MLB stars can be found on the scrap pile



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The Brewers defeated the Braves 10-2 on Sunday to win three of the four rounds of the Hank Aaron Showdown series, with Jesus Aguilar on his 21st and 22nd homers:

Aguilar has an average of .306 / .368 / .633 and is one of the candidates for the final vote of NL's All-Star team. Aguilar was called on the Indian waivers in February 2017 and performed well in a part-time role last season, but was inferior to Eric Thames and Ryan Braun on Milwaukee's pre-season depth chart at first base. It looked like a potential commercial bait, but the Brewers kept it like a bench bait. He hit when he was lucky enough to play, and now he plays every day, crushing the races at home and driving in the races.

Aguilar is a reminder that there is free talent everywhere in the world of baseball. Consider this team of All-Stars and All-Star candidates:

C – Max Stassi, Astros (1.4 WAR). Originally designed by the A and a throw-in in 2014, he was excluded from the training of 40 players of the Astros in the spring of 2017, so everyone could have claimed. He stayed in the Astros organization and reached .258 / .341 / .477 as Brian McCann's substitute this year, earning even more play time with McCann on the DL and ranking in the top 10 among the catchers of WAR.

1B – Jesus Aguilar, brewers (2.4 WAR). He leads the first basemen of the MLB in home races and points produced and dominates the Netherlands with a percentage of 62.2. He had three cups of coffee with the Indians from 2014 to 2016.

2B – Gennett Scooter, Reds (2.9 WAR). You win a little, you lose a little. The Brewers gave up Gennett in March 2017 after a season of 0.9 WAR in 2016. He changed his swing mechanics, developed some power and made his first All-Star team this year by reaching .326 [19659006] 3B – Eugenio Suarez, Reds (3,2 WAR). OK, he was not really free. The Reds have ditched Alfredo Simon to get it in the offseason 2014-15. Simon had a flawless first half in 2014 and was part of the all-star team, but he then went from 3-7 with a 4.52 ERA in the second half and he had one season left before he broke. be free. For some reason, the Tigers wanted it. The Reds wisely acquired Suarez, and he flourished in an All-Star

SS – Chris Taylor, Dodgers (2.6 WAR). Again, not totally free, but the Dodgers brought Taylor from Mariners for Zach Lee, who had literally blazed like a prospect and never appeared in the majors with Seattle

] OF – Matt Kemp, Dodgers (1.6 WAR). The Dodgers acquired Kemp des Braves only to pass under the luxury tax threshold, and any team could have traded it for a spring salary, but no one wanted it. Now he starts in the All-Star Game

OF – David Peralta, Diamondbacks (2.5 WAR). Peralta did not make the All-Star team, but has a solid record, ranking third in the league championships of the Netherlands in WAR. Peralta was a pitcher in the Cardinals organization, was injured and was released, and the Diamondbacks found him as an outfielder playing the independent ball for Amarillo.

OF – Odubel Herrera, Phillies (1.3 WAR). He was a choice of Rangers rule 5.

DH – J. D. Martinez, Red Sox (3.8 WAR). Thread of Derogation to the Triple Crown Candidate

UT – Max Muncy, Dodgers (2.8 WAR). The A cut Muncy last year, and he spent a month unemployed before signing a minor league contract with the Dodgers (and spend all through the year 2017 in Triple-A). Injuries opened an opportunity, and a small change to his facility turned it into a deadly threat to the plate, with 20 home runs and a .600 slugging percentage. He is part of the Final Vote, and if he is elected, he will join a list of unlikely All – Stars.

Difficult loss for the Diamondbacks: He is afraid of losing any match in 16 innings, but he really stings when a position player is forced to throw and to obtain the loss. Diamondbacks receiver Jeff Mathis captured the first 15 innings before becoming the tenth pitcher of the 16th-seeded team. The Wilres of the Padres – who won three defeats on Saturday against the Padres 20-5 – dominated Mathis for the victorious blast:

According to Doug Kern, without Counting nine Mathis is only the second player to take the start and throw in the same extra-sleeve game in the era of the live ball, joining Jamie Burke, who l & rsquo; did for the Mariners in 2006 (enter the ninth to catch the loss in the 15th). Mathis is the first player to have lost since Darwin Barney of the Blue Jays on July 1, 2016 (in a 19-round loss to the Indians).

After a match like this, I always ask if I'm using a The position player could have been avoided – especially for a team like the Diamondbacks, for whom a loss on July 7th could be a big one problem at the end of September. You can not anticipate 16 innings, of course, but Torey Lovullo ran through a series of bullhorns that did not throw a lot of shots: Five bullpen pitched less than 20 shots, and the first six runs used, only Archie Bradley went more than a sleeve. That left T.J. McFarland with four innings before Zack Godley's departure. Godley threw 81 shots on Friday, so it's understandable that he's gone only one run.

The second doubt would be for Lovullo not to try to get at least a second round of work from Brad Boxberger and / or Yoshihisa Hirano, who pitched the ninth and tenth, respectively. At that time, Lovullo knew that he was running out of reserve and could have started to take into account the duration of the game.

By way of remark, this indicates another potential problem of "bullpenning": nine-round games, but the teams play a lot of extra games in one season. If you use five or six bullpen at every game, you will run out of releasers or will be forced to use tired or early raises early in extra innings, which means your worst pitchers will have more decisions – and sometimes your support

Twenty-four hours with Mark Reynolds: Speaking of free talent, Reynolds did not sign with the Nationals until April 17 and he hits .300 / .368 / .600 in a part-time role. On Saturday he drove 10 times, 5-in-5 with two homers. On Sunday, the Nationals used it to get the final of a 10-2 loss to the Marlins. Tanner Roark fell to 3-11 with a 4.76 ERA, including 1-7 with a 7.11 ERA and .976 OPCs allowed since May 31st. The Nationals won three of four in the series – including scores of 18-4 and 14-12 – but Roark's struggles have become a problem. They will recover Stephen Strasburg, but the Nats could also look for another starter.

J.T. Realmuto went 5-for-6 for the Marlins, raising his line to .317 / .368 / .551. He made the All-Star team, but only after the fans voted for Willson Contreras and the players voted for Buster Posey. Realmuto should be the starter and – that might surprise you – he ranks second to Lorenzo Cain among the NL position players in WAR. Realmuto is not an MVP player because of the team for which he plays, but he has been quietly one of the best players in the NL and a reminder that if the Marlins decided on the ### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # To exchange, it would be very, very expensive. [19659006] Star Strikes and Surprises: I have more on star alignments here. The biggest snub is clearly the Rays Blake Snell pitcher, who has a 12-4 record and leads the AL to ERA. It makes sense that he did not do it – the Tigers, Blue Jays, Twins, A's and Rangers all needed their mandatory All-Star, and four of them have ended up being pitchers – but that does not make things any easier. swallow for Snell or Rays fans. Fortunately for Snell, we usually see two or three throwers withdrawing from the game because of nagging injuries or because they play the Sunday before the match (and are therefore ineligible), so Snell will probably end up in the game. team anyway.

On the NL side, you have to feel bad for Aguilar, who has a monster season for the Brewers, leading all the first basemen of the MLB in home races and points produced. He plays at a stacked position, however, with Freddie Freeman, Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt all making the All-Star team and having good seasons. (And no, the two hot months of Aguilar do not outweigh all the MVP caliber seasons that Votto and Goldschmidt have had.) Aguilar still has a chance of making it a Final Vote candidate .

On the happier side, there is note:

Shin-Soo Choo had a similar type of career – a good, reliable player – and he made his first team of stars after 1,408 career games. Congratulations to these two and all the other All-Stars for the first time.

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