Prompted by the opening of online balloting for the 2007 All Star Game a few weeks ago, we recently started wondering who might represent the Nats in San Francisco (since, you know, somebody has to).
Dmitri Young? The guy’s hitting for a scorching .500 average over the last 21 games. But he’s mired behind popular stars like Albert Pujols and Nomar Garciaparra, as well as reigning MVP Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder’s 23-homer bat. Even though Ryan Zimmerman has been hot lately, he’s got a long way to go to catch leading third basemen like David Wright, Miguel Cabrera (.333, 47 RBI), and Aramis Ramirez (.299, 13 HR). The same goes for Austin Kearns and Ryan Church in the outfield.
What if the answer turned out to be the unlikeliest of them all? What if it turned out to be the biggest surprise of the season thus far? Crazy as it sounds, our All Star might just be Cristian Guzman.
Yes, the same Guzman that struggled to hit .219 in the team’s first year in D.C in ’05. The same guy that missed all of last year, and most of April and May this year because of shoulder and leg injuries. For Jim Bowden’s (many) detractors, that Cristian Guzman and his $4M+ salary is the most damning evidence that JimBo doesn’t belong in the front office. An entirely different Guzman, however, has been crushing balls in the No. 2 spot in the order for a month now. But don’t take our word for it – here’s Post beat writer/blogger Barry Svrluga recently in the Nationals Journal:
Cristian Guzman is hitting .352. How is he doing that? In the past 10 games, since May 30, he is 23 for 43 (.535). No one in baseball is hitting for a higher average during that span. Repeat: Cristian Guzman is the hottest hitter in baseball.
Photo by Flickr user alykat.
