Welcome to the 2018 EHCC All-Star Extravaganza! This year we come to you semi-live from beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hey, if the Twins can host a game or two there, so can we.
First off let's meet the players. Here are the starting line ups for each division
EAST
1.) Michael Brantly (SFV) - OF
2.) Kris Bryant (RAK) - 3B
3.) Manny Machado (SJ) - SS
4.) Mike Trout (WEY) - OF
5.) JD Martinez (SJ) - DH
6.) Freddie Freeman (WEY) - 1B
7.) Aaron Judge (BRW) - OF
8.) Justin Upton (LV) - OF
9.) Jose Abreu (RAK) - IF
10.) Didi Gregorius (BRW) - 2B
11.) Mike Moustakas (LV) - DH
12.) Travis Shaw (SFV) - C
Ozzie Albies was named a starter for Rakeville, but with his demotion to the ESSEC Jose Abreu takes his place in the starting line up, and forces Didi Gregorius to move over to play second base. Travis Shaw volunteered to catch, what a nice guy.
WEST
1.) Mookie Betts (DUB) - OF
2.) Jose Ramirez (SD) - 2B
3.) Jose Altuve (TKO) - IF
4.) Nolan Arenado (TKO) - 3B
5.) Paul Goldschmidt (TIJ) - 1B
6.) George Springer (QC) - OF
7.) Javier Baez (TIJ) - DH
8.) Francisco Liriano (QC) - SS
9.) Nomar Mazara (SD) - OF
10.) Jean Segura (DUB) - DH
11.) Mitch Haniger (RIO) - OF
12.) Scooter Gennett (RIO) - C
With a excess of middle infielders, the Western Division was forced to make some difficult decisions. Scooter Gennett pulled the short straw and was forced to start at catcher for the west, but he plays almost every other position so he'll probably be fine right?
Pitching staffs for each division:
EAST
Jacob deGrom (BRW)
Patrick Corbin (BRW)
Blake Snell (RAK)
Aaron Nola (RAK)
Kyle Gibson (SJ)
Charlie Morton (SJ)
Max Scherzer (WEY)
Carlos Carrasco (WEY)
Tyler Skaggs (SFV)
Luis Severino (SFV)
Bud Norris (LV)
Arodys Vizcaino (LV)
--
Edwin Diaz (BRW)
Aroldis Chapman (SJ)
Rookie Blake Snell headlines a pretty young eastern division staff. They will have to work extra hard to win the standard counting stats (W and K) however, with the Doggs sending two relievers as their "SP" representatives. They may have an edge in Saves, but a 2 for 1 trade in stats isn't going to help them win this one-week match up.
WEST
Gerrit Cole (TKO)
Lance McCullers Jr (TKO)
Justin Verlander (SD)
Jose Berrios (SD)
Jack Flaherty (RIO)
Mike Clevinger (RIO)
Corey Kluber (QC)
James Paxton (QC)
Chris Sale (DUB)
Jameson Taillon (DUB)
Trevor Bauer (TIJ)
Ross Stripling (TIJ)
--
Sean Doolittle (QC)
Brad Hand (TIJ)
Overall, a much more experienced staff in the Wesstern division. Jameson Taillon gets the replacement nod for Stephen Strassburg who went on the Dl recently. After frustrating the crap out of the Piglets for a long time, Trevor Bauer figured out how to pitch well enough for Tijuana to get him the All-Star nod.
Follow along with updates as the week progresses.....
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Day 1 - Monday, June 18th
Typically the first day is a time for players to get warmed up and take it slow. Not the case this year. After a full day of play the score is pretty tight at 3-4-3, with the Eastern Division pushing forward with solid pitching and the Western Division, while holding their own on that side, taking the majority of the hitting categories.
Justin Upton put the east on the board with a dong, but shortly thereafter western division 1B Paul Goldschmidt answered back with a dong of his own. Both lines ups were running out of the gate, collecting 2 stolen bases on the day each - Aaron Judge and Michael Brantley for the East and Jose Altuve and Jose Ramirez for the West.
Trevor Bauer and Jason deGrom shined for their respective divisions. Bud Norris sprinkled more on top with a scoreless inning, but it was Gerrit Cole who let up 4 earned runs in 7 innings that brought the West down in the pitching ratios.
