The best of the California League will take on the best of the Carolina league on Tuesday (6/19) in their joint All-Star Game. The Winston-Salem Dash are the host team for the event which will feature the following players from the California and Carolina Leagues. While the actual rosters were selected by team personnel and local media, here at Seedlings to Stars we are naming our own All-Star teams for each of the full season leagues.
To qualify for the team, players had to spend the bulk of the first half of the season and still be in the league at the time of our selections. Another point to make about our picks is that they are based solely on 2012 statistical performance. Whether a player is his organization’s top prospect or just roster filler is immaterial to us when it comes to our selections.
One notable omission from this team is Bakersfield’s stolen-base machine, Billy Hamilton. I fully expected B-Ham to represent the Cal League at SS but statistically both Miller – who made the team – and Visalia’s Chris Owings are having better seasons. The 75 stolen bases are a nice story but Hamilton just doesn’t measure up in the slash stats, especially when matched up against Miller who is better in all three (BA/OBP/SLG).
Another slight “snub” took place at 2B. Lake Elsinore’s Justin Miller is having a wonderful go of it since being promoted from Fort Wayne (A) and is currently hitting 0.370/.448/.522 in 25 games for the Storm. That offensive output easily laps the field of other 2B candidates, but with only 92 at bats under his belt he didn’t qualify based on league “service time.”
The strength of the starting rotation suffered a couple body blows with the recent promotions of lefties David Holmberg (2.99 ERA in 78.1 IP) and Tony Cingrani (1.11 ERA in 56.2 IP) to Mobile and Pensacola respectively. However there is still quite a bit of talent remaining, including Lake Elsinore RHP Smith who despite an ERA pushing four has fantastic peripherals that earned him the role of 5th starter on this team.
As far as the makeup of the below roster, two teams are without representation. The San Jose Giants had no players that drew serious consideration for a spot. Holmberg would have certainly represented Visalia but as I mentioned, he was promoted to Double-A last week. Owings just missed making the team for the Rawhide as well. On the other end of the spectrum, Lake Elsinore landed four players on the team while High Desert and Rancho Cucamonga were close behind with three each. Modesto and Stockton also had multiple players on the team.
C – Michael Pericht (24) – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angels Dodgers)
Acquired: Dodgers 2009 16th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 38 G, 159 PA, 0.281/.365/.561, 9 2B, 0 3B, 10 HR, 14 BB, 50 SO
1B – Miles Head (21) – Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics)
Acquired: Red Sox 2009 16th Round Pick, Acquired via Trade on December 28th, 2011
Prospect Ranking: #13 in BA’s Red Sox Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 66 G, 289 PA, 0.382/.434/.706, 22 2B, 6 3B, 17 HR, 3 SB, 23 BB, 52 SO
2B – Cory Spangenberg (21) – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres)
Acquired: Padres 2011 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #4 in BA’s Padres Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 65 G, 288 PA, 0.295/.338/.394, 11 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 21 SB, 15 BB, 50 SO
3B – C.J. Retherford (26) – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Acquired: Signed by Dodgers on December 1st, 2011
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 54 G, 228 PA, 0.338/.382/.637, 13 2B, 0 3B, 16 HR, 7 SB, 10 BB, 28 SO
SS – Brad Miller (22) – High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners)
Acquired: Mariners 2011 2nd Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #11 in BA’s Mariners Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 66 G, 318 PA, 0.331/.420/.543, 24 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 12 SB, 42 BB, 51 SO
OF – Julio Morban (20) – High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners)
Acquired: Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Mariners 7/2/2008
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 43 G, 187 PA, 0.343/.389/.651, 9 2B, 2 3B, 13 HR, 1 SB, 12 BB, 35 SO
OF – George Springer (22) – Lancaster Jethawks (Houston Astros)
Acquired: Astros 2011 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #3 in BA’s Astros Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 61 G, 286 PA, 0.301/.381/.558, 10 2B, 6 3B, 14 HR, 13 SB, 30 BB, 75 SO
OF – Leon Landry (22) – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Acquired: Dodgers 2010 3rd Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 43 G, 196 PA, 0.320/.354/.541, 14 2B, 7 3B, 4 HR, 14 SB, 7 BB, 25 SO
DH – Stefen Romero (23) – High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners)
Acquired: Mariners 2010 12th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 60 G, 276 PA, 0.357/.391/.581, 19 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 6 SB, 13 BB, 35 SO
SP1 – Donn Roach (22) – RHP – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres)
Acquired: Angels 2010 3rd Round Pick, Acquired via Trade on May 3rd, 2012
Prospect Ranking: #23 in BA’s Angels Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 13 GS, 88.1 IP, 1.94 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 77 H, 14 BB, 73 SO
SP2 – Chad Rogers (22) – RHP – Bakersfield Blaze (Cincinnati Reds)
Acquired: Reds 2010 28th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 13 GS, 73.1 IP, 2.33 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 64 H, 14 BB, 55 SO
SP3 – Christian Bergman (24) – RHP – Modesto Nuts (Colorado Rockies)
Acquired: Rockies 2010 24th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 13 GS, 79.0 IP, 3.08 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 72 H, 18 BB, 61 SO
SP4 – Tyler Matzek (21) – LHP – Modesto Nuts (Colorado Rockies)
Acquired: Rockies 2009 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #12 in BA’s Rockies Top-30
2012 CAL Stats: 14 GS, 75.0 IP, 3.24 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 52 H, 52 BB, 83 SO
SP5 – Burch Smith (22) – RHP – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres)
Acquired: Padres 2011 14th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 13 GS, 68.1 IP, 3.95 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 62 H, 10 BB, 72 SO
LHRP – Buddy Boshers (24) – Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels)
Acquired: Angels 2008 4th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 20 G, 32.0 IP, 1.41 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 21 H, 14 BB, 38 SO
RHRP – Ryan Doolittle (24) – Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics)
Acquired: Athletics 2008 26th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 14 G, 23.1 IP, 1.16 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 16 H, 3 BB, 31 SO
Closer – Kevin Quackenbush (23) – RHP – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres)
Acquired: Padres 2011 8th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 CAL Stats: 26 G, 28.2 IP, 0.94 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 20 H, 12 BB, 32 SO, 13 SV
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To check out Mid-Season All-Stars for each of the other full-season leagues, head over to our designated reference page.