Vote for Gooooooz!
Cristian can join Zimmerman in St. Louis
By CHRIS NEEDHAM
Updated 10:30 AM EST, Mon, Jul 6, 2009
After yesterday's All-Star announcement, Ryan Zimmerman will live everyone's dream: an all expenses-paid trip to St. Louis in the heat of summer! Zimmerman's a deserving All Star. So far, he's the team's only one. But you can change that.
Shortstop Cristian Guzman is on the final fan ballot, and you can vote for him online through Thursday afternoon.
The Gooooooz has some stiff competition, though. The others on the ballot: Matt Kemp, Dodgers outfielder; Mark Reynolds, Arizona's third baseman; Shane Victorino, Phillies outfielder; Pablo Sandoval, San Fran's designated eater.
Guzie's having a pretty solid year. He's batting .318 with a decent slugging average (.424). He easily ranks in the top half of the league's shortstops.
But is he better than Matt Kemp? He's slugging nearly .500 for a World Series contender. Or Pablo Sandoval? He's slugging .566 (!?). That's higher than Adam Dunn! Even supposedly light-hitting Shane Victorino is outslugging Guzie (.447).
Still, as the cliche goes, it's an honor just to be nominated, right?
There aren't similar questions, however, about Ryan Zimmerman's qualifications. He's cooled down from the heights he reached early in the season in the midst of his hitting streak, but he's still having a career year.
His combination of solid bat and spectacular fielding make him one of the 2 or 3 best 3B in the league. Yeah, he gets the occasional throwing yips, but his amazing range makes up for it.
Package his bat and glove together, and he does more to put runs on the board while taking others off than almost anyone else at his position.
Can you say the same thing for Guzman? Perhaps. Certainly more than Lastings Milledge, at least.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Jul 6, 2009 9:09 AM EST
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