Back to my analysis of this season’s star players.

Andrew Miller was a starter when he got called up in 2006, for the Detroit Tigers, didn’t do anything that year. So, here comes 2007, a great new year, and Miller had a 5 and 5 record with a 5.63 ERA with 56 SOs, a decent year for a rookie that got tossed around AAA and MLB, poor guy wasn’t even in the mix for Rookie of the Year. Then he got traded to Marlins for Miguel Cabrera going to the Tigers and Cameron Maybin going to the Marlins and some other players. He was still a starter, but then a few years passed changed teams a few times. So he got traded to the Red Sox, where he really belonged, I think. A 2.02 ERA in 2014 altogether with BOS/BAL, then over to New York, to the Yankees, a 2.04 ERA, something changed in him as he moved from being a starter to the bullpen. In 2016, an All-Star and finished ninth in Cy Young voting with a 1.45 ERA and 12 saves. In 2016 also was the ALCS MVP and didn’t win the World Series but the Indians were in it. This guy has rebuilt himself but still, I don’t think he should even be on this list, if he should, then he should be like 95+.

Brandon Belt is a thorn in the side of every team with a good starting pitching staff, this guy could do it all in tough situations, a single to tie the game, a double to give his team the insurance run. He is not the power guy with the most homers in a season being 18, a guy that Bruce Bochy can rely on to do anything. His average was never higher than .289; his speed could be really nice with 12 steals and eight triples as career highs in two different years. His OBP has gone up moderately over the years but not really high at all. He is a scoop pro and could fake the pick-off really well. His SOs have marched down in 2017 after two years of +140 SOs. He guards the line like his own child but he has to do something about his error total, that is, if he wants to be an All-Star. I think he should stay where he is on the list.   

Didi Gregorius started off in Cincinnati, you shouldn’t even count that season, eight games and some RBIs. Then, gets hyped to go Arizona, his arms didn’t have power in them, but he always had the glove and the speed, the speed was his key as he was tossed around from batting second in 29 games and 52 at eighth in the lineup and 2 at nine and 14 games at sixth. Though in ’13 only 8 homers but his slick glove and never-give-up attitude on a ball put him in the lineup. Then came December 5, trade day, Didi Gregorius is traded to the Yankees, then all of a sudden, he hits 25 homers in a season and comes right when the Yankees need him and to replace Jeter, but not at the leadoff, but at the middle of the lineup, a really good hitter, exactly to replace Jeter (but hey, who would put Gregorius over Jeter.) Gregorius should go up like 20 spots, he is a real beast.

You can’t trust a guy like Gio Gonzalez when he takes the mound because you don’t know if he will spoon-feed the ball into the hitter’s barrel or will he throw his wicked curveball to make the poor guy in the box feel like a Little Leaguer when he swings at a pitch. I mean, his ERA spikes up like Bugs Bunny but you can’t judge him because his ERA is from 2.80 to 3.60, not very good and not very bad. He is consistent but he is not Clayton Kershaw, he makes a nice piece to the end of the rotation for the Nats. He has 86 SOs already this season, not a lot and he pitched only 17 games. He had 21 wins in 2012 when he joined the Nationals. Gio Gonzalez is one of the Dark Horse pitchers in the NL that amaze every once in a while. He should stay where he is unless the guys behind him or in front of him falter or get better.

DJ Lemahieu, a great second baseman that racked up multiple 170+ hits seasons in his 6 qualified seasons. He is one of the tallest second basemen in the business that means that his reach is a lot better than someone like Jose Altuve, he leaps for balls 3 feet above his head and makes the play or knocks it down in front of him. It also gives him great range to his left or right as those long legs help him run down a ball. His hitting is exceptionally well for a 6 foot 4 whose main spot in his MLB career is far from hitting, but he is three away from his career high and we just passed the half-way point in the season. His main key to success in the box is just base hits and getting on-base in general. He won the 2016 Batting Title posting a .348 batting average and a .411 OBP, amazing numbers. In this decade (2010-present), he has the tied-second-highest batting average among MLB batting title winners.