The defensive All-Stars

The All-Star ballot I outlined in an earlier post took only batting into account.

I didn’t project a better-rounded team because there aren’t established metrics that everyone can agree on for fielding or baserunning.

Fielding has Range Factor, a fairly simple metric that tells part of the story. By merely dividing total chances by games (or 9 innings), you can get a measure of how much ground a player covers. That way you can differentiate a player who can get to a lot of batted balls from another who makes plays on balls hit close to him.

What it can’t tell you is whether a player’s Range Factor is higher because he has more balls hit in his direction than other players at his position. For example, if he’s a third baseman on a team with three or four left-handed starting pitchers and a large number of ground-ball pitchers.

Other people will tell you about DWAR, Defensive Wins Above Replacement, even after your eyes glaze over from boredom and an aversion to math.

First basemen and catchers don’t have measurable range. For 1Bs, I’m using DWAR. Catchers do have a viable measure, catcher’s ERA, in addition to DWAR.

By combining the available metrics, I came up with this list of defensive All-Stars that I voted for on a ballot in addition to my "true" offensive All-Stars:

American League

C Salvador Perez, Royals

1B Mike Napoli, Red Sox

2B Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

3B Josh Donaldson, Athletics

SS Alexei Ramirez, White Sox

LF Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics

CF Leonys Martin, Rangers

RF Nick Markakis, Orioles

National League

C Yadier Molina, Cardinals

1B Matt Adams, Cardinals

2B Brandon Phillips, Reds

3B Pablo Sandoval, Giants

SS Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies

LF Khris Davis, Brewers

CF Marcell Ozuna, Marlins

RF Jason Heyward, Braves

Three players are on both my offensive and defensive All-Star teams. I don't think you could come up with a good reason not to vote for Donaldson, Ramirez and Tulowitzki. OK, you're going to tell me Donaldson has more errors than anyone west of Pedro Alvarez, but at the time I checked the defensive metrics, Donaldson led major league third basemen in DWAR and the AL third sackers in Range Factor.

Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado and Athletics RF Josh Reddick would have been on my defensive ballot, but they're injured.

There were some ties. 

With only one metric, DWAR, at first base -- and precious little positive value, with just four 1B above 0.0 when I checked the numbers, there was little choice. Napoli tied with Kansas City's Eric Hosmer and Adams with San Diego's Yonder Alonso. I broke the tie the way Gold Glove voters seem to, by which is the better offensive player. In hindsight, I should have gone with Hosmer in the AL. He is a truly gifted defender. Don't talk to me about the Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt. I haven't seen him in person very much, but when I have he has struck me as a good hitter but not a good fielder. At the time I looked at DWARs, Goldschmidt was at -0.5, or a greater negative value than any first baseman's positive value.

Speaking of defense, I just noticed that I made an error at second base in the NL. The Rockies' D.J. LeMahieu ranked ahead of Phillips in both RF and DWAR.

For the NL catcher, Molina and the Giants' Buster Posey had the same combined ranking. As a tiebreaker, I used DWAR, where Molina ranked higher, ahead of CERA, where Posey led the league.

Similarly, Ozuna's superior DWAR broke a tie with the Cardinals' Peter Bourjos and Heyward's major league-best DWAR in right field put him ahead of Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton. By the way, lost among some pretty good offensive statistics, Miami has probably the majors' best outfield defense. LF Christian Yelich also ranked second in the NL in the combined metrics.

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I also looked for individual base-running metrics that could help in establishing a list of well rounded All-Stars, but there didn't seem to be enough evidence (call it small sample size) to make an educated guess about one player over another. Baseball Prospectus' base-running metric (positive and negative runs) includes five different types of runs -- Ground Advancement, Stolen Base, Air Advancement, Hit Advancement and Other Advancement.

There could be some merit in the larger sampling of team base-running runs. At the time I researched this post, the Royals led the majors with almost 10 runs, 50% more than the runner-up Mariners. The Cubs led the NL. By far, the worst teams were the Red Sox and Athletics, with the old and infirm Phillies last in the National League. 

