National League All-Spuds
The NL's best player's this season under the age of 30
These are the best junior-aged players in baseball's senior circuit, and some of them have aged well beyond their years already.
With the All-Star voting deadline about a month away, there’s still plenty of time to get online and cast your votes for this year’s midsummer classic in San Francisco. Here is a special list of this year's All-Stars under the age of 30, dubbed the “All-Spuds”.
From the National League:
C: Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s in the top five among starting catchers in the league in batting average (.307), on-base percentage (.387), and slugging (.452,) and he’s even stolen eight bases (Honorable Mention: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves).
1B: Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers. His 16 home runs, 38 RBI’s, 115 total bases and .590 slugging percentage are better than Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard, and here’s the best part: he only just turned 23!
2B: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies. He’s among the best second-baggers in batting average (.292), slugging (.540), and on-base percentage (.379), and on top of that, you just can’t hate a ballplayer that loves to get dirty.
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Marlins. He has hit at least 25 homers and driven in at least 110 runs with an on-base percentage of at least .350 and slugging at least .500 each of the last three seasons, and he’s on pace to do it a fourth time at only age 24.
SS: J. J. Hardy, Brewers. You might hate this, Mets fans, but hate this more: He’s among the league leaders in home runs, RBI’s, runs scored, slugging percentage, and OPS (HM: Jose Reyes, Mets).
OF: Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies. He’s the top outfielder in the league in batting average (.341) and second-best outfielder in RBI’s (41), slugging (.587) and OPS (.964).
OF: Jason Bay, Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a slow start this year, but he’s still among the best in this group in almost every offensive category, and, hidden in Pittsburgh, he’s just as obscured as Holliday.
OF: Jeff Francoeur, Braves. He just barely beats St. Louis’ Chris Duncan with more extra base hits and more total bases. Otherwise, they’re pretty close.
DH: Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds. He’s got 14 homers and 32 RBI’s with a .936 OPS, even though he strikes out twice as much as he walks. With his poor range he’s a DH waiting to happen.
SP: Jake Peavy, Padres. After he struggled last year with almost no run support, he’s back at his best with seven wins before Memorial Day and the best ERA among any pitcher with at least ten starts (HM: Cole Hamels, Phillies).
RP: Matt Capps, Pirates. He’s had a couple of lapses this year, but it was bound to happen after being lights-out all of last season (HM: Joe Smith, Mets).
CP: Francisco Cordero, Brewers. He’s 16 for 17 in save opportunities this year for Milwaukee, one of several reasons why they’re in position to run away with the NL Central by the All-Star break.
