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All Star Break 2009

As players made their way home for the 2009 All Star break, the standings board sitting on the Green Monster at Fenway Park showed that the Boston Red Sox (59-38) and Tampa Bay Rays (58-37) were sitting atop the American League East.
The New York Yankees sat in third place, 12 1/2 games back, while the Baltimore Orioles (45-50) sat 13 games out. Baseball's worst team, the Toronto Blue Jays sat 29 games behind the AL East leaders with a 29-66 record.

Elsewhere around the league, the 61-34 Detroit Tigers led the AL Central with the Chicago White Sox (55-40) sitting six games behind. In the AL West, the Oakland Athletics (55-40) were holding onto a slim 1 1/2 game lead over the 54-42 Texas Rangers.
In the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies sat atop the division with a 66-30 record, 10 games ahead of the Washington Nationals. The Cincinnati Reds (51-46) led the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates all sat 5 games back as the Milwaukee Brewers were 7 games behind. In the NL West, the San Francisco Giants (54-41) led the division, 3 games ahead of the 51-44 San Diego Padres and 5 1/2 games ahead of the 49-47 Colorado Rockies.
BOSTON RED SOX - 1st half stats
Heading into the All Star break, Miguel Cabrera was working on a second MVP award while Johan Santana was looking for a third Cy Young award.

Starting Pitchers
Erik Bedard -- 7-6, 5.11 ERA, 103 K, 125 IP
Josh Johnson -- 7-5, 3.28 ERA, 110 K, 115 1/3 IP
Scott Kazmir -- 4-2, 3.26 ERA, 45 K, 60 2/3 IP
Jon Lester -- 0-0, 18.90 ERA, 6 K, 3 1/3 IP
Mike Maroth -- 1-0, 9.00 ERA, 4 K, 16 IP
Daisuke Matsuzaka -- 5-2, 4.53 ERA, 46 K, 49 2/3 IP
Brett Myers -- 4-1, 2 saves, 4.92 ERA, 59 K, 56 2/3 IP
Johan Santana -- 12-5, 3.38 ERA, 156 K, 141 IP
Jered Weaver -- 7-5, 1 save, 5.22 ERA, 107 K, 112 IP

Relief Pitchers
Joba Chamberlain -- 1-3, 1 save, 4.22 ERA, 31 K, 42 2/3 IP
Mark Malaska -- 1-0, 6.75 ERA, 10 K, 13 1/3 IP
Joe Nathan -- 1-3, 27 saves, 4.91 ERA, 44 K, 36 2/3 IP
Pat Neshek -- 3-3, 5.64 ERA, 34 K, 30 1/3 IP
Jonathan Papelbon -- 5-1, 2 saves, 5.21 ERA, 42 K, 38 IP
Tommy Phelps -- 1-2, 6.08 ERA, 11 K, 23 2/3 IP

Catchers
Rod Barajas -- .215, HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 20 G
Victor Martinez -- .306, 7 HR, 45 RBI, 43 R, 1 SB, 80 G

Infielders
Jolbert Cabrera -- .273, HR, 21 RBI, 13 R, 1 SB, 52 G
Miguel Cabrera -- .388, 19 HR, 82 RBI, 78 R, 7 SB, 91 G
Todd Helton -- .197, 9 RBI, 6 R, 28 G
Ryan Howard -- .304, 30 HR, 73 RBI, 72 R, 2 SB, 90 G
Kazuo Matsui -- .219, HR, 11 RBI, 10 R, SB, 46 G
Dustin Pedroia -- .333, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 10 R, 26 G
Hanley Ramirez -- .265, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 36 R, 11 SB, 59 G
Dan Uggla -- .234, 15 HR, 43 RBI, 36 R, 1 SB, 75 G