KC's base-running prowess could be a reason why the Royals stayed in contention despite some atrocious hitting. Base-running appeared to be just another problem for Boston, another aging team with injury issues. I was surprised to see the Rangers among the AL base-running leaders, because even during their recent contending days they have made miserable mistakes on the bases. Texas was slightly above 0. I'm guessing the positive ranking could have been built on Stolen Base Runs -- with a trio of base stealers in Martin, Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios. 

There didn't appear to be much correlation between good base-running teams and teams high in the standings. Four teams currently in playoff position ranked in the top third in base-running, but three "playoff teams" ranked in the bottom third.

Player rankings

Here are offensive player rankings at each position for each league. It includes only players who (through June 12) would qualify for a batting title.
The numbers after their name are their total rank for Hittability and Strikeability at their position. For example, among the 11 qualifying catchers, Kurt Suzuki ranked seventh in slugging percentage and first in W/K ratio (7+1=8).

Catchers
AL-1. Kurt Suzuki, Twins 8, 2. Salvador Perez, Royals 9, 3. Yan Gomes, Indians 13, 4. A.J. Pierzynski, Red Sox 19, 5. Brian McCann, Yankees 19, 6. Jason Castro, Astros 20.
NL-1. Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers 4, 2. Miguel Montero, D-backs 6, 3. Buster Posey, Giants 11, 4. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies 11, 5. Yadier Molina, Cardinals 12.
First Basemen
AL-1. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays 6, 2. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers 17, 3. Albert Pujols, Angels 18, 4. Adam Dunn, White Sox 18, 5. Brandon Moss, Athletics 21, 6. James Loney, Rays 25, 7. Mike Napoli, Red Sox 26, 8. Jose Abreu, White Sox 27, 9. Alberto Callaspo, Athletics 27, 10. Chris Davis, Orioles 31, 11, Joe Mauer, Twins 35, 12. Chris Carter, Astros 37, 13. Nick Swisher, Indians 37, 14. Justin Smoak, Mariners 44, 15. Eric Hosmer, Royals 45.
NL-1. Adam LaRoche, Nationals 8, 2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs 10, 3. Freddie Freeman, Braves 15, 4. Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs 23, 5. Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers 25, 6. Justin Morneau, Rockies 28, 7. Lucas Duda, Mets 28, 8. Garrett Jones, Marlins 32, 9. Mark Reynolds, Brewers 37, 10. Yonder Alonso, Padres 38, 11. Ryan Howard, Phillies 44.
Second Basemen
AL-1. Brian Dozier, Twins 7, 2. Jose Altuve, Astros 11, 3. Robinson Cano, Mariners 12, 4. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 14, 5. Ben Zobrist, Rays 18, 6. Ian Kinsler, Tigers 20, 7. Howie Kendrick, Angels 23, 8. Brian Roberts, Yankees 28, 9. Jonathan Schoop, Orioles 39.
NL-1. Anthony Rendon, Nationals 11, 2. Chase Utley, Phillies 12, 3. Daniel Murphy, Mets 12, 4. Neil Walker, Pirates 17, 5. Dee Gordon, Dodgers 24, 6. Scooter Gennett, Brewers 25, 7. Aaron Hill, D-backs 28, 8. D.J. LeMahieu, Rockies 30, 9. Brandon Phillips, Reds 31, 10. Brandon Hicks, Giants 31, 11. Danny Espinosa, Nationals 36, 12. Emilio Bonifacio, Cubs 36, 13. Jedd Gyorko, Padres 41.
Third Basemen
AL-1. Josh Donaldson, Athletics 7, 2. Yangervis Solarte, Yankees 7, 3. Adrian Beltre, Rangers 9, 4. Kurt Seager, Mariners 12, 5. Carlos Santana, Indians 19, 6. Trevor Plouffe, Twins 20, 7. Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays 22, 8. Evan Longoria, Rays 23, 9. Nick Castellanos, Tigers 26, 10. Matt Dominguez, Astros 26.
