The latest updates in the All-Star Balloting just came out. No Pirates are listed. Now...do any Pirates deserve to be listed? Yes. Freddy Sanchez.For one, I think fans voting on the All-Star Game is stupid. It just comes down to who is more popular or whose team can promote voting the best. An example of a franchise who is awesome at getting their players votes is Milwaukee. They now have the #2 1B, #3 2B, #3 3B, #3 SS, #2 C, and the #1, #6, and #8 OF's. I bet if I walked into Miller Park right now, ballots would get thrown at me the entire game.
But back to the original point. Freddy Sanchez deserves to be at least in the top 5 among second basemen. MLB only releases the top 5 at each position (other than OF). Who is listed as the Top 5?
1. Chase Utley, PHI
2. Orlando Hudson, LAD
3. Rickie Weeks, MIL
4. Skip Schumaker, STL
5. Brandon Phillips, CIN
Alright, now lets look at stats and see how Freddy stacks up against these guys.
Sanchez has the highest BA out of any of these players, the 4th highest slugging percentage, the 3rd highest OBP, the most doubles, tied for the most triples, the 4th most homers, and the highest fielding percentage.
Now, does that make him the best 2nd baseman in the NL? No, that's Chase Utley. But there is no reason that Freddy should not be in that top 5 this season. Most likely, Freddy will be selected to the All-Star Game as the lone Pirates representative, but let's get some votes for him, too.
Remember, even thought it's a dumb system, the fans get to vote. So why not vote Freddy in, even if he's not the best one. However, since he wears the black and gold, he's definitely the most awesome. So click here to vote for Freddy!
