The 2011 All-Division Team, Part 2: NL East

Jose Reyes won the 2011 NL batting title.

Part 2 of 6: National League East


C Brian McCann, ATL (2nd)
Most importantly, McCann avoided becoming a hostage in Venezuela like one of his competition at this spot, Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos.  McCann has been the most consistent catcher over the past half-decade, earning his sixth straight All-Star selection.  His annual production of 20 homers and 70+ RBIs is welcome on a disjointed and aging Atlanta offense that has literally no speed outside of Michael Bourn only one other major power threat, the recent addition of Dan Uggla.  Truth is, the Braves would be lost without McCann, but not even he could carry his tired team into the playoffs as the Braves blew their big wild card lead.  Competition: Josh Thole (NYM), Carlos Ruiz (PHI), Wilson Ramos (WAS), John Buck (FLA).

1B Mike Morse, WAS
Where did this guy come from?  Morse was ironically exactly what the Nationals expected out of Jayson Werth, who was hampered by injury and had a down season.  The 29-year-old Morse got his first full season in 2011, but few expected such a breakout.  Morse had never even hit 20 homers in a minor league season, and he comes out with 31 for Washington.  He also became a team leader along the way.  Competition: Ryan Howard (PHI), Gaby Sanchez (FLA), Freddie Freeman (ATL), and Daniel Murphy (NYM).

2B Dan Uggla, ATL (2nd, first with Braves)
In a season highlighted by a 34-game hitting streak, Uggla batted only .233.  That is probably the last time we will see such a low average from a 30-game hit streak player.  But as stated in the McCann argument, the Braves offense would be near incompetent without Uggla.  The Braves don't really have any other dynamic power hitters, as other pieces like Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman and Alex Gonzalez really only have power as an extra bonus to their hitting-for-average skills.  It took Uggla a long time to get going in 2011, but the power was there and kept them afloat in the NL East.

3B Chipper Jones, ATL
In another position smashed by injury, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman both missed significant time.  Jones, in his age 39 season, is a shadow of the player he once was, which is quite depressing to be honest.  Jones has his job for as long as he wants it out of respect from the Braves, but his offensive skills are limited.  Just 18 homers and 70 RBIs came off his bat in 2011, but he's obviously still a team leader and loved by his fans.  Competition: David Wright (NYM), Ryan Zimmerman (WAS), Greg Dobbs (FLA), Placido Polanco (PHI).

SS Jose Reyes, NYM
Unfortunately, Reyes' season ended in controversy when he got a bunt single in the last game of the season and took himself out of the lineup in the last game of the season to ensure the greatest chance at a batting title. Ryan Braun failed to do the impossible, and Reyes won the first batting title in Mets history.  A return to the Mets looks far fetched, so Reyes is sure to cash in big soon.  Most impressive?  In 586 plate appearances, he walked 43 times and struck out 41 times, an 86% contact rate!  Competition: Ian Desmond (WAS), Hanley Ramirez (FLA), Jimmy Rollins (PHI), and Alex Gonzalez (ATL).

LF Logan Morrison, FLA
Lo-Mo finally was disciplined for his Twitter tendencies in 2011, and his relationship with the front office is unclear.  Morrison was sent to the minors temporarily for bad off-field conduct (specifically, Twitterness) and promptly filed a grievance with the players association.  Trade rumors involving the budding star heated up, but he was a runway model for the Marlins' new uniforms presentation at the new ballpark, confirming his status as an integral part of the team core.  The ever-changing Marlins roster doesn't have much of an established core outside of Hanley Ramirez, but I still believe Lo-Mo will definitely be a Miami Marlin next season.  Competition: Jason Bay (NYM), Raul Ibanez (PHI), Martin Prado (ATL), and Laynce Nix (WAS).