NL-1. Todd Frazier, Reds 10, 2. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates 15, 3. Matt Carpenter, Cardinals 16, 4. Casey McGehee,  Marlins 18, 5. Pablo Sandoval, Giants 19, 6. Martin Prado, D-backs 28, 7. David Wright, Mets 30, 8. Chris Johnson, Braves 35.
Shortstops
AL-1. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox 9, 2. Jose Reyes, Blue Jays 15, 3. Erick Aybar, Angels 16, 4. Jed Lowrie, Athletics 17, 5. Yunel Escobar, Rays 22, 6. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox 24, 7. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians 25, 8. Elvis Andrus, Rangers 26, 9. Alcides Escobar, Royals 29, 10. Derek Jeter, Yankees 33, 11. J.J. Hardy, Orioles 37, 12. Brad Miller, Mariners 44.
NL-1. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 3, 2. Brandon Crawford, Giants 15, 3. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 17, 4. Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals 19, 5. Ian Desmond, Nationals 22, 6. Starlin Castro, Cubs 22, 7. Hanley Ramirez, Dodgers 22, 8. Andrelton Simmons, Braves 24, 9. Chris Owings, D-backs 28, 10. Jean Segura, Brewers 42, 11. Adeiny Hechavarria, Marlins 44, 12. Everth Cabrera, Padres 47, 13. Zack Cozart, Reds 48.
Left Fielders
AL-1. Michael Brantley, Indians 8, 2. Nelson Cruz, Orioles 9, 3. Alex Gordon, Royals 14, 4. Melky Cabrera, Blue Jays 17, 5. Shin-soo Choo, Rangers 18, 6. Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics 20, 7. Matt Joyce, Rays 23, 8. Brett Gardner, Yankees 30, 9. Dustin Ackley, Mariners 30, 10. Rajai Davis, Blue Jays 31, 11. Alejandro De Aza, White Sox 34, 12. Alfonso Soriano, Yankees 37.
NL-1. Seth Smith, Padres 7, 2. Justin Upton, Braves 13, 3. Christian Yelich, Marlins 19, 4. Matt Holliday, Cardinals 20, 5. Michael Morse, Giants 21, 6. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies 25, 7. Khris Davis, Brewers 27, 8. Junior Lake, Cubs 32, 9. Domonic Brown, Phillies 33, 10. Starling Marte, Pirates 37.
Center Fielders
AL-1. Coco Crisp, Athletics 7, 2. Mike Trout, Angels 9, 3. Dexter Fowler, Astros 14, 4. Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees 16, 5. Austin Jackson, Tigers 19, 6. Desmond Jennings, Rays 23, 7. Adam Jones, Orioles 24, 8. Michael Bourn, Indians 27, 9. Adam Eaton, White Sox 28, 10. Leonys Martin, Rangers 32, 11. Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox 34.
NL-1. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates 5, 2. Angel Pagan, Giants 13, 3. Denard Span, Nationals 14, 4. Carlos Gomez, Brewers 15, 5. Matt Kemp, Dodgers 18, 6. Marcell Ozuna, Marlins 23, 7. B.J. Upton, Braves 31, 8. Billy Hamilton, Reds 33, 9. Ben Revere, Phillies 35.
Right Fielders
AL-1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays 4, 2. David Murphy, Indians 15, 3. Nick Markakis, Orioles 16, 4. George Springer, Astros 23, 5. Alex Rios, Rangers 23, 6. Norichika Aoki, Royals 26, 7. Dayan Viciedo, White Sox 30, 8. Torii Hunter, Tigers 31, 9. Wil Myers, Rays 31.
NL-1. Yasiel Puig, Dodgers 7, 2. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins 10, 3. Hunter Pence, Giants 15, 4. Ryan Braun, Brewers 18, 5. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies 18, 6. Jayson Werth, Nationals 20, 7. Jason Heyward, Braves 24, 8. Curtis Granderson, Mets 26, 9. Marlon Byrd, Phillies 28, 10. Gerardo Parra, D-backs 28, 11. Allen Craig, Cardinals 33, 12. Nate Schierholtz, Cubs 39.
Designated Hitters
AL-1. Victor Martinez, Tigers 2, 2. David Ortiz, Red Sox 4, 3. Billy Butler, Royals 6.
Notes: Yangervis Solarte seems intent on proving me wrong.
In case of ties, I gave the advantage to the player with the higher slugging percentage.

