MLB.com was highlighting today, the fact that Tejada has overtaken Ramirez in All-Star votes.  Although public All-Star voting is silly (see Jeter, Derek), and although there is little that we can do right this travesty -- I urge you to head over and complete those cumbersome All-Star ballots for Ramirez and Uggla.

Hanley vs. Tejada, some statistics:

Ramirez also has 163 assists, 9 errors and has contributed to 35 DPs.  Tejada has 187, 5 and 30.  Of course, Tejada also doesn't know what year he was born and reportedly has an affinity for steroids. Link  But, maybe that should be irrelevant for purposes of AS voting.

In any event, here's to getting a little more national exposure!

L.A. Times

MINOR LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT

Ryan Tucker is pitching right in at Carolina Southern California has produced more than its share of major league players. In this space, we'll take a look at how Southland players are faring in the minors. This week: the double-A Southern Leagu

By Bob Cuomo
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

May 9, 2008

Last season at Jupiter of the Class-A Florida State League, Ryan Tucker was a member of a rather unusual starting rotation -- all first and supplemental-round draft choices.

As compensation for the departure of type A free-agent pitchers Carl Pavano and Armando Benitez after the 2004 season, the Florida Marlins received four additional high picks in the 2005 draft besides their own at No. 16, giving them five of the first 44 selections. And they used them all on pitchers.

Tucker, a right-hander from Temple City High, was the 34th overall pick. The others were right-hander Chris Volstad (16th overall pick), left-hander Aaron Thompson (22nd), right-hander Jacob Marceaux (29th) and right-hander Sean West (44th). Right-hander Brent Sinkbeil, the 26th overall pick in 2006, rounded out the rotation. West was supposed to be with the Hammerheads but sat out the season after undergoing arm surgery.

This season, Tucker is part of the rotation at Carolina of the double-A Southern League. Joining him are Volstad, Thompson and Sinkbeil. Marceaux also is with the Mudcats, but he's now a reliever. Because West did not pitch in 2007, he was assigned to Jupiter.

According to Baseball America, Tucker is the Marlins' third-best prospect (Volstad is first, Sinkbeil second). His fastball, which has been clocked at 97 mph, is rated the best in the organization. As you might expect, he has an effective change-up and has also been working on a slider.

"His change-up really came along," Jim Fleming, the Marlins' vice president of player development, told USA Today Sports Weekly. "Once he gets a little more consistency with the slider, he should be able to go [move up] pretty fast."

Baseball America's projected 2011 lineup for the Marlins includes Tucker, but as the closer (Volstad and Sinkbeil are listed as the third and fourth starters).

Tucker beat Jacksonville, 11-1, Monday night to improve to 2-1. In seven innings -- his longest outing of the season -- he limited the Suns to three hits while striking out five and walking one.

In all, Tucker has made seven starts. His 0.89 earned-run average is the second-best in the league. In 40 1/3 innings, he has yielded 24 hits while striking out 39 (third-most in the league) and walking 16. Opponents are batting only .168 against him.

Tucker posted his first double-A victory on April 15 when the Mudcats beat Jacksonville, 2-1. He outpitched Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers' top prospect. He pitched six scoreless innings and held the Suns to three hits. Kershaw also went six innings, yielding four hits and one run.

In his next start, on April 20 against Tennessee at Zebulon, N.C., he went six innings and held the Smokies to three hits and one run while striking out a season-high nine, but left trailing, 1-0. The Mudcats scored four runs in the bottom of seventh and won, 4-1.

Tucker could very well be 5-1. In his first three starts after beating Jacksonville, he pitched well enough to win them all. In 17 1/3 innings, he gave up only seven hits and one run while striking out 22. His ERA during that span was 0.52.

Last year at Jupiter, Tucker made 24 starts and was 5-8 with a 3.71 ERA. In 138 1/3 innings, he gave up 142 hits while striking out 104 and walking 46. Opponents batted .268 against him.

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One of the catchers at Carolina is Brad Davis, the Marlins' fifth-round pick in 2004 from Long Beach State.

Davis, who shares time with Brett Hayes, has been the catcher in all of Tucker's starts. He is batting only .197 with two homers and five runs batted in.

He spent the most of last season at Carolina. In 45 games he batted. 287 with three homers and 20 RBIs. He was assigned to Jupiter on June 10 and batted .163 with three RBIs over 43 at-bats through June 29. He returned to Carolina on July 1.

Davis also played in one game for triple-A Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League on May 9 and had one hit in two at-bats -- a run-scoring double.

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Jacksonville's James McDonald turned in his best performance of the season Tuesday night when the Suns beat Carolina, 2-0.

McDonald didn't get the win, but he pitched six scoreless innings and held the Mudcats to five hits while striking out nine and walking none. The Suns scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to hand Volstad his first loss of the season.

McDonald, the Dodgers' 11th-round pick in 2002 from Golden West College in Costa Mesa, is 1-1 with a 4.19 ERA. In 34 1/3 innings, he has yielded 34 hits while striking out 35 and walking seven. Opponents are batting .260 against him.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound right-hander started the 2007 season at Inland Empire of the Class-A California League. While there, he was 6-7 with a 3.95 ERA in 15 starts. In 82 innings, he struck out 104 and walked only 21.

That earned him a promotion to Jacksonville, where he made 10 starts and was 7-2 with a 1.71 ERA. He struck out 64 and walked 16 in 53 innings.

ESPN: Uggla chasing Utley

1. Uggla chasing Utley

The Marlins and Phillies open a key three-game series in Philadelphia tonight. Not only are the two teams a half-game apart and contending for first place in the NL East; their second basemen are waging a close statistical battle. Even casual baseball fans have been made aware of the season Chase Utley has been putting together in Philly. Marlins fans are quick to point out, though, that Dan Uggla's stats are nearly identical across the board, from homers, RBIs, and batting average to runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. However, a quick comparison of the data behind those stats shows that Uggla has been the more "hit or miss" of the two.

The table shows that Uggla holds his own against Utley in percentage of pitches chased out of the zone, which is a little surprising since his strikeout rate is so much higher. But Utley has clearly missed less, put more swings in play, and gotten the barrel of the bat on the ball more often.

Still, it is worthwhile to applaud Uggla's overall improvement. He has always demonstrated power, but has really increased his batting averages by getting good wood on fastballs:

Utley is no slouch against hard stuff himself, batting .324 with a .647 slugging percentage and 1.060 OPS, but Uggla betters him in all three measures. Since batters typically see more fastballs than other pitches, Uggla should have a good chance of going toe-to-toe statistically with Utley all season long.

Crystal Ball

"6. Florida Marlins: Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot HS, Riverside, Calif.
The Marlins have never shied away from taking chances and picking the "high risk, high reward" high school types. There are a few who fit the bill here. While it might sound improbable, Hosmer's name has cropped up and the Marlins surely have had ample opportunity to see the Miami-area prepster. Ditto with University of Miami first baseman Yonder Alonso, but you have to wonder if his name has cropped up solely because of proximity. Just because they can see a guy a lot because he's nearby does not mean they'll take him as the No. 6 overall pick.

The word has been that the Marlins have been all over Skipworth. There has been some debate over whether his defensive skills are good enough for him to stay behind the plate, but he's shown enough ability to get a shot there, no question. And most people are confident he's going to hit. A recent rough game made for a few pauses, but there's enough who believe there's plenty of track record to draw from to not let him slide too far if Florida ends up passing."