Baseball Midway and 2023 All Stars
Baseball Midway and 2023 All Stars Rosters
By David A. Avila
Let’s stop the baseball treadmill right here.
It’s halfway through the season and a few surprise teams are leading their respective divisions and a few others are closer than expected.
Arizona Diamondbacks behind strong pitching led by Zac Gallen lead the always powerful Los Angeles Dodgers by three games. Pitching proves to be the difference, but the D-Backs also have a better hitting attack this year too.
A few reasons can be pointed out.
The pitch clock has affected many teams for many different reasons. Pitchers can no longer linger around the mound and more than a few do not like to be rushed. Dodger left-hander Julio Urias, and San Diego fireballer Yu Darvish for example.
Stealing bases has also changed the dynamic now that pitchers can only throw to first base once.
And third, the removal of defensive shifts has opened up the field for pull hitters.
Arizona has benefitted the most from these new changes and leads in steals. They win with a wide-open attack for their younger players like Corbin Carroll. The 22-year-old from Seattle, Washington stands 5-10 and supposedly weighs 165. Not likely. But he can run swiftly and has proven to be a triple threat.
Carroll was voted into the NL All Stars in his second year. Last year he only played 32 games but it was enough to prove to the Arizona brain trust that they have a very good ballplayer in outfielder Carroll. He has 17 homers and 22 stolen bases to spearhead the D-Backs attack.
Along with the trade for Lourdes Gurriel the D-Backs added some needed offense to help Christian Walker drive the offense. It’s a balanced team.
Dodgers
This has been a painful year for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Picked to win the division by most it was always assumed that the San Diego Padres would give the Dodgers the most competition.
When the Padres loaded up the batting lineup with the addition of shortstop slugger Xander Bogaerts but the team just hasn’t clicked. Yet. It’s a very talented team and could wake up in the second half.
The Dodgers on the other hand are suffering injury after injury to their pitching staff. Though Clayton Kershaw is having his best year in a while, he just was added to the injury list and will sit down for a few weeks.
Only Tony Gonsolin remains from the vaunted starting staff expected to lead the way. And Gonsolin is not having a great year.
Julio Urias finally returned after more than a month on the injury list and was promptly beaten by the Kansas City Royals. It was not the return the Dodgers were hoping to see.
This year Dustin May, Walker Buehler, are out and expected to be unavailable until late in the season. The deep Dodger pitching staff is being stretched to its limits and forced to use rookies like Michael Grove, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. Though the rookies have performed well, will they be enough to offset the losses to injuries?
Kershaw’s loss, if more than two weeks, will be the deepest loss of all.
Offensively, the Dodgers possess one of the most dangerous batting lineups in baseball. But offense is never enough to win a tough division like the NL West. Pitching is key. The Dodgers are hoping to remain in playoff contention. During the playoffs anything can happen.
Angels
Shohei Ohtani was voted AL Player of the Week and also AL Player of the Month. What else needs to be said about the greatest player baseball has ever seen.
If Ohtani can lead the Angels into the playoffs, that will be his greatest feat.
Not since 2014 have the Angels played in the playoffs.
Despite having the best player in baseball for years in Mike Trout, they could not reach the after season. Now they have the two best players and still are not there yet. But they are awful close now.
The Angels recently obtained Eduardo Escobar from the New York Mets to help their defensive and offensive needs. It was a brilliant move to deepen the Angel roster especially with Anthony Rendon always injured. But when healthy, Rendon bolsters the team like no other player.
Also the team finally called up David Fletcher from the minors. That will help immensely with Zach Neto still out with an injury.
Neto seems to be the key to the Angels success. Defensively and offensively his sparks the Angel team better than anyone else. He’s their human igniter and when he plays the team seems sharper in all phases of the game.
Here are the 2023 MLB All Star Teams
The 2023 All-Star game takes place on Tuesday July 11, at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. FOX will televise.
AL
Voted by Fans
Catcher - Jonah Heim, Texas Rangers
1B – Yandy Diaz, Tampa Bay Rays
2B – Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
SS – Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
3B – Josh Jung, Texas Rangers
DH – Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels
OF – Mike Trout, LA Angels (replaced by Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros)
OF – Randy Arozarena, Tampa Bay Rays
OF – Aaron Judge, NY Yankees (replaced by Wander Franco, Tampa Bay Rays)
Voted by AL Players
Catcher – Salvador Perez, KC Royals
Catcher – Adley Rutschman, Balt. Orioles
Inf – Vladimir Guerrero, Tor. Blue Jays
Inf – Whit Merrifield, Tor. Blue Jays
Inf – Bo Bichetter, Tor. Blue Jays
Inf – Jose Ramirez, Cleve, Guardians
OF – Brent Rooker, Oak. A’s
OF – Luis Roberts, Chi. White Sox
OF – Austin Hays, Balt. Orioles
OF – Yordan Alvarez, Hou. Astros (replaced by Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners)
OF – Adolis Garcia, Texas Rangers
Pitchers
SP – Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels
SP – Gerrit Cole, NY Yankees
SP – Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners
SP – Sonny Gray, Minn. Twins
SP – Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
SP – Kevin Gausman, Tor. Blue Jays
SP – Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays (replaced by George Kirby, Seattle Mariners)
SP – Framber Valdez, Hou. Astros
RP – Michael Lorenzen, Det. Tigers
RP – Kenley Jansen, Bos. Red Sox
RP – Emmanuel Clase, Cleve. Guardians
RP – Felix Baustista, Balt. Orioles
RP – Yennier Cano, Balt. Orioles
NL
Voted by the Fans
Catcher – Sean Murphy, Atl. Braves
1B – Freddie Freeman, LA Dodgers
2B – Luis Arraez, Miami Marlins
SS – Orlando Arcia, Atl. Braves
3B – Nolan Arenado, Stl. Cardinals
DH – J.D. Martinez, LA Dodgers
OF – Ronald Acuna, Atl. Braves
OF – Mookie Betts, LA Dodgers
OF – Corbin Carroll, Ariz. Diamondbacks
Voted by NL Players
Catcher – Will Smith, LA Dodgers
Catcher – Elias Diaz, Colo. Rockies
Inf – Matt Olson, Atl. Braves
Inf – Ozzie Albies, Atl. Braves
Inf – Austin Riley, Atl. Braves
Inf – Dansby Swanson, Chi. Cubs
Inf – Pete Alonso, NY Mets
OF – Jorge Soler, Miami Marlins
OF – Lourdes Gurriel, Ariz. Diamondbacks
OF – Nick Castellanos, Phil. Phillies
OF – Juan Soto, San Diego Padres
Pitchers
SP – Zac Gallen, Ariz. Diamondbacks
SP – Marcus Stroman, Chi. Cubs
SP – Spencer Strider, Atl, Braves
SP – Clayton Kershaw, LA Dodgers (replaced by David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates)
SP – Bryce Elder, Atl. Braves
SP – Josiah Gray, Wash. Nationals
SP – Justin Steele, Chi. Cubs
SP – Mitch Keller, Pitt. Pirates
RP – Camilo Doval, San Francisco Giants
RP – Devin Williams, Milw. Brewers
RP – Josh Hader, San Diego Padres
RP – Alexis Diaz, Cin. Reds