One member of the Minnesota Twins has made the American League All-Star team, and another is going to have to wait to see if the fans will vote him in.
Twins closer Glen Perkins was named an American League All-Star on Monday, but second baseman Brian Dozier was not included on the roster; instead he’ll have to wait for baseball fans to decide who will get the final spot for the American League.
Glen Perkins named to AL All-Star team for 3rd straight season. He's 4th Twins pitcher to go 3 straight times (Pascual, Aguilera, Santana).
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) July 6, 2015
Perkins is in the midst of another outstanding season as the Twins’ closer. He is a perfect 27-of-27 in save opportunities this season. He has given up just five earned runs in 34 1/3 innings (1.31 ERA) on the season.
He closed out last year’s All-Star game for the American League, while throwing to his battery mate Kurt Suzuki when the game was played at Target Field.
Dozier also has posted All-Star caliber numbers. He is hitting .260 with a team-leading 16 home runs. He’s also driven in 40 runs.
Dozier also looks to be on pace to break his career best 112 runs scored last season. He has 62 so far in 2015.
His 26 doubles are only seven fewer than the 33 he hit all of last season.
Now it's official. Dozier among the Final 5 vote-in guys. Utterly baffling. #mntwins https://t.co/iGonawTj3y
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/ilovemnsports/status/618197221071130624
Hardball Talk’s Aaron Gleeman calls Dozier the best second baseman in all of baseball, but he says most in the Majors haven’t taken notice.
Dozier leads all MLB second basemen in home runs, walks, and runs scored while also ranking second in OPS and RBIs. On top of that Gleeman notes that he also plays terrific defense.
https://twitter.com/AaronGleeman/status/615881408339271680
But Dozier’s snubbing wasn’t a big surprise. The Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino notes that Dozier just went 2-for-17 against Kansas City in what could have been a last chance to impress American League manager Ned Yost.
American League All-Star Final Vote candidates:
• Xander Bogaerts
• Yoenis Cespedes
• Brian Dozier
• Brett Gardner
• Mike Moustakas— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 7, 2015
