OT: Cheers to Austin Jackson

Jackson does have some pretty nice numbers. To show you how out of touch i am with baseball, i have no idea who Austin Jackson is.

if you look at advanced stats.  .409 wOBA, 159 wRC+, 3.6 Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement.  He's been worth more than 2 wins more than Granderson.  It's pretty bad that he's not even a candidate for the last spot voting thing.  

Editing to add: Holy crap Mike Trout is a ridiculous human being.  Fangraphs has him at 4 wins so far this year (despite not being in the majors for the first month), and the only peripheral stat that's out of line is his batting average on balls in play.  As a 20 year old, he's legitimately one of the 10 best players in baseball.  

Thanks for the insight - as a whole on a per at-bat basis, I think it's pretty clear that Austin Jackson has had at least as good if not a better season thus far than Curtis Granderson.  Of course home runs are a slightly "sexier" stat, and that didn't hurt Curtis with the voting.

Always interesting how little these hard statistics actually factor into things like rankings and All-Star selections - which I guess is why it is going to be good to de-emphasize polls in college football and go with a selection committee.

Granderson doesn't deserve to be there.....his numbers are inflated because of that sorry excuse for a ballpark he plays in. I love Granderson too. He's one of my favorite players in all of baseball. Although as long as a Yankee has a decent season, they'll probably be an All-Star starter just because of New York.

I thought Jeter was the lead off hitter for the yankees.

Trout is legit. He's 20 and dominating the big leagues. He absolutely deserves to be there. Jackson does, too, but not over Trout.

Trout has the one thing the Tigers sorely lack. Speed. Speed changes the game in so many ways. The Tigers have seen that with Berry coming up from Toledo. He isn't a polished fielder, but has better range than everyone else (sans Jackson). Stealing bases generates more offense and even being on base with Cabrera and Co. at the plate is one more thing for a pitcher to worry about.

Trout is going to be around for a long time. I already think he is a star. We've got 20 years to watch this kid.

They're still doing the whole fan vote thing for the final spot, right?  My guess is AJ will be one of the candidates and with his numbers (haven't looked at who the other snubs are yet) he'll have a good shot at getting in still.

Ooops, nevermind.  I see this now from ESPN

"The AL and NL each have one spot left, with fans voting online through Thursday. The five candidates for the final AL roster spot are all right-handed pitchers: Texas rookie Yu Darvish and fellow starters Jake Peavy of the White Sox and Jason Hammel of Baltimore and relievers Jonathan Broxton of the Royals and Ernesto Frieri of the Angels "

There will still be more players named to the team as injury/vacancy replacements.  Considering that Austin's probably the next outfielder to go, I'd be surprised if he's not on the team eventually.

His improvement at the plate has been remarkable, and i'd rather have him than Granderson at this point (not a single thing against Curtis).

It probably would have been a race for that spot if the Tigers weren't still below .500. That, the HRs, and the NY on Grandy's cap make it hard for Jackson to get the press.

The Yankees have a bigger market, and therefore a bigger fanbase.  Since it is well known that New Yorkers are not the least bit shy about expressing their opinions, I would venture to say that they are getting to the ballot boxes a lot more.

Besides, unless someone gets publicity for being a "phenom," the All Star voting is a popularity contest based on about thirty percent what a player is doing this year, and seventy percent what the media say about him.  What the media say is usually very dependent upon what the player has done the last few years.  

Add it all up, and Granderson has a lot easier road to the All Star game.  

Mike Trout is actually 78/232 . 

I just noticed it because yor data shows him having 1 more hit in 13 more at bats and a higher BA. 

Agree with the main premise though, AJax improvement has been spectacular. There was a statistic on the broacast todaya that AJ is hitting over .600 i think when ahead in the count. As far as Trout, I managed to pick him up and can attest to his studliness.

When comparing Jackson vs Granderson in an All-Star fan balloting measure, the only stat that matters is population:

Tri-State Area (NY, NJ, CT) - 18,320,000

Michigan - 9,970,000

Of this comparison: the difference in strikeouts vs the difference in hits. Jackson is right with Granderson in hits but has struck out less, even when adjusting for the difference in at-bats. This feels like a big improvement for Jackson and is much needed for the Tigers.

I think if he stayed off the DL he would be in... on the fence about if he got robbed or not

Trout could not be hitting 13 points better than Jackson with only one more hit and 12 more at bats. 

Indeed, Trout has 80 hits, not 73.