The West still leads 4-3 after Day 1.
Hitter of the Day: Jose Altuve (3/4, 2 R, 1 SB)
Pitcher of the Day: Trevor Bauer (7 IP, W, 8 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP)
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Day 2 - Tuesday, June 19th
Mark it down, this is how the West won. Or maybe the East just decided not to show up. On the day the East hit .240 with no dongs, while the West took advantage even with Jose Altuve sitting out, lead by Nolan Arenado's 3 RBI night with a .333 average, 2 dongs, and a stolen base.
But it was their pitching that really separated the field. The West threw 5 starters and both closers totaling 34.2 IP, while only giving up 10 ER. Lead by RIO's Mike Clevinger with his 10 K and zero ER through 7.2 IP. Clevinger was the only starter to record an actual Win however. QC's Sean Doolittle recorded the West's first Save for either side and Chris Sale and Justin Verlander each recorded double digit strikeouts on the day.
The East only sent out youngster Blake Snell, who held his own and represented his division well enough with 6 K through 7 IP and putting up a W for the East. Their bats failed to record any homers on the day and were lead by Kris Byant's double header production (3/10, 1 R, 2 RBI).
The West now leads 7-1 after Day 2.
Hitter of the Day: Nolan Arenado (3/5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Pitcher of the Day: Mike Clevinger (7.2 IP, W, 10 K, 1.17 ERA, 0.91 WHIP)
East -- 3 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB, .263 AVG, 2 W, 1 SV, 15 K, 1.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
West -- 8 R, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 4 SB, .329 AVG, 2 W, 1 SV, 61 K, 2.59 ERA, 1.01 WHIP
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Day 3-7 - Wednesday, June 20th through Sunday, June 24th
How time flies. I did warn you this was a very semi-live blog after all. Ok, here's a recap.
Wednesday is really the start of the end (spoiler alert) of the entire event. Maybe that's why I failed to bother to update every day. Maybe I was on a bender. Maybe it was a bit of both, who's the say really? Anyway, Wednesday was the start of the end. Charlie Morton gave the East life with a 6 inning scoreless outing, and that's where the life ended. Jose Altuve led the day with 2 homers for the West, followed by 4 other dogs and 3 stolen bags on the day. The West ended the day with 13 runs scored and 10 RBI to go along with it, against the East's 4 R, 1 HR, and 4 RBI.
Hitter of the Day: Jose Altuve (3/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI)
Pitcher of the Day: Corey Kluber (7.0 IP, W, 7 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.29 WHIP)
Thursday was a bit more even. Aaron Judge and Travis Shaw lead the East with a combined line of 3/7, 2 R, 1 HR, and 4 RBI. The East actually had three pitchers going on the day, and the worst one got the only win. Luis Severino let up 3 ER over 5.2 IP, but still got the win for the East, while Kyle Gibson and Max Scherzer both went 6 and 7 IP respectively and each gave up 2 ER, but neither receive the W.
All the while the West was trying to do favors to the East with James Paxton imploding for 10 H+BB and 4 ER over 5 IP. They somehow still provided the most offensive firepower via Nolan Arrenado's 2 for 4, 5 RBI, 1 HR night and Mookie Betts' 3 for 6 night, with a solo dong.
Hitter of the Day: Nolan Arrenado (2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
Pitcher of the Day: Max Scherzer (7.0 IP, 9 K, 2.57 ERA, 0.86 WHIP)
Friday saw the East treading water. While as a team they went 10 for 53 on the night (.189 average for those that don't want to grab your calculator), they still found a way to collect some pop - Namely from just two guys. JD Martinez and Manny Machado collected 6 of the teams 10 hits on the day, 2 of which went yard. They each found a way to steal a base on top of it. Jose Abreu, who was only at the event because he was taking the place of the demoted Ozzie Albies (who demotes an all-star the day before the all star game?), wasn't helping with his 0 for 8 showing on the day.
The West kept pace with 11 R, 2 HR, and 7 RBI of their own, lead by, yup, you guessed it, Nolan Arrenado, who went 3 for 4, with a 2 run bomb on the day. Jose Ranirez only registered one at bat, but found a way to steal a base anyway.
