All was well in the baseball world last season as the Cubs and White Sox were ruling their divisions and sending a total of 10 players to the All-Star game. This year, just two Chicago players will don the All-Star gear July 14 in St. Louis. Why? This might explain it. Tribune contributed. Source: mlb.com
Cubs
Ryan Dempster
Dempster looked like the Dempster of old with a 9-3 record and a 3.24 ERA.
His ERA is 4.09, and he has a 5-5 record. Good thing he didn’t predict a World Series win this year.
Carlos Marmol
His performance had him in the running for the closer position this year.
His performance has baffled fans at times. In 38 1/3 innings pitched, he has issued 39 walks. That’s not good.
Kosuke Fukudome
The newcomer was hitting .287 with 7 HRs.
Cooling off after another fast start. Six homers, .259 average. That’s bad in any league.
Carlos Zambrano
He was fifth in the NL with a 2.94 ERA. He also had a 9-3 record.
He’s 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA, but he’s battled his infamous temper several times, already earning himself a suspension.
Aramis Ramirez
He was eighth in the NL with 60 RBIs.
An injury has limited him to 18 games, but he had 4 homers, 16 RBIs and was hitting .364 when he went down.
Geovany Soto
First rookie catcher to start for NL.
Hitting .232 — and explaining why he tested positive for weed at the World Baseball Classic.
Alfonso Soriano
He had 15 home runs at this point in the season.
Has 14 homers, but he just got dropped to sixth in the batting order thanks to his .223 average.
Kerry Wood
Voted into his first All-Star game since 2003, Wood had 22 saves.
Playing for Cleveland, but he blew two saves in his return to Wrigley last month.
Milton Bradley
(with Texas) Had 22 homers and 77 RBIs with a .321 average.
Batting .244 with 6 homers and 19 RBIs. He, too, has been suspended for arguing.
White Sox
Joe Crede
First-time All-Star had 15 homers.
Playing with those piranhas, the Minnesota Twins, he has 12 homers and 36 RBIs.
Carlos Quentin
He was having an MVP-type year with 19 homers, 61 RBIs.
A plantar fasciitis injury has limited him to 38 games. He’s hit 8 HRs and knocked in 20 RBIs.
