The Major League Baseball All-Star teams were announced today in advance of the game in Kansas City July 10. The St. Louis Cardinals will be well-represented again this year. Four players have already made the team, and 3rd baseman David Freese has a chance to make it through online fan voting that continues until Thursday. Here's a look at the four who have made the 2012 National League All-Star team.
Rafael Furcal, SS - Furcal will start for the National League at shortstop. It's Furcal's third All-Star selection and his first starting nod. He has now been an All-Star for each of his three teams; he also made it with the Braves in 2003 and the Dodgers in 2010. While Furcal just suffered through a terrible June, he still has 25 multi-hit games and has been a catalyst at the top of the Cardinals order. His 31 RBIs from the leadoff position lead the National League.
Carlos Beltran, OF - Beltran was also voted by the fans to start the game, and he should be starting. He has been as good as any Cardinals fan could have hoped this season. Beltran leads the league with 61 RBIs, he's hit 20 home runs and he's hitting .310. This will be Beltran's seventh All-Star game, and he's starred in the Midsummer Classic. He has a career .429 batting average in the All-Star Game, with six hits in 14 at-bats. Beltran has also been asked to participate in the Home Run Derby.
Yadier Molina, C - Cardinals fans were hoping Yadi could catch San Francisco's Buster Posey for the starting job at catcher, but I think it's Philadelphia's Carlos Ruiz who has a beef. Ruiz is simply hitting .358 to lead the NL. This will be Molina's fourth straight All-Star squad. He's now made the team each year from 2009-2012. Yadi has a gaudy .750 ASG batting average, going 3 for 4 in his previous games. He is hitting .311 this year with a career-high slugging percentage of .872.
Lance Lynn, SP - Lynn, like Furcal, just completed a poor June, but the All-Star team rightly considers the entire first half. Tapped to fill the spot left by Chris Carpenter's injury, Lynn has helped the Cardinals very well in the first half. He has 10 wins, good for third in the league. Cardinals fans hope he can re-discover the form that saw him go 8-1 with an ERA of 2.54 over the season's first two months. This is Lynn's first All-Star team.
Possible: David Freese, 3rd base - Freese can still make the team with the fan voting, but I think either Chipper Jones (sentimental vote) or Washington National's phenom Bryce Harper (the rest of the country) will take that spot. Freese is hitting .280 and is just outside the top 10 with his 48 RBIs. He may benefit from voting from fans who recall his 2011 postseason heroics.
A native of St. Louis, Brad Boeker has rooted for the Cardinals for over 40 years.