my picks for NL All Stars

Wow, making up the team for the American League was a whole lot easier than that for the National League. If I had my way, the NL roster would have 10 hitters and 24 pitchers. That's the way the performance has been. Unfortunately, I gotta play by the rules. This team is dramatically less intimidating than the AL. Even among pitchers, with no Halladay, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Johan Santana, or Josh Johnson.

Again, here are the basic requirements for roster selection:
- 34 players per league (21 hitters, 13 pitchers. I don't know if that is set in stone but that's how it was for both leagues last year).
- Every team must be represented.

Starters in bold.

Catcher: Carlos Ruiz, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey

First base: Joey Votto

Second base: Dan Uggla, Jose Altuve, Brandon Phillips

Third base: David Wright, Chase Headley, David Freese

Shortstop: Starlin Castro, Rafael Furcal

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran, Andrew McCutchen, Melky Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez, Giancarlo Stanton, Michael Bourn, Matt Holliday, Jay Bruce

Pitchers:
Starter: Matt Cain, R.A. Dickey, Stephen Strasburg, Wade Miley, James McDonald, Gio Gonzalez, Johnny Cueto, Clayton Kershaw, Cole Hamels
Reliever: Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Jon Papelbon, Joel Hanrahan

A few observations:

- To show just how thin the NL is at first base after Fielder and Pujols left last year and Adrian Gonzalez the year before:
The runner up in voting is a guy who's batting #7 for the Braves, hitting .254 with 9 home runs on the season. Next in voting is a player who has only played 2 weeks of the season. Fourth in voting is another #7 batter with just 4 home runs batting .261. (First base All Star??) And fifth is Ryan Howard, who hasn't even been on the field.

I would plan on Votto playing the whole game. If he needs a break, I'd put Buster Posey at first.

- Carlos Beltran would be my DH. It looks like he will be voted to start in the outfield, in which situation I would have Melky Cabrera DH.

- There is nothing really crazy happening in the voting, other than Ryan Braun getting no love from fans after testing positive for PED last year. Matt Kemp is the leading vote receiver, but he's been hurt much of the season and won't be playing.

- Starting pitching is obviously very deep this year and challenging to narrow down. Omissions include Lance Lynn (10 wins), Chris Capuano (9 wins, 2.60 ERA), and Zach Greinke and A.J. Burnett (8-2). If Brandon Beachy were healthy that would also complicate things. Kershaw was the last one in, but being the reigning Cy Young winner puts him in. His record is just 5-4, but that's because he is receiving among the league's lowest run support. On the flip side, Lynn's high win total can be attributed to his league leading run support. Capuano could take Hamels' place, especially as the Dodgers have the best record with only one rep and the Phillies are in last with 3 reps, but Hamels does have the track record and more wins.

- I haven't seen Craig Kimbrel much, but I did see him a couple times against the Yankees, and he is the filthiest pitchers the Yankees have seen all year. I want him in the 9th inning.

- This lineup is not very scary. Absent are injured Kemp, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Howard and Lance Berkman. If I was creating a better team I'd use Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes, but they haven't had their usual strong seasons, Marlins are disappointing, and Headley takes HanRam's spot. I might use Ramirez at shortstop, replacing Jay Bruce's roster spot, but he hasn't played there at all this year.

- This roster would yield the following team representation:

Reds, Cardinals 5
Braves, Phillies, Giants, Pirates 3
Nationals, Mets 2
Dodgers, Marlins, Astros, Rockies, Padres, Brewers, Cubs, Diamondbacks 1