LTR's All Surprise Team

[love_that_reefer]

This is my All Star team that consists of guys who you would have never expected to be doing so well or people who have been terrible and are now good.

1B- Casey Kotchman, LAA. Not too much of a surprise but is doing well very early. He's already got six homers in 53 games. He had 11 all of last year in 137 games. His .318 average is third amongst first basemen.

2B- Akinori Iwamura, TB. What's so surprising is his transition from third to second. He has yet to make an error this season and has looked like he's been playing there his whole life. His .281 average isn't bad at all.

SS- Cristian Guzman, WAS. After being marred by injuries for the past two seasons, Guzman is having a great year so far. He is batting .305 and already has 5 HRs and 20 RBI. Guzman only had 4 HRs and 31 RBI in 142 games in '05, his last full season.

3B- Jorge Cantu, FLA. Cantu could hardly find playing time last year with the Rays and Reds but has found a home with the Marlins. He has 8 HRs and 26 RBI and is well on his way to returning to his old 20+ HR self.

OF- Ryan Ludwick, STL. Ludwick has come out of nowhere to be the protection for the best hitter in the game Albert Pujols. Ludwick is batting .325 with 13 HRs and 39 RBI. He leads all MLB OFers in OPS.

OF- Nate McLouth, PIT. McLouth is having his bust out season batting .312 with 13 HRs and 41 RBI. He has already tied last year's homerun total and surpassed his RBI total. It took him just 53 games to do this feat. He played in 137 games last year.

OF- Xavier Nady, PIT. Nady has always been a decent player but this year he is playing out of his mind. He is batting .325 with 9 HRs and 45 RBI. He is currently 10th in OPS. He's good but this year he has been great.

C- Dioner Navarro, TB. This guy is having one hell of a season. Last year he hit .227 and this year is hitting .355!! His OBP is right around .400 and has been very good behind the plate calling games. Definitely did not see this one coming.

SP- Edinson Volquez, CIN. No one knew this guy was going to be so dominant this soon. Volquez in his first season to start with the Reds is your MLB leader in strikeouts (83) and ERA (1.46). We all knew he could be good but not this good and not this quick.

SP- Todd Wellemeyer, STL. Wellemeyer is with his 4th team and if he keeps pitching like he is, he is going to stay put. Wellemeyer is 6-1 with an ERA of 3.18. Now Wellemeyer had a nice showing last season for the Cards but everyone thought it was a fluke given his past. He is proving this year that it was no fluke.

SP- Ryan Dempster, CHC. Dempster attempted the difficult task going from starter to closer back to starter and after four years of closing, he has definitely made the transition. Dempster is 7-2 with a 2.75 ERA. He also has 63 SO's in 75 IP. John Smoltz would be proud.

SP- Daniel Cabrera, BAL. Cabrera finally looks like he has got his shit together. Cabrera has never finished a season with an ERA under 4.50 but it looks like that might change this year. He is 5-1 with a 3.69 ERA so far with his walk total lower than expected.

SP- Edwin Jackson, TB. Jackson has sucked balls since I can remember but is really blowing my hair back this season. He is 3-4 with a 3.70 ERA, a lot better than his 5.76 ERA from last year. He has 47 SO's in 83 IP.

CL- George Sherrill, BAL. Sherrill is in his first year closing and is 17 for 20 in save opportunities with a 3.42 ERA. He has 20 SO's in 23 IP and has really succeeded in his new role. Chris Ray is definitely worried.

Honorable mentions: Ryan Doumit, Shawn Chacon, Jayson Werth, Jesus Flores, Blake DeWitt, Jeff Keppinger, Skip Schumaker, Odalis Perez, Kerry Wood, Cliff Lee

Hopefully all these players can continue to succeed. These are my surprise All Stars through two months of baseball.

[ljshorty89]

Whoa! No Ryan Church? I'm disappointed

[hot_corner_gurl]

Whoa! No Ryan Church? I'm disappointed

Yeah and what about Sidney Ponson? jk I agree with your team there. Almost all of the names you wouldn't have recognized a year ago. It's amazing how things can change so drastically. And not only the individual players, but their respective teams are benefitting from their emergance too. Hopefully they can continue and keep it up because it's very exciting.

[Halladay_is_God]

even though he's sort of a big name, BJ Ryan for me, never expected him to be this good after only 10-11 months after Tommy John surgery

[HollywoodLeo]

I'd act sore about the lack of Padres on the list but the only surprises coming out of the Padres team are the bad kinds.

[Halladay_is_God]

also no Jesse Litsch? for shame LTR

[Kingdom]

Cliff Lee!

[realmofotalk]

Dioner Navarro and Edwin Jackson rode the short bus together from LA to St. Petersburg.

[love_that_reefer]

also no Jesse Litsch? for shame LTR

Sorry but Litsch impressed me last year so I am really not all that surprised he is doing so well. I agree with Ryan though, just didn't make the cut

[riverdunesrat]

No Bengie Molina for catcher?

[love_that_reefer]

Molina had a good year last year.

[riverdunesrat]

Molina had a good year last year.

Dude, when has BMo ever hit .324? He was at .339 for a while. In this age of the roids, one would wonder why he has gotten better over the last few years rather than declining. I vote for Bengie, but then I am partial. And, yer a Gnats fan too. Just messing with ya buddy. He has one more year on his contract, right? Let's hope he can keep it up as we all know how bad it can get when a guy starts to decline.

[love_that_reefer]

I didn;t expect him to be hitting .324 but did expect good things. He had a career high in RBI last year. Dioner is more of a surprise than Molina.

[Foster]

BMo was a bit of a larf in To. Big boys can still do it.

Nady wins my vote as MSP, most surprising player of the year. I can always remember picking him up in a fanasy league or something every year, and waiting for a bit for something to happen, but it never did. Guess the Mets passed just a little to soon on him.

[riverdunesrat]

BMo was a bit of a larf in To. Big boys can still do it.

That's what I mean. He didn't do so well in a Jays uni. With the Angels he was starting to come out and then he basically died in Toronto. Enter SF and he bloomed to what he is now. I couldn't be happier for him.