all-star rosters

The rosters for next weekend’s all-star game were released today. You can see the West roster here and the East roster here.

Overall, I’d say solid job all around. I didn’t see any big snubs or too many surprises. I’ll have some detailed thoughts later this week, but for now, some first impressions:

• A lot of late arrivals got picked, which was maybe the biggest surprise. Rich Poythress, for instance, has only played in 14 games. It’s a similar story for D.J. LeMahieu and Brent Milleville. But going down the stats page, I can’t really see anybody more deserving so it’s fair that they’ll get their shot.
• Two late arrivals who aren’t included: North Carolina’s Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley. I thought for sure Ackley would be there.
• Bryce Stowell starts for the West, and that spot could have gone to any number of players, including Brandon Workman, Andrew Carraway and Nick McCully.
• On the East side, Orleans’ Matt Thomson gets the call. He’s probably on par with a lare group of players like Sammy Solis and Chris Manno. Maybe his eight-inning gem on Friday set him apart.
• In general, I think the West has stronger starting pitching than the East.
• There is only one freshman in the starting lineup — Cotuit’s Kevin Patterson in the West — but a fair amount on the bench.
• In general, the rosters don’t have the typical collection of big-school talent. There are more players from Loyola Marymount (2) than from Missouri, Texas, Vanderbilt or North Carolina.

RELATED POSTS