As it stands, there are five Texas Rangers who are set to start in the All-Star Game on July 10 in Kansas City. Of course, fan voting determines the starting position players, while the respective managers determine the pitching staffs.
If the fan voting ended today, the Rangers would see Ian Kinsler (second base), Mike Napoli (catcher), Adrian Beltre (third base), Nelson Cruz (outfield) and the American League's leading vote getter Josh Hamilton (outfield) starting in the game. Hamilton and Beltre are no-brainers as starters, but ESPN's Jim Bowden, a former GM, has his own thoughts about the rest of the players and said five Rangers should be all-stars, but only Hamilton and Beltre are deserving of a starting nod.
Bowden said Napoli and Kinsler should both be on the team, but in a reserve role and Rangers closer Joe Nathan should make the squad as a reliever based on his phenomenal first few months as it seems he's fully recovered from Tommy John surgery a couple of years ago.
Nathan has given up five earned runs in 24 2/3 innings of work with the majority of those coming in the first week of the season when Nathan took two losses, including one blown save and had people calling for his head. Instead, he's been awesome. His ERA is now a salty 1.82 and he's got 12 saves in the Rangers' limited save opportunities.
In Nathan's last 10 outings, he's thrown 10 innings, giving up just three hits with no runs — earned or unearned — with 13 strikeouts and no walks. Those are most definitely all-star numbers.