Each division only saw one starter go and both of them shined by going 7 IP, striking out 12 or more, and each only allowing 3 H+BB. Patrick Corbin for the East and Jack Flaherty for the West brought it tonight, but neither of them could walk away victorious as they both recorded no-decisions on the day.
Hitter of the Day: JD Martinez (4/5, 3 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB)
Pitcher of the Day: Patrick Corbin (7.0 IP, 12 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP)
OK, we've only got two more days to recap left. Bare with me.
If the East thought that Wednesday was bad, they didn't know Saturday was possible. With Kris Bryant sitting out, the East had 5 players fail to record even one hit. Jose Abreu, perhaps trying to make up for his terrible day prior, recorded the ONLY RBI for the East on the day. On top of that, though I'm sure one could argue otherwise, Bud Norris may have been the East's best pitcher on the day since he actually recorded a stat that mattered (a Save). Ok, fine, Aaron Nola went 6 IP, letting up 2 ER and 7 H+BB and got a Win. That's good for something I guess.
The West saw an opportunity and ran with it. While the East bats were sleeping, the West looted the cookie jar, combining for the EXACT same batting average (both teams went 9 for 39 on the day, but made much more use of those 9 hits - scoring 10 R to the East's 2, hitting 2 dongs to the East's zero, and batting in 9 RBI to the East's one. Anyone still bothering to pay attention here?
Oh, and the West's pitching was better too. Shocker.
Hitter of the Day: Francisco Liriano (2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
Pitcher of the Day: Trevor Bauer (6.1 IP, 11 K, 1.42 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)
Finally, Sunday. I can almost go home.
Francisco Liriano and Jose Ramirez help put the nails in the coffin going a combined 6 for 9 with 5 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, and a SB on the day. Justin Upton and Michael Brantly try to answer back for the East, combining for a 5 for 10 day, with 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB. Ya, I know, it wasn't enough. Shhh, you're going to spoil the ending.
Oh, this is fun. The West had 5 pitchers combine for a 1.33 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP over 20.1 IP, while recording 35 K, 3 W and a Save. Hopefully the East had something up their sleeve you say? As it turned out, the East ripped off their sleeves to make themselves look 'cool', and decided to keep everyone in the bullpen.
Hitter of the Day: Jose Ramirez (3/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB)
Pitcher of the Day: Chris Sale (7.0 IP, 13 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP)*
*For what it's worth, Jose Berrios had the EXACT same line minus one strikeout. Better luck next time Jose.
Conclusion:
Player superlatives:
Why Did I Bother Showing Up: Travis Shaw (2 for 12, 1 R, 2 RBI) and Jean Segura (1 for 8)
Can't Buy A Win: Patrick Corbin (7 IP, 12 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP) and Justin Verlander (6.2 IP, 10 K, 1.35 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)
What's a Closer?: Brad Hand (2.1 IP, 11.57 ERA, 1.71 WHIP) and Edwin Diaz (1 IP, 18.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP)
You Didn't Want Me In There Anyway: Arody Vizcaino, Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Skaggs - who each failed to pitch even once the entire week.
Final Score:
West 8
East 1
Runs - East 29 vs West 55
HR - East 6 vs West 18
RBI - East 37 vs West 56
SB - East 7 vs West 9
AVG - East .246 vs West .320
W - East 6 vs West 7
SV - East 3 vs West 3
ERA - East 2.35 vs West 2.41
WHIP - East 1.14 vs West 0.95
Stats that don't directly count:
H - East 69 vs West 79
AB - East 280 vs West 247
IP - East 65 vs West 108.1
ER - East 17 vs West 29
H+BB - East 74 vs West 103
Offensive MVP: Jose Ramirez (7/17, 8 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 SB)
Runner up: Nolan Arrenado (11/29, 7 R, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB)
Pitching MVP: Trevor Bauer (13.1 IP, 2 W 19 K, 0.68 ERA, 0.90 WHIP)
Runner Up: Chris Sale (14.0 IP, 1 W, 24 K, 1.29 ERA, 0.64 WHIP)
Well that was embarrassing.