Outfielders
Torii Hunter -- .167, RBI, 2 G
Matt Kemp -- .367, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 72 R, 22 SB, 83 G
Nick Markakis -- .338, 6 HR, 50 RBI, 50 R, 10 SB, 86 G
David Murphy -- .248, 8 RBI, 13 R, 49 G
Manny Ramirez -- .314, 23 HR, 72 RBI, 57 R, 81 G
Ichiro Suzuki -- .284, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 53 R, 23 SB, 84 G
Delmon Young -- .111, RBI, 7 G

LEAGUE LEADERS
Batting Average
AL - Miguel Cabrera, BOS - .388
NL - Austin Bush, STL - .373

Hits
AL - Miguel Cabrera, BOS - 144
NL - Austin Bush, STL - 133

Doubles
AL - Miguel Cabrera, BOS - 41
NL - Kevin Youkilis, HOU - 33

Triples
AL - Joe Mauer, BAL - 7
NL - Dave Roberts, MIL - 10

Home Runs
AL - Adam LaRoche, TEX - 33
NL - Bryan Davis, PIT - 26

RBI
AL - Adam LaRoche, TEX - 83
NL - Bryan Davis, PIT - 78

Runs
AL - Miguel Cabrera, BOS - 78
NL - Jose Reyes, WAS - 76

Stolen Bases
AL - Domingo Medina, NYY - 36
NL - Jose Mares, PHI - 53

ERA
AL - Roy Oswalt, TB - 2.54
NL - Jake Peavy, ARI - 2.08

Wins
AL - Roy Oswalt, TB - 14
NL - Yovani Gallardo, PHI / Jake Peavy, ARI - 14

Saves
AL - Patrick Misch, DET - 33
NL - Manny Parra, WAS - 27

Strikeouts
AL - Cole Hamels, OAK - 164
NL - Jake Peavy, ARI - 155
BOSTON RED SOX - Minor League Standouts
Jon Lester, SP
Lester has performed well with the Portland Sea Dogs (AA) and the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) through the MLB All Star break. The lefty went 8-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 13 starts with Portland, 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA in four starts with Pawtucket.

Victor Waddell, SP
Waddell's 2009 campaign is the best of his brief professional career, going 9-2 with a 2.58 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 97 2/3 innings in Pawtucket as of July 21.

Terry Allen, RP
Allen was working on his fourth strong season in the minor leagues, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.76 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings with Pawtucket. The 25-year-old lefty surely seems destined for a callup sooner than later.

Michael Ma****er, RP
Ma****er, a 23-year-old lefty and Boston native, was also working on a fourth straight impressive season in the minors. In 78 innings with Pawtucket, Ma****er is 2-3 with 3 saves, a 3.00 ERA and 101 strikeouts.

Howie Kendrick, 2B
Kendrick, 26, has hit well in Pawtucket, putting up a .360 average, 8 home runs, 61 RBI, 59 runs and 4 steals in 95 games.

Bob Keppel, RP
Keppel had limited time out of the bullpen in the minors over the last couple seasons but had flourished with Portland halfway through the 2009 season. Keppel sat at 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings.

Brenton Graham, RP
Graham, a 20-year-old southpaw with just one year of professional experience, was performing well in Class A Lowell. Graham entered the MLB All Star break at 4-2 with 17 saves and a 1.88 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings.

MISC. NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Power Rankings
At the All Star break, the 66-30 Philadelphia Phillies sat atop the Power Rankings with 125 points. The Detroit Tigers, 61-34, sat in second with 119 points while the Red Sox (108 points) were tied for third along with the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers.

Top Prospects
Baseball America's top three prospects were pitchers: Troy Patton of Detroit (0-0, 27.00 ERA, 1 IP with the Tigers; 9-10, 3.65 ERA in AAA); Franklin Morales of Washington (1-0, 3.12 ERA, 8 2/3 IP with the Nationals; 3-6, 4.30 ERA in AAA); and Felipe Paulino of Detroit (10-4, 2.92 ERA with the Tigers).
Baseball America's top two position players were ranked fourth and fifth overall and both sat in the Yankees minor league system. Guastao Charno, a first baseman, hit .302 with 6 HR and 37 RBI in 60 games in AA, .279 with a homer and 15 RBI in 34 games in AAA. Jake Foster, a rightfielder, had a .319 average, 11 homers, 72 RBI and 24 stolen bases in 93 games through July 21.
Boston's top ranked prospect, according to Baseball America, was thirdbaseman Anthony Morris. In 64 games with AA Portland, the 20-year-old hit .309 with 3 homers and 40 RBI.

