Call to the Pen’s All NL West team
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
If you have been following these posts, you might be familiar with this, but for those that haven’t here’s the explanation:
Each Call to the Pen staff member received a ballot with those players that were expected to start at their respective position as presented on MLB Depth Charts. Each team within the division had one and only one representative on the ballot for each position, non-closing reliever and closer. For these areas of the voting, points were assigned based on their finish. A first place voted constituted one point while a fifth place vote garnered five points. The player with the lowest point total was named as the division’s top selection.
For the starting pitchers, the voting was conducted a bit differently.
Each staff member was asked to rank the top ten starters within the division. To determine the starting rotation, a two-tiered system was put in place.
The first criteria was the number of ballots on which each pitcher appeared. The second was total points received with fewer points used as any form of a tie-breaker. The same process took place in awarding points as with the positions previously mentioned, but there was one difference. Points were given with one point for a first place nod and so on up to ten points being awarded for tenth.
With all of that out of our way, here’s your 2014 preseason All NL West team…
Catcher
Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
And Posey collected every first=place vote. That shouldn’t be a surprise. The 2012 NL MVP didn’t have quite the offensive season he did the previous year, but there’s no denying that he has evolved into an elite player. Sure, he received his fair share of knocks due to the regression from that year, but those were some pretty high marks he set.
Even if you throw in last year’s “down season”, his career OBP is .377.
Order:
Posey, SF; Montero, ARI; Ellis, LAD; Rosario, COL; Hundley, SD
First base
Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
Another unanimous selection, and it’s not hard to dig into the reasons why. Goldy finished second to Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen in last year’s MVP voting. He led the NL in HR (36), RBI (125), SLG (.551), OPS (.952), OPS+ (160), total bases (332) and intentional walks (19). Goldschmidt also snared the NL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger for his position.
Not to mention Goldschmidt made his first All-Star team.
Order:
Goldschmidt, ARI; Gonzalez, LAD; Belt, SF; Morneau, COL; Alonso, SD
Second base
Aaron Hill – Arizona Diamondbacks
This was a close one. Hill received five (out of ten) first place votes. Who was nipping at his heels? Marco Scutaro of the Giants. But Scutaro did not receive the second most first place votes. That honor, if you can call it that, is held by San Diego’s Jedd Gyorko.
Granted, Hill couldn’t have put together the season he had in 2012 (.302/.360/.522, 133 OPS+) as he only played in 87 games, but in some areas he wasn’t that far off (.291/.356/.462, 124 OPS+).
Order:
Hill, ARI; Scutaro, SF; Gyorko, SD; Guerrero, LAD; LeMahieu, COL
Shortstop
Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
Have to say that I was somewhat shocked Tulo received every first place vote. I thought Hanley Ramirez would nab at least a couple, but he did manage every second place vote.
Tulowitzki is another that saw his season limited due to injuries, but there’s no mistaking that his presence, both offensively and offensively, command respect. In 127 games last season (512 PA), Tulo compiled a triple slash of .312/.391/.540 with 25 HR and 82 RBI. He was also selected to his third All-Star team.
Order:
Tulowitzki, COL; Ramirez, LAD; Cabrera, SD; Gregorius, ARI; Crawford, SF
Third base
Pablo Sandoval – San Francisco Giants
Panda was the recipient of six first place votes while both Chase Headley and Martin Prado nabbed a pair.
Order:
Sandoval, SF; Headley, SD; Prado, ARI; Arenado, COL; Uribe, LAD
Left Field
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Carlos Gonzalez – Colorado Rockies
Called an audible on this one.
When the ballots were distributed to the staff, the presumption, as we had heard over the winter, was that CarGo would be in center field. Shortly after the ballots were tabulated, the Rockies made their announcement that Gonzalez would, in fact, stay in left.
Needless to say, I believe Gonzalez would have been the top selection had he been on the ballot as a left fielder. The top choice prior to this was Carl Crawford of the Dodgers. How many would put Crawford ahead of CarGo?
And Gonzalez can hit, field, run, change out the drawers at the concessions, make cotton candy, sell peanuts, you get the idea.
