{ With under three weeks until the All Star Teams are announced, we’re looking at what’s changed since our original previews. }
Preview I here.
#AL – Bill James and Cum Posey Divisions
Original selections: Doug Rader, Dick Allen, Pinky Higgins.
It’s a pretty clear top three right now, with one change from the above. Not only has Kansas City’s Albert Pujols forced himself into the conversation, he may be the starter for the AL, with a 303/365/514 line.
Chicago’s Allen and Los Angeles’ Rader are holding steady, Allen at 278/335/512 and Rader at 306/362/505. Each of them match Pujols’ 9 homeruns, and Rader has 54 RBIs.
Higgins of the New York Gothams is still in the conversation, he’s just fallen a bit off the pace with an OPS of .830.
None of the contenders are very good with the glove, with Higgins especially not showing much skill with the leather at the hot corner. But the best gloves in the league–Detroit’s Jimmy Collins and Baltimore’s Harlond Clift–aren’t hitting anywhere near enough to make it.
The AI picks Rader and Detroit’s Bob Bailey, but Bailey has spent only 44 innings at 3B, playing most of the time as a DH.
So, Pujols, Rader, and Allen it is.
#NL – Effa Manley and Marvin Miller Divisions
Original selections: Scott Rolen, Buddy Bell, Mike Schmidt.
Not much has changed in the NL: Portland’s Bell (312/382/540 with 10 homeruns) is head and shoulders above the rest, and Philadelphia’s Rolen (279/353/492) solidly behind him. But after that, it gets difficult.
Brooklyn’s Ron Cey, with an OPS just over .800, is the next best hitter. But Miami’s Manny Machado and the New York Black Yankees’ Schmidt are contributing a lot more defensively. Machado and Schmidt’s OPS’ are roughly equal, in the .780 range.
I continue to just have more faith that Schmidt will get hot, so we’ll keep going with him, but it really is likely to come down to which of those has a good rest of the month.
The AI shares the dilemma, picking only Bell and Rolen.