MINNEAPOLIS -- While everyone debates on social media whether Adam Wainwright should have started the All-Star Game or been a pitcher in the Home Run Derby, let's take a look at the performances of everyone from last night's game, from best to worst.
| |  Mike Trout Position: Left field Team: Los Angeles Angels |  |
| Great news! The game's best player finally won a Most Valuable Player award! Trout tripled home one run, scored another, doubled home another run and in the most remarkable accomplishment of the night, bumped Jeter for the MVP trophy, probably because he had to do all that without someone grooving him a fastball. | ||
| |  Derek Jeter Position: Shortstop Team: New York Yankees | |
| In his final All-Star Game, Mr. November and Mid-July doubled and scored in the first, singled in the third, and then left the game to a thunderous -- and well-deserved -- standing ovation. He also opened the game with a diving stop at short, though his throw was just a smidgen too slow to get Andrew McCutchen at first (apparently, first base umpire Jeff Nelson did not get the memo from Adam Wainwright). | ||
| |  Miguel Cabrera Position: First base Team: Detroit Tigers | |
| The reigning two-time MVP hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Take that, Mike Trout! | ||
| |  Jonathan Lucroy Position: Catcher Team: Milwaukee Brewers |  |
| The replacement starter for Yadier Molina doubled twice and drove in two runs to become just the second Brewers All-Star with two hits in a game. Can you name the other one? Answer below. | ||
| |  Felix Hernandez Position: Starting pitcher Team: Seattle Mariners | |
| Why did The King -- who struck out two and gave up no runs -- only pitch one inning as the AL starter? Probably because he was so overwhelmed by having his teammates score three runs for him -- and in the first inning at that! Three runs of support might be a career high. Alas, despite not allowing a run, he failed to get the decision. So it was pretty much business as usual for the King. | ||
| |  Craig Kimbrel Position: Relief pitcher Team: Atlanta Braves | |
| He struck out three batters in a scoreless inning. Too bad that type of air conditioning wasn't available in last year's sweltering heat in New York rather than on an already cool Minnesota night. | ||
| |  Alexei Ramirez Position: Shortstop Team: Chicago White Sox | |
| He trotted out to the field in the fourth inning and replaced Jeter at short. Which is a little like walking on stage mid-concert and taking the microphone from Springsteen. Ramirez didn't belt out "Glory Days,'' but he did single, steal a base and score a run. | ||
| |  Max Scherzer Position: Relief pitcher Team: Detroit Tigers | |
| Last year's Cy Young winner threw a scoreless inning, struck out two and got the win. Naturally, stat geeks said his performance was overrated. | ||
| |  Aramis Ramirez Position: Third base Team: Milwaukee Brewers | |
| Wait a minute. After Lucroy did it in the fourth inning, Ramirez became the third Brewers All-Star with two hits in a game in the sixth inning. And the first Brewer with two hits in an All-Star Game? Not Robin Yount. Not Paul Molitor. Keep reading to find the answer. | ||
| |  Derek Norris Position: Catcher Team: Oakland A's | |
| The Oakland catcher singled, scored and had eight putouts despite being weighed down by that beard of his. | ||
| |  Zack Greinke Position: Relief pitcher Team: Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| He pitched a hitless fourth inning, striking out two. Good thing this All-Star Game was played in Minnesota, not Australia. | ||
| |  Clayton Kershaw Position: Relief pitcher Team: Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| He didn't get to start, but he did pitch a 1-2-3 second to increase his scoreless streak to four consecutive innings. Just 55 more innings to go! | ||
| |  Dee Gordon Position: Second base Team: Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| He scored a run to tie the score as a pinch runner and also made a nice diving play in the field. So combine his performance with Kershaw and Greinke, and you almost compensate for Yasiel Puig's two days here. | ||
| |  Glen Perkins Position: Relief pitcher Team: Minnesota Twins | |
| Ya sure, youbetcha! The Minnesota native pitched a scoreless ninth to get the save. | ||
| |  Chase Utley Position: Second base Team: Philadelphia Phillies | |
| He doubled home a run and scored, giving Philly fans at least one thing to cheer this season. | ||
| |  Yu Darvish Position: Relief pitcher Team: Texas Rangers | |
| Darvish threw a scoreless third with one strikeout in his first All-Star appearance after being named to three teams. I guess he was too busy sightseeing the previous two years. | ||
| |  Jose Altuve Position: Second base Team: Houston Astros | |
| He hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI in his only plate appearance in what might qualify as the greatest moment for an Astros player seen by anyone on Houston TVs in the past four years. | ||
| |  Andrew McCutchen Position: Center field Team: Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| He went 1-for-2 thanks to an infield single on a diving stop by Jeter. I would rank him higher if he had dogged it ever so slightly down the bases so that Jeter would have been credited with a diving 6-3 web gem. | ||
| |  Troy Tulowitzki Position: Shortstop Team: Colorado Rockies | |
| The Home Run Derby captain went 1-for-3 with an assist and a putout in the field. He also was justified for picking Todd Frazier to his home run squad. | ||