The one true All-Star ballot

Wednesday night at Rangers Ballpark, Margaret amused herself by filling out the All-Star ballots as we arrived at the game against the Marlins.
After filling out a few with Rangers in the American League lineup as the scoreboard reminded us and  Pirates in the National League as a nod to my favorite team, she asked me who I'd like to vote for.
I tried to figure out in my head which players I'd choose, and she punched out a couple of ballots with those picks.
Two days later, I did some rudimentary statistical research and came up with a more scientific list. Turns out that 10 of the 19 picks were the same, so I guess "in my head" had some good ideas.
My method was the Hittability (slugging percentage) and Strikeability (W/K ratio) ratings that I've used to determine both overall offensive performance and those players who are overachieving or underachieving.
The lineups I'll be advocating when I make out my one ballot this weekend will be thus:
American League -- C Kurt Suzuki, Twins; 1B Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays; 2B Brian Dozier, Twins; 3B Josh Donaldson, Athletics; SS-Alexei Ramirez, White Sox; LF-Michael Brantley, Indians; CF-Coco Crisp, Athletics; RF-Jose Bautista, Blue Jays; DH-Victor Martinez, Tigers.
National League -- C Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks*; 1B-Adam LaRoche, Nationals; 2B-Anthony Rendon, Nationals; 3B-Todd Frazier, Reds; SS-Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies; LF-Seth Smith, Padres; CF-Andrew McCutchen, Pirates; RF-Yasiel Puig, Dodgers.
*-Brewers C Jonathan Lucroy actually came out on top, but I couldn't in good conscience vote for a Milwaukee player so I'll put runner-up Montero on the ballot.
Lucroy was one of the players I gave Margaret for her punching pleasure that won't appear on the ballot I punch out or record online. The others who didn't make my final cut were D-backs 1B Paul Goldschmidt, Pirates 2B Neil Walker, Mets 3B David Wright and I'm not sure about the other NL outfielder (maybe the Giants' Hunter Pence?) and, in the American League, Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera, Astros 2B Jose Altuve and Angels OF Mike Trout.
As I noted, I'm voting just once. Perhaps it's the purist in me, but I don't believe in blindly punching out piles of ballots for just the home team's players. I mean, do Rangers 1B Prince Fielder and Pirates OF Starling Marte really deserve to start in the All-Star game? But I realize that filling out a ballot strictly on party lines is a staple among American voters.
I like my ballot and believe it is representative of players having the first half, or at least first 2 1/2 months, of the 2014 season. I believe I'm well informed, but I also know that other well informed baseball fans would disagree on a number of choices, not just Coco Crisp.
I don't have a problem with less-informed fans or even non-fans should vote. This is a good way to get people interested in baseball and All-Star Game, people who might not care otherwise. And there is another long-standing tradition in American elections of people who aren't very well informed (or worse) casting their ballots.
On that patriotic note, Happy Flag Day!

