The Generals continue with their fantasy All Star awards for the first half.
First Base

NL - The Fresh Prince of Miller Field

AB R HR RBI OPS
299 57 27 66 .982

Right now, he’s the second best (to ARod) fantasy hitter in baseball. No NL 1B comes close. He hits homers in bunches, and takes out unsuspecting second basemen with belly flops in the infield. This year, Pujols has some catching up to do (not that he’s incapable).

Fielder’s hit % is only 28, so there’s even some upside for a higher average in the second half. Will he hit 60? Pujols, Ryan Howard and Fielder makes for an exciting big 3 at 1B in the NL.

AL - Justin Morneau MIN

AB R HR RBI OPS
286 50 20 61 .903

The AL crop is really thin this year, with Morneau’s 20 home runs beating K Youklis BOS - (the greek god of obp - .416) and his 502 slg.

Morneau’s .279 avg is suppressed by a .27 hit rate, and his “Baseball HQ” xba is 313. HQ projects another 20 HR and 60 RBI’s for the 2nd half, which would result in a 40/120 year. In a mere mortal AROD year, Morneau would be a repeat MVP candidate.

Second Base

NL - Chase Utley PHI

AB R HR RBI OPS SB
308 58 15 66 .977 6

Utley’s in his own tier at 2b in the NL right now, but his .331 avg will fall back a bit in the 2nd half as his 37% hit rate falls back to the norm. To be sure,Utley’s an established .300 hitter with good power and some speed. I know it’s early, but how many more years like this will it take for him to be considered as a legit Hall of Fame Candidate? Can he finish his career as a .300+ hitter with over 400 home runs? In that band box in Philly, he’s making it look easy.

Brandon Phillips (CIN) is having a great year, with power and speed (15 sb). But he’s well behind Utley in AVG. (58 pts) runs (10) and rbis (24). Dan Uggla (17 hrs) is following up a nice rookie campaign, but his .256 avg. hurts his fantasy value.

AL - Brian Roberts (BAL)

AB R HR RBI OPS
313 49 5 25 .863

Roberts’ .324 AVG. is inflated by a .36 hit rate, but his fantasy value is his legs this year. He has shown small bursts of power, but has never topped 20 hrs. Roberts may not steal 50 this year, but less than 40 would be disappointing.

Third Base

NL - David Wright - (NYM)

AB R HR RBI OPS SB
291 45 13 42 .875 17

Wright has overcome a dismal April (.670 ops) to earn the nod over Miguel Cabrera, who has hit all year:

AB R HR RBI OPS
292 48 17 56 .973 (0 sb’s)

Miggy’s hit rate of 38% is powered by hitting an amazing 24% line drives. These two should be slugging it out for All Star starting honors for the next 10-15 years, and could be first ballot Hall of Famers if all goes according to plan.

In my NL only league, Wright’s 17 sb’s are good for 3 to 4 points (places) in the category and standings. Miggy’s extra hrs, runs, rbi’s and avg. may offset the difference, and I wont quibble with you if you think Miggy should earn Fantasy All Star over Wright. I think Wright’s numbers will be closer to Miggy’s in the second half, and another 15 steals will again set him apart from Cabrera (from a fantasy perspective).

AL - Alex Rodriguez (NYY)

Speaking of first ballot hall of famers:

AB R HR RBI OPS SB
291 73 28 79 1.118 9

ARod had a spectacular April, cooled off a bit and resumed raking in June, with an 800+ slg. pct.; 28 out of 92 fly balls have left the yard. He makes tape measure shots look effortless. Don’t even bother looking for the # 2 AL 3b.

Shortstops

NL - Jose Reyes NYM

AB R HR RBI OPS SB
322 55 4 34 .859 39

Arguably the most exciting player in baseball, Jose, Jose Jose Jose has learned how to take a pitch, and is stealing bases in bunches thanks to a .402 obp. He doesn’t need to hit home runs to be valuable, but he has the talent to hit 10-15 in the second half (maybe an inside the park or 2). He’s likely to have 70+ steals at the end of the year, which is enough steals to put you near the top of the category all by himself. What other player can boast this fantasy prowess?

The other two of the “big 3″ deserve honorable mention: Hanley Ramirez (FLA) and Jimmy Rollins (PHI). Both have about 10 more runs, .50 points higher slg. pct., and Rollins has more rbi’s (7), and home runs (9). Rollins has 43 extra base hits and leads the league with 10 triples, to Reyes’ 8.

Going forward, Reyes’ .36 hit rate could cause his average to fall to .290 - .300 in the second half, which could hurts his stolen base opportunities a bit. Rollins has a chance to go 30/30, but could fall a bit short on both ends. His batting average is right where it should be. Ramirez’s .36 hit rate puts him in the same situation as Reyes.

Next, we will look at the outfield, and then will tackle pitching.