| |  Greg Holland Position: Relief pitcher Team: Kansas City Royals | |
| He pitched a scoreless inning and struck out one, which Kansas City fans are desperately praying he will get a chance to do in October. | ||
| |  Kurt Suzuki Position: Catcher Team: Minnesota Twins | |
| Suzuki caught his Twins teammate, Perkins, in the ninth inning to become just the fifth All-Star who was born in Hawaii. Quick. Who are the others? | ||
| |  Todd Frazier Position: 3B Team: Cincinnati Reds | |
| He walked in his only plate appearance. American League pitchers must have heard that he beat Giancarlo Stanton head-to-head in the Home Run Derby. | ||
| |  Adrian Beltre Position: 3B Team: Texas Rangers | |
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He also walked in his only plate appearance. More important, he didn't get hurt, so Rangers fans have to consider that a very successful night for their team. | ||
| |  Alfredo Simon Position: Relief pitcher Team: Cincinnati Reds | |
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He pitched a scoreless inning and struck out one but also allowed a hit to Jeter. If he grooved Jeter a pitch, he didn't say so. | ||
| |  Francisco Rodriguez Position: Relief pitcher Team: Milwaukee Brewers | |
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He pitched a scoreless inning, but also walked a batter. Meanwhile, have you come up with the Hawaiian All-Stars? | ||
| |  Tyler Clippard Position: Relief pitcher Team: Washington Nationals | |
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He retired the only two batters he faced. No, Stephen Strasburg would not have topped that. | ||
| |  Erick Aybar Position: SS Team: Los Angeles Angels | |
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Aybar played in the field in the eighth and ninth but did not get an at-bat. Somehow, I think even if he had batted, it still would have been overshadowed by the performances of his teammates and the guy who started at short ahead of him. | ||
| |  Aroldis Chapman Position: Relief pitcher Team: Cincinnati Reds | |
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Before giving you Chapman's analysis, here is the answer to the Hawaii trivia question. The other Hawaiian-born All-Stars besides Suzuki were Shane Victorino, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez and Charlie Hough. Oh, and Chapman retired the only two batters he faced. | ||
| |  Freddie Freeman Position: 1B Team: Atlanta Braves | |
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He singled but also made the game's only error. I'm still trying to calculate his WAR. | ||
| |  Sean Doolittle Position: Relief pitcher Team: Oakland Athletics | |
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The Oakland reliever struck out two in two-thirds of an inning. Not bad for someone who was playing third base and the outfield in the minors not that long ago. | ||
| |  Scott Kazmir Position: Relief pitcher Team: Oakland Athletics | |
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The Oakland starter also pitched two-thirds of a scoreless inning, which isn't bad for a guy whose career also was almost over not that long ago. Hmmm. Do you think Billy Beane is a good general manager or what? | ||
| |  Tony Watson Position: Relief pitcher Team: Pittsburgh Pirates | |
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He threw only one pitch to win the coveted MEP award. Most Efficient Pitcher. | ||
| |  Koji Uehara Position: Relief pitcher Team: Boston Red Sox | |
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One batter, four pitches, one strikeout means second place in the MEP voting. | ||
| |  Fernando Rodney Position: Relief pitcher Team: Seattle Mariners | |
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He walked one batter and recorded only one out, but he did his trademark arrow gesture twice! Once during pregame introductions and again after striking out a batter in the eighth. Imagine if he had pitched an entire inning. | ||
| |  Salvador Perez Position: Catcher Team: Kansas City Royals | |
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He was hitless in his only at-bat. Kansas City fans probably would be satisfied with that result in October because at least it would mean the Royals played one postseason game for the first time in 29 years. | ||
| |  Jose Abreu Position: First base Team: Chicago White Sox | |
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He swung at the only pitch thrown to him and hit a fly out. Good thing he didn't take part in the Home Run Derby or he would have been absolutely exhausted here. | ||
| |  Michael Brantley Position: Center field Team: Cleveland Indians | |
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Repeat after me. He also was hitless in his only at-bat. | ||
| |  Hunter Pence Position: Right field Team: San Francisco Giants | |
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I will interrupt another hitless in one at-bat line to give you the answer to the trivia question about the first Brewer with two hits in an All-Star Game. Ryan Braun in 2012. | ||
| |  Miguel Montero Position: Catcher Team: Arizona Diamondbacks | |
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And now, back to the "hitless in his only at-bat'' lines. | ||
| |  Kyle Seager Position: 3B Team: Seattle Mariners | |
