Four Seattle Mariners Take The Field For Tonight’s All-Star Game

Tonight, as America tunes in to the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, many will be getting their first look at some great west coast baseball players.  Among them are four Seattle Mariners:  Robinson Cano, who was elected by the fans to play 2B, Felix Hernandez, the AL starter, Kyle Seager, who was added to the team after Edwin Encarnacion was placed on the 15 day DL by the Toronto Blue Jays, and Fernando Rodney, replacing Tampa Rays starter David Price.

Robinson Cano

Appearing in his 6^th All-Star game and his first with the Mariners, Robinson Cano was the correct choice for 2B in the AL.

While Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers has the same 3.5 WAR as Cano, a good chunk of his WAR is derived from superior defense.  And, let’s face it.  Fans vote for familiar names and gaudy offensive numbers, not steady defense.

Either Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins or Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros would have been fun choices, especially Dozier since the game is being played in Minneapolis.  But, this year, the fans got it right.

After 91 games, Cano is hitting .334/.393/.462 with 7 HR, 57 RBI, 49 R, and 7 SB.  And while the Mariners’ announcers would have you think Cano is a whiz with the leather, he is an adequate, steady, league average 2B, with a UZR of exactly 0.

Felix Hernandez

As legendary and beloved as Felix has become in Seattle, the “east coast bias” does exist, and many fans throughout the country haven’t seen him pitch that much, or ever.  On the east coast, Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka and Red Sox starter Jon Lester have grabbed most of the attention this year.  But with Tanaka on the DL with a partially torn UCL, Felix got the start for the AL.

Felix Hernandez leads the AL in WAR for pitchers and is a full win ahead of Boston’s Jonathan Lester in WAR (5.2 to 4.2).  As I’ve written before, Hernandez is on pace to eclipse both his 2009 8.0 WAR performance and his 2010 Cy Young award winning season.

After 20 starts, Felix is 11-2 with a 2.12 ERA, an even lower 2.04 FIP (fielding independent pitching), a 0.90 WHIP, and 154 K.

It should be a lot of fun to watch King Felix face some of the NL power bats like Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt, Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig, and Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton.

Kyle Seager

I actually voted for Kyle Seager the full 25 times allowed online for 3B in the AL over Josh Donaldson of the Oakland Athletics.

Seager leads the AL at 3B in WAR at 3.6, ahead of Donaldson at 3.5.  Ironically, however, much of Donaldson’s WAR is, like Kinsler’s at 2B, derived from defense.  Donaldson leads the AL at 3B with a 13.0 UZR, far ahead of second place Seager at 5.4.

Offensively, Seager has simply had a better season than Donaldson except in the HR category (Seager also trails in R, but R tend to be a statistic that, like RBI, is dependent on your teammates.  Oakland is clearly a better all-around offensive ball club than Seattle).

In 92 games, Seager has hit .279/.350/.493 with 15 HR, 63 RBI, 38 R, and 4 SB.  Compare that to Donaldson’s .238/.317/.449 with 20 HR, 65 RBI, 61 R, and 3 SB, and the case emerges that Seager should have been voted in by the fans as the starter.  Seager’s .833 OPS to Donaldson’s .766 OPS alone tips the scale to Seager.

But, at least he got in and should actually play later in the game when, if its close, his bat might prove to be important to the AL in ways the starters’ bats often are not.

Fernando Rodney

Not being a huge fan of the saves category, I’m at a bit of loss explaining the inclusion of any of the relief pitchers on the AL roster.

Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals, was named to the team ahead of Fernando Rodney, even though he is second in the AL in saves behind Rodney.  Holland’s 0.98 WHIP and 1.82 ERA are slightly better than Rodney’s 1.13 WHIP and 1.98 ERA (which both for Rodney are far better than his career numbers).

The inclusion of Glenn Perkins of the Minnesota Twins makes some sense, as he is from the home team and is left handed for those leftie / leftie matchups late in the game.

Dellin Betances of the Yankees makes the most sense, as he has electric stuff with a 13.6 K/9 rate and 0.70 WHIP, and can pitch more than one inning.

So, I guess Rodney replaces starter David Price because he leads the league in saves with 27, for whatever that’s worth.

Regardless of the situation, Rodney has promised to “shoot an arrow,” his signature wrestling finishing move, so at least we have that to look forward to.

Parting Notes

Hopefully, Joe Buck will get the opportunity at some point when either Cano or Seager is hitting or Felix or Rodney is pitching to mention that the Mariners are 51-44 and 2.5 games up on the second wild card in the AL.  That will really wake up the east coast.