Monday, July 05, 2010

Which One is the All Star?

Innings:
A: 36.2
B: 36.2

Wins:
A: 2
B: 2

Hits Allowed:
A: 29
B: 44

Runs Allowed:
A: 11
B: 19

Strikeouts:
A: 53
B: 32

WHIP
A: 1.06
B: 1.39

It'd be one thing if the Nats were sending one of their two truly deserving players.  But Matt Capps?  At least he's better than Evan Meek.  Perhaps.

posted by Chris Needham at 10:07 AM

14 Comments:

  • Matt Capps was selected by player vote. Presumably most of those guys have faced him and have more of a clue about his worthiness than you do.

    Meek was selected by Charlie Manuel, most likely to fulfill the requirement that the Pirates have an All Star representative. You would have preferred perhaps Milledge or Hanrahan?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/05/2010 10:40 AM  

  • Oooh! The they played the game argument. That's always a winner.

    I'd have preferred McCutchen. Thanks for asking!

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 7/05/2010 10:48 AM  

  • Basically, it's pretty senseless. The players barely picked him over some other guys because of all the saves. Because they had to take Capps based on the player vote, that made it easier for Charlie Manuel to pick Omar Infante and defy logic. Capps doesn't make it, and the Nats are without an all-star and his hand is probably forced to take Zim at the very least or even Willingham.

    Personally, I would have liked to see Willingham get a chance to go. He's been a total professional here, and he's bounced back very well from the personal tragedy of losing his brother last year. He's having the hottest start to his career, I believe, and you don't know when the chance will come back again.

    I hope I have the discipline not to watch. I hate the AL and the DH. I hate the Phillies and Braves, and I really can care less what Capps does in the All-star game. Ain't too much of a reason to worry about it.

    By Anonymous Souldrummer, at 7/05/2010 10:57 AM  

  • Sometimes the blogging gods smile on you and give you a jumping off stat like "36.2 IP".

    By Blogger Unknown, at 7/05/2010 11:50 AM  

  • Anon-
    Where do you see Capps selected by player vote? Everything I've read sounds like Manuel picked him, and thereby would have been fulfilling the one-per-team requirement in the process.
    As far as stats, saves are over-rated and closers are over-valued. Capps is having a good year, but isn't the whole point of the all-star game to see the best players? The numbers sure look like Strasburg is the better pitcher, regardless of sample size.

    By Blogger Rob B, at 7/05/2010 12:47 PM  

  • Where do you see Capps selected by player vote? Everything I've read sounds like Manuel picked him, and thereby would have been fulfilling the one-per-team requirement in the process.

    In the print edition of the 7/5 Washington Post there is a list of all the AL and NL All Stars showing which ones were picked by fan vote, player vote or manager choice. Capps was picked by player vote.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/05/2010 1:52 PM  

  • What's your point, Needham? That Capps should be a starter? That Strasburg should be a closer? It's like you compared a nutritional analysis of an apple and an orange and concluded that they are one and the same thing.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/05/2010 1:54 PM  

  • The point is that Strasburg is the better pitcher,and therefore gives the NL team a better chance of winning home field for the WS. Manuel probably was too worried about the potential controversy w the fans and media rather than make the best baseball decision

    By Blogger Rob B, at 7/05/2010 2:43 PM  

  • An All Star manager is allowed one, maybe two innings max out of each of his pitchers. Strasburg has demonstrated multiple times that he requires more than one inning to be at his best. If your goal is to put yourself in the best position to win the game, you need pitchers who are at their best in the very first inning they pitch. That pitcher is Capps, not Strasburg.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/05/2010 3:03 PM  

  • Once again proving that I have the stupidest fucking commenters on the internet.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 7/05/2010 4:51 PM  

  • There's an absolute plague of sub-moron Anonymous Coward commenters in the Natospehere, it would seem.

    By Blogger Wombat-socho, at 7/05/2010 5:05 PM  

  • I don't think your commenters are stupid. I just think there are a lot of folks who follow DC baseball who aren't turned off by some of the traditional pitcher stats like saves and win/loss yet.

    I would have enjoyed seeing Strasburg and been more inclined to watch, but I think guys like Mat Latos, ace of a division leading team often plagued by East Coast bias would have had every reason to feel snubbed had Strasburg been picked.

    What ticks me off is that of all the potential Nationals for me to watch in this game, they picked the one who has contributed the least and who has the least connection to my team.

    By Anonymous Souldrummer, at 7/05/2010 5:06 PM  

  • "Once again proving that I have the stupidest fucking commenters on the internet.
    By Chris Needham, at 7/05/2010 4:51 PM"

    You set the bar so high with your initial level of discourse, what else would you expect?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/05/2010 5:27 PM  

  • I for one enjoy the profanity.
    It's not like you're gonna find this kind of good shit in the WP.

    By Blogger Rob B, at 7/06/2010 7:47 PM  

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