CF Angel Pagan, NYM (2nd)
He doesn't bat as well or walk as much as the ideal leadoff man, but Pagan does a fine job in center field for the Mets.  After being superb defensively in 2010, Pagan really struggled in 2011 at times.  However, 32 steals got the job done in his role behind Reyes.  He serves as a fine table setter at a relatively cheap price.  He's never going to be an All-Star but he fits this team fine.  And finally, his speed role will be magnified with the departure of Reyes next season.  Competition: Shane Victorino (PHI), Chris Coghlan (FLA), Nate McLouth (ATL), and Rick Ankiel (WAS).

RF Mike Stanton, FLA (2nd)
Stanton's home runs soar higher than the voices of the Marlins TV announcers (which is hard to do) with great regularity.  The 21-year-old has all the looks of a major power hitter for years to come.  The Marlins are currently being aggressive in the free agent market for the first time in their history, but if they plan to win, they'll need Stanton, who is already an elite outfielder.  And fantasy draftee.  Competition: Jason Heyward (ATL), Hunter Pence (PHI), Carlos Beltran (NYM), and Jayson Werth (WAS).

SP Roy Halladay, PHI
Dealing with a loss of confidence at the plate?  This Doc won't help with that.  Roy Halladay was the best of three Phillies starters with ERAs below 3.00 and decreased his homer total from 24 to 10.  He threw eight complete games and one shutout with the lowest ERA of his career at 2.35.  Even with ridiculous stamina and decent run support, Halladay failed to win 20 games which could even be seen as a surprise.  However, starting pitcher wins are overrated.  Bottom line: Halladay's a beast for the time being.  Competition: Anibal Sanchez (FLA), R.A. Dickey (NYM), Tim Hudson (ATL), and John Lannan (WAS).

CP Craig Kimbrel, ATL
127 strikeouts.  In 77 innings.  In his first full season as closer, Kimbrel was the best at the position in MLB.  As I've said in earlier posts, Kimbrel didn't allow a run for a stretch of about two and a half months in the middle of summer and only allowed three homers all year.  The Braves have the best bullpen in MLB and actually have three options at closer in Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters, and Kimbrel.  The chances are that any of the three of them would have been the best in the league no matter who was chosen as closer.  For 2011, though, Kimbrel was the best in the business in talent.  Somehow, however, he blew eight saves along the way and the biggest one of the season, the one that would've gotten them to a Wild Card tiebreaker.  Three blown saves in September helped the Braves collapse hard.  Competition: Francisco Rodriguez (NYM), Ryan Madson (PHI), Juan Oviedo (FLA), and Drew Storen (WAS).

Wild Card Wednesday!

Evan Longoria rounds the bases after hitting his
walk-off homer that won the AL Wild Card Wednesday.

Late Wedneday night, the Tampa Bay Rays had 278 million-to-one odds to win the AL Wild Card.  And yet, the Rays are the 2011 AL Wild Card Champions.  The Rays made it to the postseason in a most unlikely fashion; it took a month-long colossal collapse from the Red Sox and a bullpen meltdown from the Yankees to sneak in.  This month-long swoon by the Red Sox and surge by the Rays grew in excitement and controversy nearly every day, culminating in an impossibly hopeless comeback attempt on the season's final day.  It, along with the results of the Red Sox-Orioles, Braves-Phillies, and Cardinals-Astros games, resulted in the most exciting day in the 100+ year history of the Major League Baseball regular season.  Four games completely flipped the postseason landscape within just a handful of hours:

Cardinals at Astros

The first game of the four to finish (although the last one to start), this was also the least exciting.  Coming into the evening, the Braves and Cardinals were tied in the NL Wild Card race, this after the Braves led said race by 8.5 games on September 5.  The Cardinals wrecked Brett Myers early and the Astros didn't stand a chance against a dominating Chris Carpenter, who threw a complete-game shutout, allowing only two hits.  This gave the Cardinals a half-game lead in the Wild Card at the moment, meaning the Braves had to win to force a one-game tiebreaker to be played at Busch Stadium the night after.  The Braves were hosting their division rival Phillies in this must-win.



