Thursday, July 2, 2009
Durham Bulls' Reid Brignac is first-team International League All-Star
The 23-year-old Bulls' shortstop (pictured, right) is batting .294/.352/.451/.803, with 18 doubles and four home runs. He also has an excellent 19/27 BB/K ratio in 229 plate appearances. He has good range at shortstop, especially to his right, and a very strong arm. To my eyes, his 10 fielding errors are partially the result of inexperience.
Brignac was the only Durham Bull elected/selected to the International League All-Star team. The only other legitimate candidate, relief pitcher Winston Abreu, was called up to Tampa. I don't know if that makes him ineligible---I suspect it does---but the relievers who made the team all had strong cases, too.
Brignac's only competition for the starting slot was Toledo's Brent Dlugach. Dlugach had somewhat similar numbers, but Brignac has more doubles and five fewer homers in 22 fewer games (don't forget, Brignac was up in Tampa for about three weeks), and Dlugach has three times as many strikeouts than Brignac but only four more walks. Overall, Brignac was the right choice.
The AAA All-Star game, which pits the International League against the Pacific Coast League, will be played July 15th in Portland, Oregon. The game airs on ESPN2 at 4:05 p.m. EDT.
The complete roster is below. Every player I voted for except one (not counting those since promoted to the majors) made the team; on reflection, the player selected over mine was a better choice. The manager is Louisville's Rick Sweet.
* * PLAYERS ELECTED * *
C WYATT TOREGAS COLUMBUS
1B BARBARO CANIZARES, Gwinnett
2B SETH BYNUM, Syracuse
SS REID BRIGNAC, Durham
3B ANDY MARTE, Columbus
OF SHELLEY DUNCAN, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
OF AUSTIN JACKSON, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
OF DREW STUBBS, Louisville
DH MIKE CERVENAK, Lehigh Valley
SP CLAY BUCHHOLZ, Pawtucket
SP CHRIS TILLMAN, Norfolk
RP FERNANDO CABRERA, Pawtucket
RP JIM MILLER, Norfolk
* * PLAYERS SELECTED * *
C ERIK KRATZ, Indianapolis
INF CHRIS STEWART, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
INF BROOKS CONRAD, Gwinnett
INF BRENT DLUGACH, Toledo
INF ANDY TRACY, Lehigh Valley
OF JORDAN BROWN, Columbus
OF JORGE PADILLA, Syracuse
P CHRIS BOOTCHECK, Indianapolis
P ANDREW CARPENTER, Lehigh Valley
P NELSON FIGUEROA, Buffalo
P JUSTIN LEHR, Louisville
P J.D. MARTIN, Syracuse
P ANTHONY SWARZAK, Rochester
P CARLOS TORRES, Charlotte
P LUIS VALDEZ, Gwinnett
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