Three Phillies Named All Stars
Fans voted Chase Utley to be the starting second baseman. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s Martin Prado replaced Utley due to his recent injury. This would have been Utley’s fifth straight year starting the All Star Game. Utley was batting .277 with 11 home runs before having surgery on his thumb.
Roy Halladay will be making his seventh All Star appearance. Halladay currently leads the Major Leagues in innings pitched (130 IP). He is 9-7, although most of those losses are due to a lack of run support. Halladay has a 2.42 earned run average and 1.10 WHIP. There is a chance that Halladay could start the All Star game, but Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jiminez are also strong possible candidates.
Ryan Howard was named a National League reserve. Charlie Manuel gave the edge to his own player, as Howard was chosen over the likes of Joey Votto (Votto can still make the roster via the “Final Vote”). This will be Howard’s third All Star Game. Howard, who won the 2006 Home Run Derby, will not participate in this year’s contest. Howard currently has 15 home runs and a .297 average.
There is still a very, very slight chance that Jayson Werth makes the roster. Werth was a late addition to last year’s All Star roster, and could be again if Jason Heyward is not ready to return from his injury. The chances are very slim though.
Placido Polanco led NL third basemen in the voting for quite some time, but David Wright ended up surpassing him. Polanco, who remains on the disabled list, might not have been able to play anyway.
Congratulations to the three Phillies All Stars. At the beginning of the season, we may have expected a few more, but injuries have held this team back.
