Ian Desmond All Star?

[Slumpbuster]

How great is it to see Ian's bat come alive!? Just when we needed it the most due to injuries and other players not hitting up to par. Sticking him in the middle of the line-up seems to make a lot of sense too. He still is a first pitch swinger a lot but he has disciplined himself to not chase a lot of bad ones.
As far as an All Star goes, he probably does not have the name recognition yet to get enough votes but he's been invaluable to us........he may have a shot at Gold Glove?

[PC]

Yes!

[zimm_da_kid]

if he can get his obp above .320 then i say yes.

[TylerDC]

Needs a little better OBP.

[zimm_da_kid]

desi's obp is all the way up to .301!

[JMW IV]

Strasburg, Gio, Laroche.

Not Desmond, though it is nice to see him thriving lower in the lineup

[JCA-CrystalCity]

No f'ng way.  Let's not confuse "isn't in the running for being the worst MLB regular" like he was last year with being an all star.  Here's a few deserve to be an all star more guys at SS just based off this season:

Furcal:  .350 / .407 / .466, wOBA .388, UZR -0.5, WAR 2.0
Lowrie: .288 /.365 / .492, wOBA .378, UZR 3.8, WAR 2.0
Desi:    .280 / .301 / .473, wOBA .333, UZR 0.3, WAR 1.3

You can say he's having about as good a year as Starlin Castro.   That's saying something.

Also, if you are one of those that believes the All Star game should factor in longer term achievement and near MVP level performance in recent years, then Tulo is a no brainer even though you can argue Desi is having a better year.

The all stars at SS will be Tulo, Furcal, and Lowrie as the Astros representative.  LaHair will get the Cubs slot rather than Castro, but if LaHair is traded, then Castro gets the nod over Desi.  Ruben Tejada will also get consideration.

That said, yes, the move to the middle of the order was way overdue.  there are few guys I want up more than Desi if we need contact to knock in a tieing or go ahead run and we are facing a fastball pitcher.

[sportsfan882]

Dude why are you so critical of him? If Danny were putting up the same numbers you would be over him.

Desmond is having a very good season both defensively and offensively thus far. An All Star? Probably not unless his HR total gets up in the teens before ASG and he maintains BA .270+.

He's made a few errors here and there but overall I have felt his defense has been really solid. And yes his OBP isn't high but currently he is making up for it with high BA and SLG pct.

[Sharp]

If Desmond can actually maintain his power this year then I'll grudgingly admit I was wrong about him, but it's still early in the season.  Two months of nice hitting don't erase the previous two years for me.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

dude, I'm not critical if you read the post.  Sure, I took a swipe at him for the way he played last year, but I just said

the move to the middle of the order was way overdue.  there are few guys I want up more than Desi if we need contact to knock in a tieing or go ahead run and we are facing a fastball pitcher.

To say he's in a group with Castro and Tejada and outplaying Tulo is not being critical about his play this year.  It's just he's clearly behind Furcal and Lowrie (Red Sox bias - how's that Melancon deal working out? ) , and his career does not match Tulo's.

Oh, and if you want to talk defense, mention Zach Cozart, too.

[Slateman]

dude, I'm not critical if you read the post.  Sure, I took a swipe at him for the way he played last year, but I just said
To say he's in a group with Castro and Tejada and outplaying Tulo is not being critical about his play this year.  It's just he's clearly behind Furcal and Lowrie (Red Sox bias - how's that Melancon deal working out? ) , and his career does not match Tulo's.

Oh, and if you want to talk defense, mention Zach Cozart, too.

Uh .... Lowrie plays for the Stros ...

[Lintyfresh85]

Lowrie was traded from the Sox.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

do a search on the board for my posts about wanting to trade for Lowrie going back a few years.

[sportsfan882]

dude, I'm not critical if you read the post.  Sure, I took a swipe at him for the way he played last year, but I just said
To say he's in a group with Castro and Tejada and outplaying Tulo is not being critical about his play this year.  It's just he's clearly behind Furcal and Lowrie (Red Sox bias - how's that Melancon deal working out? ) , and his career does not match Tulo's.

Oh, and if you want to talk defense, mention Zach Cozart, too.

Why don't you take similar shots at Espinosa and his .295 OBP and .333 SLG PCT and 50 Ks?

Desmond will never have a high OBP but doesn't mean he can't be useful. He plays plus defense at a premium position and right now he is hitting for power and driving in runs which we badly need.

[Lintyfresh85]

There's no thread calling for Danny to be an All-Star.

And I must be missing the plus defense... what with the seven errors, good for fourth most in the majors at SS.

Having a solid year in driving the ball... Hell, I'd even say he's having a very good year... but he's no All-Star.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

SF - read the Espinosa watch thread.  I said Espinosa should have been sent down on 5/2, and pointed out that the organization does not make major development pieces like Espinosa pay for changing the approach that got them to the majors earlier in the thread.

Again, the only shot I took at Desmond was to say he stunk last year.  do you disagree?

[Minty Fresh]

dude, I'm not critical if you read the post.

I love it when JCA is reduced to sportfanian levels.

[Slateman]

do a search on the board for my posts about wanting to trade for Lowrie going back a few years.

I wanted Lowrie and Reddick last year. But I'm not sure I was willing to give up Storen or Clippard to do it.

[OldNatsFan]

Tony LaRussa really likes Desmond so I think LaRussa might pick him for the team this year.

[hammondsnats]

no

[KnorrForYourMoney]

SF - read the Espinosa watch thread.  I said Espinosa should have been sent down on 5/2, and pointed out that the organization does not make major development pieces like Espinosa pay for changing the approach that got them to the majors earlier in the thread.

Again, the only shot I took at Desmond was to say he stunk last year.  do you disagree?

Why are you even responding to him? He's just freaking out because you aren't praising Desmond on some mouth-breather level that he understands. If you want to placate him, just say something about Desmond's power hitting being "silly" and leave it at that.

[MarquisDeSade]

Decision made - I'm getting an authentic Desmond jersey.

[BerkeleyNat]

Decision made - I'm getting an authentic Desmond jersey.

You putting his name on the back of a Miami jersey? 

[BerkeleyNat]

Why don't you take similar shots at Espinosa and his .295 OBP and .333 SLG PCT and 50 Ks?

Desmond will never have a high OBP but doesn't mean he can't be useful. He plays plus defense at a premium position and right now he is hitting for power and driving in runs which we badly need.

LMAO! SF is officially on the Desmond bandwagon. He'll be a bum again the next time he goes hit-less in a game. 

[MarquisDeSade]

You putting his name on the back of a Miami jersey? 

I'm 100% full-on Sunshine Squad™ now, didn't you know?