Tulo is too high for anyone to match; consider Lucroy

Here's a study of major league batters at about the one-third point of the season.
It corresponds with my post on pitchers.
The measures are similar to the Strikeability (strikeout:walk ratio) and Hittability (opponents' batting average) from the pitchers post. For batters we turn around Strikeability to walk:strikeout ratio, and use slugging percentage for Hittability.
Again, there's a scale of 1-4, derived by dividing the players on a pace to qualify for the batting average  title into four quartiles from top to bottom, for both Strikeability and Hittability. Those yield combined ratings from 2 (best) to 8 (worst).
The batters rated 2, the best in the majors this season, are Troy Tulowitzki, Victor Martinez, Seth Smith, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Freddie Freeman, Michael Brantley, David Ortiz (who hasn't had to beg for all of his hits), Jonathan Lucroy, Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Pence.
At the other end of the scale, 8 ratings went to Jonathan Schoop, Jean Segura, Everth Cabrera, Nick Castellanos, Chris Johnson, Leonys Martin, Billy Hamilton, Josh Reddick, Ben Revere, Marcus Semien, Adelny Hechavarria, Jackie Bradley, Zack Cozart, Jedd Gyorko, Alejandro De Aza, Nate Schierholtz and Will Venable.
Note that the 8 list contains plenty of outfielders and shortstops who could keep their jobs because of their defense and even earn some fantasy points by stealing bases.
The following lists indicate and rank players whose W/K ratios and slugging percentages indicate that they could improve their fantasy statistics during the remainder of the season, along with other players whose Strikeability and Hittability could be foreshadowing a decline during the season's second two-thirds.
Sleepers/keepers: 1. Jonathan Lucroy (fourth quartile in HR and R, third in RBI); 2. Seth Smith (third quartile in RBI and R); 3. Hunter Pence (fourth quartile in RBI); 4. Andrew McCutchen (fourth quartile in HR); 5. Salvador Perez (fourth quartile in HR, RBI and R, third in BA); 6. Matt Joyce (fourth quartile in HR and R, third in RBI); 7. Jose Reyes (fourth quartile in HR and RBI, third in BA); 8. Adam Dunn (fourth quartile in BA and R); 9. Jose Altuve (fourth quartile in HR and RBI); 10. David Murphy (fourth quartile in R, third in HR). Mike Napoli and Joey Votto also could be among the top 10 keepers, but they're injured.
Other candidates for improved stats are Daniel Murphy, Jimmy Rollins, Yadier Molina, Yangervis Solarte, Chase Utley, Shin-soo Choo, Albert Pujols, Justin Morneau, Edwin Encarnacion, Brian Dozier, Coco Crisp, Brett Lawrie, Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Carlos Ruiz, Denard Span, Mark Reynolds, Dustin Pedroia, Angel Pagan, Xander Bogaerts, Miguel Montero, Kyle Seager, Ian Kinsler, James Loney, Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis, Matt Holliday, Alex Rios, A.J. Pollock, Jhonny Peralta, Adrian Beltre, Hanley Ramirez and Buster Posey.