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He was 0-for-2 but didn't strike out. Still, Mariners fans have to be pleased that they had four All-Stars in this game, which is about three more than they have had too often recently. | ||
| |  Yoenis Cespedes Position: Left field Team: Oakland Athletics | |
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What, two at-bats and not a single home run? Maybe they should have told him it was the All-Star Derby. | ||
| |  Devin Mesoraco Position: Catcher Team: Cincinnati Reds | |
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And now, we start another monotonous string of results -- he went 0-for-1 with a strikeout. | ||
| |  Daniel Murphy Position: Second base Team: New York Mets | |
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Ibid. | ||
| |  Ian Kinsler Position: Second base Team: Detroit Tigers | |
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Ditto. | ||
| |  Brandon Moss Position: Right field Team: Oakland Athletics | |
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Stop me if you've heard this one already -- he went 0-for-1 with a strikeout | ||
| |  Anthony Rizzo Position: DH Team: Chicago Cubs | |
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Déjà vu all over again. | ||
| |  Starlin Castro Position: Shortstop Team: Chicago Cubs | |
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He also went 0-for-1 with a strikeout. So it was a good night for Cubs fans, who in addition to the Rizzo and Castro strikeouts, also got to see Jeff Samardzija not wear their uniform. | ||
| |  Charlie Blackmon Position: Center field Team: Colorado Rockies | |
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I'm going to mix things up just a bit here. Blackmon went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. | ||
| |  Josh Harrison Position: Left field Team: Pittsburgh Pirates | |
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As did Harrison. | ||
| |  Adam Jones Position: Center field Team: Baltimore Orioles | |
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And Jones. | ||
| |  Jose Bautista Position: Right field Team: Toronto Blue Jays | |
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And Joey Bats. | ||
| |  Carlos Gomez Position: Left field Team: Milwaukee Brewers | |
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And Gomez. Perhaps the National League should have used Madison Bumgarner as a hitter. | ||
| |  Josh Donaldson Position: Third base Team: Oakland Athletics | |
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Donaldson also was 0-for-2 with a strikeout, but the Bringer of Rain did not bring any rain, as he did Monday, so call it a wash. | ||
| |  Robinson Cano Position: Second base Team: Seattle Mariners | |
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He struck out twice in two at-bats. But cut him some slack -- he wasn't being paid to play in this game. | ||
| |  Giancarlo Stanton Position: DH Team: Miami Marlins | |
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Stanton went hitless with a strikeout in three at-bats. But at least he didn't lose a competition 1-0 to Todd Frazier again. | ||
| |  Paul Goldschmidt Position: First base Team: Arizona Diamondbacks | |
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He went hitless in three at-bats but at least he didn't make any errors at first base. | ||
| |  Chris Sale Position: Relief pitcher Team: Chicago White Sox | |
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He gave up a run and blew the American League's lead in the fourth inning. Perhaps he was just confused as to why they played "New York, New York'' when he came into the game. | ||
| |  Jon Lester Position: Relief pitcher Team: Boston Red Sox | |
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He gave up two runs and three hits in one inning. But hey, he got a hold! | ||
| |  Pat Neshek Position: Relief pitcher Team: St. Louis Cardinals | |
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A Minnesota native once released by Twins, Neshek said no one was more excited about the All-Star Game than him. Unfortunately, he gave up two runs and three hits, retired only one batter and took the loss. Maybe he won't remember the game quite as fondly as the pregame festivities. | ||
| |  Adam Wainwright Position: Starting pitcher Team: St. Louis Cardinals | |
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The National League starter gave up more runs in one inning (three) than he had in any start in June and July. Of course, he probably didn't purposely groove pitches those two months as he said he did to Jeter. Are people making too much out of that given Wainwright is one the game's best pitchers and a good guy? Probably. But hey, anything that gets LeBron off the radar for a half hour is welcome. | ||
| |  Yasiel Puig Position: Right field Team: Los Angeles Dodgers | |
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He followed up his dismal Home Run Derby performance by striking out three times in three plate appearances. But at least he didn't make any baserunning mistakes while walking back to the dugout. | ||
| |  Nelson Cruz Position: DH Team: Baltimore Orioles | |
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He was hitless with a strikeout in two at-bats, but I don't care what he did in the game. Anyone who is suspended for PEDs one season should not be allowed to play in the All-Star Game the next summer. And the fans definitely should not be so hypocritical that they rip players for juicing then vote a cheat into the starting lineup. | ||
