The Non-All Star Team: A Look at the Former MLB All-Stars Having Down Seasons
By Jason Lisk
The All-Star Rosters were announced (pending the final fan voting spots). Plenty of new names will be appearing in the mid-summer classic, wearing versions of the old Padres brown and yellow uniforms.
The players listed here will not be in attendance (barring last second changes). They are all former all-stars who are having decidedly non-all star seasons to date. It’s only halfway. Maybe some of them can turn it around.
LINEUP (all stats via baseball-reference.com)
SS: Alcides Escobar (.260/.284/.319)
Escobar never walks. He is slugging less than .320, and he has hit leadoff for most of the year for the defending World Series champs. He deserves to hit leadoff for this group as well, and set the table by not getting on.
2B: Brandon Phillips (.248/.287/.363)
Phillips has worn the team leader mantle, while not putting up great on-base numbers at the top of the Reds lineup recently. This year, those results have fallen even further and he is getting on less than 30% of the time in 2016.
CF: Andrew McCutchen (.240/.311/.407)
By mere mortal standards, McCutchen would still be having an okay year. McCutchen, though has been a perennial top 5 MVP candidate and by his standards is having a down year to date. He will miss the ASG for the first time since 2010.
3B: Todd Frazier (.210/.307/.462)
Frazier is a tough choice. There aren’t many top third basemen having truly down years, and all of the big names have an OPS of greater than 100. He’s probably going to set his career high in home runs, with 23 already, but he is on the Adam Dunn all-star path, with a very low batting average, and an all-or-nothing approach.
DH: Prince Fielder (.217/.291/.341)
Fielder, meanwhile, has fallen and can’t get up. A .341 slugging percentage isn’t great as-is, but when it is coming from the guy who is the designated hitter–ouch. Those are defensive middle infielder numbers.
LF: Justin Upton (.232/.289/.371)
Upton is following up last year’s all-star season with a sub .300 on-base percentage and a low batting average.
1B: Ryan Zimmerman (.216/.278/.388)
Zimmerman has struggled protecting Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy in the Nationals lineup.
RF: Jason Heyward (.233/.327/.324)
The big free agent signing for Chicago is still a stellar defender, but is again off to a bad offensive start. He will draw walks, but it’s not a good thing when the OBP exceeds the slugging percentage at a power position.
C: Yadier Molina (.259/.326/.331)
Yadier is likely going to miss his first ASG since 2008, continuing an offensive dip that began last season. He has one home run this year, after 4 last season.
PITCHING
SP: Clay Buchholz (3-9, 5.91 ERA, 17 HR allowed, 1.5 WHIP)
Boston is in playoff position, but it’s not due to Buchholz, who looks like he is a long way now from that all-star season back in 2012.
SP: Shelby Miller (2-8, 6.85 ERA, 1.8 WHIP)
Just a year ago, Shelby Miller looked like a young pitcher on the rise and was selected to the All-Star Game. It’s been a rough year, moving to Arizona and continuing the slide with an ERA approaching 7.00.
SP: Alfredo Simon (2-7, 9.45 ERA, 2.1 WHIP)
Simon was an all-star just two years ago with the Reds, but his return to Cincinnati at age 35 after one season in Detroit hasn’t worked out.
SP: Ubaldo Jimenez (5-8, 6.95 ERA, 1.9 WHIP)
It’s been an eternity since Jimenez was an all-star, and finished 3rd in Cy Young voting back in 2010. The Baltimore lineup keeps that record from looking as bad as it could, but he is a shell of what he once was.
SP: Chris Young (2-8, 6.90 ERA, 26 HR allowed (!!), 1.6 WHIP)
Chris Young has allowed a whopping 26 home runs so far this year. I don’t see how that’s allowed to continue.
RP: Trevor Rosenthal (2-3, 5.28 ERA, 2.0 WHIP)
Rosenthal has been a disaster at the back end of the Cardinals’ bullpen in 2016, after being an all-star just one season ago.