Phillies have three All-Stars; Charlie's picks under scrutiny
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Phillies have three All-Stars; Charlie's picks under scrutiny
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are All-Stars for the Phillies. But much of the early talk following the announcement of the teams is centering around Charlie Manuel, who made 10 selections.
Utley, on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his right thumb, will not play in the game. Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips was named to the team replacing Utley. For the record, in the players' vote, Atlanta second baseman Martin Prado had significantly more votes than Utley.
Howard was one of Manuel's picks. Presumably, Manuel chose his own guy, Howard, over the Reds' Joey Votto, who leads the National League with a .988 OPS. We were not allowed to speak to Manuel before the game regarding his picks.
For Halladay, it is his seventh All-Star selection. He was second in the player vote behind only Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez.
Manuel, managing the NL team for the second straight year, had 10 picks. They were: RHP Chris Carpenter (STL), RHP Yovani Gallardo (MIL), RHP Tim Hudson (ATL), RHP Evan Meek (PIT), LHP Arthur Rhodes (CIN), 1B Ryan Howard (PHI), INF Omar Infante (ATL), INF Brandon Phillips (CIN), OF Michael Bourn (HOU), OF Chris Young (ARI).
The pick that is causing the most consternation (and rightfully so) is Infante. Infante, who doesn't even have enough plate appearances to qualify for statistical leaders, would have the 66th best OPS (.721) in the NL if he did. For comparison, Raul Ibanez has a .712 OPS.
Infante, of course, has very good numbers against the Phillies in 2010. In seven games, he is hitting .353 with an .812 OPS.
San Diego's Mat Latos and the Mets' Mike Pelfrey are nother notable omissions.
Five former Phillies made the All-Star rosters: Rhodes, Bourn, Rolen, Marlon Byrd (CHC) and Cliff Lee (SEA).
Five former Phillies made the All-Star rosters: Rhodes, Bourn, Rolen, Marlon Byrd (CHC) and Cliff Lee (SEA). (WTF)— lukebonbon- I'm sorry, but your manager made some disgraceful decisions with this. First, here, the Padres are tied for the best record in the league, having the best team ERA in the league, with the best closer in the league having a great year, and there isn't one Padres pitcher on the team. There is no way you leave off Heath Bell and take some of these pitchers. Then, as a result, since he still needs to pick a Padre, he takes Gonzalez, as well as taking his own boy in Howard, when it is more than obvious Votto is having a better year than both of them. Now, Votto and Bell are in the positions they are in simply because Manual can't read a pitching chart. Disgusting.— ConcernedAlum
Comment removed.- Heavy is the head that wears the crown (and envious those who wish to succeed him). As long as the roster doesn't have Billy Wagnerd or Rod "the matador" Barajas I'm ok with it, always someone left out in the cold. If you want your guy on, vote him on.— mackwheaton
- Infante makes the team? A sub? How does a sub even anywhere near considered for the All-Star team roster? Disgraceful, Charlie.— ConcernedAlum
- Concerned, we've been dealing with Charlie's lack of pitching knowledge for years now, you only have to deal with it once.— pointgiven28
- ConcernedAlum, I agree that Votto deserves to be on the squad, and living in San Diego, I'm subjected to local Padres games on tv (and there has to be NOTHING on for me to watch them, their games are just plain boring, because of that pitching staff which is a good thing if you're a Padre fan), and being that they are in 1st place and have the best record since last year's all star game, they should be represented better. Charlie is in a tough position, and considering how much he's had to focus on his own teams' trials and tribulations, I really don't care that he didn't put a whole lot of time into the process. Since he didn't load the team up with his own players in lieu of guys that deserved it, which previous managers have done, I don't have a problem with any of his picks. Good luck NL, win for once so the WS representative can have home field advantage over the evil empire this year around.— Bleue
- The Hackers have blown their wad for the month of July; don’t expect any “fireworks” tonight or for the rest of July for that matter. Another lousy Pirates starter and they can only muster 4 runs. Now we will have to have the required drama when the Hillbilly puts that no talent Baez (automatic home run) or wild man Romero and then Heart Attack Lidge. Well, one out of four, for this club ain’t bad.— george55
- the way the hackers have been playing they need to give up their slots for more deserving players that ARE NOT Hackers..— george55
- Charlie Manuel can put whoever he wants to on his team...he could chose an all Philly lineup. That's your prerogative when you win the NL Pennant. You crybabies can go whine somewhere else.— Roman529
If Charlie was smart he wouldn't have sent Blanton out for the 7th inning when the bullpen is fully rested.— burholme- Should have picked all Melts and Braves to drive their salaries up higher. I can hear Infante's agent now. "he's an all star"— ronin32
- Another close game which means another loss. Can't win the close games. Sorry for you die hard fans. This team officially stinks— eaglesman1
- Cholly left Blanton in TO LONG! wE LOSE THREE OUT OF FOUR FROM THE PIRATES!!!!— Lynnwood
Sickening. Way to go Joe. I couldn't care less about the all-star game.— road515
