Doing their best impression of the Kansas City Royals, seven(!) members of the Tennessee Smokies have been named Mid-Season All-Stars in the Southern League (AA):
Congrats to the SEVEN Smokies who have been named @SLeagueBaseball Mid-Season All-Stars! http://t.co/tEhHBoQNQy pic.twitter.com/6i8nMMs4DT
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) June 9, 2015
Representing the Smokies are:@kschwarb12
@noslliw19 @DanielVogelbach
Frank Batista@CblackCHC @PJ_Flow20
Felix PenaCongrats to all!
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) June 9, 2015
In the order of the tweet, the all-stars include Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, Dan Vogelbach, Frank Batista, Corey Black, PJ Francescon and Felix Pena. It’s a nice honor to be selected and the Smokies are going to be very well represented, thanks to this group. Below, is a brief look into the numbers that got them there, as well as a link to their individual FanGraphs page.
The Position Players
The Pitchers
The list of All-Stars includes big names (Kyle Schwarber, Dan Vogelbach), familiar guys (Frank Batista, Corey Black) and some lesser known players (Willson Contreras, Patrick Francescon and Felix Pena). It’s good to see an even mix like that, because it indicates that the high profile players may be living up to their potential, while reminding us that breakout performances can still come from lesser known guys.
Additionally, there is a nice combination of pitchers and position players, among the All-Stars. The over played narrative that the Cubs’ system lacks pitching talent isn’t as strong as it once was, but perhaps the four pitchers included here will serve as a reminder that the system is very well rounded.