2012 S2S Mid-Season All-Stars: Eastern League
By Wally Fish
The Eastern League will hold its All-Star Game on Wednesday (July 11th) with the Reading Phillies hosting the festivities. The actual rosters for the Eastern and Western teams were revealed on MiLB.com at the end of June, but here on Seedlings to Stars we are naming our own All-Star teams for each of the full season leagues.
To qualify for a S2S 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.
Due to promotions RHP Collin McHugh, LHP T.J. McFarland and OFs J.C. Linares and Matt Den Dekker were ineligible for the squad but surely would have made the team otherwise. 3B, which is the weakest position on the roster would certainly be filled by Tigers prospect Nick Castellanos if he had more EL games under his belt. Twins OF Oswaldo Arcia is another player that would have received some consideration but has only played 18 games with New Britain to date.
The most glaring service time omission is Trenton’s lefty Vidal Nuno who would be the #1 starter on this team if he had more than 9 starts in the league thus far. Still, his staggeringly impressive stat line deserves to be mentioned so I will do it here: 9 GS, 51.2 IP, 1.22 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 40 H, 10 BB, 44 SO.
Shifting gears from who didn’t make the team to who did, all 12 Eastern League franchises are represented in the 17 roster spots below. Akron, Altoona, Binghamton, Harrisburg and Richmond each placed two players on the team while Bowie, Erie, New Britain, New Hampshire, Portland and Reading each had one.
Zack Wheeler and Bryce Brentz headline this roster in terms of upper echelon prospects but things drop off considerably after that. Only three others were on their respective organization’s Top-30s (according to BA) and they all ranked 24th or lower. No matter their ranking as prospects, all 17 of these players are in the midst of fantastic seasons.
C – Sandy Leon (23) – Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals)
Acquired: Signed out of Venezuela by Washington 1/21/2007
Prospect Ranking: #24 in BA’s Nationals Top-30
2012 EL Stats: 33 G, 126 PA, 0.342/.384/.465, 11 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 SB, 7 BB, 10 SO
1B – Eric Campbell (25) – Binghamton Mets (New York Mets)
Acquired: Mets 2008 8th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 68 G, 281 PA, 0.326/.432/.489, 16 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 7 SB, 40 BB, 38 SO
2B – Jose Pirela (22) – Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees)
Acquired: Signed out of Venezuela by the Yankees 7/2/2006
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 48 G, 205 PA, 0.313/.383/.469, 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 6 SB, 17 BB, 24 SO
3B – Mark Sobolewski (25) – New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays)
Acquired: Blue Jays 2008 4th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 77 G, 324 PA, 0.266/.306/.475, 11 2B, 1 3B, 17 HR, 1 SB, 17 BB, 71 SO
SS – Brock Holt (24) – Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Acquired: Pirates 2009 9th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 78 G, 332 PA, 0.314/.377/.443, 22 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 7 SB, 30 BB, 41 SO
OF – Thomas Neal (24) – Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians)
Acquired: Giants 2005 36th Round Pick, Traded to Cleveland 7/30/2011
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 69 G, 280 PA, 0.310/.392/.467, 18 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 4 SB, 26 BB, 47 SO
OF – Bryce Brentz (23) – Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox)
Acquired: Red Sox 2010 1st Round Pick (36th Overall)
Prospect Ranking: #5 in BA’s Red Sox Top-30
2012 EL Stats: 83 G, 341 PA, 0.289/.358/.461, 20 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 3 SB, 31 BB, 94 SO
OF – Robbie Widlansky (27) – Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles)
Acquired: Orioles 2007 11th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 79 G, 333 PA, 0.309/.404/.435, 21 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 8 SB, 42 BB, 40 SO
DH – Darin Ruf (25) – Reading Phillies (Philadelphia Phillies)
Acquired: Phillies 2009 20th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 86 G, 360 PA, 0.312/.409/.536, 19 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 2 SB, 45 BB, 58 SO
SP1 – Chris Heston (24) – RHP – Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants)
Acquired: Giants 2009 12th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 17 GS, 100.1 IP, 2.24 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 87 H, 21 BB, 91 SO
SP2 – Zack Wheeler (22) – RHP – Binghamton Mets (New York Mets)
Acquired: Giants 2009 1st Round Pick, Traded to New York 7/27/2011
Prospect Ranking: #1 in BA’s Mets Top-30
2012 EL Stats: 15 GS, 92.2 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 66 H, 35 BB, 88 SO
SP3 – Steven Wright (27) – RHP – Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians)
Acquired: Indians 2006 2nd Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 16 GS, 92.2 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 70 H, 48 BB, 84 SO
SP4 – Brandon Cumpton (23) – RHP – Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Acquired: Pirates 2010 9th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #28 in BA’s Pirates Top-30
2012 EL Stats: 17 GS, 100.2 IP, 3.40 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 85 H, 29 BB, 63 SO
SP5 – B.J. Hermsen (22) – RHP – New Britain Rock Cats (Minnesota Twins)
Acquired: Twins 2008 6th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #27 in BA’s Twins Top-30
2012 EL Stats: 12 GS, 77.0 IP, 3.27 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 78 H, 11 BB, 39 SO
LHRP – Ryan Robowski (24) – Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers)
Acquired: Diamondbacks 2009 16th Round Pick, Traded to Detroit 1/24/2011
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 17 G, 26.1 IP, 2.05 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 18 H, 8 BB, 27 SO
RHRP – Hector Nelo (25) – Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals)
Acquired: Rangers 2007 15th Round Pick, Signed by Washington 4/3/2011
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 29 G, 35.1 IP, 1.53 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 25 H, 13 BB, 47 SO
Closer – Brett Bochy (24) – RHP – Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants)
Acquired: Giants 2010 20th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 EL Stats: 28 G, 38.2 IP, 1.40 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 19 H, 11 BB, 46 SO
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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.