American League All-Star Team Predictions

american league sonny gray bulge mlb small 2015

american league all star team predictions 2015The 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star game is approaching as the Kansas City Royals continue to dominate the voting in the American League. Currently the Royals have eight of the nine players atop their respected voting positions. This comes after the Royals second baseman Omar Infante moves ahead of Jose Altuve for the second base position leaving only Mike Trout as the only non-Royal currently being voted in.

That being said it gives us a chance to look at what the real American League All-Star team should look like through the middle of June. We will use the same format that Major League Baseball uses including a starting roster with designated hitter, 12 pitchers and 12 reserve players. We will also appoint one player from each team from each of the 15 American League teams.

Here is what we think the 2015 American League All-Star team should look like.

American League Catchers

Stephen Vogt, Starting Catcher: The Oakland A’s catcher is putting up the best numbers of all the catchers in the American League through the middle of June. Vogt is hitting .280 over his first 193 at bats with seven doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 45 runs batted in and 31 runs scored. Vogt also leads all catchers in the American league with a .26 win aboveson replacement for the position.

Salvador Perez, Reserve Catcher

Russell Martin, Reserve Catcher

American League First Baseman

Miguel Cabrera, Starting First Baseman: Cabrera is putting together another big season for the Detroit Tigers. Currently Cabrera is hitting .344 with 14 home runs, 13 doubles and 47 runs batted in while producing a 3.3 wins above replacement. Cabrera along with Prince Fielder are the only first baseman in the American League to post a batting average above the .300 mark.

Mark Teixeira, Reserve First Baseman

Prince Fielder, Reserve First Basema

American League Second Baseman

Brian Dozier, Starting Second Baseman: For a while we had Jose Altuve as our top option but since he has seen his batting average drop to under the .300 mark, Dozier has moved into the starting role for us. The Minnesota Twins second baseman is hitting .265 on the season with 21 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 32 runs batted in.

Jose Altuve, Reserve Second Baseman

Jason Kipnis, Reserve Second Baseman

American League Third Baseman

Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays: This decision might have been the easiest of all the positional players around the American League. Donaldson is having a monster season hitting .309 for the Blue Jays with 52 runs scored to go with 17 home runs and 45 runs batted in. Looking at his wins above replacement for the season Donaldson is posting a 3.9 through mid June.

Kyle Seager, Reserve Third Baseman

Manny Machado, Reserve Third Baseman

American League Short Stops

Xander Bogaerts, Starting Short Stop: While we tossed around a few different players for the position, Bogaerts currently leads all American League short stops with a .293 batting average. While the case could be made for a few of the other American League short stops including Marcus Semien, Erick Aybar or Elvis Andrus.

Marcus Semien, Reserve Short Stop

Erick Aybar, Reserve Short Stop

American League Outfielders

Mike Trout, Starting Outfielder: The Los Angeles Angels outfielder is having one of the best seasons of any player in the American League. Currently, Trout is tied with three other players in the American League for the home run lead with 18 home runs. Trout is hitting .300 on the season with 13 doubles,, 39 runs batted in and 47 runs scored for the Angels.

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles: Jones and Trout are the top two center fielders in all of baseball and it has shown early on during the 2015 season. The Orioles outfielder has put up some solid numbers at the plate this year but his defense in center field has been outstanding through June. Jones has 10 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 33 runs batted in through 239 at bats this season.

Josh Reddick, Oakland A’s: The debate could be made for a handful of other outfielders but this is how we see it. Reddick is ranked third in the American League among outfielders with a .305 batting average. The A’s outfielder has 10 doubles, three triples and 10 home runs to go with 40 runs batted in during his 223 plate appearances.

Lorenzo Cain, Reserve Outfielder

Michael Brantley, Reserve Outfielder

American League Designated Hitter

Nelson Cruz, Designated Hitter: Really no debate who should start the All-Star game at the designated hitter position. Cruz is currently tied with three other players for the league lead with 18 home runs after getting off to a terrific start for the Seattle Mariners this season.

american league all star team sonny gray pitcher 2015 mlbAmerican League Starting Pitchers

Sonny Gray, Starting Pitcher: Gray lands as our top option to start the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star game. The debate could be made for Chris Archer, Dallas Keuchel, David Price and even Felix Hernandez. That being said, the A’s starting pitcher leads the American League with a 1.60 earned run average. Gray has also posted an 8-3 record in 14 starts this season with 88 strike outs.

Chris Archer, Reserve Starter

Dallas Keuchel, Reserve Starter

David Price, Reserve Starter

Felix Hernandez, Reserve Starter

Alfredo Simon, Reserve Starter

Nick Martinez, Reserve Starter

Chris Sale, Reserve Starter

American League Relief Pitchers

Glen Perkins, Closer: By the time the All-Star break has arrived this list of relievers might flip flop but for now Perkins anchors down the back end of the bullpen. The Twins closer leads the American League with 22 saves while allowing just five earned runs over 28 innings. Perkins has yet to blow a save converting all 22 on the season.

Andrew Miller, Reserve Bullpen

Zach Britton, Reserve Bullpen

Huston Street, Reserve Bullpen
In the end that is how our American League All-Star roster has shaped up as July slowly approaches. The snubs list is long as both Albert Pujols and Jose Abreu were deserving of spots as well as a few other big named stars around the league. In the end not every player that deserves will make a spot on either All-Star team.