Baseball's All-Surprise Team
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Baseball's All-Surprise Team
C
<i>(All stats through May 20.)</i><br>Napoli, a 26-year-old rookie, slammed his ninth and 10th home runs of the season on May 18 as the Angels pounded the Dodgers in the rubber match of the Freeway Series.
1B
He has always been a promising young player but the righty has really blossomed in his fourth major league season, batting .306 with five home runs and 32 RBIs. He's also drawing more walks (17) than strikeouts (11) for the second straight year.
2B
The Louisville native has slammed 14 homers and knocked in 32 runs. But the biggest surprise is Uggla's healthy .323 batting average despite striking out 45 times in 162 at-bats.
SS
The third-year shortstop has maintained a .325 batting average on a steady diet of singles, logging just 11 extra-base hits on the season. Can he avoid last year's second-half swoon and help keep the Cubs atop the NL Central?
3B
DeWitt's magical debut season continued May 19 when the rookie third baseman slapped an opposite-field single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to help the Dodgers to a 6-5 victory over the Reds. With the walk-off base hit, DeWitt improved his average with the bases loaded to 6-for-6 with 12 RBIs.
LF
After fighting for playing time in Arizona over the past two seasons, Quentin has made the most of his full-time gig in the White Sox outfield. The Stanford product has hit .302 with 12 HRs and 38 RBIs.
CF
McLouth slammed his 12th home run of the season Saturday to help the Pirates to a 7-6 victory over Chicago, snapping the team's 10-game skid against the Cubs.
RF
There are benefits to batting behind a slugger like Albert Pujols, and Ludwick has taken full advantage, batting .341 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs. He's hitting an eye-popping .397 against right-handed pitchers, 119 points above his career average.
RH SP
Volquez allowed just two earned runs on four hits in six innings on May 18 as the Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Indians with a 6-4 victory. The 24-year-old righty improved to 7-1, while his MLB-best earned run average rose slightly to 1.33.
LH SP
Lee's undefeated run ended May 18 in Cincinnati. But the southpaw's impressive 6-1 record and 1.37 ERA are nothing to sulk about.
RP
Wilson earned his 13th save of the season on May 20 in Denver to pull even with Jose Valverde for the NL lead in his first season as San Francisco's full-time closer.