Which Red Sox Players Deserve to be an All Star?
 |
| Photo from Baseball Almanac. |
So who should be representing the Red Sox at Citi Field for this year's All Star Game? I'll talk about three players I think deserve to go.
Well, lets start with the glaringly obvious, shall we? Clay Bucholz. Really, that's all that needed to be said, but I'm going to talk about him anyway because I love reminding people of what's been been going right for us. So let's start with the fact that Bucholz has yet to lose a decision so far. He's 6 - 0, and even last start vs. Toronto, he pitched brilliantly and gave us a chance to win. Let's be honest here - he is a shoe-in and if he doesn't get on the All Star team, then I for one will stop watching the All Star Game in protest. His stat line according to ESPN reads: 6-0, 1.69 ERA, 60 SO, 1.04 WHIP, and a .196 Batting Average Against. That's as far as I'll go with Bucholz - he should be a lock.
Next is Mike Napoli. His batting average might only be .268, but he leads the team with 7 home runs and 33 RBIs, according to ESPN. Those numbers should get him some serious consideration. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he'll end up being the Mike Lowell circa 2007 equivalent on this team. Without Mike Lowell's RBI production that year, we would not have won that year. You could probably say "Without so and so, we wouldn't have won" about a lot of guys on that team, and you would be right. The Sox were a complete team that year and if they had lost one of the elements of that team, they would not have won. Napoli could easily turn out to be that guy who drives the most runs on the team.
But I digress. The last person I want to talk about is Jon Lester. Aside from his near perfect performance last week, he's been the 2nd best starter behind Bucholz. He and Bucholz have anchored the Red Sox rotation at the top. He's 5 - 0 with a 2.73 ERA, 45 strikeouts, .99 WHIP, according to ESPN. His stat line is almost as good as Bucholz and deserves as much consideration in my mind as Bucholz.
These are just 3 players so far that I've highlighted. I probably could have mentioned at least 5 or more players. So let me know who you think should be going to Citi Field in July by tweeting me @ConorJF1016 or leaving a comment.
Well, lets start with the glaringly obvious, shall we? Clay Bucholz. Really, that's all that needed to be said, but I'm going to talk about him anyway because I love reminding people of what's been been going right for us. So let's start with the fact that Bucholz has yet to lose a decision so far. He's 6 - 0, and even last start vs. Toronto, he pitched brilliantly and gave us a chance to win. Let's be honest here - he is a shoe-in and if he doesn't get on the All Star team, then I for one will stop watching the All Star Game in protest. His stat line according to ESPN reads: 6-0, 1.69 ERA, 60 SO, 1.04 WHIP, and a .196 Batting Average Against. That's as far as I'll go with Bucholz - he should be a lock.
Next is Mike Napoli. His batting average might only be .268, but he leads the team with 7 home runs and 33 RBIs, according to ESPN. Those numbers should get him some serious consideration. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he'll end up being the Mike Lowell circa 2007 equivalent on this team. Without Mike Lowell's RBI production that year, we would not have won that year. You could probably say "Without so and so, we wouldn't have won" about a lot of guys on that team, and you would be right. The Sox were a complete team that year and if they had lost one of the elements of that team, they would not have won. Napoli could easily turn out to be that guy who drives the most runs on the team.
But I digress. The last person I want to talk about is Jon Lester. Aside from his near perfect performance last week, he's been the 2nd best starter behind Bucholz. He and Bucholz have anchored the Red Sox rotation at the top. He's 5 - 0 with a 2.73 ERA, 45 strikeouts, .99 WHIP, according to ESPN. His stat line is almost as good as Bucholz and deserves as much consideration in my mind as Bucholz.
These are just 3 players so far that I've highlighted. I probably could have mentioned at least 5 or more players. So let me know who you think should be going to Citi Field in July by tweeting me @ConorJF1016 or leaving a comment.