Top Minor League Systems
In addition to naming the game's top prospects, Baseball America also compiles a list of the league's top minor league systems. As of the 2009 All Star break, the Washington Nationals were credited as having the most talented minor leaguers, including three of the game's top 10 prospects.
The Detroit Tigers, with the game's top prospect and third-ranked prospect, were listed as the second best minor league system in baseball with the Cincinnati Reds ranked third.
The Boston Red Sox were ranked 14th in baseball.

BOSTON RED SOX - First Half Highlights
April 21: Manny hits HR #500
At Fenway Park Manny Ramirez smashed his 500th career home run in a game against Cleveland. The 36-year-old left fielder had a hand in the Boston Red Sox 13-4 victory with a 2-for-4 performance, including a home run.
At a post game press conference, Ramirez downplayed his achievement.
"Obviously, I've hit 500 home runs so I belong in that 500 Club. But when you talk about the other guys that have done it, I'm not as good as they were. Those guys were the greatest of all time. I've just been able to scrape together some good years and stayed healthy and gotten there."
Checking out his career figures, Ramirez has played in 1,987 games with a .301 batting average. Among his 2,304 hits are 500 home runs. He has also scored 1,450 runs, stolen 31 bases and driven in 1,555 runs.

May 1: Ramirez AL's #1 batter
Boston's Manny Ramirez had a productive April and topped it off by winning the Batter of the Month citation from the American League. The 36-year-old left fielder stood out at the plate with a .350 batting average, 10 home runs, 25 RBI and 22 runs scored.

May 2: Cabrera goes 5-5 against Tampa Bay
It was a sensational day at the plate for Miguel Cabrera, but a letdown as well as the Red Sox dropped the game 7-6 to the Rays.
Nonetheless, the Boston third baseman was pure misery for the Tampa Bay pitching staff. He left them shellshocked with five hits in five at bats in an explosive display of hitting.
"It's always good to get a bunch of hits in a game, but you also want to win. That's the important thing," Cabrera said.
Brian Cooper, the manager for the Rays, told SION reporters after the game: "Cabrera put the ball into play. He really hit it hard. When you do that, you've got a pretty good chance to do some damage. And that's what happened. I feel like we threw him some pretty good pitches, but he just put some good swings on the ball."
Cabrera doubled in the first and third innings, and singled in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings.

June 8: Santana tosses shutout
Johan Santana of the Boston Red Sox was one tough customer on the hill today. He blanked the Baltimore Orioles 11-0 on four hits, registering 11 strikeouts and one walk.
"When he's on, he's tough to hit," said Gene Lamont, the Baltimore manager, after the game. "He's just a bulldog out there."
In 12 starts this year, Santana has crafted a 10-3 record and 2.98 ERA.

July 1: Cabrera AL's #1 batter
Miguel Cabrera used that sweet swing with great success for Boston last month, garnering him the American League Batter of the Month Award.
The 26-year-old third baseman put up a .452 batting average and collected 7 home runs, 26 RBI and 25 runs scored.
For 2009, Cabrera is batting .386 with 14 home runs, 68 RBI an 63 runs.

July 4: Johnson blanks Houston
It was a smooth and solid performance by Josh Johnson of the Boston Red Sox against Houston. He crafted a fine 4-hitter in blanking them 9-0 and chalked up 3 strikeouts and 1 walk along the way.
"It certainly makes my job easy," said Boston skipper Kevin Kennedy. "When my pitcher pitches a shutout I can just sit back, watch and enjoy."
In 15 starts this season, Johnson has fashioned a 6-4 record and a 3.17 ERA.