some top notch hitters. Marshall also got a bump because the Cubs needed a rep.
There’s my NL squad. We’ll do the AL once we have the most recent voting tabulation for the junior circuit.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
Mike Adams?
He would be a fine choice, as would many other relievers. Only 12 pitcher spots and my preference for starters means that a lot of deserving one-inning guys get left off.
There’s still something to be said about choosing to leave the most dominant relief pitcher from 2008-2011 off the All-Star team.
Interested to hear how you balance offense and defense. You list Berkman as a given in the OF (I understand Pence), but Drew Stubbs our WARs him 2.8 to 2.5 and Victorino also comes in at 2.5. Obviously those guys get a decent chunk of value from defense and baserunning, but are no slouches offensively. Are we discounting defense because of the lack of reliability in the metrics? Because it’s an All-Star game and people love offense? Because Stubbs has accrued that WAR in part from simply getting a lot of PA? Or perhaps is it just that Berkman is the more established “star”?
Just curious to see neither of those two guys in the discussion.
No metrics, offensive or defensive, should be considered precise enough to make clear distinctions at the decimal point difference in a two month sample. +2.8 WAR, +2.4 WAR, it’s basically all the same. You could make an argument for Stubbs or Victorino, certainly, but given Berkman’s crazy good offensive numbers, he’s also a very deserving candidate.
I agree Berkman is absolutely derserving and that two month samples are quite small. And I personally like the idea of the game being about “stars” rather than “best two months”. My observation was simply that if Berkman is deserving based on his 2 months of production, then the exact same could be said about the other guys you didn’t mention. But by suggesting the first five “should be on everyone’s ballot”, you are implicitly suggesting there’s no argument to be made.
Drew Stubbs won’t make the team, since Jay Bruce surely will.
“Roberts and Headley have flown under the radar, but both are having quality seasons and both teams need a rep. ”
Except you already gave the Dbacks Montero and Drew……
So we can’t just assume Ryan Zimmerman will play better than any other thirdbaseman from now until the allstar game?
I know it wouldn’t really be fair, but if he was voted to start, I know I wouldn’t be complaining.
It’s still fun to argue who’s deserving or not, but until someone finally pulls the plug on Selig’s “great experiment”, the point of winning the game trumps anything else.
If Zimmerman comes back and plays anywhere close to his typical health/ability, he belongs on the All-Star team. I’d like to see Fangraphs roll out a version of ALL-Star teams based on the point of winning.
Overall these seem like some of the more obvious choices in recent years……for both leagues. Allot to do with injuries I suppose.
Um, Sergio Romo (14.46 k/9, 1.37 bb, 0.82 fip) > Joel Hanrahan (2.24 fip), Fernando Salas (1.88 fip). He’s way better than sean marshall and possibly venters, but i understand those teams need a rep
Romo is one of the most selectively used pitchers in baseball. He’s faced 55 RHBs and only 18 LHBs this year. You can’t just look at rate stats for a guy that is effectively a specialist, and because of that, has only thrown 19 innings.
Given that the Pirates already have McCutchen on the team, you’re going to take Hanrahan over another deserving starting pitcher like Marcum? Same can be said for taking Fernando Salas over Mike Adams and then not having to take Chase Headley.
I’m so confused by your comment “JamesDaBear”
scratch that braves don’t need a rep but romo has a better FIP, XFIP, and tERA then venters, with a superior k/9 and bb/9.
Like he said, 19 innings against primarily right handers. Venters has 40.2 innings and dominated hitters from both sides of the plate. Venters>>>>Romo
He’s still better than the other 3 relievers though.
true, didn’t notice that, but still in an all star game that still has value, and in my opinion his ability to dominate righties would be more valuable in the all star game than putting someone like joel hanrahan
joel hanrahan is a nasty pitcher. He is unhittable and can make great hitters look foolish. Try watching more games before you speak. Sergio Romo>joel hanrahan come on man.
Is this sarcasm, or by unhittable do you mean 25 hits in 30.2 innings? I mean 8.22 K/9 and 2.05 BB/9 is good, but that’s what Bartolo Colon is doing as a starter.
It’s funny to see the “watch the game” trope from a person who doesn’t seem to have ever seen Romo pitch.
I’m not sure if Joel Hanrahan has ever struck out Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday back to back, but Romo has crossed that off his bucket list.
Romo routinely makes hitters, great or not-so-great, look foolish. Also, the fact that he is used so selectively is up to Bochy, not Romo, and to use that criterion to label him an undeserving All-Star ignores the fact that, against all reason, Bochy as a ROOGY a relief pitcher whose career FIP against lefties bests the career OVERALL FIP of any other hombre in Bochy’s bullpen (that pitcher being Romo).