Given nearly a full-time job, Smith has blossomed in his new surroundings with the Padres, even though those surroundings include one of the least-hitter-friendly home parks.
A word on Solarte: I've been meaning all spring to caution against putting him on your roster. The numbers say he could improve, because he has a high W/K ratio. My feeling has been that Solarte was a false hope for his Yankees and fantasy fans. He played eight minor league seasons without a whiff of the majors, even last season when the Rangers had injuries in their infield. Sure, he batted close to .300 for almost two months, but I think he's more likely to bat closer to .200 for another two-month stretch.
Another sleeper to consider, if he's still available in your league, is red-hit Astros rookie OF George Springer. He's off to a good start in a hitter-friendly home park, and if Houston continues to lose he could see a lot of fastballs from pitchers with big leads.
Slumpers/dumpers: 1. Ben Revere (first quartile in BA); 2. Jean Segura (second quartile in BA and R); 3. Jedd Gyorko (second quartile in RBI); 4. Everth Cabrera (second quartile in R); 5. Leonys Martin (second quartile in BA); 6. Gerardo Parra (first quartile in R, second in BA); 7. Martin Prado (second quartile in RBI, BA and R); 8. Emilio Bonifacio (second quartile in BA and R); 9. Jason Castro (second quartile in HR and RBI); 10. A.J. Pierzynski (second quartile in RBI and BA). Chris Colabello would have been on the list if the Twins hadn't already sent him to the minors.
Others whose outlook isn't brilliant for the June-September period are Wil Myers, Danny Espinosa, Brandon Phillips, Starling Marte, Adam Jones, Marcel Ozuna, David Wright, Ian Desmond, Evan Longoria, Rajai Davis, Brett Lawrie, J.J. Hardy, Eric Young, Norichika Aoki, Yan Gomes, Allen Craig, Joe Mauer, Aaron Hill, D.J. LeMahieu, Matt Dominguez, Chris Owings, Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner.
Here's a ranking of every qualifying batter from 1-177.
Top quarter -- (2 rating) 1. SS Troy Tulowitzki, 2. OF Jose Bautista, 3. 1B Freddie Freeman, 4. OF Michael Brantley, 5. DH/1B Victor Martinez, 6. 3B Josh Donaldson, 7. DH Jose Ortiz, 8. OF Hunter Pence, 9. OF Seth Smith, 10. OF Andrew McCutchen, 11. C Jonathan Lucroy, (3 rating) 12. OF Nelson Cruz, 13. OF Yasiel Puig, 14. OF Giancarlo Stanton, 15. OF Charlie Blackmon, 16. OF Mike Trout, 17. 1B Adrian Gonzalez, 19. 1B/OF Brandon Moss, 20. 1B Justin Morneau, 21. 1B Albert Pujols, 22. 2B Brian Dozier, 23. 1B Anthony Rizzo, 24. 2B Neil Walker, 25. OF Shin-soo Choo, 26. 2B Chase Utley, 27. 2B Daniel Murphy, 28. C Yadier Molina, 29. 3B Yangervis Solarte, 30. 2B Jose Altuve, 31. OF David Murphy, 32. SS Jimmy Rollins, 33. 1B/OF Adam Dunn, 34. SS Jose Reyes, 35. 1B Joey Votto, 36. 1B Mike Napoli, 37. OF Matt Joyce, (4 rating) 38. OF Justin Upton, 39. OF Carlos Gomez, 40. 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 41. OF Melky Cabrera, 42. SS Alexei Ramirez, 43. 1B Miguel Cabrera, 44. 3B Nolan Arenado, 45. 3B Todd Frazier.
