Cabrera deserves All-Star start

Asdrubal Cabrera won’t win the first slot in voting for the American League shortstop to play in the All-Star Game, but the man deserves it.

As of June 23, Cabrera was hitting .296, third among shortstops on the ballot behind Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy (.304) and, gasp, Detroit’s Jhonny Peralta (.298).

And while the man has often been an offensive sparkplug – leading all AL shortstops in runs, hits, homers and RBIs – some of his true greatness is found in the field. Cabrera is making ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 plays every other game it seems, from barehanded grabs to wicked-difficult throws from the hole and while charging slow-rollers.

Obviously, the Yankees’ Derek Jeter is on the brink of history — six hits away from becoming the first man in pinstripes to reach 3,000 hits. Which is part of the reason the popular star has 2,654,040 votes. But, he’s not making the defensive plays or providing the much-needed pop at the plate for his team like Cabrera (2,242,157 votes) is for the Tribe.

At least Cabrera is comfortably sitting in second place and has a spot on the roster, for now. And, with Jeter on the DL, he could take the starting role by default. But he deserves more than that.

Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. June 30. Those interested can vote at www.mlb.com.

Category: Cleveland Indians