It’ll be interesting to see if the man whose management of Romo lead Dave Cameron to an incorrect judgment on how deserving he is of an All-Star spot (that being Bochy) will be the same man responsible for giving Romo an All-Star spot (also Bochy, as NL manager).
Righties also happen to have a better triple-slash line against Romo than lefties over his career, and surely as a consequence of his incompetence against opposite-handed batters, Romo’s GB% spikes from 29.2 to 40.4 when facing these fearsome lefties.
The point being, Romo is damn good against lefties in addition to being (so far this season) downright historic against righties.
I’ll admit that the HR/FB rate is low against lefties, leading to a higher xFIP split against lefties, but hell, fangraphs very own Dave Cameron has noted the Giants’ tendencies to suppress HR/FB rates. Perhaps the HR/FB error is more significant in the righty split than the lefty split.
All right, well, the second half of the previous paragraph is mostly wishcasting on the part of a Giants fan, but I guess the bottom line is Romo good. Romo real good.
Can you tell I like Romo?
@ dregarx said:
“I’m not sure if Joel Hanrahan has ever struck out Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday back to back, but Romo has crossed that off his bucket list.”
Why yes, Hanrahan has done exactly that… on July 30, 2010, in the bottom of the 9th inning of a 0-0 game.
@gonfalon
Exactly!
The problem with the “watch more games before you speak” trope in this context is that every fan is most familiarized with their own players. I can remember Romo’s bright moments off the top of my head, matt can remember Hanrahan’s bright moments off the top of his head, and nobody is debating anybody about anything worth debating.
romo’s pitched 19.2 innings so far
hanrahan 30.2 of 9th inning baseball
And in those 19.2 innings, Romo has managed to strike out 4 more batters than Hanrahan has in 30.2.
Matt you sure seem especially schizophrenic today…
Don’t get Matt confused with matt. They both resent that.
I feel like Matt is the domineering older brother, matt the diminutive, soft-spoken kid brother…
“And in those 19.2 innings, Romo has managed to strike out 4 more batters than Hanrahan has in 30.2.”
-Your absolutely right. This shows how absurdly good Romo is at striking out batters, as he can pitch 2/3 of the innings hanrahan has and STILL strike out more batters. While romo has thrown only 20 innings, those 20 innings are some of the best thrown by a reliever this year (1 WAR), showing he deserves an all star nod. Joel Hanrahan only has a 0.9 WAR, and still hasn’t caught up with Romo in WAR
“Joel Hanrahan is unhittable”
– Sergio Romo: 5.15 h/9, Joel Hanrahan: 7.45 h/9
Oh yeah, and this
Romo- 0.82 FIP, 1.15 xFIP, 1.23 tERA, 14.64 k/9, 1.37 bb/9, 10.67 k/bb
Hanrahan- 2.24 FIP, 2.56 xFIP, 2.79 tERA, 8.22 k/9, 2.05 bb/9 4 k/bb
Have a look at the FIP- leader boards ,boys. It’s what they’re there for.
These guys are just relievers. Let’s not get the fan boy panties in too much of a knot.
Save the anger and the frustration and the tears for the deserving position players and starting pitchers who have been inexplicably barred from participating in the All-Star game by Dave Cameron.
Can we please split up the OF positions? CF’s get routinely screwed by this format.
Or at least split CF out. You can do a CF group then “Corner OF” group since typically right and left is more interchangeable.
But then the second-best CF could get screwed out of a spot even if they’re better offensively and defensively than the second-best corner OF. Ideally it should be “pick 3 OFs; one of them has to be able to play CF.”
The problem with that being that I’ve encountered people who think brad hawpe would make a decent cf.
Then we get into a bunch of semantics about “able to play CF” (would Ichiro count for that?). Best to not make it that complicated. Either separate the CF completely, or leave it how it is. With the influence of the internet balloting, I could see making an adjustment solely for that, since it’s easier to guide people to making the right vote.
Also… if voters really just wants to see the three best hitting outfielders regardless of defensive capabilities, who are we to say they can’t do that?
Thanks for the Espinosa nod!
He might have a low BA… but he does pretty much everything else great!
Love some Espinosa, but perhaps Storen as a relief pitcher is a better Nats rep.
You could make a very good argument for Tyler Clippard as the Nats rep.
not many RPs have a 6 strikeout appearance in 2011, clippard has 2…not that this has much to do with his overall season performance but i mean dayummmm
Chipper for 3B. Outhitting Polanco and close enough to Headley and Roberts that his career value carries the day.
