All-Star Selection Show

Coming up on Sunday afternoon, about a half an hour before the Nationals take on the Atlanta Braves, TBS will be broadcasting a special All-Star Selection Show to reveal the players who have been chosen to be on the All-Star team.

The show is a 1 hour special and at the end they will announce the "Final Vote" thing where fans will vote in one player for each roster.

From TBS:  Host Matt Winer will be joined in the TBS studio during the Selection Show by analysts Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken Jr. and David Wells to introduce the teams and provide analysis on the selections.

So let's take a final look at the Nationals and their All-Star chances:

The Pitchers:

Strasburg:  Right now there is only one player on the Nationals who appears to be a lock selection to the team. That player is Stephen Strasburg, and while he most likely won't be the starter, he will probably be the #2 pitcher on the National League roster.  Prediction:  IN

Gio:  Gio Gonzalez is the next National who will probably get a consideration to make the team, but his ERA has dropped all the way down to 13th in the NL.  A few weeks ago he was looking like a lock, but now things are a bit different.  Gio is still #5 in strikeouts and is tied with 3 other guys for 2nd with 10 wins.  Prediction:  IN

Clip:  Alot of fans and the local media have brought up Tyler Clippard as a possibility to represent the NL citing that he has been there before, but not being a closer for the entire season really hurts his case.  Clip is 13/13 on saves in the closer role, he blew one save as a setup man, and he also has 10 holds on the season.  He is in the top 10 in saves but the other guys have more, on more attempts.  Prediction:  OUT


The Postition Players:


Desmond:  Ian Desmond is the only player on the team that has any chance at being chosen based on his current production.  Among NL shortstops he is #4 in average, #2 in homers, and leading in both doubles and RBIs.  LaRussa has said in the past that he likes the way Desmond plays, but with the Nats already having 1-2 pitchers on the roster, Dezzy may get left out.  Especially considering the #3 shortstop (avg) is Raphael Furcal, who played for LaRussa last year.  Prediction:  OUT


Bryce Harper:  Tony LaRussa has mentioned that the All-Star game is not a "real" game.  It is more of a sideshow for entertainment purposes.  That is why he said he might consider throwing Chipper Jones on the roster despite his lack of production.  While this would work in favor of Tony selecting Harper, I don't really think that will happen.  Instead Harper will end up being added as a guy on the final fan vote ballot, most likely making the team that way.  Prediction:  OUT but added later.

So tune in at 1pm and find out who is in and who is out before watching the Nats try to win the series against the Braves.