Second quartile -- 46. SS Jhonny Peralta, 47. 2B Robinson Cano, 48. OF Matt Holliday, 49. OF Alex Rios, 50. OF Yoenis Cespedes, 51. 1B/OF Garrett Jones, 52. 2B Anthony Rendon, 53. 1B James Loney, 54. OF A.J. Pollock, 55. 1B Chris Davis, 56. 3B Adrian Beltre, 57. SS Hanley Ramirez, 58. 3B Kyle Seager, 59. C Buster Posey, 60. 2B Ian Kinsler, 61. SS Xander Bogaerts, 62. C Kurt Suzuki, 63. 2B Dustin Pedroia, 64. 1B Mark Reynolds, 65. OF Nick Markakis, 66. C Miguel Montero, 67. OF Denard Span, 68. C Carlos Ruiz, 69. OF Angel Pagan, 70. 2B Brian Roberts, 71. SS Jed Lowrie, 72. C Salvador Perez, 73. OF Coco Crisp, (5 rating) 74. 1B Jose Abreu, 75. OF/1B Michael Morse, 76. 2B Howie Kendrick, 77. OF Carlos Gonzalez, 78. OF Torii Hunter, 79. 1B Ryan Howard, 80. OF Khris Davis, 81. OF Christian Yelich, 82. OF Jayson Werth, 83. SS Starlin Castro, 84. 3B Pablo Sandoval, 85. OF Marlon Byrd, 86. 3B Eric Aybar, 87. OF Alex Gordon, 88. 1B/3B Casey McGehee, 89. 3B Pedro Alvarez, 90. 2B Dee Gordon.
Third quartile -- 91. OF Dayan Viciedo, 92. OF Jacoby Ellsbury, 93. SS Brandon Crawford, 94. 3B Trevor Plouffe, 95. 3B/2B Matt Carpenter, 96. C Brian McCann, 97. OF Dexter Fowler, 98. SS Elvis Andrus, 99. OF Junior Lake, 100. OF Desmond Jennings, 101. SS Asdrubal Cabrera, 102. 1B Chris Carter, 103. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 104. OF/1B Lance Duda, 105. 2B/OF Ben Zobrist, 106. 3B/C Carlos Santana, 107. 1B Matt Adams, 108. OF Austin Jackson, 109. SS Andrelton Simmons, 110. 1B Cecil Fielder, 111. SS Yunel Escobar, 112. 3B/SS Alberto Callaspo, (6 rating) 113. OF Adam Jones, 114. OF Marcel Ozuna, 115. 3B Evan Longoria, 116. 3B David Wright, 117. 1B Justin Smoak, 118. SS Ian Desmond, 119. OF Brett Gardner, 120. OF/1B Allen Craig, 121. C Yan Gomes, 122. OF Rajai Davis, 123. 3B Brett Lawrie, 124. 3B Matt Dominguez, 125. 1B Eric Hosmer, 126. OF Curtis Granderson, 127. 1B/C Joe Mauer, 128. OF Norichika Aoki, 129. OF Alfonso Soriano, 130. OF/2B Dustin Ackley, 131. 2B Aaron Hill, 132. 2B D.J. LeMahieu, 133. OF Eric Young, 134. SS Derek Jeter.
Bottom quarter: 135. OF Matt Kemp, 136. SS Chris Owings, 137. 2B Scooter Gennett, 138. OF Jason Heyward, 139. 1B/OF Nick Swisher, 140. 1B Billy Butler, (7 rating) 141. 3B Martin Prado, 142. OF Gerardo Parra, 143. OF/2B Emilio Bonifacio, 144. OF Wil Myers, 145. C Jason Castro, 146. C A.J. Pierzynski, 147. C Wellington Castro, 148. OF Starling Marte, 149. 1B Chris Colabello, 150. SS J.J. Hardy, 151. SS Alcides Escobar, 152. SS Brad Miller, 153. 2B Brandon Phillips, 154. 2B Danny Espinosa, 155. SS Jonathan Villar, 156. OF Ryan Ludwick, 157. OF B.J. Upton, 158. OF Domonic Brown, 159. 1B Yonder Alonso, 160. OF Jason Kubel, (8 rating) 161. SS Jean Segura, 162. OF Ben Revere, 163. SS Everth Cabrera, 164. 2B Jedd Gyorko, 165. OF Leonys Martin, 166. SS Adelny Hechavarria, 167. 2B Jonathan Schoop, 168. 3B Nick Castellanos, 169. 3B Chris Johnson, 170. OF Billy Hamilton, 171. OF Josh Reddick, 172. 3B Marcus Semien, 173. OF Jackie Bradley, 174. SS Zack Cozart, 175. OF Alejandro De Aza, 176. OF Nate Schierholtz, 177. OF Will Venable.

