It didn’t help that Scott Rolen was voted NL starting thirdbaseman. No offense to Scotty who I have immense respect but when you miss as many weeks as he he did, he get no All-Star votes from me. This is what you get when thousands of uninformed, too-loyal fans vote on the Internet.
Morgan Ensberg has been a catalyst for the Astros all season. By all season, I mean he has played all 82 games so far. That’s just the start. At .971, Ensberg has the highest OPS of any non-All-Star. Actually, D Lee, Pujols and Abreu are the only ones who have a higher mark. Among NL thirdbasemen, Ensberg leads in homers, rbis, and runs. If that’s not enough for you, he also leads in walks.
The Astros are two runs away from last place in runs scored. I’m no Bill James but to me, that makes his run production that much more critical. Without his 61 rbis and 50 runs, the Astros would be in a dire place and definitely not in second place. Manager Phil Garner would be the first to agree according to an article in the Houston Chronicle:
What he refused to tell anyone is that he played with a bonfire in his right elbow. Until this spring when he told manager Phil Garner, he offered no alibis, accepted the criticism without complaint, and did the best he could with what he had.
“That shows me something,” Garner said. “That shows you he’s pretty tough. Even last year when he was hurt, he got some big hits down the stretch for us. When (Lance) Berkman and (Jeff) Kent were pitched around, he drove in some huge runs.”
Ensberg has been the Astros’ most valuable offensive player this season. With no Carlos Beltran or Kent, with Jeff Bagwell injured and Berkman missing the opening month, the Astros have been desperate for power.
They’re still the lowest-scoring offense in the National League, but without Ensberg’s 22 home runs and 60 RBIs, they’d be buried.
“We’d be in last place,” Garner said.
With all that said, Morgan Ensberg gets my vote for Most Deserving NL Player left off the All-Star roster.