By Bob Smizik | Saturday 1 a.m.
The All-Star Game rosters won’t be announced until tomorrow but there shouldn’t be any suspense about the fact Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez will be a member of the National League team.
And that’s not because every team must have a representative in the game.
Although the Pirates most recently often have been represented in the game because of that rule, the case can easily be made that Sanchez belongs on merit.
He’s not the best second baseman in the National League. That designation falls to Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies. But there’s ample reason to believe he is the second best and should be named as Utley’s backup.
Not that there isn’t plenty of competition. Orlando Hudson, Brandon Phillips, Luis Castillo and Dan Uggla all should be under consideration as the second best second baseman.
Here’s why Sanchez deserves the honor. 
He led all second-basemen in batting (with all statistic prior to Friday’s games) with a .316 batting average. Detractors will point out Sanchez was only sixth among second basemen in runs batted in, trailing Utley, Phillips, Uggla, Hudson and Clint Barmes. But RBIs are not a fair statistic. They rely too much on position in the batting order and opportunity, over which a player has no control. As a No. 2 hitter on a weak offensive team, Sanchez doesn’t get the opportunities other second basemen might.
A more fair power statistic is slugging percentage. Among second basemen who have more than 200 plate appearances, Sanchez is second in that category, to Utley, at .477. He’s also second in what is widely believed to be the most important offensive category, OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage), at .832.
(Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks is ahead of Sanchez in slugging and OPS but is out for the season.)
Sanchez also leads all second basemen in hits and doubles and is second in total bases, behind Utley.
Add those offensive numbers to the fact Sanchez is one of the better defenders at his position in the National League and that every team must be represented and he looks to be a certain selection.
Pitcher Zach Duke also merits All-Star consideration. Dukes was tied for third in the National League in wins with eight, was 10th in earned run average at 3.13 and 10th in walks and hits per inning at 1.19.
Posted
Jul 04 2009, 01:00
by
Bob Smizik