American League All-Star Roster

(photo credit: Getty Images)

With the announcement of the 2016 MLB All Star Game rosters, it is worth taking a look at the individuals who were voted as starters and their accomplishments in the first half of the season.

Your 2016 American League Starters:

Catcher

Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals, 4^th AS Game (.273 BA, .783 OPS, 15 2B, 12 HR, 37 RBI)

Among all AL catchers with at least 150 at-bats, Perez ranks first in hits, slugging percentage, OPS, and RBIs. He ranks second in runs, doubles, home runs, and batting average. His 287 plate appearances are 20 more than the next catcher, he’s played 4 more games and 14 more innings than any other catcher, and he’s the only catcher in the entire American League who has thrown out more attempted basestealers (24) than stolen bases allowed (20).

First Base

Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals, 1^st AS Game (.305 BA, .853 OPS, 13 HR, 45 runs, 49 RBI)

            Hosmer leads all qualified AL first basemen in hits and batting average, and ranks in the top five in runs, doubles, RBIs, OBP, slugging, and OPS. Only 22% of Hosmer’s at-bats end in strikeouts, compared to 38% for Chris Davis and Mike Napoli, 35% for Justin Smoak, and 27% for Mitch Moreland. Hosmer is one of only two first baseman to have played at least 80 games to this point in the season.

Second Base

Jose Altuve, Houston Astros, 4^th AS Game (.352 BA, .986 OPS, 24 2B, 63 runs, 49 RBI, 22 SB)

            Altuve leads the entire American League in batting average by 15 points, is third in the league in on base percentage, and fourth in OPS. No other second baseman ranks higher than 10^th in any of those categories. Altuve leads all AL secondbasemen in hits, doubles, walks, stolen bases, average, OBP, slugging, and OPS. He is second in runs, third in RBI, and fourth in home runs. He is one of four AL second basemen with a fielding percentage higher than 99%.

Third Base

Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles, 3^rd AS Game (.324 BA, .970 OPS, 19 HR, 59 runs, 53 RBI)

            Machado gets the nod at 3B despite splitting his time evenly between third and shortstop. That in mind, he is second in the entire AL in doubles, third in RBI and slugging, fourth in average, and fifth in hits and OPS.

Shortstop

Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox, 1^st AS Game (.332 BA, .390 OBP, 114 H, 62 runs, 52 RBI, 11 SB)

            Bogaerts ranks second in the American League in hits, third in average, and fifth in runs. Among AL shortstops, he leads in runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, average, on base percentage, and OPS.

Outfield

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels, 5^th AS Game (.324 BA, .994 OPS, 20 2B, 17 HR, 60 runs, 54 RBI)

            Trout is second in the league OBP, third in OPS, and fifth in average and slugging. Among all outfielders, he is first in walks, average, OBP, and OPS, second in slugging, third in hits, doubles, and RBI, and fourth in runs scored.

Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox, 1^st AS Game (.298 BA, 110 hits, 21 2B, 18 HR, 71 runs, 57 RBI)

            Betts is second in the league in runs and third in hits. Among outfielders he ranks first in runs and hits, second in doubles and RBIs, fourth in average, and fifth in home runs.

Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston Red Sox, 1^st AS Game (.293 BA, .929 OPS, 20 2B, 14 HR, 54 RBI)

            Bradley Jr is second in the league in triples, and among outfielders ranks second in OBP and OPS, and third in doubles, RBIs and slugging.

Designated Hitter

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox, 10^th AS Game (.337 BA, .429 OBP, .670 slugging, 1.100 OPS, 34 2B, 19 HR, 66 RBI)

            In what is supposed to be his last season before retirement, 40-year old Ortiz is having one of the best performances in baseball history. He leads the entire American League in doubles, OBP, slugging and OPS and is second in RBIs and batting average. Among designated hitters, he leads in hits, doubles, average, OBP, slugging, and OPS. He’s third in RBIs and fourth in home runs.

Reserves:

Catcher- Stephen Vogt, Oakland Athletics (2^nd AS Game)

    Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles (4^th)

1B- Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (11^th)

2B- Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners (7^th)

3B- Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays (3^rd)

SS- Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians (1^st)

            Eduardo Nunez, Minnesota Twins (1^st)

OF- Carlos Beltran, New York Yankees (9^th)

            Ian Desmond, Texas Rangers (2^nd)

            Mark Trumbo, Baltimore Orioles (2^nd)

DH- Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays (3^rd)

Notable Pitchers:

Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox (14-2, 2.93 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 8.9 K/9)

Danny Salazar, Cleveland Indians (10-3, 2.36 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 10.3 K/9)

Cole Hamels, Texas Rangers (9-2, 2.93 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 8.8 K/9)

Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles (24 saves, 0.78 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 11.2 K/9)

Alex Colome, Tampa Bay Rays (19 saves, 1.71 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 11.1 K/9)

Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals (19 saves, 1.23 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 8.6 K/9)