First base was not a terribly deep position in 2018, which paved the way for Moreland to be selected as a reserve. Now, Moreland is a decent hitter, with some power, but at his best, he is hardly a star player. Moreland was having a decent first half, but was hitting .278/.353/.500 with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs. But again, those are not exceptional numbers. His final season line was even less impressive: .245/.325/.433 with 15 home runs and 68 RBIs. Obviously most of his production came in the first half.
Moreland has been with the Red Sox for the past three years and will be with the team again this year. Generally he has produced numbers in line with his final 2018 numbers. That is a decent player, but is it really an All Star? Probably not.
I remember how a Rangers announcer once unironically said "Offensive Threat Mitch Moreland" and baseball Twitter ran with it.
ReplyDeleteI did a post back then about the same thing. First base was insanely weak that first half. Moreland and Abreu were the only worthy candidates. The fact Moreland was a part-time player and still made the team was remarkable!
ReplyDeleteTo me, that's why the All-Star rosters should NOT be based solely on the first half of the season. It's just too small a sample size. Sure, if someone's off to an insane start, put them on the team. But don't put a part-time player who happens to be off to a good start over a legitimate star who isn't off to a good start.
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