By Dave Holcomb
Analysts, fans and even podcasts all week have talked about how so many American League third basemen were snubbed in the All-Star selection.
Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria, Texas’ Adrian Beltre and Oakland’s Josh Donaldson all did not make the squad.
Baltimore’s Manny Machado will join reigning MVP Miguel Cabera as the two third baseman in the AL at the Summer Classic next week.
But rather than writing a negative article about how these players were cheated out of an All-Star Game, despite the fact that statement is truth, maybe the discussion should move to the incredible depth the position now has in the American League, and how amazing these players have been for the first half of the season.
When I was growing up, it was shortstop with guys like Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Alex Rodriguez and don’t forget, Omar Vizguel fighting for an All-Star spot. Unfortunately, it always seemed like one of those guys was left out.
Nearly a decade later, it shifted to first base with the emergence of Mark Texiera and David Ortiz (if he counts as first base) to join fixtures Jim Thome, Jason Giambi and Paul Konerko at the position.
Even the National League experienced a plethora of first basemen at this time with Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in their primes, Ryan Howard a young star, and, oh, Nomar Garciaparra switching positions.
Fast forward nearly another ten years, the power in the infield has shifted to the other side of the diamond.
Most years, there would be no question; Manny Machado is an All-Star. He leads the league with 39 doubles, has 34 multi-hit games, 126 hits while hitting .318 with seven homers and 45 RBI. He is clearly All-Star worthy.
But Adrian Beltre is also hitting .318 with over 40 extra base hits himself including 22 long balls. Beltre’s On-base Percentage (.361) and Slugging Percentage (.547) are higher than Machado’s.
Now take a look at Oakland’s best hitter Josh Donaldson. He is hitting .313 with 15 home runs and 39 extra base hits. His On-base Percentage (.384) and RBI (58) are higher than both Beltre and Machado.
The runt of the litter this season is Evan Longoria, but his .284/17/50 is hardly worthy of the description runt. He also has 40 extra base hits, .363 OBP and .512 Slug.
And we haven’t even gotten to the best of them all. On July 11th, Miguel Cabera has 29 home runs, a whopping 93 RBI, 70 runs scored, 50 extra base hits, and a .676 Slug.
Oh, and he leads the American League in Average (.363) and On-base Percentage .456. Seemingly, the only thing that stands in his way of another Triple Crown is Chris Davis.
It is a shame they could not all make it. Not even half of them made the team.
The power has shifted in the American League to the hot corner, and because of the age of these players, it could stay there for a long time.
All stats are current as of July 11th, 12:30 pm EST
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