Sunday, July 3, 2011

All Stars: Hanny In, McCutch Out

Well, Joel Hanrahan made the team, that was pretty much a no brainer. But McCutch didn't.

Hanny has all the credentials; overpowering heat, nasty slider, perfecto in the saves department and a 1.41 ERA.

A strong argument could be made for Andrew McCutchen. McCutch has been the man this year, the lone bright spot in a dismal Bucco attack. His line is .289/12/43 with a .390 OBP and .493 slugging percentage, 15 stolen bases and 48 runs scored. He's third in the league in WAR at 4.6, tucked between All-Stars Jose Reyes and Matt Kemp.

He lost out to Carlos Beltran (Mets), Jay Bruce (Reds), Matt Holliday (Cardinals), Hunter Pence (Astros) and Justin Upton (D-Backs). The Brewers Ryan Braun, the Cards Lance Berkman and LA's Matt Kemp were the elected OF'ers.

It's tough to knock any of those selections. It's also tough to say that McCutch doesn't have the credentials to play among that group, either. But hey, the Yankees' CC Sabathia was 11-4 with a 3.04 ERA; he's on the sidelines too. 

McCutch plays better D than any of the guys ahead of him, and has a higher WAR value. But leather and Sabermetrics don't count for much in popularity polls, and Andrew McCutchen, for better or worse, hasn't carved out a name for himself outside of his home base yet. So the result is disappointing, but hardly surprising. And it may be the publicity stirred by his omission does more to get his name out among the NL fans than any hitting streak.

The part that's especially galling is that McCutch didn't make the NL's extra man ballot, which consists of Todd Helton, Andre Ethier, Shane Victorino, Michael Morse, and Ian Kennedy. That's just downright disrespectful.

But that's what the Bucs are playing for this season, a little respect. And if this lights a fire under McCutch's fanny, well, we can't wait to see what the second half of the season has in store.

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