Center field
Matt Kemp – Los Angeles Dodgers
So with the audible for left field, and seeing as Carlos Gonzalez was the original top choice for center, we delve to who finished in second on our ballots. That would be Kemp. And that was one of the surprises of the voting. With Gerardo Parra and Angel Pagan in the mix, I thought the race for second (in this case) would be a little closer.
No question that a healthy Matt Kemp is one of baseball’s finest. He was limited to just 73 games and 290 PA and his offensive production was a far cry from the numbers he had posted in the previous two seasons.
A healthy Matt Kemp may be exactly what the Dodgers need in order to make all those expenditures pay off.
Right field
Yasiel Puig – Los Angeles Dodgers
Puig snagged eight of the ten first-place nods with Giants right fielder Hunter Pence receiving the other two.
Say what you will about all the antics on the field and the issues off the field, but there was simply no more exciting player last season than Puig. Yes, it got under my skin a bit as well, but the talent is immense.
He finished second to Miami’s Jose Fernandez for the NL Rookie of the Year after posting a season of .319/.391/.534 with 19 HR and 42 RBI in 432 PA. He also swiped 11 bags.
There is that issue in regards to his weight…
Order:
Puig, LAD; Pence, SF; Cuddyer, COL; Ross, ARI; Smith, SD
Starting pitchers (5)
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers
Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
Matt Cain – San Francisco Giants
Patrick Corbin – Arizona Diamondbacks
All five of these pitchers were named on every ballot, so it came down to lowest point total. They are listed in that order. I honestly don’t believe anyone could make a significant argument against any of them unless you believe that LA’s Hyun-jin Ryu should be among these five.
Kershaw was, well, Clayton Kershaw. He led all of baseball in ERA (1.83), ERA+ (194), and WHIP (0.915). He led the National League in strikeouts (232), and tied for the lead in shutouts (2). And he also took home his second Cy Young Award.
And Zack Greinke fared rather well in his first season as a Dodger. Well, except for that issue concerning Carlos Quentin and a broken collarbone. That didn’t derail him as Greinke posted his lowest ERA (2.63) since he won the AL Cy Young in 2009 (2.16). Don’t forget the Silver Slugger…
Not long ago, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy tabbed Madison Bumgarner as hos opening day starter. Last season, he finished 5th in ERA (2.77) and WHIP (1.033), 3rd in hits per nine innings (6.527) and 7th in strikeouts (199).
Bumgarner’s teammate Matt Cain makes the cut despite having an un-Matt Cain-like 2013. His winning percentage was under .500 for the first time since 2008. He posted an ERA of 4.00, highest since 2006. He only tossed 184.1 innings, least since 2005 when he late season call-up. That was due to hitting the disabled list for the first time in his career. Blame that on Gaby Sanchez after drilling Cain in the arm with a line drive.
Arizona’s Patrick Corbin rounds out our rotation and did he ever turn some head last season. He was selected to his first All-Star team, eclipsed 200 IP (208.1, 9th in NL) in only his second season (first full season). Corbin took care of a couple of issues he had from his rookie season, hits and home runs. In that home park, that will serve any pitcher well.
Relief pitcher, non-closer
Brian Wilson – Los Angeles Dodgers
Wilson re-established himself after returning from a second Tommy John surgery. Didn’t take him long to do so either. In only 13.2 innings during the regular season and 6 innings during the playoffs, he allowed 12 hits. Wilson struck out 21, walked six and allowed one run in that same span.
A bit in awe that some team didn’t roll the dice and bring him in as their closer. What he showed at the end of last season and the playoffs was what we’ve seen from his closer days.
Closer
Sergio Romo – San Francisco Giants
This one did surprise me. Funny thing is that Romo didn’t garner the most first-place votes either (he had 4). Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers scored 5, but the difference came down to those critical votes for second through fifth. Romo didn’t receive a vote lower than third while Jansen somehow was dubbed as the division worst closer on one ballot.
Breakdown by team:
Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants – 5
Arizona Diamondbacks – 3
Colorado Rockies – 2
No Padres, eh? Closest for any Padre came to cracking the team came from Chase Headley (second) for third. A bit surprised Huston Street didn’t get a little more love as the division’s top closer.