Probably his last hurrah anyway.
Agreed–the WAR difference between Polanco and Chipper comes from baserunning. I find it highly unlikely that there has been a 5 run difference between those two players on baserunning alone. Seems like noise in the stats to me…
I’d’ve taken Ryan Madson over the three relievers other than Venters, though admittedly they are all really close to each other.
madson isnt an all star
Madson is good but the RP spot isn’t as big a deal and the other guys are as deserving or more
well argued
sorry, that last comment was a reply Oscar’s…
in reply to Evan, I agree Venters is more deserving, but I see little reason to pick the others over Madson, who has been simply awesome… but I agree that the RP spot isn’t that big a deal
Junior Circuit huh? I see what you did there.
Do people still not get that the NL is the Senior Circuit because it’s older, and that it has nothing to do with quality of teams, age of players, etc.?
Christ.
I think Dave’s joke just went straight over your head, and Matt was in on the gag.
Or, as someone else once said…Christ.
…there’s no joke there, sorry.
Nice selections. Obviously a hundred people would probably come up with a hundred different rosters, but for the sake of discussion, here are the two changes I’d make to your list:
– Given your starters, I’d consider Pujols an option at 3B and Berkman an option at 1B, allowing me to remove Headley from the roster and replace with a more deserving OF (Beltran/Ethier/Upton). I’d then replace someone in the bullpen (probably Salas) with Adams or Bell to rep San Diego.
– Even though it adds another reliever, I might prefer Brian Wilson over Tim Lincecum as the Giants rep. This is sort of splitting hairs and probably inappropriately giving credence to the save, but Wilson’s more entertaining.
On a separate note, if the voting leaders make the team as they currently stand, I hope Bochy will consider starting Berkman at DH and giving Kemp or McCutchen the start in CF so they don’t have someone horribly miscast in center.
Don’t know how Bruce is not ahead of Beltran/Ethier/Upton on your list
Also not sure how Tim freaking Lincecum is not entertaining
Indeed, Bruce would probably be the better choice. For some reason, I thought he was already on the roster when I was writing my response. Poor memory.
Lincecum’s entertaining too, and certainly an acceptable enough pick. Wilson is more entertaining from the perspective of interviews and other sideshow factors (not that he’s not entertaining to watch pitch!).
It’s actually not such a big lead for Bruce so it’s understandable.
I figured that’s what you meant about Wilson, the beard shoes and personality, not the pitching style
Salas over Madson? I can’t see any justification for that, but you’re dead-on about the rest.
Umm.. Jay Bruce, anyone? He happens to be the best RF (offense and defense) in the NL.
Agreed good sir. If I could post the Jay Bruce flipping the bird picture here I would. I guess a link will suffice.
http://www.red-hot-mama.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jaybirdbruce-300×225.jpg
leo nunez, jj putz?
Leo Nunez?? He may be like the 6th or 7th best reliever…
…in his division.
Only 2 Reds hitters? Shouldn’t the team that leads the NL in runs scored have the most reps?
Ryan Braun in CF…hahahahahahahahaha
For some reason I was picturing Ryan Howard in CF.
Take Sean Marshall, Fernando Salas, Chase Headley, Miguel Montero, Matt Holliday, Stephen Drew, Brandon Phillips, Jaime Garcia, Gaby Sanchez out and add Andrew McCutchen, Justin Upton, Heath Bell, Ian Kennedy, Carlos Marmol, Anibal Sanchez, Jay Bruce, JJ Putz, Shaun Marcum, Jhoulys Chacin. Pretty horrific attempt on your part.
Marshall is fine, as long as the two-game slide he’s on doesn’t progress into something more. He fills every requirement of a reliever for this game. He’s a lefty, can go more than an inning without screwing up anybody’s sensibilities and reps his team adequately.
I wonder how mandatory that utility role they entered last year will be. I suppose Roberts can cover that.
McCutchen: 3.6 WAR and an actual CF.
Braun: 2.9 WAR and a LF.
McCutchen deserves to start in the all star game. He’s been an early season MVP candidate and is on pace for 8+ WAR (not that he’ll reach that, but he is going to have an extremely good season).
And it’s good to see Hanrahan getting some love. Hitters haven’t even had a shot against him most nights. He’s been downright filthy.
*waves to the Pirates fan!*
Yes, I am a Pirates fan. However I’m a Pirates fan who realizes we deserve to have two players in this year. Are you saying that the player fourth in overall WAR shouldn’t start on the the all star team? Or the closer who is the only NL closer not to blow a save, in addition to being near the top in reliever WAR?
