Tom Verducci's AL All-Stars

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jun 28, 2006

Tom Verducci's AL All-Stars

Joe Mauer

Mauer (.377) could become the first catcher to lead the major leagues in hitting since 1875. "The hitting, the leadership, the defense -- he's an MVP package," one AL scout says.

Jason Giambi

With one of the game's best batting eyes, Giambi ranked fourth in the AL in OBP (.432), and his rates of one homer every 10.0 at-bats and 4.5 pitches per plate appearance would be career bests.

Jose Lopez

Signed out of Venezuela at age 16, the 22-year-old Lopez is more than halfway to a 100-RBI season, thanks to a blistering .397 average with runners in scoring position.

Miguel Tejada

True, Tejada is a .347 hitter at home and a .268 hitter on the road, but he remains one of the fiercest at-bats in crunch time, hitting .379 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Troy Glaus

Glaus also may be doing most of his damage at home -- 15 of his 21 dingers have come at Rogers Centre -- but no position player in the league had more home runs.

Jermaine Dye

Dye ranks among AL outfield leaders in slugging percentage (.606) and OPS (.993) while on pace for 47 homers. "He's healthy and he's using the whole field," says one NL scout.

Vernon Wells

Wells, who began this year as a .221 career hitter before May 1 and a .296 hitter after, cranked up his offseason workouts to prepare for the World Baseball Classic, then hit .396 in April.

Alex Rios

Rios, who hit 20 homers in five minor league seasons, had 15 in his first 232 at-bats this year. Says J.P. Ricciardi, the Jays' GM, "He's a totally different hitter. He deserves the credit for working his butt off."

Johan Santana

A true ace, Santana, 27, is a strikeout pitcher with impeccable control, having whiffed nearly seven times as many batters (a league-best 115) as he has walked (17 in 16 starts).

Jonathan Papelbon

We're looking at what may be one of the great relief seasons of all time, in the company of Dennis Eckersley's in 1990. Papelbon, a rookie, had almost as many saves (23) as base runners allowed (29).

Tom Verducci's AL All-Stars