Phillies at Braves

A two-run homer by Dan Uggla gave the Braves an early lead, but their young closer couldn't hold on in the 9th.  Craig Kimbrel, who struck out 14.8 batters per nine innings on the season, holding a 2.00 ERA and leading the National League with 46 saves, allowed the Phillies to rally in the 9th to score the tying run.  An intense, nerve-wracking extra inning battle pursued.  The Braves were forced to bring in Scott Linebrink in the 13th and Linebrink gave up the go-ahead and winning run on a single to Hunter Pence.  The Braves got a man on base in the bottom half, but rookie sensation Freddie Freeman grounded into a season-ending double play.  I think the slam of his helmet upon grounding out was an emotional reaction that spoke for the entire team.

Red Sox at Orioles

On September 6, the Sox were a full 8.0 games ahead of Tampa for the wild card, a lead which has disappeared as both teams entered the night tied as well.  The Red Sox were also in major panic mode Wednesday, but they came out in the game as cool and composed.  They fell behind early, but Josh Beckett calmed down and Dustin Pedroia and the others rallied to tie the game 3-3, then take the lead.  A rain delay slowed the game time considerably, but the game resumed with the Red Sox jumping on the O's for more runs.  A great throw to the plate, however, would ensure the Orioles stayed within one.  In the bottom of the 9th, it was up to a cast of unsung heroes to take down The Nation.  Nolan Reimold doubled in the tying run and Robert Andino knocked in the winning run, giving Jonathan Papelbon just his third blown save of the entire season!  In fact, it was just two years ago that a dominating Papelbon blew the save in Game 3 of the ALDS to allow the Angels to sweep the Red Sox.  Papelbon does well under pressure, but evidently not under playoff pressure.  The win really didn't mean anything for the well-out-of-contention Orioles, but they celebrated like they had just won the wild card.

Yankees at Rays

The stars seemed to be aligned for the Rays to at least force a tiebreaker with Boston as the Rays started their stud David Price to go against a rookie Yankee who wasn't expected to pitch very long.  Not even an unrealistic, overexaggerated Hollywood script could push through the plot that would unfold after that.  Price couldn't have had a worse start, giving up a grand slam to Mark Teixeira in the 2nd inning as part of a 7-0 Yankees lead.  With that early lead for the Red Sox in Baltimore, all seemed to be well for the Sox.  The Rays scrapped together a few runs before Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer to bring the Rays within one and fans all around the nation were shocked.  With two strikes and two outs in the 9th on Dan Johnson, he hit a most improbable game-tying home run that, at the time, appeared to save the Rays from elimination.  The game would drag on to the 12th, when the game in Baltimore went final.  Fans at the Tropicana Dome erupted into cheer when the scoreboard displayed the score.  Then, of course, they cheered for Evan Longoria's walk-off homer to win the AL Wild Card just three minutes later!  And just like that, the underdog Rays had completed the impossible.

What a great night for baseball.  I thought the ending of the NL Wild Card race was exciting enough; I had no idea what was in store in the AL.  Incredibly, the NL results were totally overshadowed by the epic Rays-Red Sox battle that went late into the night thanks to extra innings and rain delays.  The combination of the two races finishing on the same day, with both underdogs completing the impossible, makes this the best day in MLB regular season history.

I actually came up with a cheesy moniker for this string of unbelievable occurrences, Moneyball 2.0.  It fits perfectly with that movie being the talk of the entertainment world this week.  But it actually does make sense, in that the $161 million Boston Red Sox and their fan 'nation' and their disproportionate ESPN coverage were beaten by the $41 million Tampa Bay Rays and their...domed stadium....  This comeback is great for baseball everywhere.  No matter how ESPN frames the Red Sox on a daily basis, the fact is that most of the country was yearning to watch them fall.  This is further evidence (as if I need any more) that America roots for the underdog.  Don't believe me?  See: Miami Heat.   

