Well, the first half of the Northwest League is finished so it’s time for the first half all-star selection. This year was far more difficult to choose which players were my all-star picks because there wasn’t the separation between the top players at each position like there was last year. Players like Panik, Spangenburg, Murray and Nicolino seemed to be playing at a different level than the rest of the league. That just isn’t the case this year. But despite that, there are still players at each position who have distinguished themselves enough to be Northwest League first half all-stars.
There are a few conditions I have for making the first half all-star team. A position player must have played in at least half of their team’s games to qualify, starting pitchers must have five starts and relief pitchers must have 10 innings of work.
(All stats are as of Monday July 23rd, at Noon)
Catcher
Marcus Littlewood, Everett AquaSox: Making the transition from shortstop has seemed to benefit Littlewood. Being a switch hitter allows him to see playing time on a regular basis and as a result he is only one homerun behind teammate Patrick Kivlehan and Yakima shortstop Josh Parr for the homerun lead. Defensively he is showing progress and although Mike Zunino may be the future starter at catcher for the Mariners, Littlewood could develop into a solid back up. BA .255, 5 hrs, 17 runs, 19 RBIs.
1st base
Joe Rapp, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes: Rapp has been the key to what success the Volcanoes have had offensively. He started the season off slowly but has recently started showing signs of life with five homeruns, over half of those going to the opposite field. BA .287, 5 hrs, 15 runs, 25 RBIs.
2nd base
Kevin Medrano, Yakima Bears: Medrano has yet to hit a homerun this season but when you lead the league in batting average and are second in hits, it isn’t as big of a deal. BA .344, 0 hr, 15 runs, 16 RBIs.
3rd base
Patrick Kivlehan, Everett AquaSox: Kivlehan won the triple crown for the Big East before being drafted by the Mariners and he is making a push for two categories of the Northwest League triple crown. He is tied for the lead in homeruns with 6, and in third and only three behind the leader for RBI’s with 26. Although his average is good enough for the top 10 in the league he is 57 points behind Medrona. BA .287, 6 hrs, 24 runs, 26 RBIs, 7 stolen bases.
Shortstop
Christopher Taylor, Everett AquaSox: The shortstop spot was the most difficult to decide upon for the all-star team. Taylor earned the honor because of his .328 batting average and in no small part because of his 13 stolen bases, which are second to only his teammate Jamodrick McGruder. BA .328, 2 hrs, 26 runs, 18 RBIs, 13 stolen bases.
Outfield
Jeremy Baltz, Eugene Emeralds: A solid batting average to go along with solid runs and RBI totals is all it took for Baltz to be the leading outfielder for this all-star team. BA .287, 1 hr, 16 runs, 19 RBIs, 5 stolen bases.
Francisco Sosa, Tri-City Dust Devils: Although his average is a bit lower then Baltz, Sosa makes up for it with similar run and RBI numbers and a few extra stolen bases. BA .265, 2 hrs, 16 runs, 18 RBIs, 8 stolen bases.
Shaun Cooper, Yakima Bears: At first glance his average makes this selection look a bit questionable but when you notice an on-base percentage of nearly .400 you see that there is more to Cooper’s game. He scores runs and that is how you win games. BA .258, 3 hrs, 21 runs, 16 RBIs, 4 stolen bases, .396 OBP.
Starting Pitchers
Dylan Unsworth, Everett AquaSox: Tied for the league lead in wins Unsworth has been a key reason for the success of the Everett AquaSox. Unsworth has 35 K’s in 40 innings of work, while only giving up 13 free passes. 5-0, 3.32 ERA.
Alexander Carreras, Yakima Bears: Although Carreras may only be the third most dominating pitcher on his own team (Daniel Watts 0.82 ERA in 33 innings, and Cody Wheeler 2.08 ERA in 30.1 innings), he has gotten the job done and sits tied for the lead in wins. Sometimes it just comes down to whether or not you win the games as a starter. 5-2, 3.62 ERA
Javier Avendano, Vancouver Canadians: With the third best ERA for starters in the league Avendano has been strong. Add in his 40 K’s over 36 innings and you have a pitcher with an amazing 10 K’s per 9 inning rate. 3-1, 2.00 ERA.
Relief Pitchers
Brook Hart, Tri-City Dust Devils: Hart only has three saves but his four wins makes him one of only four pitchers in the league to have four or more wins and the other three are all starters. That alone would get him on the all-star list but have a 14 k’s to 1 walk ratio is just icing on the already dominating cake. 4-1, 1.69 ERA, 3 saves, 14 K’s, 1 BB.
Roman Madrid, Eugene Emeralds: Madrid has been one of the most dominating pitchers in the Northwest League this year. His nine saves are four more than any other reliever in the league and although his K’s to walks ratio isn’t as amazing as Hart’s, a 14 K’s and 4 BBs ratio isn’t anything to be ashamed of. 1-0, 1.23 ERA, 9 saves, 14 K’s, 4 BB’s.
Drew Permison, Vancouver Canadians: In 11.1 innings of work in the Northwest League and one inning in the Florida State League, Permison has give up only 1 run and 2 walks. One of those walks happened to come in the same outing he gave up the run. In other words, Permison doesn’t give free passes and gives up even fewer runs. That’s my kind of closer. 0-0, 0.79 ERA, 5 saves, 10 K’s, 2 BB’s.
Are there players that I left off of my all-star team that you felt were more deserving? Post a comment about who you think should of made the team and why.