I know, I wasn’t saying those guys aren’t deserving or whatever. No shame in coming out and stating the case for the home team…
Its amazing how decimated the Giants have been by injuries. At the begining of the year it wasn’t hard to imagine any of Sandoval, Torres, Posey, Lincecum, Cain, and Wilson being all star candidates. Even Freddie Sanchez would have merited consideration before he went down. Lincecum and Cain have been themselves but all the rest have lost time or had the performances compromised by injury. That the Giants may only have 1 all star representative as a result is a story in itself.
Well, it was easier to imagine Sandoval and Torres not being All Star candidates really, but Posey would have probably won the popular vote to start.
Posey would have won it, but McCann is the better player, injury notwithstanding. I mean .370 wOBA from the catcher spot is awesome.
Perhaps… but I was considering that Bochy is picking the reserves.
it is pretty crazy that a first-place team could have only 1 all-star (not that bochy would ever allow that) and probably two guys on the short list for LVP: tejada and huff. although a lot of huff’s negative value is derived from that horrible 2-week experiment in rf (error in giants management). but hey, it happened, so it can’t be ignored.
I agree that they need to vote for OFs in their real positions, for the sake of CFs like McCutchen
love the sanchez nod. quietly having a great year for the surprising Fish. love Hanrahan. dont like marshall or salas, terrible picks when Kimbrel has been dirty as well as storen, romo, wilson, madson, mike adams, jj putz and street are all still out there to be chosen as well. I think Marcum should be placed in ahead of Hamels. ryan roberts is a nice pick for 3B, but what about chris johnson? Or Sandoval? If he comes back from his injury and plays as well as he was before he got hurt he should be an easy pick for 3B and then you can take Timmy out cuz he’s not really deserving this year and throw in VOGELSONG or Kyle Lohse or someone who wont make the team again probably. For 2B don’t think you can go wrong with either Niel Walker or Espinosa, splittin hairs there, but walker can also be a 3B too. And I hate to say it but McCutchen cannot get the nod over Bruce, and all the other players on there are more deserving then McC. Especially since the Stro’s got no one else to put up for all stars cept Bourn. However I think Bochy can just take a couple more OF and ditch putting more than 1 3B or 2 C on the squad. Get Molina outa there, especially since Ramon Hernandez has had a killer first half offensively. Upton and McCutchen definitely deserve spots and hopefully Boch will help choose the best players and not worry about position as much with the last few picks. Overall, I like a lot of the picks.
I’m sorry, did you say Chris Johnson? The Astros Chris Johnson? The one who is hitting .231/.279/.389 and has the third worst UZR in baseball? The one that has been worth -0.7 WAR to date?
He must’ve been thinking of the Chris Johnson who had 2000 yards from scrimmage for the Tennessee Titans the last couple of years.
Chill out dude. You just got trolled.
If you don’t take Marshall… who the heck else are you going to to take from the Cubs? Dave already covered the LOL about the Astros. It was hard enough to get Hunter Pence on the team.
Actually… I’m pretty sure this was a well execute troll, now that I read it again.
Kimbrel isn’t even the best relief pitcher on his team – and while he’s got a bunch of saves, he’s also blown quite a few too. Yeah, he’s got potential, but that’s not what this is about.
My voice is too manly and stats too good to be left off.
One thing I almost never see anyone remark on is the fact that the NL has two more teams, meaning the NL All-Star team has two more slots that need filled by a guy who will probably be his team’s only rep. Or, to rephrase, the AL has two more slots that go to guys who are more likely to be deserving since they won’t be fulfilling the rule that all teams must be represented.
Conversely, given that the NL has 16 teams versus the AL’s 14, they theoretically would have a larger pool to draw quality players from.
…but that’s offset by the OC’s point of having to take a couple guys who probably don’t deserve it or aren’t useful. The high end is not the problem.
I like that the Dbacks had 3 Reps, but i think 2-3 more have a good case. Ian Kennedy has had a very solid season, i think he’ll probably be selected. Justin Upton has been good as well and will probably make it too. JJ Putz is a maybe.
I don’t expect the Dbacks to have 6 guys, but i think that those guys all have a shot at making the team. Doesn’t hurt that the game is in Arizona and Gibson is on the coaching staff.
Mike Stanton needs to make this team so we’ll be able to see him in the Homerun Derby. It’s a dumb rule IMO, Stanton should be allowed to be in the derby regardless of if he is an all-star,
What’s really dumb is the Home Run Derby.
If you don’t like it, don’t watch! You’re welcome!
