Your 2008 Atlanta Braves All Stars
The All Star game is just around the corner and balloting is coming to a close on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at who’s going for the Braves and who should be going.
Chipper Jones
Chipper will be the Braves’ only starter (you know, if he can play). He’s crushing the competition and that’s how it should be. He’s having a monster year, leading the league in average, chasing .400, hitting his 400th HR, and getting on base almost every other plate appearance.
| AVG | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | OBP | SLG | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .394 | 100 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 48 | 46 | .485 | .630 | 46 |
Brian McCann
Due to the fact that Cubs fans are generally bad, foul-smelling people, Brian McCann won’t get the start that he deserves, but you can expect him to show up as a backup backstop. McCann and Soto are fairly close statistically otherwise, but McCann has 15 points on Soto in average.
| Player | AVG | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | OBP | SLG | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian McCann | .295 | 82 | 23 | 1 | 14 | 35 | 45 | .365 | .536 | 28 |
| Geovany Soto | .281 | 75 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 27 | 47 | .367 | .513 | 38 |
On the other hand, the baseball gods may take this one away from him in retribution for his undeserved appearance last season.
Jair Jurrjens
JJ is fifth in the NL in ERA among starters with a 2.94, ahead of folks like Brandon Webb, Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano, and Adam Wainwright. He’s tied for the team lead with 8 wins. He’s having the best season on the NL’s best starting rotation.
Your Also Rans
Those three are a pretty sure bet and that makes a pretty good contingent from the ATL. Here are a few more guys who deserve at least a look:
- Jorge Campillo – Campillo has been more than a pleasant surprise. Aside from one appearance, he was completely unhittable in the bullpen. He has 12 BBs to 53 Ks. As a starter, he’s second on the team in ERA behind Jair Jurrjens
- John Smoltz – Smoltz obviously won’t be able to play, but nobody in baseball was pitching as well as Smoltz before he got knocked out for the season. Love to see him get a nod.
- Yunel Escobar – Yunel’s playing some quality ball this year and will get overlooked because the NL is stocked with shortstops.
- Tim Hudson – Huddy’s 11th in ERA among starters, owns 8 wins including a complete game shutout. Hudson’s downfall this year has been inconsistency. He’s probably had a few too many forgettable starts to go along with a number of brilliant starts to make the All Star squad.
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