As we turn the calendar to June today, I will look back at the way I voted for the National League All-Stars and make a few revisions. The latest results released by MLB this afternoon show the starters to be as follows:

C – Yadier Molina
1B – Albert Pujols
2B – Chase Utley
3B – David Wright
SS – Hanley Ramirez
OF- Ryan Braun
OF- Raul Ibanez
OF – Alfonso Soriano

This is the lineup I picked a month a go:

C – Bengie Molina
1B  – Pujols
2B – Utley
3B – Zimmerman
SS – Hanley
OF – Carlos Beltran
OF – Raul Ibanez
OF – Manny Ramirez (later changed to Andre Ethier upon Man-Ram’s suspension)

A month later, that’s four correct picks with two others in second place (Zimmerman and Beltran – technically he’s fourth). First off, I want to thank baseball fans everywhere for heeding the call last week to stop voting for J.J. Hardy and showing love for Ibanez, who climbed up from sixth to second in about a week’s time.

Here is how I’m casting a ballot today:

1B – I still have to give the vote to Albert Pujols, this year’s hometown hero. His average has dropped to a more realistic .339 since May 7th (when I wrote the first post), but the power numbers continue to be there with 16 homers and 42 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres has more homers (20) and Prince Fielder has more RBI (48), but their averages are nowhere close to Pujols’, plus he’s still a decent threat in the running game with seven steals. I am surprised that Gonzalez is all the way back in fourth place behind Pujols, Fielder, Ryan Howard and Joey Votto. Gonzalez will be in St. Louis as a Padres representative, perhaps along with Heath Bell. Pujols leads Fielder by 713,000 votes.

2B – Chase Utley and Orlando Hudson are both making great cases to be the NL’s starter at second base. Utley is hovering near .300 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. Hudson is setting the table for one of the best offensive teams in baseball with a .332 batting average, three homers and 31 RBI. The O-Dog also leads the NL in hits with 70. He’s been put into the third spot in the lineup by manager Joe Torre and he’s hardly skipped a beat. The best team in baseball should have a starter in the lineup and since it won’t be Manny Ramirez, it should be Orlando Hudson. Hudson currently trails Utley by over 625,000 votes.

SS – Hanley Ramirez remains the class of a weak crop of NL shortstops this season. Batting .330 with eight homers, 23 RBI and eight stolen bases is clearly the best of this bunch. Miguel Tejada and Cristian Guzman are putting together pretty solid seasons, but they play for last-place teams and aren’t being noticed like they should. Guzman has also been nicked up quite a bit this season. Ramirez leads Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins by 16,600 votes.

3B – Much the same as second base, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman are both playing well and deserve a chance to run out onto the field in the top of the first inning in St. Louis. It’s tough to decide because, while Zimmerman’s Nationals have been playing poorly from the word go, he has remained a constant bright spot. He had this season’s longest hitting streak to-date at 30 games, he’s batting .319 and leads all NL 3B with 35 RBI. Wright’s home run numbers are down – only three this season, but he’s still knocking in runs (30) and is a threat to steal (12 SB). In addition, the Mets are only a half-game out of first place. No matter, I’m still voting for Ryan Zimmerman at this point, who trails Wright by almost 204,000 votes.

C – In the first entry, I wavered between which of the Catching Molina Bros. I would give my vote to, eventually deciding on the elder, Bengie. I’ve wavered again and now my vote lies with St. Louis’ Yadier, even though Bengie has 10 more RBI (32) than any other NL backstop (Pudge Rodriguez has 22). He’s also tied with Chris Iannetta with eight homers. It’s not right that Bengie is not even in the top five, but I do think he’ll be chosen to back-up little brother in the game. I enjoy Yadier’s all-around game better and I try to put hometown starters in the game where possible. Molina leads Milwaukee’s Jason Kendall by more than 157,000 votes.

OF – Outfield is always one of the toughest positions to sort out because you have about 45-50 players to sort through to get to the top three. Raul Ibanez remains a no-brainer for me. He leads the position in homers (17) and RBI (46) and he is in the top five in batting average (.332). Ryan Braun has also proved that he is worthy of a starting spot. The left fielder for the first-place Brewers has nine home runs and 32 RBI while maintaining a .316 batting average.

For the final selection, I’m going completely off the radar. In fact, I’m choosing a player who isn’t even in the top 15 at his position as released this afternoon: Colorado’s Brad Hawpe. Hawpe is batting .348 with seven home runs and 39 RBI. Perhaps this weekend’s managerial change will get the Rockies pointed in the right direction and will have more people noticing Brad Hawpe in the final month before the game. Carlos Beltran trails Alfonso Soriano for third place by 33,000 votes. Manny Ramirez is in fifth place and Mike Cameron in sixth.

Photo credits:
Ryan Zimmerman
Brad Hawpe