Dave
Of all the sites out there, I thought that Jordan Zimmermann would be the clear Nats selection here. Tied for 6th best pitcher WAR (NL). Don’t tell me the record fooled you?
Wish I hadn’t left him out of my Nats post. Glad to see another pitcher giving a giant middle finger to Tommy John surgery.
Not sure where he currently stands (on phone or I’d look it up), but I checked early last week, and Rasmus and ‘Cutch were pretty even in WAR.
I know it’s not the WAR-Star game, nor am I suggesting that the starting OF be Cardinals. But Rasmus is “deserving” in terms of WAR and could be a good defensive replacement or batter v. RHP since winning the game is supposedly important.
I’m operating on the assumption that Braun and Berkman won’t be playing the field in the later innings.
Rasmus’s standard line isn’t mind blowing, but I was surprised that he was on pace for a 6-7 WAR season. I suppose it’s just a matter of time before he and ‘Cutch are regular All-Star selections.
Well, you might want to check again… because right now it looks like Rasmus’ WAR is almost half of McCutchen’s.
indeed, Rasmus is @ 2.1 WAR, while McCutchen is at 3.7 WAR right now thanks in part to a torrid June (.524 wOBA this month)
Giants should have been a given at 3B and C…. stupid injuries.
Except that Brian McCann is still better than Buster Posey, despite all the low-info voting for Posey. I hate that it took a gruesome injury to give McCann what he deserved, but the right man is getting the call to start.
Exactly!!! Posey was only leading McCann in votes because he is a media darling. Even prior to Posey’s injury McCann was having the better season and deserved the all-star start, just as he has deserved it the last two years (but got out voted by the less worthy Yadier Molina). Mac will be the starter this year with Molina as the late inning defensive replacement – just as it should be.
McCann has typically been criminally under-rated.
I think saying Posey was only getting votes because he was a “media darling” is a little bit of a stretch. McCann was having the better season, but Posey still put up 1.6 WAR before his injury, while McCann is at 2.1 presently. In fact, it’s impressive how many worthy catchers there would have been if Posey was healthy. Posey, McCann, Ianetta, Montero, Molina. None of those guys look out of place on this year’s team, so somebody is gonna get snubbed.
I realize Dillon Gee is an unheralded rookie who doesn’t have overpowering stuff and is almost certainly overperforming, but not even a mention for the only undefeated NL starter?
Venters has been outstanding; certainly the most deserving relief pitcher in all of baseball. His GB% is still hovering around 80 and he’s not yet given up a HR this year (and only one last year). He’s on track to pitch in nearly 90 games this season though–hope he holds up.
Stopped reading when I saw you didn’t have Jay Bruce. That’s blasphemy, especially from a guy who is a Bruce proponent.
@JDB
When I looked at it previously, and if I am remembering it correctly, McCutchen had 3.33 WAR and Rasmus had 3.1 … which was surprising to me.
Rasmus’s traditional line was something like .279-5-31. Much of his value was fielding.
I don’t know if the UZR has been updated since, but he now has around a -5 UZR-150 and 2.0 WAR.
I last checked on the day that the “AL voting” article was written.
At 2.0 WAR, he’s not deserving of AS consideration.
What about me? I’m the best player on the Cubs, but I can’t even make the reserves list at SS?
In case you didn’t notice… YOUR TEAM SUCKS!!! Welcome to being a Chicago Cub! It would also help if you played better.
Love the selection of Tommy Hanson. He has been dominant since his slightly shaky start to the season.
No Drew Storen love? He’s had a better year than Fernando Salas hasn’t he? I think he is much more deserving of being the Nat’s lone rep over Danny Espinoza…
Now that Pablo Sandoval is back, I think he should still be considered for 3B, especially if he plays as well as he was playing pre-injury. His defense has been insanely great now that he’s not rushing his throws (and now that he’s not so tubby), and his more patient approach at the plate was really paying off. Plus he should have made the 2009 team, so this rights that wrong.
ERA: 1.17
K/9: 9.98
BB/9: 1.17
FIP: 1.98
xFIP: 2.39
WAR: 0.9
What more can I do to make the team Dave??
Michael Morse.
For those questioning Danny Espinosa, he’s got the 2nd best WAR for NL 2B and his UZR/150 is at 13.3. He’s arguably the best all-around 2B in the NL at 23.
As far as Storen goes, he’s the 2nd relief option for the Nats behind Clippard.
Solid year from an improving team.
isn’t iannetta currently leading not just the majors in catcher WAR while not even being qualified for the batting title? confused how that doesnt earn you an all-star spot, unless dave suddenly turned into a “low BA = terrible player” guy which would be weird…