All-Star Thoughts

I'm sure by now you've heard the announcement or seen it on www.silverhawks.com that the Silver Hawks will be sending six players to the Midwest League All-Star Game. 

The players that made the team are listed below with a few of my comments:

Yazy Arbelo - Not a surprise that Arbelo got the starting nod at first base.  He leads the league in homers, RBIs, extra base hits, slugging percentage, and total bases.  He has been an absolute beast at the plate and deserves the starting honors.

Matt Helm - Some might be a bit surprised by this, but he has just been the model of consistency at the plate.  The average has hovered in the .270 - .300 range all season long, and he has been a RBI machine, particularly with two outs 

Ender Inciarte - Again, perhaps a slight surprise given that he didn't start the year with South Bend, but with an average over .300, solid defense, and good speed, Inciarte was a logical candidate for a reserve outfielder.

Zach Walters - Speaking of consistent players, how about Walters?  Just plugging away with a .300+ average, six homers, and 36 RBIs to rank first or second on the team in most offensive categories.  Not only that, he can play second, third, short, and DH, shining at all positions.

David Holmberg - You might not have guessed it when Holmberg was 0-3, but he is certainly deserving of an all-star nomination now that he is 5-3 with a 3.14 ERA.  A bulldog on the mound, Holmberg gives the Silver Hawks a strong chance of winning every time to the hill.

Tyler Green - Another player who has had a great start to the season, despite missing some time on the DL.  Even more impressive is when you factor in that this is his first season in professional baseball.

And a few notes on some guys that could have made it, but didn't for various reasons:

Mike Freeman - Started his hot streak way too late to make the All-Star team, but if they were voting again now, he'd had a good chance of being elected.

Raywilly Gomez - Catchers don't get a lot of publicity, especially those without a lot of power.  However, Gomez has a great approach at the plate and routinely puts the bat on the ball.

Patrick Schuster - Same numbers of wins and the same ERA as David Holmberg, yet Schuster gets left behind.  Arguably one of the bigger snubs on the team.

Dan Taylor - If he didn't have the one start where he allowed four earned runs in 4.0 innings, Taylor would be 2-1 with a 0.71 ERA while holding opponents to a .106 batting average.  Translation:  ALL STAR.

Blake Cooper/Jeremy Erben/Mike Bolsinger/Eury De La Rosa - Four members of the bullpen from the start of the season with phenomenal numbers, but unfortunately just not enough room on the team to include them.

Van Winkle Added as All-Star

Catcher Tyson Van Winkle has been added to the Eastern Division All-Star team. I don't know if someone got hurt or promoted, but Van Winkle will fill an open spot on the roster.

Congrats to Tyson.

That now makes five all-stars from the Silver Hawks (Matt Davidson, Chris Owings, Charles Brewer, and Eric Smith were named back when the teams were originally selected).

Four Silver Hawks Named All-Stars

Congratulations to Matt Davidson, Chris Owings, Charles Brewer, and Eric Smith for being named Midwest League All-Stars today.

Certainly well-deserved for all of them, and hopefully they'll get a chance to showcase their skills with a big day on June 22nd in Fort Wayne.

The full story can be found on www.silverhawks.com.

Full rosters for the East and West will be linked when I see them posted somewhere.

Single A All-Stars

Minor League Baseball and Topps (the baseball card company) have teamed up to name the all-stars at each level in the minors.

Here's who they selected for single-A (and if you are web savvy, you can follow links from this page to see the other levels). There are no Silver Hawks on the list, but there are some Midwest Leaguers from this past season.

MWL Post-Season All-Stars

Announced today. Silver Hawks were shut out.

First Base - Rebel Ridling (Peoria)
Second Base - Alexi Amarista (Cedar Rapids)
Third Base - Josh Vitters (Peoria)
Shortstop - Dee Gordon (Great Lakes)
Outfield - Kyle Russell (Great Lakes); Kyler Burke (Peoria); Josh Harrison (Peoria)
Catcher - Tony Delmonico (Great Lakes)
Designated Hitter - Billy Nowlin (West Michigan)
Right Handed Starter - Kenny Smalley (Kane County)
Left Handed Starter - Casey Crosby (West Michigan)
Right Handed Reliever - Brad Brach (Fort Wayne)
Left Handed Reliver - Andrew Taylor (Cedar Rapids)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS: Dee Gordon and Kyle Russell (Both with Great Lakes)
PROSPECT OF THE YEAR: Dee Gordon (Great Lakes)
MANAGERS OF THE YEAR: Doug Dascenzo (Fort Wayne) and Marty Pevey (Peoria)

All Star Additions

OF Alfredo Marte and LHP Bayron Zepeda were added as last minute replacements to the All-Star team.

So that brings the total to 5 players and 5 staff members, plus one that was selected and couldn't go. They are:

RHP TJ Hose (originally selected)
RHP Ryan Cook (originally selected, expected to start the game)
LHP Bayron Zepeda (late addition)
INF Reynaldo Navarro (chosen as a reserve)
OF Alfredo Marte (late addition)
OF Brendan Duffy (selected to start, promoted to Visalia and won't play in game)

Plus....
Manager Mark Haley
Pitching coach Erik Sabel
Hitting coach Francisco Morales
Trainer Brian Czachowski
Strength coach Vaughn Robinson

Congratulations and good luck to all involved. Bring one home for the East!

High-A All-Stars

At the high-A level, the California League puts together a league of all-stars to play a game against the Carolina League (another high-A league). So there are fewer all-stars per team, but still a unique concept.

I'd love to see the Midwest League All-Stars battle the South Atlantic League All-Stars every summer, but I think that is probably years away from ever happening.

Anyhow, the purpose of this post is to tell you of two former Silver Hawks that are on the California League roster: Josh Collmenter and Pat McAnaney.

For the complete rosters for this game, click here.

Speaking of All-Stars, if you want to vote for the triple-A all-stars, go here (you have to put in a name and email address, but it's free).

All-Stars and Tonight's Lineup

All-Star Rosters have been announced. I'll go through the starters for both divisions on the pregame show tonight, and I'll also cover all the Silver Hawks named to the team.

If you can't wait that long, go to http://www.silverhawks.com/ for the story of the Hawks that made the team.

Also, I posted photos from Dayton below, so make you scroll down to see those.

Tonight's Lineup:

Duffy - LF
Elmore - 2B
Marte - DH
Parker -3B
Diaz - CF
Asencio - RF
Ramirez - 1B
Perez - C
Navarro - SS

Morgan - SP

It's off to Fort Wayne after the game, so this is most likely my last post until tomorrow afternoon when we get to the stadium