Parade of pitchers trudging toward surgery

Bad news for the Diamondbacks. LHP Patrick Corbin will not be pitching in next weekend's two-game season-opening series in Australia -- and maybe not for quite a while after that. He has been diagnosed with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament.
For their opponents, the Dodgers, OF Carl Crawford will be on paternity leave. He and RHP Dan Haren will not go to Australia.
Corbin left Saturday's start -- expected to be his last before he would pitch the opening game Saturday, March 22 -- in the seventh inning because of a stiff forearm. The UCL is the ligament replaced in Tommy John surgery, and forearm pain is a symptom associated with TJ surgery, so you'll probably want to have a Plan B to replace Corbin on your fantasy team.
And LHP Jonathan Niese, the Mets' planned Opening Day starter, left Sunday's game because of elbow discomfort.
Athletics RHP Jarrod Parker has a tight forearm. By now, you should know the progression: tight forearm > sore elbow > Dr. James Andrews > Tommy John surgery. Parker is scheduled to see Dr. Andrews Monday. Oakland's rotation also will be without RHP A.J. Griffin, who has a strained muscle in his arm and won't throw at all for three weeks. He could return to the rotation in May. An MRI exam showed no structural damage in his elbow. LHP Tommy Milone could be a reasonable replacement for one of them -- but RHP Jesse Chavez, who hasn't been effective even as a reliever, is currently penciled in as the No. 5 starter. Look for a trade, especially if the prospect of Parker and Griffin's return appears bleak a month from now.
Braves RHPs Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy are expected to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss this season. That could put additional pressure on Mike Minor to return quickly despite a sore shoulder.
The Blue Jays expect RHP Casey Janssen, their closer, to be ready for Opening Day. He hasn't pitched in a game this spring because of a sore shoulder, but he is expected to resume throwing soon.
Tigers SS Jose Iglesias will begin the season on the disabled list because of a stress reaction in both shins. An ESPN report indicated that Iglesias has a stress fracture, which could keep him out until mid-season. The candidates to take his place are Hernan Perez, Eugenio Suarez and Danny Worth. A few days ago, I speculated that SS Jimmy Rollins, who apparently has outworn his welcome in Philadelphia, could be a trade target for Detroit. SS Freddy Galvis was in the Phillies' starting lineup Sunday.
The Phils have their own pitching injury problems. LHP Cole Hamels, sidelined by a sore shoulder, tossed 27 pitches in the bullpen Sunday, and could have another 'pen session Wednesday. LHP Cliff Lee, who pitched five scoreless innings against the Red Sox Saturday, could be Philadelphia's Opening Day starter.
Reds RHP Homer Bailey was scratched from Saturday's start because of a strained right groin muscle.
Could it get to the point where the majors use pitching machines, the way they do for T-ball graduates?
Remember when Angels OF Josh Hamilton was on crutches because of a strained calf muscle, but would be playing in a couple of weeks? Well, he still isn't playing. He's scheduled to make his exhibition debut Monday. He's saying he could be ready for Opening Day, but I'm not buying that.
Orioles 3B Manny Machado hasn't run in six days because of scar tissue from off-season surgery on his left knee. He said he could be ready to open the season, but don't expect that either.
Through Saturday, Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki hadn't played since being hit in the left calf by a pitch Wednesday. His injury history is cause for concern.
Playing in Panama, Mariano Rivera's native land, the Bronx Bombers were Bronx Bummers Saturday against four Marlins pitchers (of which you've probably heard of only RHP Steve Cishek, who pitched the sixth inning). They completed a no-hitter, against a lineup somewhat short of what New York will put on the field this season. Oh, and Miami won 5-0. Rod Carew Stadium, built in 1999, is much more luxurious than the stadium in Panama City where I saw the '71 Pirates, eventual World Series champions, lose to Pedro Ramos and the Panamanian All-Stars.
Marlins SS Rafael Furcal has a tight left hamstring.
* * *
Basketball. I covered UFC 171 Saturday night, which meant I finished writing after 1 a.m. and didn't get home until 3. Slept in this morning, but went with my game plan of picking up player(s) whose team is in action Sunday to help in whatever categories I needed for this last week of regular-season competition. I came up with Miles Plumlee (the one from Phoenix), who can get some of the rebounds and points I need, with a reasonable field goal percentage. I "signed" the free agent, and dropped Amar'e Stoudemire, because the Knicks aren't playing today. Then I looked at the lineup, and Plumlee was listed on my bench. Then I realized that it was the lineup for Monday. Because some games already had started by noon CDT, the lineup was locked until tomorrow.
Could be a case of snooze, I lose.
So I will have Plumlee Monday, and may be able to reacquire Stoudemire, who won't play again until Wednesday anyway.
This week's competition is 4-4. I trail by .0022 in field goal percentage, three 3-pointers, 27 rebounds and 21 points as I write this. I also lead by just five assists and six steals. I have seven active players to my opponent's six. My best players going are probably Chris Bosh and Serge Ibaka; it scares me a bit to be playing against James Harden.
Right now, I have the Duke-Virginia game on the TV. How many Plumlees are there, anyway?
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Hockey. It's still kind of a back-and-forth situation, where I gain a point and then lose it back. Still mired in third place with 65 points. Oh, at the moment 65.5 because I picked up half a point in ATOI. On a daily basis, that's almost totally dependent on having more defensemen than forwards, and on not having someone get hurt early in a game.
The league leaders remain out of reach at 89. The second-place team is at 76, but I don't think totally out of reach because his skaters have played 76 games more than mine so he'll run out of games sooner than I will. I'm more concerned that the fourth-place team, currently at 56, could catch me.
I am really beginning to hate fantasy goalies. Steve Mason shut out the Penguins Saturday, and gave up only one goal in the first period Sunday. So I turned on the Flyers-Pittsburgh game, and in the Penguins' first rush up the ice they scored their third goal of the game against Mason. I also saw him in person giving up four goals in about four heartbeats against the Stars, which prompted me to drop him for a while. When Mason hasn't been on my roster, he has been spectacular. And of course, Tim Thomas won a game when I didn't start him, then gave up two third-period goals in a loss Friday when I did start him. Don't get me started on Ben Scrivens or any of the other half-dozen or dozen goalies who have disgraced my roster but played well when they weren't on my team. Hmmm. Let me check on Martin Brodeur again ... His save percentage is no better than the Texas Puckin Penguins', but his GAA is 2.50. I'll have to cogitate on this one.