Road Trip Analysis: Atlanta, Houston

Record: 3-3
Final Record: 54-70

This road trip began like many other for the Cubs, as they were mauled on Friday night in Atlanta.  Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak with two homers, both off Carlos Zambrano.  Chipper Jones, Jose Constanza, and Freddie Freeman also homered off Zambrano, who took out his frustration on Jones by throwing at him twice, hitting him the second time.  The Braves won 10-4.

Zambrano was thrown out and walked out on his team, earning him a 30-day suspension on the rarely-used disqualified list which could mark the end of his Cubs career.  Apparently anger management classes last year didn't hold up, and Zambrano started telling everyone in the clubhouse he was going to retire immediately before he cleaned out his locker and beat it.  Later, calling in on Chicago Tribune Live on CSN, he said he was upset that word of his potential retirement escaped the clubhouse and got to the media.  Either way it was a stupid thing to say so he doesn't have much of a right to be mad.

The Cubs won on Saturday thanks to an array of RBI singles and doubles, but Uggla extended his hitting streak to 33 with a home run.  I was impressed at how the Cubs attacked Derek Lowe, knocking him out of the game after six, allowing ten hits.  Final score was 8-4.

They also won on Sunday 6-5, ending Uggla's hitting streak at 33.  The Braves rocked Matt Garza for four runs in the first four innings, but the Cubs fought back and eventually tied the game on a wild pitch. Although Alex Gonzalez got the Braves the lead back on an error in the next half-inning, Carlos Pena blasted a long two-run homer to take the lead.  With the tying run on second base in the ninth, Carlos Marmol got Martin Prado out to take the series 2-1 from the NL's second-best team.

As shocking as that series win was, I was even more excited for the Cubs to head to Houston to play MLB's worst team and hopefully go for the sweep.  The Cubs should've swept too, but the Astros took two one-run games to sneak out the series win.

Two two-run doubles were enough, barely, to beat the Astros 4-3 on Monday night thanks to a save from Kerry Wood, his first as a Cub since 2008.  The loss for the Astros dropped them to 19-41 at home.  On Tuesday night, the Cubs played a solid game and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth.  Tyler Colvin and Aramis Ramirez both hit homers in the game, but Ramirez's shot will be on highlight reels all season long as it landed on the train tracks above the wall in left field, an estimated distance of over 450 feet.  But what will most be remembered from this game will obviously be Brian Bogusevic's walk-off grand slam off Marmol to win the game 6-5.  I bet the Cubs wish they had used Wood again.  Marmol has this remarkable ability to somehow find a way to lose a game, and showed right here.  Brian Bogusevic?  Really??  And did I mention that this was his second career Major League homer, and his first ever at home?

Casey Coleman gave the Astros the lead in the 4th of Wednesday afternoon's game, and they would never give it back.  The Cubs offense was shut out for four innings by the Astros bullpen, which featured David Carpenter, Sergio Escalona, Fernando Rodriguez, and Mark Melancon, only one of whom has thrown more than 40 innings in the Major Leagues.  I might as well just have named four construction contractors.  Added with Bogusevic, and the Cubs lost a series to a team to a team that will be 50 games under .500 by the end of the year because of five nobodies.  Nice going, guys.

Cub fans should be pleased with their effort in Atlanta because they're not an easy team to face at all.  The important thing was that they scored early to avoid having to battle against the bullpen which is, in my opinion, the most dominant in baseball.  Hardthrowers Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel are two of the most toughest pitchers in the league because everything they throw is hard, hard, and harder.  Kimbrel hasn't allowed a run since June.  The results of the Houston series, however, is pretty much unacceptable.  Marmol found a way to lose then so did the offense the next day.  Although these two events probably didn't directly have anything to do with Jim Hendry's dismissal, it definitely didn't cheer up the franchise's outlook at all.